“I saw you talking to Brecht in the hallway! You said you couldn’t fucking wait to go home. That you don’t want to stay here, that you don’t want to be with me.”
His voice breaks on the last part, and I’m torn between anger and wanting to hold him.
“That never happened,” I insist.
“Don’t fucking lie to me,” he cries. As in, actually cries. Tears fall over his eyelids and leave streaks the color of moonstone on his cheeks.
“I’m not lying! How dare you try to turn this around on me, though? Act like I’m the one doing this shit,” I retort, anger winning after all. “I saw you, Finnick. Between some girl’s legs at your desk, telling her you would never love me, that you got bored with me while eating my cunt.” The last part is said with pure poison, direct. “You didn’t even have the taste of me out of your mouth yet,” I seethe.
Finn’s mouth drops open, and he looks sick to his stomach. “I never said that, Claudia.”
He’s gone still, voice low, and he looks absolutely gutted that I would say something like that. “I wasn’t even in my office today.”
He seems so genuine. I want to believe him, but I know what I saw.
I stare at him.
He scrubs his hands down his face and starts to pace the floor. “I don’t know what’s going on, Claudia, but I would never fucking say that about you.” I turn, watching him. “I don’t want you to go. I want you here with me, I want you to stay.” I notice something out of the corner of my eye, and suddenly it clicks.
“I believe you,” I say quickly. Finn stops pacing, but his reflection in the mirror above my fireplace takes a few more steps.
“Thank the gods,” he says. “I don’t understand what’s happening.” He sounds defeated, like he’s given up. “Am I going crazy?”
I shake my head no. “You’re not.” When he turns, running his hands through his hair, I notice that in his reflection, his shirt is buttoned up. Standing in front of me, his shirt is mostly unbuttoned, like he had decided to barge in while he was in the process of getting undressed.
I think back on the last couple of days. Every time I looked into a mirror, my mind got loud with the thought of not being good enough. How, when I saw Finnick with that girl…it was in the mirror. When Finnick saw me talking to Brecht, he had seen us in a reflection.
How our lives are forever entwined with a bitch who is bound in mirrors.
“She’s in the glass,” I whisper.
Finn’s eyes dart to the mirror, and it clicks into place.
“Miryn,” he breathes.
He pulls me out of my room and leads me through the castle, passing mirrors, shiny vases, and window panes, all with our reflections rushing to catch up with us. We end up back in the tunnel we came through when I got here.
“It’s the only place without reflections I could think of,” he explains.
“She’s fucking with us,” he says.
Chapter Ten
Veyra opens the door for us after we both pound on it for what feels like forever. She doesn’t get to finish rubbing the sleep from her eyes before we pull her into a broom closet in the hallway. Finnick starts telling her what’s going on while I search the small area, making sure there’s nothing reflective in here with us. There’s a clear glass vase, and I’m taking no chances. I open the door and send it flying as hard as I can. It lands a good distance down the hall and shatters on the floor.
“Hell yeah,” I say proudly. Finn’s fist clutches the back of my shirt, and he pulls me back into the closet, shutting the door behind me.
Veyra listens to everything. About what I saw, what Finn saw. It turns out, mirrors have also been feeding on Finnick’s insecurities, telling him I would never want to be with a goblin. I interrupt him to tell him that’s not true.
“Maybe that can wait til after,” Veyra says, halting our version of a romantic moment. She rubs her temples. “It seems like this only happens when the two of you aren’t together.” We hadn’t realized that.
“I’ve noticed the energy changing around here,” she admits. “It’s been happening since before Claudia came through to our realm. It seems like something’s been building up. The villagers have been a bit restless and weary, even of me.” She’s silent again.
“I think that Claudia didn’t cause the rift,” she says after a bit. “I think that the rift caused Claudia to come here. Someone, somewhere, knew and opened it. I’m not sure who, but it’s the most likely scenario. The fact that it only happens when the two of you are apart leads me to believe she’s not strong enough when you’re together.”
Finnick and I stay quiet while Veyra works through it all in her head. “The fates chose you to come back now to stop Miryn’s return. The seal must be weakening. The illusions don’t seem strong enough to suggest she’s able to return physically, so she’s casting them to tear you apart. To weaken your bond would allow the spell to dissolve.”
“But how? Why now?” Finnick asks.