Page 81 of Haunt Me, Maybe

She raised her hands, palms up, and Fenn advised from the nearby table.

Focus on shape first.

Aven nodded, and after a beat, the first decoy quivered into existence beside her—faint at first. Same messy bun. Same apron. Same silver rings. It blinked, tilted its head exactly the way Aven did when she was thinking, then offered a small, shy smile.

Briony sucked in a breath. “Holy shit. It’s you. It’s actually you.”

Aven opened her eyes. The decoy mirrored the motion flawlessly. She raised one hand, and the decoy copied her. She stepped to the left, and the decoy stepped to the right. A perfect, eerie reflection.

“My control still feels shaky,” she said, voice tight with concentration. “I can hold it for about a minute. Two if I’m lucky.”

Briony leaned so far she nearly slid off the stool. “That’s still insane. Can it talk? Do math? Take my shift for tomorrow so I can go nap on a beach?”

Aven snickered. “Not yet. Maybe never. It’s more an impression than personality.”

“Still cooler than anything I’ve ever done,” Briony said. “And I know what every customer is going to order, even if it’s their first visit.”

Aven grinned at her friend and tried again. The decoy reformed, sharper this time. She walked a slow circle around it, and it spun to match her.

Fenn watched with half-lidded eyes. Better. The edges are much cleaner.

Aven dropped her hands, breathing hard, but Fenn wasn’t done with her yet. He hopped onto the floor and nudged her ankle with his snout.

Now onto the next part. Pulse.

Aven glanced at him. “Pulse?”

Attach your magic to the decoy, he explained. Let it carry a piece of your signature, then release it. Allow the flare to happen freely. The decoy will become a living echo of your power.

“So…I give it a spark and let it burn on its own?”

Precisely.

She closed her eyes again. A thin thread of violet light spun from her palm to the echo’s chest. It sank in like ink to paper. The decoy’s eyes flared brighter for a heartbeat, then dulled.

Aven exhaled. “I think…I think I did it.”

Fenn croaked once in approval.

Release the tether. Let it hold the pulse on its own.

She opened her hands wide, and the violet thread snapped free. For a second, nothing happened. Then, the decoy breathed and a gentle wave of violet light rolled outward from its center, like a lighthouse beacon sweeping once across the room.

The café windows rattled faintly. Briony’s braid lifted on a sudden, warm breeze that smelled like jasmine and ozone.

“Holy hell,” Briony breathed. “I felt that in my teeth.”

Aven’s eyes snapped open and looked at her familiar, but Fenn wasn’t glowing. The café’s aura was strong enough to cover the flare. Which meant Aven should be safe when she left an echo at the spots we’d designated.

Thank God. She stared at the decoy like she couldn’t believe it was hers. The echo smiled, exactly the way Aven did when she was proud but trying not to show it.

Fenn hopped around the decoy slowly, sniffing the air around it.

Stable. Signature intact. Duration…The decoy wavered, already fading. Excellent first attempt.

Aven laughed out loud, and the ribbon on my wrist practically burned with her exhilaration.

“It worked! It actually worked!”