His gaze moved over me, checking for blood, bruising, the signs of pain. When he didn't find anything, his eyes came back to mine.
"What did it show you?" he asked.
I looked at Keegan, and the decision I’d been avoiding pressed in on my ribs.
Once I spoke the truth, that made it feel more real.
But if I didn’t tell him, I wasn’t sure I could carry it alone.
My chest tightened.
“I don’t know if I should—”
Keegan's expression didn't shift into impatience. It softened into something that made my throat close.
"Maeve," he said quietly, "whatever it is …you don't have to hold it by yourself."
I stared at him for a beat too long and finally exhaled.
"It showed the library," I said, voice low. "The way it did when I first came down here. Only this time, it felt different. The hope and curiosity had been replaced with…dread and fear. It was the same, yet so different…so very strange and dark. The poor book sprites, they—" I stopped myself. “They were frightened.”
Keegan's eyes narrowed as he focused on what I was trying to say.
"And then," I continued, "she was there."
His posture went very still.
"The Priestess," I whispered.
“In the library?” he asked, and the way he said it made it clear he understood the implication: she shouldn’t be able to access that place. Not without the Academy allowing it, or something in the magical world drastically changing.
“Yes. She was walking the aisles as if she belonged and had done it many times before. She touched the spines. She snapped at the book sprites. It was horrible.”
My stomach knotted again just remembering her, that elegant disdain, and the casual possession she embodied.
"I feel sick.”
Keegan's gaze flicked to the mirror. He didn't step toward it, but something in him went rigid.
"And then?" he asked.
"And then I saw myself." My voice trailed off as a shiver ran through me.
Keegan blinked. "You.”
I nodded. “I was older, not ancient, but older than I am now. I was somewhere I didn’t recognize. There were people, magical folk, but none of them were anyone I knew. Not Bella, not Nova, not Ardetia, not… anyone. It felt cold…dark. I know where it showed me.”
He didn’t say anything. He knew too.
“The worst part was that it felt like I belonged.”
My lungs tightened again, and I fought for the next breath.
Keegan’s eyes darkened, but his gaze held mine, and then he held me.
"You're sure of what you saw?" he asked.
I let out a short, humorless laugh.
