Chapter One: The Mirror Remembered Him Before the Applause Did

“Remember our first beat,” Shen Yan said, gripping her hand with eerie calm. “Not the music. The breath.” The mirror inhaled like a vast lung. His fingers slipped from hers one by one. Every dancer in the submerged ballroom stopped. Hundreds of veiled faces turned toward her. At their center, a woman in a pearl-white gown curtsied, thanking Lin Wu for delivering her partner for the evening. Then Shen Yan vanished through the glass. It was solid when Lin Wu struck it. She pounded with her fists and shoulder, screaming his name. The ballroom was gone. A single spotlight showed her kneeling alone in the water. The studio fell silent for three seconds. Then applause detonated.