"Are you done?!"
Cole's composure finally cracked. The mask fell away, and so did his patience.
"The three of us have empires to run. We don't have time to stand here and indulge your breakdown!"
He let out a cold scoff and stormed off.
Finn shook his head and followed right behind.
Malcolm, my twin, reached out and patted my head. The gesture was impossibly gentle. His words were not.
"Stop acting crazy. Got it?"
The hall fell quiet. I sat there, turning Malcolm's words over in my mind.
Was he worried about me, or was he worried the transmigrator would never come back?
The answer was obvious enough.
"It's okay," I murmured, my eyes hollow and unfocused. "I'll manage to die eventually..."
I dragged my feet, pain ground into every bone, stumbling step after step toward Cole's study.
My hands shook as I opened the computer.
I pulled up the security footage from the villa, timestamped to the periods I'd been "unconscious."
And there she was, on the living room feed. The same body as mine, but a completely different person wearing it.
A chill crawled up from the soles of my feet.
My brothers and Miriam.
From outright rejection and disgust, to tenderness and doting.
From snapping "Miriam! Get out of our sister's body!" to "Miri, please don't leave us, okay?"
Tears struck the keyboard one by one. My rigid fingers moved again.
I clicked on the study's camera feed.
"Cole, I feel guilty," Finn said, clutching fistfuls of his own hair, his head bowed in anguish.
"Lorna is our real sister. But now, in my heart, Miri already matters more than she does..."
Malcolm sighed in agreement.
"Yeah. It's not just you. I feel the same way."
"Lorna and I are twins. But I haven't thought about her in a long time. I even hope Miri stays forever."
Cole took a deep drag of his cigarette, his brow knotted tight.
After a long silence, his Adam's apple bobbed, and what came out was hoarse and utterly devoid of warmth.
"You think I'm any different?"
My breath seized.
Something behind my eyes collapsed and fell into a place it would never come back from.
On the footage, Miriam appeared.
Her face was pale and frail.
"Cole, Finn, Malcolm. Lorna might be about to take back control..."
All three shot to their feet, panic flooding their faces.
"What?! How is it happening so fast? Isn't there any way to suppress her?!"
Miriam leaned into Cole's arms.