The dawn light was thin and gray as it broke over St. Ivy, but it did nothing to warm the dead air hanging over the woods. Smoke from the burned Thorn book clung low to the ground like a mist made of ash. Every tree seemed to lean in, the branches twitching as though they knew a secret no one else could hear.
Selena stood alone at the edge of the clearing. Her arms were folded, her eyes burning from lack of sleep. Eira was a few feet away, sitting on the cold ground with her knees pulled to her chest, staring at the blackened patch of earth where the book had turned to cinders.
Neither of them had spoken in the last half hour.
Selena finally broke the silence. "It should be over."
Eira didn't look up. "It never is."
Selena sighed and rubbed her hands over her face. "We burned the book. We scattered its ashes. June's dead. Lilith's gone. Morgan's dust. The Thorn Society's finished."
"Then why do I still feel them in my head?" Eira's voice was barely above a whisper, but it was sharp, jagged. "Selena… I didn't dream last night. I… saw them."
Selena's stomach tightened. "What do you mean?"
"I mean I woke up and I wasn't here." Eira looked at her now, her eyes haunted. "I was somewhere else. Somewhere dark. There were women — dozens of them. Some old, some young. All wearing thorns in their hair. And they knew my name."
Selena dropped to a crouch beside her. "That was just your mind messing with you. You've been through hell."
"No." Eira's hand trembled as she brushed her wrist. The mark was faint, but it hadn't disappeared. "It was them, Selena. I could feel them. And they were whispering… telling me it wasn't over. That I had to finish what they started."
Selena grabbed her hand. "Listen to me. You don't belong to them. You hear me? You're not their queen."
Eira's gaze was bleak. "Then why can't I make them stop?"
A long silence hung between them. The clearing seemed to press in closer.
"I need to be sure," Selena said at last.
Eira looked at her. "About what?"
"That there's nothing left. No more relics, no hidden books, no forgotten curses. We tear St. Ivy apart if we have to."
Eira nodded, swallowing hard. "Okay."
---
Late Morning
The remains of St. Ivy High were a skeleton of what the school had been. Windows smashed, floors warped by water damage, soot-stained walls. Crows gathered in the eaves, watching.
Selena and Eira moved room by room. The old gym — gone. The science wing — burned. The library was half intact, dusty shelves still standing like ancient sentries.
"This place smells like death," Eira muttered, running a hand along a broken desk.
Selena nudged a pile of debris aside with her boot, half-expecting bones. "It always did."
They reached the library's back room — a cramped storeroom that had been sealed for years.
Selena forced the lock with a crowbar, and the door creaked open.
It was filled with rotting paper, old attendance books, yearbooks from decades ago. And on the top shelf sat a small dagger.
Black hilt, blood-red gem.
Selena's pulse spiked. "That's… one of the original Thornblades."
Eira hesitated, staring at it.
"Don't," Selena warned.
But Eira's hand moved anyway, almost as if on its own.
The moment her fingers touched the hilt, the gem flared to life, a sickly crimson glow that bathed the room in blood-colored light. The mark on Eira's wrist answered, shimmering faintly.
Selena lunged, snatching the blade and hurling it out the broken window. It disappeared into the overgrown grass.
"No relics," she snapped. "We're done with them."
Eira's face was pale, eyes wide. "It called to me. I could hear it."
Selena felt dread coil in her stomach. "Then we were right to come back."
---
That Night
Neither of them could sleep.
Selena paced the floor of Eira's bedroom while Eira sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the wall.
"Tell me what you saw last night," Selena said.
Eira shuddered. "It wasn't a dream. I was in a chamber — stone walls, blood on the floor. Candles everywhere. And these women… their faces were twisted. Thorns in their hair, white eyes. They surrounded me. They said my blood was ancient, that the society never truly dies as long as the bloodline endures. That every queen leaves a seed."
Selena's throat tightened. "Lilith said something like that once."
Eira met her gaze. "They told me the society isn't dead. It's waiting. And that if I don't take my place… they'll claim someone else. Someone worse."
Selena crossed the room, kneeling in front of her. "They're liars. They always were. It's how they kept girls in line for generations. You don't owe them anything."
"But what if they're right?" Eira's voice broke. "What if no matter what I do, someone will rise and start it over again?"
Selena was silent for a long time. Then: "Then we burn it to the ground. Not just the book. The whole damn history. Names, relics, symbols — everything. We wipe it clean. And if anyone tries to start it up again, we end them."
Eira gave a small, broken laugh. "You sound like a queen."
"Guess I picked up a few things.