Page 117 of Thunder's Reckoning

And beside them, a man who looked just like me and Ash—his daddy.

Ash’s voice cut steady. “That’s the compound. Children of the Flame.”

The words cracked through me like gunfire.

“No,” I rasped, shakin’ my head, fingers crumplin’ the photo. “That ain’t—”

But it was.

The flames carved in the wood. The scripture. The faces.

Memories I’d buried came tearin’ back raw. Fire in my lungs. Screamin’ behind me. Momma’s hand iron-tight ‘round mine. Her whisper in my ear:Don’t look back. Don’t say a word.

I staggered back a step, chest heavin’. “You’re tellin’ me…” My voice near broke. “That’s what we ran from?”

Ash’s eyes softened, but he didn’t move closer. “Yeah. Same place. Same doctrine. Same man at the center, only worse now. You grew up outside, Zeke. But you were born in the fire same as me.”

The ground tilted under me.

All these years, I thought Momma’d run fromhim.From my father’s fists, his wrath. A religion. Why keep this from me? Especially after Sable came along.

Rage burned through the shock, fast and blindin’.

Why the hell didn’t she tell me? Why let me grow up thinkin’ the scars were only hers? Why carry it alone when it was mine too?

Because she wanted to protect me.

Because she wanted me free.

Because she knew once you put fire in a boy’s hands, he might never set it down.

I dragged a sharp breath through my teeth, fightin’ to steady the storm in my chest. My knuckles went white ‘round the photo.

Ash watched me, his jaw tight, scar catchin’ the moonlight. “We made it out ten years after your mother. Been in the shadows since, watching, waiting. We didn’t know Aunt Miriam was this close or we’d have reached out.”

“And now’s the time?” My voice came flat, hard.

“It is.” His gaze never wavered. “They have her, Zeke. They have all of them. Sable. The kids. Your mother. And there are still people inside who want out. With your help we can get inside.”

The air went thin. My heart slammed once, then fell into a heavy thud that made my ribs ache.

“You know where they’re keepin’ ‘em?” My voice sounded lethal to my own ears.

“I know how to find them.” He didn’t blink. “We know the rituals. The routes. The man Gabrial’s become. You want themalive? You’ll need more than fire and fury. You’ll need someone who’s lived it. I was there that night Sable escaped. I watched from the treeline. I warned Tallis Gabrial would find her.”

He gestured toward the tree line where a narrow trail disappeared into shadow. “You coming with me isn’t trust. It’s necessity if you want to save them.”

For a long beat, the world stilled. My chest heavy, my pulse draggin’ heat and ice both through my veins.

This wasn’t just a lead.

This was blood.

A door slammin’ open on every secret Momma’d kept locked.

I looked at the photo one last time. At Momma standin’ fierce behind Daddy. At the chapel carved in flame. At the shadow of the man who looked too much like me.

Then I folded it, tucked it into my cut, and gave one short nod.