Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
For the next two hours, they worked. Bastien explained mirror mechanics while Delphine mapped Charlotte’s network against modern Quarter geography. They identified seven additional sites where water and glass intersected—locations neither of them had investigated yet, but where Gideon’s influence would likely appear.
The maps revealed something else. A symbol repeating across the intersection points, hidden in the way Charlotte had positioned her mirrors. Not obvious. Not something you’d notice unless you saw the complete pattern from above.
The Lacroix family crest, recreated in geography and glass. Two intertwined patterns—one angular and precise, one flowing and organic. Angelic geometry merged with human determination.
Charlotte’s declaration that some connections transcended cosmic law.
But overlaid on that pattern, visible only in the corruption data, was another symbol. Gideon’s sigil. Twisted version of the family crest, inverting its meaning. Where Charlotte had created synthesis, Gideon imposed separation.
Delphine saw it the same moment he did. Her pencil stopped moving across the paper. “He’s been rewriting her work.”
“For years, probably. Identifying each component, understanding its purpose, then carefully corrupting it to serve his philosophy instead of hers.”
“Can it be fixed?”
“I don’t know yet.” Bastien studied the overlapping patterns—Charlotte’s devotion turned into Gideon’s argument. “But I need to understand his complete design before I try. Otherwise I’m just fighting symptoms.”
Delphine leaned back in her chair. “You know what really bothers me about this?”
“What?”
“He’s using me as evidence in an argument I never agreed to participate in and honestly don’t know how I feel about. He’s making me the test case for whether soul bonds are real or just cosmic manipulation, and frankly, what happens to my soul is none of his business. I’m just now coming to terms with the knowledge I’m carrying Charlotte’s with me, and I don’t remember anything about her life we didn’t research.” Her hands flattened against the table. “I don’t appreciate being someone’s philosophical prop.”
“Neither do I.”
“Good.” She gathered the maps into a stack. “Then we stop playing defense. We figure out his complete plan and we dismantle it before he can use either of us to prove his point.”
Bastien looked at her—tired, determined, refusing to be protected from dangerous knowledge—and felt something shift. Not love. He’d loved her across three lifetimes. This was recognition. She wasn’t Charlotte’s echo or Delia’s successor. She was herself, making her own choices about risk and autonomy and what fights mattered.
“The vault,” he said. “I need to go back down. See how the collapse affected Charlotte’s original design.”
“When?”
“Tonight. After I’ve documented the network stability.”
“Not alone.”
Her tone left no room for negotiation. He tried anyway. “The vault is—”
“Not alone, Bastien.” She held his gaze. “You lost your reflection down there. You don’t get to go back without someone who can verify you’re still physically present.”
He wanted to argue. Wanted to list all the reasons bringing her deeper into danger violated every protective instinct he possessed. But he looked at her face and recognized she’d already decided.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “After you’ve finished the map. I want complete documentation before we go down.”
“Fair.” She stood, stretching. “I should get back to work. Actual work. The kind that pays my rent.”
He gathered his photographs. “Thank you. For the research.”
“Thank you for trusting me with the truth.” She walked him to the door.
He left the Archive as afternoon light turned gold across the Quarter. Walked home through streets that refused to show his reflection. Climbed stairs to his apartment and spread the maps across his kitchen table again, studying the pattern Delphine had found.
Charlotte’s network, corrupted to serve Gideon’s philosophy. A century of devotion turned into evidence that love was just another word for control.
But Charlotte had built choice into every component. Designed the network to stabilize without demanding. To preserve without possessing. Gideon hadn’t understood that because he’d never loved anyone enough to trust them with autonomy.
And that misunderstanding would be his weakness.
Bastien pulled out his notebook and started writing. Documentation first. Map the corruption, identify the manipulation, understand the pattern. Then return to the vault and reclaim what Charlotte had actually built before Gideon’s interpretation buried it.
His phone buzzed.
Delphine: Found three more intersection sites. Tomorrow’s going to be busy.
He smiled despite the exhaustion pressing against his thoughts. Tomorrow they would map the complete network. Document Gideon’s manipulations. Prepare to face whatever waited in the vault.
For tonight, he would sleep. Rest before the next battle. Trust that Delphine was capable of managing her own safety, smart enough to recognize danger, strong enough to make her own choices about risk.
Outside his window, the Quarter settled into evening. Streetlights came on. Music drifted from open doorways. Reflections appeared in shop windows and puddles and glass doors.
None of them showed his face.
But tomorrow, he and Delphine would return to the vault together. And this time, he wouldn’t be trying to protect her from the truth.
He’d be trusting her to handle it. The implications of the soul bond they shared hadn’t come up in their discussions about stopping Gideon, and Bastien wasn’t sure if Delphine realized that his love for Charlotte had initially equated to loving her as well, but they’d have time to hash these things out another day.