VIVIAN
The sunlight spilled through the curtains of our room, casting a golden glow across the bed. The warmth of his presence grounded me, but I couldn’t ignore the restless energy coursing through me. I had work to do—work that could change everything for us.
After breakfast in our room and a quick shower, I laced my fingers through his and tugged him toward the hallway. “Come on,” I said, unable to suppress the grin tugging at my lips.
He cocked an eyebrow. “What are you up to now?”
“You’ll see,” I teased, leading him toward my old bedroom. It felt like a lifetime ago since I’d set foot in here, yet the room was just as I’d left it. The familiarity bolstered my confidence.
“Sit,” I instructed, gesturing toward the chair in front of my computer.
He complied, though his skeptical expression remained.
My fingers flew over the keyboard. The familiar interface of NexusCore lit up the screen, and my heart raced as I opened the program I’d spent countless sleepless nights perfecting.
“All right, Raffaele,” I began, turning to face him. “This is NexusCore, the program I’ve been working on for months. It’sdesigned to connect human technology to magical artifacts—like the Mirror of Truths.”
He tilted his head, the corner of his mouth twitching in what I could only describe as reluctant interest. “I don’t understand a fucking thing you just said. But it sounds sexy coming from your mouth.”
I laughed and swatted his shoulder. “Focus, Shadow. What this means is that I can force the Mirror of Truths to show me what I want to see—not just what it wants me to see.”
His eyes widened, and for a moment, he was completely still. Then, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You think you can really do that?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
I’d spent weeks experimenting, splicing lines of code and embedding magical receptivity into my software. I’d hacked my computer’s Bluetooth receiver to scan not just for digital frequencies, but for magical signatures—shifts in energy that most people wouldn’t know to look for. It wasn’t perfect, but NexusCore could now pick up pulses from enchanted objects, reading them like data packets. The mirror had a hum to it, a subtle magical current that buzzed like static in the room, and my system was finally attuned enough to sync with that signal. That’s what made this moment possible.
I turned back to the computer, my hands trembling slightly as I typed in a series of commands. This had to work.
Finally, I picked up the Mirror of Truths. I had avoided looking into it directly for so long, knowing the revelations it offered could be as painful as they were enlightening. But now, with NexusCore linked to the artifact, I was ready to face it.
Holding the mirror in both hands, I stared into its depths. The swirling mist within it began to shift, its movements aligning with the code streaming across the computer screen.My heart thundered as I whispered, “Show me what I want to see.”
I took a steadying breath and tightened my grip.
The mist parted, and an image began to form. I saw myself and Raffaele, hand in hand, walking purposefully through the halls of the estate. We passed through the library, a place I’d been countless times, and into a smaller, more secluded room I recognized as Raffaele’s private collection. The air around the image seemed charged as I watched him approach a bookshelf in the corner. He touched its edge, and to my astonishment, the shelf opened like a door, revealing a hidden passage.
Beyond the threshold, the vision sharpened to show a wall etched with ancient, glowing runes. The sight felt both foreign and familiar, like something out of a dream I couldn’t quite remember. The image lingered for a heartbeat longer, then dissolved into swirling mist.
I gasped, the mirror slipping from my fingers and landing in my lap with a muted clink. My chest heaved as I tried to catch my breath, my mind racing to process what I’d just seen.
“Vivian?” Raffaele’s voice broke through the haze, his hands gripping my shoulders firmly. He knelt in front of me, his dark eyes searching mine, his concern radiating through the bond. “Are you okay? What did you see?”
“It worked,” I whispered, the words spilling out in a rush. “It actually fucking worked, Raffaele!”
His grip tightened slightly, his voice steady but edged with urgency. “What worked? What did the mirror show you?”
“It showed me…” I took a shaky breath, trying to slow my racing heart. “It showed us walking through the estate. We went to your private library. There’s a hidden passage behind one of the bookshelves, and it leads to a chamber deep beneath the estate.”
“A chamber?” he repeated, his brows furrowing. “I’ve lived here my entire life. I would’ve known about something like that.”
I shook my head. “You wouldn’t have. That’s why you’ve never been able to find the object your father’s soul is bound to. It’s hidden there, behind layers of powerful magic.”
He exhaled sharply, his jaw tightening as he processed my words. “What’s in the chamber? Did the mirror show you what the object is?”
“No.” I bit my lip. “It didn’t show me that. But I know it’s there. I felt it, Raffaele.”
He stood abruptly, pacing the room like a caged animal, the intensity of his emotions flooding through the bond. “If this is true… if it’s there…” He stopped, turning to face me, his expression a mix of determination and caution. “Then we have to go. We can’t waste any time.”
