My breath misted in front of me and goose bumps crawled up my arms.
What the?—
The lights flickered, and a man appeared in the mirror behind me. His eyes were covered by a white blindfold, and his dark hair floated around his shoulders in a phantom breeze.
I was frozen. Unable to look over my shoulder as he approached. His reflection glided closer, his bare torso gleaming as if his skin were made of a billion diamonds.
He reached for me, and a scream bubbled up my throat.
I didn’t want him to touch me.
I had to move.
I had to?—
A door slammed.
The lights flickered again, and the man in the mirror was replaced by Clary.
“Ana?” She hurried toward me. “Ana, are you okay?”
A squeak fell from my lips—the remnant of the scream that had gathered there a moment ago.
Clary put her arm around me and drew me away from the mirror and toward the bench. “Sit. You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Like, a nasty evil ghost, not the Pip and his team kind.”
I took a shuddering breath. “There was a man here. I saw him in the mirror.” I described what I’d seen. “He was going to touch me.” I sounded crazy, but there was no disbelief on Clary’s face. “You don’t look surprised.”
“Well, you’re not the first to see stuff in the mirrors,” Clary said. “There have been rumors of specters living in the glass for decades. It’s kind of a boast to say you’ve seen one.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “But I’m sure most students make stuff up.”
She made it sound so innocuous. “I’m not making this up.”
“Oh, I believe you.” There was a heaviness in her tone that pulled me out of my own head.
“Haveyouseen one?”
She smiled wryly. “No, it’s not like that for me. I…” She sighed. “Sometimes when I look in the mirror, I’m certain it’s not my reflection looking back at me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like…it’s my face, but it’s not me.” She puffed out her cheeks and blew out a breath. “Okay, so I had a sister. A twin. She died before I came here, and sometimes… Sometimes I think I see her looking at me from the mirror.” She let out an awkward laugh. “I know, it sounds crazy.”
It sounded creepy. “How did she die? I mean, if you don’t mind me asking.”
She shook her head. “It’s fine. It was a carriage accident.”
“I’m so sorry.”
She smiled sadly. “Yeah, me too. Raina was a force of nature. It’s hard to believe she could be snuffed out so easily. You know, we might have been identical in looks, but we were very different in personality. She was the smart, confident one who could light up a room with her presence, and her connection to the Weave was astounding. I used to be jealous of her sometimes, but it was impossible not to love her. I mean…she made everyone around her feel special. She should be here with me now.”
“You werebothmeant to come here?”
“Trinity, no. It was meant to be just one of us, but Raina refused to let us be parted. She insisted they send us both, but a month before we were due to come here, she was killed.” She tucked in her chin, fiddling with the leather bracelet on her wrist. “There was a party, and she begged me to go with her, but I was feeling off. My stomach hurt and… Anyway, I said no. So, she went alone and…well, she never came home.” Her tone thickened with emotion. “A wheel came loose on the carriage, and she was thrown from the driver’s seat.”
“Oh…Clary…”
She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. “Raina wasn’t the best driver. I knew that. Maybe if I’d insisted she take Percy, our driver. Maybe if I’d gone with her…” She exhaled heavily. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t wonder how different things might be if I’d gone with her.”
She blamed herself. I could hear it in her voice and see it on her face. “Clary…you do know it wasn’t your fault, right?”
