Page 179 of Stay Scared

His reflection appears in three mirrors at once. The scratched beak comes first, then the black hood and one gloved hand dragging along the glass.

“You copied Ash’s voice.”

“They trusted it.”

The glove leaves a streak through the dust.

“You locked them in rooms they thought were safe because Langston told them to go there.”

He says it as if the trick’s elegance should impress me.

I let disgust show.

Rook sees it through the mirrors. His shoulders rise.

“You think that makes me cruel?”

“I think you enjoyed it.”

A sharp laugh comes from the passage.

“Of course I enjoyed it.”

He gives me the truth without dressing it up as philosophy.

The mirror beside me flickers. Old footage fills it. The woman from Rook’s original restraint sequence appears strapped against the tilted platform. Her face is blurred. Her legs kick. A voice orders the sequence terminated.

Rook’s younger voice answers.

She’s conscious.

The footage loops.

Rook watches me through the reflection.

I leave his expected argument untouched.

I stare at the woman, then at his beaked face behind her image.

“She couldn’t breathe.”

The words come out quietly.

Rook steps closer. “She could still fight.”

I look at him.

He says it again, harder. “She fought me.”

His gloved hand hits the mirror. The woman’s body shakes across the reflection.

“She kicked. She pulled against the restraints. She was still in it.”

“You liked that.”

His head jerks.

I am no longer accusing him of ignoring a rule. I made it personal.