Sanathiel's mansion breathed in rhythm with the night. The shadows of the red moon reflected on the stained glass of the study, painting crimson lines across the White Wolf's face. In his hands, the lunar medallion throbbed, synchronized with a heartbeat that wasn't his. Hers.
Noah barged in without ceremony, his scent of ash and sulfur corrupting the air."Playing with visions again, Sanathiel?" His feline eyes gleamed beneath the hood. "Answers tend to cut deeper than blades."
Sanathiel didn't turn. In the attic mirror, between black candles that sputtered like dying stars, only emptiness was reflected."I want to see her past. Not mine."
Noah laughed—a sound like nails on marble."Love is a shattered mirror, darling. Careful what you wish to see."
The medallion burned between Sanathiel's fingers as he crossed the mirror's threshold.On the other side, the air smelled of lavender and fear.Her room. Her bed. Her, asleep, brow furrowed as if fighting ghosts.
"Don't touch her," warned Noah from the portal, his voice distorted. "You'll awaken more than a human."
The crack of splintering wood interrupted them.The door exploded into shards.A hunter burst in with his sword raised, a facial scar twitching with bottled fury. Behind him, Rasen struggled against Noah's clawed grip, his neck bleeding thin red threads.
"Itzel!" the hunter (Steven, judging by the scent of gunpowder and hate) roared. "Where is she?"
Sanathiel bared his fangs with an icy grin."Your obsession reeks of desperation, human."
Noah tilted his head, a twisted predator's delight on his face."This one's a good little dog," he whispered, licking the blood from Rasen's throat. His crimson gaze locked onto the hunter, freezing him in place. "Did you know his blood tastes like lies and bergamot?"
Rasen spat at his feet."Let me go, you damn vampire."
Steven charged. The sword hissed past Sanathiel's face, burying itself in the wall where his head had been moments ago. The White Wolf moved like a whisper through shadows, his motion fluid and precise. His claws sliced the air near the hunter's neck—a sharp warning.
"Enough!" Noah raised his hand.An invisible force snapped them still, like marionette strings pulled taut.
The portal behind them vibrated, tearing reality open with glimpses of the attic.
"Let's play a different game, Sanathiel."He tossed Rasen to the floor. Sanathiel's medallion trembled as the human hit the wood—a discordant note in his connection to Aisha.
"Let's go," Noah growled, dragging Sanathiel toward the mirror. "Your human isn't worth a war… not yet."
At the threshold, Sanathiel looked back.Aisha twisted in bed, trapped in a nightmare.He was the monster.
"I'll return," he murmured, biting his own lip until the metallic taste of blood ignited his chest. "And when I do, I'll be more than an echo."
Among the fallen fragments, Noah smiled."Humans always choose their own doom," he whispered as the shadows devoured him. "And you… will choose hers."