The next day started even worse.
Before opening, Faye arrived early—something she never did unless something major was happening. She stepped through the door in a blur of cold wind, her coat still half buttoned, her expression sharper than usual.
"Jace. Ren. Upstairs. Now."
Ren shot Jace a nervous look but followed. Jace's pulse thudded in his throat as they climbed the narrow stairway to the upper room—the storage-lounge hybrid that served as Faye's discussion space.
The moment the door shut, Faye tossed a crystalline shard onto the table. It pulsed with dull purple light.
"Do you know what this is?" she demanded.
Jace recognized the resonance instantly. His stomach dropped.
"A fragment of a drink," he whispered. "Eclipse-altered. But… not mine."
"Not ours," Faye corrected. "Someone's brewing without the café's authority."
Ren whistled low. "So that's why everything feels… haunted."
Faye ignored him, eyes locked on Jace.
"You left a scar on the Loom, Jace. A small one, yes, but it was enough. Someone sensed the disturbance. Someone watched. Someone copied your blend."
Jace sank onto the sofa, numb. "So all those people… the visions… the chaos…"
"Are consequences of someone else using power they don't understand," Faye said. "But the café is reacting as if you're responsible. Because technically, you are. You opened the door."
He didn't argue. He couldn't.
Faye sat beside him, voice softening despite the gravity. "You've handled more than you were ever meant to. But this… this is reaching a point of no return."
"And what happens when we reach it?" Jace whispered.
Faye exhaled slowly. "The café chooses."
Jace felt cold all over. He knew what choosing meant.
Binding.
Absorbing.
Claiming.
Ren leaned against the wall, arms crossed, anxious energy vibrating off him. "So what do we do? Hunt down whoever's brewing chaos in a cup?"
Faye shook her head. "No. We need to stabilize the café first. It's spiraling. If it breaks, the Loom breaks with it."
"And if the Loom breaks?" Jace asked.
Faye didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
He understood.
Everything falls apart.