Ronan's thoughts froze.
The forest, the demons, the broken barrier – all of it dissolved into the background, leaving only the chillingly familiar voice speaking through Mira's lifeless smile.
Mesmer.
Here.
Not just a distant future threat, but an immediate, impossible one.
Mesmer tilted Mira's head, his movements fluid and wrong in her body. "You really are more interesting than I thought. More dangerous, too."
An exit.
Ronan needed an exit.
But there was none.
He had to stall. He needed an opening, and the only way to create one was to use what he knew.
A slow, deliberate smile spread across Ronan's face, a mirror of the one he had used against Brutas. "Can you afford to be here?"
The question made Mesmer's brow furrow just slightly.
"This is a projection, correct?" Ronan continued, his voice steady despite the hammer of his own heart. "Your real possession is busy at the Academy, isn't it? Creating this mess. You can't have much time with this body."
