Colson's team moved fast, using the data pulse to breach a secret Ember facility in the Alps.
Inside: no soldiers. No scientists.
Just a girl.
Seventeen. Ice-blue eyes. Raven hair. Calm as a candle in a storm.
Her name was Elira.
And she wasn't locked up.
She was waiting.
"I knew she'd come," Elira said, her voice soft, unnerving. "Father said she would."
Colson froze. "You mean Lucien?"
Elira nodded.
"He said if she ever survived the burn… she'd be the only one who could kill me."
Back in her cell, Sienna was being moved.
Escorted, restrained—until the lights cut out.
Nico struck fast, silent.
Gunfire. Smoke. Screams.
And Sienna was free.
Outside, the helicopter waited, piloted by Colson.
As they lifted off, Nico handed her a tablet.
A single file opened.
A video.
Lucien, speaking to the camera.
"If you're seeing this, you've discovered your sister. Elira is everything you are—and none of your weakness. She was grown, not born. Trained in silence. Conditioned without mercy."
"She is your successor."
Sienna stared at the screen, stunned.
"She's me," she whispered.
"No," Nico said. "She's the version he wanted."
Colson looked back from the cockpit. "What's the plan?"
Sienna's eyes burned gold.
"We don't fight her."
"We break the mirror."