Chapter 30 · Mirror Trap

"Get the hell away from me!"

Lyra screamed, scrambling backward until her spine slammed into the damp corridor wall.

Cain stood five feet away. He looked frozen. But this wasn't the Cain she'd spent weeks fighting. No jagged scar through the left eyebrow. No grit. This version was polished. Perfect. Like a statue carved from ice and arrogance.

"Why are you running, Lyra?"

His voice was a mirror image—that same low, gravelly vibration—but the bite was gone. It sounded... inviting.

"I'm here to take you home. To your brother."

Lyra's breath hitched. "You're not him. You're an Echo. A glitch in this ruin."

"Am I?" The Echo stepped closer, boots clicking rhythmically on the metal. "Or am I the version of him that actually cares if you live or die? The Enforcer you're with is a monster, Lyra. He doesn't want to save Leo. He wants the core in your chest. He wants to carve it out and climb the ranks with your blood on his boots."

"Shut up!"

Lyra's palms flared with flickering gold light. The star-core in her chest pulsed, sending a wave of heat through her veins. "I know he's an asshole, but you...