“Damn you, Victor,” she said. And she could see by the way his hand curled over the door handle that he had expected this answer. Resigned himself to a fate without her. He wasn’t angry about it, like she was. And that’s what softened the hardness of her heart. “Ask me again tomorrow.”
Victor stopped, hand against the door. Hopeful. “And you’ll say yes?”
“Just ask me again,” Selene said.
Chapter 28
She stood on the stone platform, wishing she’d worn a cloak to stave off the chill. This dress was not made for lake rides and cold stone. It was made for hot stage lights and rooftop rendezvous. It was made for some other girl. She ran the lock of Victor’s hair between her fingers, still tucked in her pocket. It was soft against her skin. It smelled like the sea and pitch and burst pomegranates.
“Please work.”
She needed this. Selene put her hand against the mirror. Blood ran from her index finger.
The mirror gave way.
Relief cleansed her more than the swallowing dark. She kept her eyes closed, waiting for her body to orient.
The ghost’s smile was a rose coming into bloom. She felt it beneath her skin, rippling through her like an exquisite bass line.
“You found something,” he said, the relief visible in the slope of his shoulders and the widening of his smile.
“I did.” Selene reached into her pocket and took out the lock of hair. She presented it like the strange and precious thing itwas.
His pale eyes drew up in surprise. “What is that?”
“My past,” Selene said, like she meant it. If she said it enough times, it would be true.
The ghost shook his head. He looked her up and down, as if to assess what else she had to offer. There was a glimmer of fear in his eyes. “There’s no magic in that.”
“But I came through the mirror.” Selene didn’t like the way he looked at her, like searching for something terrible. She could sense the shift in him. The darkness sensed it as well. The tendrils of black spun closer, ready to take.
“Then you must have something,” the ghost said, desperation clinging to his voice. “A fragment of what was.”
“What happens if I don’t give you what you asked for?” Panic rose like bile in Selene’s throat. What did she have to give?
The ghost pressed his head into his hand, mussing his dark hair. “You’ll be consumed.”
The dark seemed to lean in, closer and closer, hungrier for her than they were for what she brought. The ghost’s face was a mask of pain, enough to remake this whole world. He reached out his hand to her. She couldn’t touch him; she mustn’t touch him. But if this was the last thing she would ever do, would it be so bad to end it with her hand in his?
Forcing the thoughts from her head, she strengthened her resolve. She wouldn’t let it end like this. She hadn’t come all this way to be swallowed by the living dark in the mirror. She reached into her pockets, pulling out the pin, a pen, and her father’s pocket watch. Hoping against hope, she held out the collection of offerings.
The ghost took a step toward her. His hand stopped reaching, hovering over her palm. She took that as a good sign. There was something here. She imagined the magic was heat, warming his hand like a candle flame. His eyes lit with recognition. “This one.”
“Wait—” Selene gripped the chain of her father’s watch tightly. “It’s all I have left of him.”
The ghost pulled his hand back. He looked at her like she was the moon and he’d do anything to keep her from waning. Determined and deeply sad, facing down an inevitability. “Go, then. I’ll do what I can to hold off the dark. Quickly, before you lose the choice.”
“What?” Selene hadn’t expected this.
“If it’s all you have, leave.” The ghost wasn’t being cruel, even though Selene felt the slice of guilt. He knew how much this mattered to her. He’d help her find a way out. At any cost.
Selene wrapped her fingers around the watch. Already the darkness roiled around them. “And what happens to you?”
The ghost’s smile was not a smile at all, but a sweet misery. “I’ll let the dark have me.”
Selene closed her eyes. She couldn’t let him pay that price. He deserved so much more than this endless prison. And she couldn’t take the thought of never seeing him again. “I can’t do that to you.”
She didn’t want to lose this last part of her father. But she didn’t know what else she had to give. She tucked her measly treasures back into her pockets. She ran her thumb over the silver nightingale one last time. Wound up the clock and listened to the metronome inside.
