Aaron’s POVCeleste smiled at Mirabel the way a cat smiles at a bird that has landed too close.“You look old,” she said. “I was expecting a young lady.”“Well, I remember you looking younger,” Mirabel said. Her voice shook, but it did not break. “Where has it gone, Celeste?”Celeste’s hand rose toward her hair. It was a quick, small movement, and she stopped it halfway. But I saw it. A silver strand lay across her temple, bright as wire, and there was another beside it now. Her smile stayed, but something behind it went tight.Mirabel did not look at me. She spoke very low, from the corner of her mouth.“She wears a skin of dark around her body. Your steel will slide off it. When I cut it, you must not wait. You must not think. Strike once, and strike true.”“And you?”“I will be busy.”She lifted both hands. Silver light crept up between her fingers, thin as thread. It looked like nothing. It looked like something a stron
Last Updated : 2026-11-05
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