Chapter 16 · You’re afraid of me

She looked away.

"No."

"You’re afraid of me."

"You’re inside my body. Of course I’m afraid of you."

"And yet you keep saving me."

"You keep making yourself useful."

"That sounded almost kind."

"Don’t get excited."

His reflection stepped closer, though Sylvia didn’t move. The figure in the mirror stopped just behind her shoulder.

She felt heat along the back of her neck.

"Cassian."

"Say my name again."

"Back off."

"You’re the one who brought me this close."

She turned. Nothing stood behind her. Only the table, the drawers, and the blue pulse under the floor.

A laugh brushed the inside of her skull.

"You’re enjoying this," she said.

"I’m enjoying watching you pretend you don’t feel anything."

"I feel a knife in my chest every time you speak."

"That isn’t what I meant."

"Then be clearer. You’re terrible at being human."

"I was never human."

The next strike on the door broke the final hinge.

Sylvia snatched up the stolen notes and threw herself toward the table. "Which rune?"

"The one that doesn’t glow."

"They all glow."

"Not to me."

"That’s very helpful."

"Bottom left. The crooked line.