But it was wrong. Too still, like a photograph waiting to be developed. The colors were muted, washed in a faint grey, and the air leaking through the glass carried no scent at all, no trace of her orange-scented perfume, no warmth from the sun that should’ve been streaming through the curtains.
I pressed my palm to the glass. It was warm under my skin, and for one dizzy second, I felt the barrier loosen, like leaning against a door that suddenly gives.
Then Jess looked up.
She saw me.
Her expression didn’t light with relief. Her eyes were silver, liquid and unreadable. Her mouth curved into a smile that stretched just a fraction past where it should.
She leaned forward until her lips almost touched the glass.
“Stay with me,” she whispered.
The words sank into my bones like a command.
The glass went ice-cold. Frost spiderwebbed out from under my hand, locking me in place for a heartbeat before I jerked back.
When I blinked, the bedroom was gone. The mirror reflected only empty darkness and my own pale, shaken face. The street around me felt tighter now, the shadows leaning in, and I knew, the Realm wanted me to stay.
The darkness swallowed the bedroom, and the street closed in.
Chapter 17
Jess
That night’s unease hadn’t faded by morning. It clung to me like static, the kind you can’t see but can feel crackling just under your skin.
I’d dreamt of Nate. Not the half-smiles or the quiet way he always set his pencil down when I spoke to him, but him trapped in that glass again, banging on the inside until his hands went red. I’d woken with the taste of panic still in my mouth.
The ache of not knowing where he was sat heavy in my chest. I’d seen him last night, and yet it felt like he’d been gone for years. My brain kept replaying the way Etan’s arm had pulled him backward into the shadows.
I pushed out of bed and headed downstairs, thinking maybe caffeine would at least clear the fog. The smell of burnt toast met me halfway down the stairs, followed by the sight of my mother standing in front of the coffee maker, frowning like it had personally betrayed her.
“Morning,” I mumbled, still rubbing sleep from my eyes. “You okay?”
“It’s not working,” she muttered, jabbing the power button with the stubborn precision of someone expecting it to give in eventually. “The one time I want coffee instead of tea…”
Guilt pinched hard in my gut. I’d broken it yesterday in a glitter-coffee explosion while trying to shortcut my way to caffeine.
“Uh… Maybe the universe is saying you should stick to tea,” I offered weakly.
She gave me the patented Mom Look, the one that could boil water faster than a kettle and went back to glaring at the machine.
I backed slowly toward the hallway, deciding that coffee wasn’t worth a second magical appliance homicide, and that maybe my day was going to be caffeine-free whether I liked it or not.
Raven swooped down from the curtain rod, landing on the back of a chair. “Three days left. Are you planning to actually do something about our mirror problem today?”
“Yes,” I said, grabbing my bag. “Step one: find Etan. Step two: figure out the fastest way to shove him back where he belongs before Nate—” I cut myself off before saying the ‘fades out completely’ part.
My phone buzzed.
Bianca: Meet you at school. No coffee = dangerous Jess, but I’ll risk it. Today, we find a seam. And Etan.
“Today we find him and send him home,” I muttered, shoving my phone into my pocket.
The walk to school was a parade of things I didn’t want to see. Every reflective surface I passed seemed to hold its breath for a half-second longer than it should. In the bakery window, my reflection blinked slower than I did. In the chrome bumper of a parked car, a faint silver glint flickered behind my shoulder and was gone.
By the time I rounded the corner outside the gym, my pulse was already pounding like I’d been running.
