Page 34 of Crown of the Mist

But his hand is warm, solid, real. An anchor in the storm I've been drowning in.

"I'm glad you're here," he says softly, his thumb brushing over my knuckles. "We all are. But selfishly... I'm really glad you're here."

The mist swirls around our joined hands, and for a moment, everything feels... right. Like puzzle pieces clicking into place.

"Wes?" Gray's voice carries up the stairs, followed by his footsteps. "You up there? Have you heard from—"

He appears in the doorway and stops short. His sharp eyes take in the scene - our joined hands, the comfortable closeness that should feel foreign but somehow doesn't. Something flashes across his face, too quick to read, but it's not jealousy. If anything, it looks like... hope.

I start to pull away, but Wes's fingers tighten slightly. Just enough to say I don't have to run. Not this time.

Gray leans against the doorframe, his expression softening as he takes in my reaction to the room. "You found it."

"It's..." My voice trails off, still overwhelmed by what they've created here. What it means.

"Yours," he says simply. "If you want it."

The normalcy of the moment feels strange but good, like finding something precious you never knew you'd lost. But there's tension in Gray's shoulders, a tightness around his eyes that wasn't there before.

"What's wrong?" Wes asks before I can, his hand still steady around mine.

Gray's jaw tightens. "Theo and Jace haven't checked in. They should have been back by now."

Ice slides down my spine as I remember where they went. My apartment. Phil.

"How long?" Wes's voice carries that dangerous edge it gets when he's worried.

"Too long." Gray pushes off from the doorframe, all pretense of casualness gone. "I'm going to check on them."

"I'll come with you," Wes says, but Gray shakes his head.

"Stay with Bree." His eyes meet mine, and there's something fierce in them. "We're not leaving her alone. Not again."

21. Gray

The steering wheel creaks under my grip as I take the corner too fast, muscle memory guiding me down streets I've driven a thousand times. My mind catalogs details with mechanical precision: Theo and Jace's last known location. Time elapsed since their check-in. Phil's usual haunts. Probable scenarios, ranked by risk.

I shouldn't have let them go alone.

The thought circles like an accusation as I pull onto Bree's street. The neighborhood feels different now, filtered through everything we've learned. Every shadow holds potential threats. And Theo and Jace are here alone.

The sound of breaking glass cuts through the quiet, sharp and sudden from the direction of her building. My foot hits the gas before I can think, tires squealing against asphalt.Please, not again. Not like when we were kids, hearing crashesthrough those thin walls and being too young, too weak to stop it.

I slam the truck into park, barely registering the crooked angle across two spaces. Movement catches my eye - Jace's car still in its spot, Theo's around the corner. Both empty.

The mist swirls thickly around my ankles as I approach the building, responding to.. I’m not sure what. It's always been there, hovering at the edges of our lives, but lately it feels more... present. More aware.

Another crash echoes from above, followed by muffled voices. My hands clench as I take the stairs two at a time, instinct warring with the need to think this through. To be smart about it, like Theo would.

The hallway stretches long and dim, emergency lights casting strange shadows. Bree's door stands partially open, spilling harsh fluorescent light into the corridor. The air feels strange - heavy with something that makes the hair on my arms stand up.

I pause just outside, listening. The mist coils around my feet, almost expectant.

"--camera footage?" Theo's voice, tight with barely controlled anger.

"Multiple angles." Jace sounds equally strained. "That fucking mirror by the door? The one in the bathroom? Who knows how many others."

Understanding hits like a physical blow. Cameras. Phil was watching her. Recording her. The rage that floods through me is instant and overwhelming, making my vision blur at the edges.