Page 27 of Lucifer's Mirror

I stare at him in shock. “How do we get back?”

“You want them to follow us through?”

Actually, I have no clue. “Who are they?” I ask.

“Later. Now let’s go. There could be someone watching the mirror.”

I look around, imagining crimson eyes watching us, and a shiver prickles my skin. I glance at Zayne. He’s unusually silent, his expression kind of blank, as if his mind has too much to process and has given up. Khaosti is right. Now is not the time for questions. “Okay, but you’d better tell me later.”

He raises one eyebrow. “Or you’ll do what?”

Chapter 14

Sleepless in Valandria

Itakealookaroundand swallow.

We’re certainly not in Kansas anymore.

It’s daytime here. Midday, I’d guess, noticing that the sun is high above us. I squint at it—it looks different, more golden, bigger.

In fact, nothing is familiar. We’re on top of a hill, bare of vegetation. The short stubby grass looks as though it’s been scorched by something, and there’s a dirty smoky stench hanging in the air. Despite the sun, there’s a dank chill that seeps through my clothes.

Down below, a forest stretches as far as the eye can see, reaching out in every direction. Nothing moves in the darkness beneath the canopy.

I turn to Khaosti. “Do you know where we are?”

He frowns. “Why would I bring you somewhere I don’t know?”

I wonder if anyone has ever told him that he can be a real pain in the ass. Probably. But did they survive? “And are you going to share?”

“We’re on the world of Valandria.”

“We’re not on Earth anymore?” Zayne’s voice sounds strained. I hope it’s merely this whole new world thing and not the mysterious side effects Sheela mentioned.

Maybe Khaosti is thinking the same because he studies Zayne, peering into his face. He’s obviously not totally alarmed by what he sees, as he gives a casual shrug. “No,” he says. “We’re not on Earth anymore. In fact, we’re not even in your universe.”

I store the other world shit at the back of my mind along with all the rest of the stuff I’ll think about later. “But why are we here?”

“Because we’re going to see the Crone and, according to my brother, this is where she lives. Or where she lived three years ago. Though why anyone would choose to live here, I don’t know. It’s barely civilized. And it’s all trees.” He looks around. “And more trees.”

I breathe deeply. “It has a… bad feel.”

“Hopefully that’s because we’re close to the mirror. That’s often the case.”

“Why?”

“No one knows.” Then his eyes narrow on me, as though I’ve said something interesting. “Do you often get a feel for places?”

“Why?”

“BecauseI’mtrying to get a feel for what you might be.”

The words don’t make a lot of sense; I suppose it’s just his way of trying to get to know me. “I do get a feel for places and people,” I say. “But my therapist said it might be my brain compensating for all the things it doesn’t know by assigning meaning where it doesn’t necessarily exist.” Though I don’t believe that because my feelings are invariably right. I remember the first time I walked into Lissa and Pete’s house. Ugh!

He looks like he’s going to say something more, but then he shrugs. “Let’s get moving,” he says. “We have a long way to go if we’re going to get to the safe house by nightfall.”

“Why couldn’t you have just zapped us in closer to where we need to be?” I ask.