A sudden gust rattled the shop door, even though the air around us was dead still. The flamingo mirror’s surface shimmered once, like something had brushed it from the other side.
The mirror shimmered again. This time the image was so sharp I could smell it — the stale, metallic cold from when Etan had first stepped out of my bedroom mirror. Down the center of the glass, a hairline crack spiderwebbed, and for just a second, something pale and hand-shaped pressed against the inside.
“Great,” I muttered. “Now it’s cracking.”
Raven twisted on my shoulder to get a look and let out a low caw. “I’ll check it properly when we get home, sooner if you stop dawdling.”
By the time we looped back to my street, I’d counted at least five thin spots where reflections bent, lagged, or stared back like they knew we were watching.
Bianca blew hair out of her face. “So, good news, we’re basically living in a magical cul-de-sac full of creepy portals.”
Raven gave a dry squawk. “That’s Hallowell Bay for you. Built on a knot of ley lines, settled by three different witch covens who couldn’t agree on a name, let alone a territory. Centuries of overlapping spells have worn the veil thin in more places than most towns have streetlamps.”
“And the bad news?” I asked.
“The creepy portals are looking at us like we’re the main course.”
Raven ruffled his feathers, scanning the street. “Right. You’ve seen where the hotspots are now. I know there’s another one at the school, in the auditorium, big mirror near the stage. But listen to me — seams are dangerous. The two realms rub together at those points, and the more they rub, the thinner the barrier gets. Keep poking at them and you’re not just going to get Etan, you’ll get anything else that feels like crossing over.”
I glanced down at the mirror in my hands. The crack was still there, faint but pulsing like a heartbeat.
Raven hopped down to the sidewalk, claws clicking on the cobblestones. The mirror’s surface caught the streetlamps and turned them into a crown of light around something pale, just behind my reflection. When I blinked, it was gone. But the crack in the glass pulsed again. This time, I could swear something on the other side pulsed back.
Chapter 12
Jess
By the time we made it back to my street, my pulse was still skittering from what we’d just seen; the shimmer in the gym windows and that feeling of being watched.
Bianca glanced back at me, then at Raven. “I’ll go on ahead with him. You coming?”
I shook my head. “I need a minute. Fresh air.”
They traded a look I pretended not to see and kept walking toward my house, their voices fading into the hum of cicadas.
The quiet was a relief. For about ten seconds.
A shadow detached itself from the fence across the street.
Etan.
“You’re jumpy,” he said, stepping into my path like he’d been waiting for me.
“Gee, I wonder why,” I muttered, trying to sidestep him.
He moved with me. Not stopping me exactly, but close enough that I had to tilt my chin up to keep eye contact.
“You can keep fighting me, Jess, but it’s pointless.” His voice was low, almost conversational.
I narrowed my eyes. “You don’t get to tell me what’s pointless.”
A small smile tugged at his mouth, but something predatory. “You’re going to fall in love with me. You know that, right?”
I laughed, but it sounded thin, even to me. “Not happening.”
“Oh, it will.” His gaze didn’t waver. “Nate was already in love with you. Every second he spent wanting you and being too afraid to act. Every private moment in his bed, keeping his hand busy all whilst thinking of you… I remember it. I feel it. That’s why I can’t stop thinking about you. Why I don’t want anyone else.”
My chest tightened not from belief, but from the rush of heat in my pulse, traitorous and sharp. “You’re not him.”
