We drop.
Not fall. Drop. Like the floor was never there.
Air rushes up. Cold. Wet. Smells like copper.
I hit ground first. Knees, palms, chin. Blood in my mouth. Again.
Kael lands next to me. Quiet. No grunt. No curse.
He's better at falling.
"Up," he says.
I look up.
Azrael stands at the edge of the hole. Thirty feet above.
Smiling.
He doesn't jump.
He steps off.
Floats down. Slow. Like he owns gravity.
He lands without sound.
Behind him, six shapes.
Not shadows. Solid.
Masks. All of them. Different colors.
White. Red. Black. Gold. Green. Blue.
The seventh has no mask. No face. Just a hole.
"Brothers," Kael says. Voice flat. "And sisters."
"You brought a pet," says Red Mask. Female voice. Amused. "Brother always did like strays."
"She's not a pet." Kael steps in front of me. Chain glows between us. "She's bound."
"To you?" Blue Mask laughs. Male. Young. "That's worse than death."
"To me," I say.
They all look.
Really look.
Gold Mask tilts its head. "She spoke his name."
"The old one," says Green Mask. "Vorlag."
The air gets heavy.
"Heard it all the way down," says Black Mask. No gender to that voice. Just deep. "Woke me up."
"Sorry," I say.
"No, you're not." Red Mask steps forward.
The chain in my hand burns. Warning me.
"Seven of you," I say. "One of him. One of me."
"Two of you," says the one with no face.
Its voice is mine.
Exactly mine.
I flinch.
"Mirrors," Kael mutters. "Don't listen."
"What is it?"
"What you'd be." No-Face takes a step. "If you let him eat you."
"You're lying."
"Am I?" It smiles with my mouth. "Half-dead girls don't live long. They become doors."
"Doors to what?"
"To us."
All seven point at me.
Azrael just watches.
"You named me," he says. "That was the key."
"Key to what?"
"The house." He gestures around.
I look.
We're not in a room.
We're in a cage.
Bars on all sides. Floor to ceiling.
And the lock?
It's my mark. Glowing. On my chest.
"Welcome home, little thief," Azrael says.
"Welcome home," the other six echo.
Kael grabs my hand.
"Run," he says.
"There's nowhere—"
The floor opens.
We drop again.
We hit water.
Not deep. Ankle-deep. Black and still.
The splash doesn't echo. The cage is gone. The hole above is gone.
Just dark. And water. And us.
Kael's hand is still locked on mine. The chain between us hums.
"Where are we?" I whisper.
"Under," he says.
"Under what?"
"The house."
The water moves.
Not ripples. Something under it. Big. Circling.
"Don't let go," Kael says.
"Wasn't planning to."
A light flickers ahead. Gold. Small. Like a candle.
It bobs closer.
It's Gold Mask. Floating. No body. Just the mask and a flame inside it.
"Lost?" it says. Voice kind. Too kind.
"No," I lie.
"You are." It drifts near. "This is the cellar. Where he keeps the ones that break."
"He?"
"Azrael. Vorlag. The name changes. The hunger doesn't."
The water gets colder.
"What breaks them?" I ask.
"Hope." Gold Mask tilts. "Or love. Same thing."
Kael pulls me back. "Don't."
"Don't what?" I say. "Talk?"
"Listen." His eyes are hard. "Gold lies with truth. That's how it cuts."
"Am I lying?" Gold Mask sounds hurt. "Little thief, ask your brother. Ask him how many he's brought down here."
"I don't—"
"Six," Kael says. Flat. "Before
I look at Kael.
He's not looking at me. He's looking at the water. At his hands. Empty.
The chain is gone.
I should feel empty too. I don't.
I feel angry.
"Neither," I say.
Azrael blinks. "What?"
"I said neither." Water laps at my chin. "I don't choose your doors. I don't drown."
"You have to." No-Face tilts. "Those are the rules."
"Whose rules?"
"His." All six point at Azrael.
"I don't play by his rules." I tread water. "I make mine."
"Little thief thinks she's—" Red Mask starts.
"Don't." Kael's voice cuts her off. Quiet. But it works. She shuts up.
He looks up at me. Finally.
"You feel that?" he asks.
"Feel what?"
"The empty."
I do. Where the chain was. A hole.
"Yeah."
"Good." He nods once. "That means it was real."
"Was?"
"Bound things don't snap. They transfer." He points at my chest. The mark. "To there."
I look down. The mark is brighter. And it's moving. Shifting.
Forming links.
A chain. On my skin.
"It's mine now," I say.
"It was always yours," Kael says. "I was just holding it."
Azrael's smile drops.
"That's not possible," he says.
"Says who?" I grin. It feels sharp. "Your rules?"
The water starts to drain.
Fast.
Revealing the floor. Stone. Carved with doors. All of them. My mark on every one.
"You made all these," White Mask whispers.
"Looks like it."
"How?"
I shrug. Water runs off me. "I'm good at stealing."
"Stealing what?"
"Anything." I step forward. The masks drift back. "Names. Keys. Chains."
I stop in front of Azrael.
"Brothers," I say. To the masks. "And sisters."
They wait.
"You want me to pick a door?"
They nod.
"Fine." I point at Azrael. "I pick him."
Azrael frowns. "What?"
"You said I become a door. You eat me. I become you." I tap my chest. "So I'm stealing you first."
"You can't—"
"Watch me."
I grab his wrist.
The mark burns. The chain on my skin moves. It slides off me. Into him.
He gasps.
Actual pain. For the first time.
"What did you—"
"Binding you," I say. "To me."
The six masks recoil.
"She can't do that," Green Mask hisses.
"She is," Blue Mask says. Awed.
Kael just watches. A ghost of a smile.
"Stop," Azrael snarls. Tries to pull away.
Can't. The chain holds.
"You named me," I say. Using his words. "So I claim you."
"No—"
"Yes." I yank.
He stumbles. Falls to one knee. In front of me.
The cellar goes silent.
The six masks lower. Like they're bowing.
"Brother," No-Face says. To me. Not him.
"What?" Azrael looks up. Furious. Betrayed.
"They choose strength," Kael says. Finally stepping forward. "She just took yours."
"I took nothing," I say. "He offered
We rise through the floor.
Not float. Carried.
By the house.
It recognizes me now.
The cage is gone. The cellar is gone.
We're back in the first room. Where he smiled. Where I named him.
Only it's different.
The walls are doors. All of them. All mine.
Azrael gets dragged up with us. The chain around his wrist is my mark now. He can't break it.
He's learning that.
The six masks follow. Silent. Watching.
We land. Solid ground.
I don't let go of Azrael.
Kael doesn't let go of me.
"Welcome home," I say. To Azrael.
He spits. "This isn't your house."
"Wasn't." I look at the doors. They all click. Unlocking. "Is now."
"Little thief," Red Mask murmurs. "What are you?"
I think about it.
"Half-dead," I say. "Half-gone." I hold up Azrael's chained wrist. "And done running."
"What now?" Kael asks.
Now I have a house. With doors.
And seven brothers.
And one prisoner.
And one choice.
"Now," I say, "we see what's behind door number one."
I turn to the nearest door. My mark glows.
I push it open.
Darkness. But not empty.
Something breathes.
Something big.
And it knows my name.
All of them.
Not the one Kael gave me.
The one before.
The one I forgot.
"Zara," it says.
The name hits like a knife.
I remember.
I remember dying.
I remember choosing.
I remember him.
Kael.
He wasn't holding the chain for me.
I was holding it for him.
So he wouldn't become this.
So he wouldn't become Azrael.
"Zara," Kael says. Voice breaks. First time. "You weren't supposed to remember."
"Too late," I say.
Azrael laughs. Weak. But real. "Brother. Sister. Same thing. Same end."
"No." I step through the door. Dragging him with me. "New end."
Kael follows.
The six masks follow.
The door slams shut behind us.