"Nobody tells you what happens when you get power you never asked for," Seth says quietly. "How suddenly everyone has opinions about whatyou should do with it. Who you should trust. How you should feel about everything."
He's right—everyone does have opinions. About my magic, my choices, whether I'm safe. Even when they mean well, it feels like drowning in other people's certainty about my life. But he gets it.
"Exactly." The word comes out like a breath I didn't know I was holding. "Sometimes I just want to make one normal decision without everyone analyzing it for hidden dangers."
Seth takes a step closer, slow and unthreatening. "Must be hard, learning to trust yourself when everyone else thinks they know better."
That's when I notice something weird. The mist that's been swirling around my feet since I left the house suddenly goes completely still. Not pulling away from Seth, not reaching toward him either. Just... stopping. Like it's holding its breath.
I glance down, puzzled by the sudden calm, but Seth's voice draws my attention back.
"What's that?" he asks, nodding at my pocket where the mirror's outline shows.
"Just some old mirror. Probably fell out of someone's stuff." I pull it out, turning the creepy frame over in my hands. Under the moonlight, those twisted horn-things look even worse. "Found it buried under the vines."
Seth stares at it way longer than seems normal. Something shifts in his expression—like he recognizes it.
"That's a dangerous thing to find in a place like this."
"It's just a mirror."
"Is it?" His voice goes oddly casual. Too casual. "Not everything that shows you a reflection tells you the truth. Some mirrors show you what you want to see. Others show you what someone else wants you to see."
The mist around my feet flickers, going dim like a candle in the wind.
Ice runs down my spine. There's something in the way he says it—like he knows exactly what this thing is and what it does.
"What do you mean by that?"
Seth glances toward the tree line for just a second—quick, like he's checking something. When he looks back, his expression is perfectly pleasant again.
"Just old stories. Places like this, they collect things. Not all of them friendly."
But before he can answer, the sanctuary door slams open with enough force to echo across the garden.
Theo bursts out, breathless and wild-eyed, scanning the darkness until his gaze locks onto us. Something passes across his face—relief, then recognition, then pure alarm.
He's running before I can call out to him, feet pounding across the gravel path.
"Get away from her!" he shouts, voice cracking with urgency.
I stumble backward, startled by the raw panic in his voice. Seth raises his hands, stepping back with calm surprise, but Theo doesn't slow down.
He reaches us in seconds, putting himself between me and Seth with protective fury written across every line of his body.
"Theo, what—"
"Don't," he says, not taking his eyes off Seth. "Something's wrong. I saw—" He swallows hard, chest heaving. "I had a vision. You're in danger."
My heart pounds against my ribs, adrenaline flooding my system as I look between them. Seth's expression is carefully neutral, confused but not angry. Theo's is desperate, certain, afraid.
And in my pocket, the mirror feels suddenly, impossibly heavy.
Like it's been waiting for this moment all along.
Chapter 43
Theo
