Page 52 of Too Dangerous To Die

Silent. Intact.

At its center, an obsidian pedestal cradles something veiled in shadow. My pulse skips. I cross the threshold, each footfall echoing louder than it should.

As I draw closer, the shadows peel back to reveal it: a mirror.

Oval. Tall as I am. The frame is carved from dark bone and etched with runes that shimmer faintly when I step into the light.

But the glass doesn’t reflect me.

At least, notonlyme.

My face stares back—but it’s not mine.

She is taller. Her posture is straight, imperious. Her hair is bound in coils of silver and black, her armor etched with sigils I don’t understand but feel like I should. Her eyes?—

Theyburnviolet. A flaring amethyst.

The mirror pulses. My breath catches.

And she smiles.

I stumble back, shaking my head. “No. No, no, no.”

Her image ripples, but remains.

I feel a pull in my gut, like a string tied tight between my ribs and the glass. My knees give out. I fall to them, clawing at the stone floor. I want to turn away. I can’t.

“You’re not real,” I whisper. “You’re a memory. A shadow. Notme.”

She tilts her head in the reflection. Opens her mouth.

And my voice comes out.

“I am what you were always meant to become.”

The sound shatters me.

Something tears inside my chest—some dam, some seal—and the magic explodes outward in a torrent of silver flame. I scream as power lashes from my fingers, arcs across the chamber, slams into the walls and the ceiling and the mirror itself.

It doesn’t break.

She doesn’t vanish.

She grows clearer.

The ground cracks beneath me. My skin burns with arcane lightning. My thoughts aren’tmineanymore—they’re filled with fire, with fury, with names and memories I’ve never lived. I see a throne made of bone and crystal. I see cities bowed in ash. I see Rhaegar bleeding at my feet.

And I want it.

Gods, Iwant it.

“NO!”

I try to pull myself back—but the magic won’t stop. It won’t stop.

Hands grab me from behind—realhands—pulling me back, anchoring me. I twist, snarling, and nearly unleash a blast until I see who it is.

Rhaegar.

---