Chapter 24 Twenty Four

• Sera sat bolt upright, the sheets tangled around her legs like something alive. The room was dim, cast in the blue half-light of early morning, and silent except for the rhythmic thrum of Lucien’s servers humming behind the wall.
• Her chest rose and fell too fast. There had been a dream, a corridor full of mirrors, each one holding a different version of her. One had no mouth. One was bleeding. One had Lucien’s hand pressed over her heart like a brand. And one smiled and said, “You’re the echo, not the voice.”
• She turned and found Lucien still asleep, one arm tossed over his eyes, his body bare above the sheets. Vulnerable. Peaceful. Human.