Reflection

27

I shot up in bed, gasping and sweating. Ever since we had escaped from Cain, my dreams had been plagued with images of screaming pain, unfulfilled threats, and sightless dark eyes. It had been only a week since, and school started tomorrow.

"Pst," I heard now, and nearly jumped out of my bed, but strong hands gripped my arm and pulled me back up. "You are awfully jumpy, aren't you?"

"Adam?" I whispered in surprise. Since I had told him about Serenity's death, I hadn't even seen him. I'd figured he'd wanted to be alone, so I never went through the mirror.

"Hey," he said. I could see his silhouette, leaning next to my bed. "Follow me."

I threw back the covers and rose to my feet, suddenly feeling self-conscious that I wore nothing but pajama shorts and a tank top. "Where are we going?" I mumbled. I stubbed my toe on something, and yelped, grabbing my injured toe and hopping on one foot, in the process tripping over something else and causing a loud crashing noise.

"Jeez," said Adam, helping me to my feet. "Vampires are supposed to be graceful."

I was still trying to nurse my injured toe, but I tossed him a quick glare. "I can be graceful!"

Adam snorted. "Right, and I can be ugly."

"You arrogant little-"

His finger pressed against my lips. "Shh."

I watched as he shoved open my window, letting in a cool breeze. "Let's go," he whispered, climbing onto the windowsill and disappearing. I poked my head out, and glanced up to find Adam on the roof, reaching his hand down. With a sigh I grabbed the shard of glass off my nightstand and tucked it into my waistband without knowing exactly why, then reached out and took his hand.

He pulled me easily onto the roof, but I kept my eyes squeezed shut. I landed on top of him, my curls brushing against his cheek and spilling onto the roof, providing a red curtain around our faces. He smiled up at me, the moonlight dancing in his eyes. "What's poking me?" he asked, and I rolled off of him, retrieving the glass shard from my waistband.

"What's that?" Adam wondered, and I handed him the shard. "Ellie gave me a mirror I could see myself in, one that Serenity put a spell on. It broke when they took our bags, but Serenity saved this and gave it to me when she was..." I bit my lip. "Well, you know."

He looked at his reflection in the mirror and whistled, running a hand through his hair. "I don't own a phone, you know. So its been a while. You were right, you know."

"About what?"

"I am an angel."

I rolled my eyes, but laughed, punching him playfully in the arm and taking the shard from his hand. "You're full of yourself, that's what you are."

"Your words, not mine, sweetheart."

For a moment we just lay on our backs and gazed at the stars, barely visible with the lights of New Orleans. The city seemed to come alive at night. Except, of course, on the night of my unfortunate vampire attack. That night everything seemed to be dead, and that was probably my first sign that I should've just called my dad for a ride.

"You know," Adam said, "New Orleans is sort of a magnet for all things supernatural."

I just laughed, twirling the glass between my fingers. "Of course it is."

Another moment of silence passed before I glanced up at Adam, who looked deep in thought. "Did you used to have eyes like Andromeda's?"

"Yes," he answered. "My mother used to like to say they were like ice."

"They're a beautiful color," I said. "You somehow haven't lost that."

"What do you mean?"

"Your eyes still look like ice...just, silver. They're electric. All vampires may have the same color eyes, but yours somehow look different."

"Yours, too."

"That much is obvious."

"What were you dreaming about?" he asked abruptly. "You seemed startled."

"You know what I was dreaming about," I said, and shivered.

"Are you cold?"

"You're not?"

He shook his head and laughed, sitting up and shrugging off his jacket. "It's New Orleans."

"Thanks," I said, taking the jacket and wrapping it around myself. It was too big, but in a comfortable way, and it was certainly warm. "I don't do well with cold."

He was studying me curiously. "What?" I asked.

"It's just...I thought I knew everything about you," he said.

"Right. You 'did your research'" I said, making air-quotes as I did.

He chuckled. "I thought I knew all there was to know about you. And yet, you still continue to surprise me."

He leaned forward, and for a moment I thought he was going to kiss me. My heart thudded wildly in my chest. Just as his lips brushed mine, he jerked back with a gasp.

"What's wrong?" I asked, bewildered.

"I can't," he whispered, eyes wide with regret. In a blur of movement, he was gone, leaving me alone on the roof, the moon burning white above me.

•  •  •  •  •

I lay in bed after he'd disappeared, snuggled close to the jacket he had left behind. It smelled like Adam, like citrus and fresh dirt and the sweet tang of blood beneath it.

Getting comfortable was impossible. First it was too hot, so I threw back the covers and suddenly it was Antartica. Grumbling under my breath, I pulled the covers up to my waist and stared at the ceiling, twirling my hair absently around my fingers with Adam on my mind.

A loud crash tore through the silence. I shot up, snatched the stake off my bedside table, and slowly reached over to turn on the lamp.

The crashing sound had come from my mirror, and a figure now lay sprawled on the carpet. The figure stood up, cursing and brushing itself off.

It was female: tall and slim, and, I realized with a jolt, she had a head full of fiery red curls that fell down to her chest. She looked up at me, and I saw the familiar face, but there was something different. The woman looked at me through stormy silver eyes, where there should have been green ones. I froze, and the stake slipped from my hand and hit the carpet with a muffled thump.

The woman smiled down at me. "Hi, honey."

I felt like I was going to collapse. It took all my effort to say one word, and even then it came out as a squeak.

"Mom?"