Maya stared at her reflection in the dark glass, silver hair spilling around a face that looked much calmer than she felt:
"Are we decorations now? We climb all that way, become terrifying, learn enough to make ordinary monsters reconsider their careers, and then stand beside windows watching because the universe has rules."
Her brows pinched together as the thought continued without invitation. "Perhaps decorations are treated better. Nobody expects a vase to save anyone. It sits there, looks expensive and gets flowers. A very peaceful occupation."
She considered it seriously for a second.
"Maybe I should become a vase?"
Phei would buy that vase.
No, worse. He would commission one especially for her, carve her name into it and spend the following month calling her Lady Flowerpot whenever he wanted to annoy her.
Maya sighed. "I hate that I can imagine this."
Movement outside erased the brief amusement.
