CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR: THE GIRL BEYOND THE DOOR
(Mirabel's POV)
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The figure stood beyond the doorway.
Waiting.
Patient.
As though she had all the time in existence.
Which, given where we were, was entirely possible.
The darkness behind her shimmered.
Not empty.
Never empty.
It contained galaxies of unfinished stories.
Worlds that hadn't happened.
Lives that hadn't been lived.
Possibilities drifting like distant stars.
And somehow—
She stood at the center of all of it.
Watching me.
Only me.
"You finally made it back."
The words echoed through my mind.
Back.
Not here.
Back.
The difference mattered.
I stared at her.
At the familiar unfamiliarity of her face.
The impossible certainty that I knew her.
The certainty that I didn't.
My voice
