POV: Celeste
The Oracle vanished as suddenly as she'd appeared, leaving only her warning echoing in the darkness.
Changing fate has a price. A price you might not be willing to pay.
The lights flickered back on. The mirrors stopped glowing. Everything returned to normal.
Except nothing was normal anymore.
What did she mean? I asked, my voice shaking. What price?
Lucian stared at the spot where the Oracle had stood. His jaw was tight. I don't know. But we'll find out.
That was three days ago.
Now I stood in Lucian's gallery, cataloging a new sculpture he'd acquired some ancient Greek piece worth more than my old gallery had made in a year. I held a tablet, taking notes on its condition.
And then the world tilted.
One second, I was looking at marble. The next, I was somewhere else.
The lobby. Downstairs. Three days from now based on the date stamp I could somehow see.
A man in an expensive suit walked through the doors. Mr. Chen one of Lucian's business partners. I'd met him twice. Nice guy. Always smiling.
He wasn't smiling now.
He clutched his chest. His face went gray. He stumbled, reaching for the reception desk.
Then he collapsed.
People screamed. Rushed to help. But I could see somehow I could see it was too late. His heart had stopped. He was dying.
The vision shattered.
I gasped and stumbled backward. The tablet slipped from my hands and crashed to the floor, screen shattering.
Celeste!
Lucian was at my side before I could blink. His hands gripped my arms, steadying me.
What happened? His eyes searched my face. You went pale. Are you hurt?
I saw My voice cracked. Mr. Chen. He's going to die. Heart attack. Three days from now in the lobby.
Lucian's expression shifted instantly from concern to focus. You're certain?
I saw it. Just like the mirror visions, but this was different. I wasn't looking in the mirror. I was just standing here and suddenly I could see the future.
What time?
I... I don't know. Morning, I think. He walked through the front doors, clutched his chest, and fell.
Lucian pulled out his phone immediately. Iris, I need Mr. Chen's schedule for the next week.
He listened, then: Cancel everything. Tell him we're implementing mandatory health screenings for all senior partners. Make it sound routine, not urgent. I want him in our medical facility today.
He hung up and looked at me. Sit down. You're shaking.
I was. My whole body trembled like I'd been electrocuted.
Lucian guided me to a bench and sat beside me, close enough that our knees touched.
Breathe, he said quietly. Just breathe.
I saw him die, Lucian. I saw it happen.
I know. But we're going to stop it. His voice was absolutely certain. You saw the future. That means we can change it.
The Oracle said there's a price
I don't care about the price. Lucian's hand found mine, warm and solid. We save him. That's all that matters.
Four hours later, Mr. Chen sat in Lucian's office looking confused and slightly annoyed.
I appreciate the concern, Lucian, but I feel fine. This health screening seems excessive.
Humor me, Lucian said smoothly. Insurance requirements. Everyone gets one.
Mr. Chen sighed but signed the consent forms.
I watched from my desk in the corner, stomach twisted in knots. What if the vision was wrong? What if I'd made this up somehow?
Two hours after that, Lucian's private doctor emerged from the medical suite looking grim.
Mr. Ashcroft, we need to talk.
They spoke in low voices. I saw Mr. Chen's face go from annoyed to shocked to terrified.
Lucian returned to me while doctors wheeled Mr. Chen out on a gurney.
You were right, he said quietly. Massive blockage in his main artery. He would've had a heart attack within days. Fatal. He sat down across from me. You saved his life, Celeste.
The weight of those words hit me. I'd saved someone. With a vision I didn't understand and couldn't control.
What if it happens again? I whispered.
Then we save them too.
But the Oracle
The Oracle can wait. Lucian leaned forward. Right now, you have a gift. A power that can save lives. We'll deal with consequences when they come.
That night, Lucian ordered everyone else to leave early. Just us in the penthouse office, the city glittering below through floor to ceiling windows.
He spread ancient books across his desk texts about Mirror Keepers he'd been researching obsessively.
Your power is awakening, he said, flipping through pages. The mirrors don't just show our soulmates' deaths. They're unlocking something in you. The ability to see death coming for anyone.
I don't want this, I said. My voice came out small and scared. I don't want to see people die.
Lucian looked up. For the first time since I'd met him, his expression was purely gentle.
I know, he said softly.
He stood and came around the desk. Sat beside me on the couch, close enough that I could feel his warmth.
His hand covered mine where it rested on my knee.
But we'll figure it out together, he promised.
The touch sent warmth flooding through my entire body. Not the explosive silver power from before. Something quieter. Deeper.
Connection.
Why don't you ever pull away? I asked. Everyone else is scared of me now. The staff whispers. They think I'm dangerous.
You are dangerous, Lucian said. A smile tugged at his lips. But not to me.
How do you know?
Because the mirror showed me something else. Something I haven't told you yet.
My heart skipped. What?
Lucian's thumb traced circles on the back of my hand. The gesture was absent, like he didn't realize he was doing it.
In every vision where you die, he said quietly, I'm not there. But in every vision where I die, you survive. Which means
We can't both live, I finished, horror creeping through me.
No. His eyes met mine, intense and burning. It means fate wants to separate us. One way or another. Death or distance or something else. The mirrors are showing us possibilities where we lose each other.
So what do we do?
We fight. Lucian's hand tightened on mine. We fight fate. We fight the visions. We fight everything trying to pull us apart.
And if we can't?
Then I make sure you're the one who survives.
Lucian
No arguments. His free hand came up, touching my face. You're more important than me. Than anything. If it comes down to a choice, I choose you. Every time.
The intensity in his voice, in his eyes, stole my breath.
You can't mean that, I whispered.
I've never meant anything more in my life.
We sat there, close enough to kiss, his hand on my face, mine in his.
The moment stretched. Fragile. Perfect.
Then my vision blurred.
No, I gasped. Not again
But it was too late.
The vision slammed into me:
A woman. Beautiful. Dangerous. Standing in this very office.
She was talking to Lucian. But in the vision, I wasn't there.
You can't have her, the woman said. She's destined for something greater. Something you could never give her.
She's mine, Lucian growled.
The woman laughed. She was never yours, Shadow Mage. She belongs to us. To the Mirror Keepers. And we're coming to take her home.
She raised her hand. Silver light like my power but darker, twisted exploded from her palm.
Lucian tried to fight. Tried to protect himself.
But the light consumed him.
And when it faded, he was gone.
Not dead.
Erased.
Like he'd never existed.
The vision ended.
I jerked back to reality, gasping, tears streaming down my face.
Celeste! Lucian grabbed my shoulders. What did you see?
You, I sobbed. You disappeared. There was a woman another Mirror Keeper and she made you vanish. She said I belong to them. That they're coming for me.
Lucian's face went hard. When?
I don't know. Soon.
He pulled me against his chest, holding me tight. I could feel his heart pounding, fast and fierce.
Listen to me, he said into my hair. Whatever's coming, we face it together. No one takes you from me. I don't care if it's Mirror Keepers or the Oracle herself. You're mine, and I protect what's mine.
She made you disappear, Lucian. Like you never existed.
Then we make sure that doesn't happen.
I pulled back to look at him. How?
His eyes burned with determination. By finding out who she is before she finds us. And by making sure you're strong enough to fight back.
I don't know how to control this power.
Then I'll teach you. Lucian stood, pulling me up with him. Starting now.
But before we could move, every mirror in the office and there were dozens of them in the art collection started glowing at once.
Silver light poured from their surfaces, filling the room.
And in that light, I heard her voice.
The woman from my vision.
Too late, Shadow Mage, she said. We're already here.
The office doors exploded inward.
Three women stood in the doorway, all glowing with the same silver power I had.
The one in front smiled.
Hello, sister, she said to me. We've been looking for you for a very long time. It's time to come home.