The forest around St. Ivy High whispered like it remembered every secret ever buried in its roots. Fog clung to the soil like wet bandages, and the night pressed in on Selena and Eira as they ran — away from the black-bound book beneath the cursed oak, away from the name it revealed, and the horrible truth they couldn't deny.
Eira Carter. The next Thorn Queen.
They burst through the treeline into the Carter family's backyard, breath ragged, clothes torn and bloodied. Behind the main house stood Eira's old treehouse, crooked and half-forgotten — a childhood refuge, untouched by the Thorn Society's rot. Selena shoved Eira up the ladder first, then climbed after her, bolting the trapdoor shut behind them.
Inside, the air was stale but safe. Dust caught in the moonlight streaming through a warped windowpane. Stuffed animals and broken pencils still littered the corners from a life long abandoned. They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the silence settle.
Eira leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, breathing hard.
Selena sat across from her, every inch of her trembling. "We should have burned it."
"I thought it was over," Eira whispered. "We ended the Thorn Society. Lilith. June. That should have been it."
"It was never about just one queen," Selena muttered. "That book wasn't history — it was a seed. And now…"
Eira met her gaze. "It's me."
Selena didn't speak. Her eyes were on Eira's hands, where faint crimson lines still shimmered beneath the skin. She remembered the Thornmark all too well. It had burned in her own blood once.
"We need to check," Selena said.
Eira nodded, her voice thin. "Do it."
Selena drew her dagger — not the one she'd plunged into June's heart, but her original blade, forged in quiet vengeance. She reached for Eira's palm.
"I trust you," Eira said softly, almost like a confession.
Selena hesitated only a heartbeat. Then she made a shallow cut across Eira's palm.
The blood shimmered.
Not red — but dark crimson laced with gold, the telltale hue of Thorn magic.
And then the symbol rose — an intricate circle of thorns, laced with a single blooming rose at the center.
Selena's breath caught. "It's true."
Eira didn't flinch. She just stared down at her hand, like it didn't belong to her. "What does it mean, exactly?"
Selena shook her head. "It means you're chosen. The Thorn recognizes you. And unless we stop it… you'll become what Lilith and June became."
"But I'm not them," Eira snapped. "I don't want power. I didn't ask for any of this."
Selena leaned forward. "That's exactly why it picked you."
Silence settled again, heavy as wet ash. Outside, the forest groaned.
Then — the wind shifted. Cold. Unnatural.
A voice whispered from below the treehouse:
"Bloodline… unbroken."
Selena grabbed her dagger, eyes wide.
Eira scrambled to the trapdoor. "That voice…"
They peered through the floorboards.
A figure stood at the base of the tree — cloaked in black, tall and bone-thin, their face hidden beneath a cowl of twisted branches. Not a remnant of the Thorn Society. Something older.
Selena's blood ran cold.
The figure looked up, though its eyes were hidden.
"The first queen was born in betrayal. The last will rise in fire."
Eira backed away. "What does that mean?"
Selena's voice was low. "It means this isn't just a new chapter. It's a new cycle."
The treehouse shuddered violently. Dust and old childhood relics fell from the shelves. The figure below raised a hand, and roots burst from the earth, slithering up the tree's trunk like serpents.
Selena shoved Eira behind her. "We need to run. Now."
Too late.
The roots punched through the wooden floor, wrapping around Eira's ankle and dragging her down. She screamed, kicking wildly.
"Eira!" Selena slashed at the roots, severing them in one strike, but more were coming — faster, hungrier.
They bolted through the trapdoor and slid down the ladder into the yard.
But the figure was already gone.
Only the whisper remained:
"One queen must fall. One must reign."
Selena turned to Eira, who was shaking, eyes wide and wild.
"I felt it," Eira gasped. "Something inside me woke up."
"You have to fight it."
"I don't know if I can."
Selena grabbed her shoulders. "Yes, you can. You're not alone."
Eira blinked, her expression distant. "Selena… when those roots grabbed me, I heard something. A voice. It called me by my full name — Eira Helena Carter."
Selena frowned. "What's wrong with that?"
"My middle name's not Helena."
Selena's eyes narrowed. "Then whose is it?"
Eira's skin turned pale. "My great-grandmother's. She died when I was a baby. My mom doesn't even talk about her."
Selena's voice was flat. "Check the family Bible."
They ran inside the Carter house — quiet, the power out, candles flickering. In the hallway closet, beneath old board games and shoe boxes, Eira found it — an old, leather-bound Bible.
She flipped to the genealogy page. There it was.
Helena Rose Carter — born 1917. Died 2003.
No date of baptism.
But below her name… another.
Lilith Helena Carter.
Born 1936. Missing since 1954.
Selena's heart dropped. "Lilith… Carter."
Eira was shaking. "She was my aunt. I—Selena, this whole time… the Thorn Society didn't just choose me. I'm from their bloodline."
Selena felt like the floor dropped from under her.
"You weren't just marked, Eira," she said softly. "You were bred for this."
Eira collapsed onto the hallway floor, her head in her hands. "I'm not them. I'm not her."
Selena crouched beside her. "Then prove it. We burn that book. And we end this."
---
An Hour Before Sunrise
They returned to the old oak where the book had been left — only now, it was resting on a stone altar that hadn't been there before.
And the book had grown. Its cover now bled at the edges.
Selena approached cautiously. "It's feeding on the curse."
Eira lit a match.
But as she reached forward, the book snapped open.
And the pages flipped wildly… until they stopped.
A fresh entry had been written in dark crimson ink.
"Coronation: Eira Helena Carter."
Selena lunged forward and slammed the book shut.
But a low growl echoed behind them.
A shape rose from the trees. Eyes gleaming gold. Skin grey and rotted, but familiar.
Jaxon.
"No…" Selena whispered.
Jaxon's voice rasped, barely human. "The Queen… must rule."
He lunged.
Selena swung her dagger — the blade slicing across his chest, but he didn't slow.
Eira screamed as he tackled her into the dirt.
Selena grabbed the book and brought it down with full force — smashing the bloodied leather against Jaxon's back.
The moment it touched him, he shrieked and burst into black ash.
Silence.
Eira lay in the grass, chest heaving.
Selena knelt beside her. "Are you okay?"
Eira nodded, trembling. "I think so."
Selena lit the match again — this time, not hesitating.
The flame caught the book instantly.
It screamed.
The fire flared tall, unnatural — a pillar of red and white, spiraling into the sky. The ground trembled. Somewhere in the distance, the treehouse collapsed.
And then — silence.
Ash floated down like snow.
Selena dropped to her knees.
Eira stared at her hands.
The mark was gone.
Or so it seemed.
But in the rising light of dawn, on the inside of her wrist, a new symbol glowed faintly — a rose wrapped in broken chains.
Not gone.
Dormant.
Selena saw it too.
And whispered, "This isn't over, is it?"
Eira looked at her, eyes sharp and sad.
"No. But it will be. When I say it is.