Chapter 24 · Shattered Mirror

"Don't touch the mirror." Eve caught my wrist before my fingers reached the cracked glass.

Her grip was tight. Warm. Too warm for someone who had spent the last hour insisting she felt nothing.

I looked from her hand to the mirror. "That warning would've been more useful before I walked into the room."

"You weren't supposed to walk in."

"Funny. The door was unlocked."

"It was locked."

"Then your lock is as useless as your lies."

Her thumb pressed against the inside of my wrist. The blood-contract scar there burned under her touch, a thin black line twisting toward my palm. Eve felt it. Her eyes dropped to the mark, and for half a second, the hard broker mask slipped.

Fear. Real fear.

Then she let go.

I grabbed her before she could step away and shoved her against the wall beside the mirror. Not hard enough to hurt her. Hard enough to make the point.

Her shoulder hit plaster. Her breath caught. Mine did too, because suddenly we were close enough for me to feel the heat coming off her skin.

"Try that again," she said quietly, "and I'll break your nose."

"You can try."

"Cole.