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“I didn’t understand it at first,” she conceded. “But then it came to me. The Draegon embrace their vanity, whereas most species don’t like to be confronted with that aspect of their nature. We like to think we’re above such worldly things, that we can’t become victims of our own pride.”

A pause. The light around him shivered as her image flashed in and out of focus around the next turn.

“But then,” she continued, “I suppose I shouldn’t have to say anything to you about vanity. I saw that cosmetic glamour on your finger.By any chance, are you trying to hide those scars I gave you at the relay? As I recall, you made a lovely torch. Very flammable.”

Vaughn leashed his temper, refusing to study one of the thousands of reflections that shimmered at him from every angle. The healers had done well, but there was still some discoloration along his jaw. When the time was right, he had every intention of punishing her for that little stunt. “This will be easier for you if you don’t struggle. You only got hurt last time because you struggled.”

“Oh, you are a gem.” Her faint chuckle echoed through the hall, bouncing off every surface. “I can see now why my mother chose my father over you.”

With a snarl, Vaughn slammed his fist into a nearby pillar, sending it toppling and filling the room with the crash of shattering glass.

All around him, his own reflection shifted and flashed, but just ahead—

Vaughn shoved the next pillar and the next, sending them hurtling to the ground as he chased the flicker of an image. She moved from one mirror to the next. In front of him, and then behind.

He began swinging his fists, shattering the mirrors on the walls, the tables, knocking over statues and sending splintered shards of glass spraying into the air.

Until the room was empty, filled only with the echo of that deafening clash and clatter of tinkling glass. Until he finally saw her, standing beneath the dragon’s head.

She held a dingy little air dagger at her side, and her eyes were as murderous as those of the glimmering monster that loomed over her, so close that the steam curling from its nose fell down around her like long, white ribbons of smoke.

Glass crunched beneath his boots as he made his way across the now-empty room. “You,” he said, reaching for her, “are coming with—”

Vaughn barked out a curse when his hand passed right through her shoulder. He tried again, but the image sputtered and faded.

“What do you think about Draegonian art, Vaughn?”

He whirled, only to see the girl standing in the corner of the room.

“I didn’t understand it at first.”

This time, she was hovering mid-air, standing on a platform that now lay in pieces.

“Clever girl,” he murmured to himself, turning in a circle and surveying the room. A glint of gold sparkled from beneath the dragon’s mirrored perch. He stooped and dug out three time crystals, each as big as a thumbnail.

Despite himself, he began to laugh as he easily snapped the spells bound to the stones. The apparitions blinking around the room instantly faded.

A trick. He’d forgotten just how loathsome time mages were with their traps and games. He turned one of the crystals over in his hand, grazing his thumb over the sloppily penned rune engraved into the surface.

He had been chasing a wraith—a moment in time captured and replayed over and over again. It was little more than a party trick, but the way it had been tied to the crystal—that was advanced magic, if a bit crudely executed.

Not the Queen’s work then. Even without the full extent of her powers, she was better than that.

Vaughn smiled as he rolled the crystals in his palm. Perhaps the Queen wasn’t trying to protectthe girl after all. Granted, the little bitch he’d met at the relay had been barely more than a child—utterly unaware of her power and abilities. During the few weeks she’d been hiding in this place, she’d likely found some books and cobbled together a few spells, hoping to fill in the cracks with a bit of cleverness and sleight of hand. But that wouldn’t protect her for long. Not from him.

Chuckling softly, Vaughn gave each crystal a tiny nudge with his magic, searching for the slight tether that still connected them to their caster.

His smile widened. He had a location now. The girl had made a mistake.

Satisfied, he pocketed the handful of crystals and set off in the direction of the Water Maze.

Taly watched the main doors of the palace.

She had felt the spell for the wraith snap, which meant that Vaughn had finally figured out that she was no longer inside. He had chased around a flicker of an image—a few moments in time easily captured and replayed—for nearly an hour, goaded on by the fairies who had been planting her scent all over the palace, always just a few steps out of reach.

Taking a breath, she soothed that simmering rage that had begun pulsing in her ears like a second heart. There was no reason to wait any longer.

Her trap was ready.