I groaned. My bed was warm and comfortable, and the air outside my nest of blankets was cold. It was a Saturday, at least I thought it was a Saturday, and I was supposed to meet up with Lexi later this afternoon to go surfing. She didn’t want to go early because of reasons, which meant I could sleep in today. Of course, that didn’t account for obnoxious brothers coming into my room to bother me.

I peeked through the covers, intending to tell said obnoxious brother to go away, only to find I was no longer in my room.

I sat up, blinking. Moonlight filtered in from a window, casting hazy light over an assortment of shadows and unrecognizable lumps. I frowned in confusion, sliding out of bed, giving a little shiver as I stood. The floor beneath my bare feet was hard and icy cold.

“Ember.”

I turned. Dante stood a few feet away, watching me with eyes glowing green in the darkness. Behind him, the labyrinth of crates hovered at the edge of the light, looming and ominous, casting Dante in their jagged shadow.

“Traitor,” he whispered.

I growled, curling my lips back from my fangs. I didn’t know when I’d Shifted forms, but tongues of fire licked at my teeth as I snarled and half opened my wings, facing my brother down. “You’re one to talk,” I said, my voice echoing weirdly off the rafters. “I thought we were leaving Talon together, but you had no intention of coming with me, did you? You were going to tell Lilith where I was all along.”

He didn’t respond and I slumped, tail and wings drooping, while my twin watched me without expression. “You lied to me, Dante,” I said, feeling the cold flood of regret douse the flames within. “I thought I could trust you, but you sold me out to Talon.”

“I did no such thing.” Dante’s voice was calm, though his eyes narrowed to shining green slits. “You were the one who betrayed us, Ember. When you left with that rogue.” He slipped away, his voice growing faint as he faded into the black. “You made the call. It was your choice to leave, to abandon everything we had worked for. Sixteen years of preparation, gone in an instant. You walked out on Talon, and you walked out on me.”

“Dante, wait.”

He didn’t stop but vanished into the darkness, the echo of his footsteps fading to nothing. Calling out, I started after him, but the shadows closed in, and everything went black.

* * *

Wincing, I opened my eyes.