Page 1 of The Eternal Mirror (Lucifer’s Mirror #3)

A long time ago...

O ne heartbeat, and he’s gone.

And I am alone.

I sit bolt upright, a scream forming in my throat.

What have you done?

But I know.

He’s been there since the dawn of creation, woven through my blood, wrapped around my heart. And now...nothing.

And in that moment, I know. Vortex has severed the bond.

I throw back my head and scream. Never in my wildest nightmares did I think this would happen.

My thoughts spiral. We’ve been connected since the beginning of time. Before this world even existed. The bond forged in the celestial fires of the Eternal Mirror.

And he’s cut it. Without telling me.

We argued. Of course we did. He wanted us to go back through the Eternal Mirror, to start over, to build a new world.

He said this one was fraying, too old and rotten to save.

He was out of his mind. Everything we built would be destroyed.

All our children, gone, as though they never existed. I told him he was wrong.

I was reasonable.

But he was bored. Bored with the worlds we created. Bored with me.

And he asked me again.

I said no.

He said he’d wait.

Liar.

But in the deepest corners of my mind, I know why; his love for me has faded while mine holds strong. But the mate bond is supposed to last forever.

The air around me tightens. Magic crackles across my skin. My power surges upward—sharp, cold, untethered. I breathe once—just once. Trying to grasp control of my turbulent feelings.

I know what he plans and where he will be. Does he really think I’ll let him go?

I open a portal and step through it into the Void where the Mirror resides, always and forever. This is a place of stars and mist, beautiful, ethereal .

And before me, the Eternal Mirror hovers above the world like a wound that never heals.

Maybe that’s the problem. Unseen by the rest of the worlds, for the two of us, it’s a constant presence—like a siren calling him back to rewrite everything, no matter what the cost. A whisper of how much better things could be in a new world.

With a different woman?

Silver rings spiral slowly, its center pulsing like a star being born. Light flickers differently here—bent, expectant. The ground hums beneath my feet, as if it remembers too much.

And there he is. Vortex stands at the threshold, his back to me.

My hands fist at my sides, but at the same time, my heart bleeds, the scars where he ripped us apart raw and seeping.

As if sensing my presence, he turns from his contemplation of the mirror. Even after all this time, I’m captivated by his beauty. But as his eyes meet mine, I see that he has shed me, like a dream he stopped believing in.

He doesn’t flinch when he sees me. Doesn’t look surprised.

“You severed the bond,” I say, trying to keep my tone even.

He nods. Calm. Detached. “It seemed for the best.”

“You will destroy everything we built.”

He shrugs. “If you stay, then Valandria will survive.”

“But not Astrali—it will vanish as though it never existed. What of our children? You will destroy them all?” I shake my head. “You should have spoken to me.”

“I did. You wouldn't listen. The time for words is over. We have a different dream now. ”

I grit my teeth. “You can’t do this.”

A slow smile curves his lips. “Watch me.” And he turns and walks toward the mirror.

“Wait,” I shout.

He turns and raises one eyebrow.

“You don’t get to make the choice alone,” I say.

“I do now. There is nothing to keep us together. You can stay here. Enjoy the world you created. You don’t need me. You never did.” His voice is full of apathy. But he’s been like this for a long time. I thought it would pass.

“I love you,” I say.

He looks at me with pity. “You never really loved me. It was the mating bond. Nothing else kept us together. And now it’s gone. I feel nothing.”

But I do. I’m drowning in rage. “You’re not leaving.”

His eyes flicker, then he turns away once more. “You can’t stop me.”

He truly believes that, but I have always been more powerful. And I will show him differently. I cannot use the celestial fire against him; his dark magic will repel it. But I have other ways of fighting. I reach inside myself, and shift.

Silver fire blazes around me. My form twists—hooves crash to the earth, wings unfurl wide, horn gleaming like moon-forged steel. My mane whips with starlight and storm. He stops and turns slowly, eyes widening. But I can already feel the heat building under his skin.

He shifts. Wings like obsidian. Scales crackling with inner flame .

We rise into the sky.

And then we fight.

He is darkness. I am light. We rip the air apart.

Forests fall. Rivers boil. Stars blink out in the wake of our fury. We crash and circle and break and clash again.

He’s physically stronger. But I’m angry.

He underestimates that. And me.

He always has.

He dives. I feint. His claws miss by inches. I twist, spin, drive forward. My horn pierces scale. Bone. Flesh.

I drive it straight through his heart.

He gasps. Shudders. And then I wrench him off me with a scream of pain and fury and something else—something I don’t want to name.

He’s hurled backward through space. His body slams into the mirror frame.

And a shudder runs through the world.

A crack forms in the mirror, splitting its surface. Silver light fractures.

I drop to the ground.

My hooves hit scorched earth. I shift back. Skin bloodied. Bones bruised. I stagger forward and stare at him—what’s left of him. Vortex lies still. No breath. No light.

Behind him, the mirror pulses. Wounded. Dangerous. Forever changed.

I stand in the wreckage of what we were, uncertain if anything this broken can ever be made whole again .

Victorious. Bleeding.

Shattered.

Because I know in my heart that I didn’t kill him to save this world.

I killed him because he stopped loving me.