The fluorescent lights hummed their eternal, irritating song.
Edward stood at the sink, running cold water over his hands longer than necessary, watching the silver stream swirl into the drain. The mirror showed him a face he knew well, dark eyes too alert, maroon hair falling across a forehead creased with the kind of worry lines that came from always expecting the worst.
[Watch Dominic closely.]
Hoshimi's whisper echoed in his skull like a trapped moth beating against glass.
"I am watching," he muttered to his reflection. "I've always been watching him, like I'm his shadow."
The restroom was clean, almost sterile, the kind of place designed by people who'd never had to clean one themselves. White tile. Chrome fixtures. A single air freshener on the wall pumping out a scent that was supposed to be ocean breeze but landed somewhere between bleach and regret.
He dried his hands with a paper towel, crumpled it, tossed it toward the bin.
Missed.
"Of course," he sighed, bending to retrieve it.
When he straightened, she was there.
"Aren't you just the perfect little boy? Tucking your shirt in neatly, expensive clothes and shoes that are perfectly cleaned."
Sarah stood in the doorway of the restroom, her slight frame blocking the exit. "Or are you just a control freak? Do you obsess over every little detail of your life?"
"You always stay calm no matter the situation, even if your heart is beating, even if your mind is racing. You're analyzing everything, you need to know what you're dealing with don't you?" Her brunette hair fell in perfect waves around shoulders that showed no tension, and her amber eyes, wrong eyes, gleamed in the harsh fluorescent light.
"Edward," she said. Her voice carried that strange resonance, that layered quality that made it feel like someone else was speaking just behind her words. "We need to talk."
Edward's hand drifted toward his belt, where the knife was concealed. "This is the men's restroom."
"I'm aware." She smiled. "You're wondering how I got here, aren't you? You feel like a pig ready to be slaughtered."
"You shouldn't be here, Lucy should be watching over you."
"And yet." Sarah stepped inside, letting the door swing shut behind her with a soft click that echoed in the small space. "Here I am." SHe stared down at him, her eyes glowing a bright crimson. "Not a single tremble, not a single bead of sweat."
Edward didn't move. Didn't let his hand stray further. Every instinct screamed at him to draw, to prepare, to defend.
"What do you want?"
Sarah moved past him, her reflection sliding across the mirror like oil on water. She stopped at the sink, examined her own face with an expression of mild disinterest, then turned to face him. Her amber eyes caught the light in a way that made them seem to glow from within.
"The boy," she said. "Dominic. You've been watching him."
Edward's jaw tightened. "Hoshimi asked me to."
"Hoshimi asked you to watch him. But Dominic." Sarah tilted her head, a gesture that seemed to involve more neck than it should. "You watch him differently. Closer. With something almost like... fear? Jealousy? You've always been watching him haven't you?"
"I'm not afraid of anything and why would I ever be jealous of him?"
"Liar." The word was soft, almost affectionate. "Everyone's afraid of something, Edward. Even me. Even you." She took a step closer. "The question is what you do with that fear. Whether you let it control you, or whether you use it."
Edward's hand tightened on the knife. "What's your point?"
"My point." Sarah moved again, circling him now, her footsteps silent on the tile. "Is that you're right to watch him. Something is wrong with Dominic. Something you've noticed, haven't you?."
Edward's breath caught. Just slightly. Just enough.
"I see it too," Sarah continued, her voice dropping to a whisper that seemed to come from everywhere at once. "The others are too distracted. Lucy with her hero worship. Seraphina with her... feelings." The word dripped with amusement. "But you. You see clearly."
"I don't know what you're-"
"You love that girl."
Edward's hand froze on the knife. His face, carefully controlled for so long, cracked just slightly at the edges.
Sarah smiled. It was not a kind expression.
"Seraphina," she said, savoring the name. "You've loved her for years, haven't you? Since before she left the Shaw estate. Since before everything. You watched her from afar, too afraid to speak, too aware of your own place in the world to reach for someone so far above you." A pause. "And now Dominic, charming, effortless Dominic, walks in and steals her attention without even trying."
"That's not—"
"It is." Sarah stepped closer, close enough that Edward could feel the warmth radiating from her skin, the mana thrumming beneath her flesh like a second heartbeat. "He's stronger than you, more charming than you, more attractive than you, yet all you have are the breadcrumbs left behind after his meals."
Edward's jaw worked. No words came.
"Do you know what happens to people like you, Edward?" Sarah's voice softened, became almost gentle. "People who wait? Who hope? Who watch from the shadows while others take what should be theirs?" She reached up, her fingers brushing against his cheek with a touch so light it might have been imagined. "They fade. They become ghosts in their own lives. And one day they wake up old and alone and realize they never reached for anything at all."
"I'm not-" His voice cracked. He tried again. "I'm not like that."
"No?" Sarah's amber eyes searched his face, finding every crack, every weakness. "Then why is she out there with him right now? Why is she laughing at his jokes, blushing at his attention, while you're in here talking to me?"
Edward's hands curled into fists. The knife in his belt felt suddenly heavy, suddenly tempting.
"I could help you, you know." Sarah's whisper was silk wrapped around steel. "I could give you what you want. Not forever, perhaps. But long enough. Long enough to remind her what she's been missing. Long enough to show Dominic that he can't just take whatever he wants."
"You're talking about-"
"I'm talking about opportunity." Sarah stepped back, giving him space, letting the pressure ease. "Dominic isn't well. You've seen it. The flickering eyes, the moments when he seems like someone else entirely." A pause. "His Witch's Oath with himself, sometimes it feels like another person is behind the wheel doesn't it? What if he gets out of control? Who knows? He might even be the killer."
Edward stared at her.
"I'm not asking you to do anything," Sarah continued, her voice light, almost casual. "I'm just suggesting that sometimes, when we're watching for threats, we might also notice opportunities. Weaknesses. Moments when the universe tilts just slightly in our favor."
The fluorescent lights hummed.
The air freshener pumped its ocean breeze scent.
Edward stood frozen, his reflection staring back at him from the mirror with dark eyes that suddenly seemed like a stranger's.
"What would you get out of this?" he asked quietly.
Sarah's smile widened. Just slightly. Just enough.
"Let's just say I have my own reasons for wanting Dominic... contained. His instability is a danger to all of us. If his episodes become more frequent, if he's removed from the equation, everyone is safer." A pause. "Including Seraphina."
"What if I don't want to listen to you? You're just trying to cause chaos aren't you? What if you're the killer that Hoshimi is worried about?" His grip on his knife tightened.
Sarah shrugged. "What reason do I have to kill such a weak girl? What would I ever gain from this?"
[He's a tough human to crack, rather observant too]
"It must be so freezing living in his shadow." Sarah's amber eyes gleamed. "Without him, everything will be yours, no longer the shadow of the one whose potential can only be surpassed by Sophia, no longer play second fiddle to Dominic's story, no longer watching as your girl gets taken away by your best friend."
The silence stretched between them, thick and heavy.
Edward thought of Seraphina's laugh. The way her face had lit up at the shark tunnel. The softness in her eyes when she looked at Dominic.
He thought of years of watching from the shadows. Years of wanting and never reaching.
"The only reason that people talk to you, Dominic Walker, the next head of the prestigious Walker family, they only talk to you because you're close with him. It must be frustrating, isn't it?"
Sarah watched him think.
"The choice is yours, of course," she said finally. "I'm not forcing anything. I'm simply... presenting options. I mean there's nothing wrong with being inferior after all." She moved toward the door, her reflection sliding across the mirror one last time. "Think about it, Edward. Think about what you really want. And then think about whether you're willing to do what it takes to get it."
Her hand touched the door handle.
"Sarah."
She paused.
Edward met her eyes in the mirror. His face had smoothed back, but something new lurked beneath it now.
"If anything happens to Seraphina-"
"Nothing will." Sarah's smile was radiant, terrifying, beautiful. "I'm offering you a gift, Edward. A chance. What you do with it is entirely up to you."
The door clicked shut behind her.
Edward stood alone in the restroom, the fluorescent lights humming their eternal song, his reflection staring back at him with dark eyes that suddenly seemed very, very tired.
Dominic found him ten minutes later, leaning against a wall near the exit, watching families stream past with blank, unfocused eyes.
"There you are," Dominic said, jogging up with that easy grace. "Seraphina's been looking for you. She wants to see the penguins before we leave."
Edward pushed off from the wall. His face was composed, controlled.
"Got lost," he said. "Place is a maze."
The words came automatically. "Let's go see the penguins."