Page 28 of Lucifer's Mirror

“Because I didn’t ‘zap’ us anywhere. It doesn’t work like that. The portals are fixed in place. Usually, there is a mirror situated in the safe house, but sometimes the mirrors… die and can’t be replaced. It wasn’t always that way, but we lost the ability to make more of them many years ago.”

By portals, I presume he means the mirrors. “But how? And how do they work, and what happened and—”

“Enough. I’ll give you a history lesson later when we get to where we need to go. But for now, walk.”

I walk, heading down the hill, and Zayne falls in beside me. He’s really quiet. I’m starting to get worried. “Are you alright?” I whisper.

He gives me a sideways glance, his expression incredulous. “Fuck no. I’m so far beyond alright that I’ve dropped off the edge of the world. But right now, I’m just taking each moment as it comes. It’s not as though I have a lot of choice.” He walks in silence for a few minutes. “Amber, how do we get back home? He broke the mirror.”

Right now, I’m more concerned about what I’m going to find out and whether we’ll find this crone. “I presume Khaosti will know where to find another mirror that will take us home.”

Or maybe it would just take us back to that starlit room. Maybe that’s like a hub. I reach across and pat his arm; he looks so lost. He’s always been the confident one of the two of us, the one who tells me everything will work out. But then nothing is normal today.

We reach the edge of the forest, and my feet slow. The trees are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It looks dark under the canopy; the trees grow close together, cutting out the sun, but at least the ground is level, making travel easy. Khaosti seems to know where he’s going, and I just get into the zone, not thinking, not worrying, just being.

What will be, will be.

Yeah, I’m being totally philosophical about this.

There’s a strange tension in the air, but I ignore it. The sun is still high overhead, and enough light filters through the leaves to make it easy to see. We walk for hours without encountering any sign of life—apart from the vegetation.

And I start to worry that we may never stop. My legs are heavy, and my stomach is rumbling—the pizza seems like a long time ago—and my mouth is parched. Khaosti pauses and turns to us. “We’ll be stopping for the night soon. These forests aren’t safe once the sun goes down.” I want to ask why, but maybe it’s better not to know. He starts walking again before I can decide whether or not to ask.

The sun is setting, and the colors fade to muted shades of gray and black as the light filtering through the leaves and branches above us grows dim and murky. Eerie shadows reach toward us. Out of the corner of my eye, I sense movement in the trees. Something sliding between the trunks, keeping pace with us.

“Khaosti,” I whisper.

“Ignore what you see. Keep going.”

I have to trust him. What else can I do? My hands grow clammy while my fingers are icy, and my chest tightens with every breath I take.

Just keep going and don’t look.

I keep my gaze fixed on Khaosti’s back, but it’s getting awfully dark, only a smidgen of daylight left to light the way. Not enough. I give a quick glance to the side—eyes gleam in the shadows, but at least they’re not red. I look ahead again, the sour taste of fear flooding my mouth.

“Amber,” Zayne says from just behind me. “I feel strange.”

“Just keep going. We must be nearly there.” Except the forest up ahead looks the same as what we’ve left behind.

“I don’t think I—”

There’s a crash behind me, and I whirl around. Zayne is on his knees, his head gripped in his hands. He lets out a low moan.

What the hell?

“Khaos!” I yell. “It’s Zayne.”

He glances back over his shoulder.

“Fuck,” he snarls. Then he races back to us. He grabs Zayne and tosses him over his shoulder. “Run,” he yells. And then he’s off, and I follow, my legs pumping to keep up with him. I’d always thought I ran fast, but Khaosti is faster. It’s as though Zayne weighs nothing, and I find myself falling behind.

Things are running beside me; I can hear their footfalls echoing my own, but I keep my eyes straight ahead. A red haze forms in front of my eyes, and I know I can’t go much farther. I trip and almost fall, then I right myself and stumble on.

Finally, I’m out of the trees. I hurl myself toward the house that stands in the clearing. Khaosti is already there, and the door opens, warm light flooding out.

I’m gasping for breath as I skid to a halt, and I can’t stop myself from looking back. There are things at the edge of the forest; I can’t make them out, but I can sense their frustration that we’ve gotten away.

A man appears in the doorway. While not identical, he reminds me of Brown. He bows as he catches sight of Khaosti with Zayne over his shoulder. “Sire, you are welcome.”