Chapter 19
Etan
The mirror storm was beautiful.
Every shard spun slow enough for me to catch glimpses, a sliver of Jess’s face here, the curl of her hair there, the flicker of panic in her eyes when she thought she’d lost sight of me. The air smelled like lightning and dust, the kind that clings to your tongue and makes your chest feel alive.
I could hear her voice through the glass, reading the words she thought would send me back. Clever girl.
But she didn’t understand. This wasn’t just about winning or losing. This was about staying.
The Mirror Realm had no taste, no heat, no noise except the ones you made yourself.
It was a hollow echo of life. Here, everything hummed.
The thud of footsteps, the scrape of a chair, the murmur of someone breathing just behind you.
Even now, with magic tearing the room apart, I could smell the faint citrus shampoo in Jess’s hair.
I could hear the way her heartbeat stuttered when our eyes met in the glass.
I let my reflection multiply in the shards, stepping through one, then another, until I was everywhere she turned.
“Why fight me?” I asked, my voice slipping into her left ear from one shard, her right from another.
“You’ve seen what I can do. You’ve felt what it’s like to have someone choose you, without hesitation. ”
She gritted her teeth, tightening her grip on that ridiculous flamingo mirror like it was a weapon.
“You think you’re protecting Nate,” I said, circling her in a hundred perfect copies. “But I am Nate now. Better. I’m not awkward, I’m not afraid, and I’m not going to waste years working up the courage to ask you out. I want you now.”
The magic surged, pulling at the edges of my form, tugging me toward the thin, cold place between worlds. My grin faltered for a heartbeat. I hated the way it felt, that emptiness trying to swallow me.
I slammed a hand against the nearest shard. It rippled under my palm.
“I’m not going back,” I said, the words vibrating through every reflection. “Not when this world tastes like fire and salt and you.”
One of my reflections leaned closer to her through the glass, so close our foreheads almost touched. “You can’t send me back if you’re not sure you want to.”
Then I could see it, that flash of doubt in her eyes.
The storm spun faster, but I wasn’t letting go. I wasn’t ready to lose her.