Page 13 of The Eternal Mirror (Lucifer’s Mirror #3)

Not Your Average Delusions of Grandeur

I didn’t manage to sleep again after my dream of Khaosti.

But it wasn’t Khaosti I saw each time I closed my eyes. It was Khendril. Hecate. Lucifer. My mother. All the people I’ve lost. Though some of them, I never had in the first place.

Will it never end?

Anyway, I’m tired, and I’m grouchy.

Zayne glances at me warily. “So, what happens now?” he asks.

“How the fuck should I know?” I snap.

“You said a bad word,” Josh whispers.

I turn to him and ruffle his hair. “Sorry. I’m hungry.”

“You’re always hungry,” Josh says.

It’s true. I get up and wander to the window, pulling back the heavy curtains.

I blink at the sun. I’ve never seen this place in daylight—I was beginning to think that maybe it existed in eternal nighttime.

But not so. The sky is a clear cerulean blue, the sun almost white, and the towers of the palace glow in the sunlight.

It’s beautiful. Hard to believe it hides such darkness.

I need to understand what Khronus wants from me.

I do know that for a long time, the mirror mages of Astrali have been forced to register with the Council, and that when they did, they were taken into custody and never seen again, like Sheela’s mother. And now there are no more left. So, maybe he’s looking for a mirror mage because he’s…what?

And what did he do with the witches who disappeared?

Will I also disappear?

I drop my eyes from the gleaming towers to the ground. We’re high up, and the people look small from here, scurrying about, doing their business.

At that moment, the door opens, and the same servant enters, wheeling a trolley.

He places it in front of the table and takes away the tray from last night, now piled with our dirty dishes.

At the door, he gives me what I presume is a meaningful look.

Or I could be wrong, and he just has indigestion or something.

But just in case I’m not wrong, I give a quick nod.

Hopefully, that will get back to Sheela, and she’ll arrange this meeting, and I might find out a little more about what is going on here .

When the door closes behind him, I fall on the food. Standing beside the trolley and feeding my face, I glance up to find Zayne and Josh staring at me. “What?”

“Just that your capacity for food intake is truly amazing,” Zayne says. “The world might be ending but you still eat.” He gets to his feet and crosses the room to sit on the sofa next to the trolley. He puts a small amount of food on a plate and nibbles on it delicately.

Josh giggles. I am so glad to hear that sound that I don’t punch Zayne on the nose.

“Have you tried the mirror thing again?” Zayne asks.

“No, because the food is great, so I thought we could just stay here forever.” He sends me a narrow-eyed glare, and I shrug. “Of course I tried again. As soon as I woke up. Not happening. I’m guessing there are some sort of magical wards that are stopping me.”

“Crap. I would really like to get the fuck out of here.” A shiver runs through him. He’s probably reliving the beastmaster thing and the fact that he nearly ripped Josh into little pieces as a prelude to eating him. Yeah, we need to get out of here.

I eat some more. The grouchiness fades, though I’m still tired, and I head back to my bed, curling up and watching Zayne and Josh eat. I realize that the rage has faded as well or been pushed to the back of my mind. So far, we’re all alive and, at the moment, all in one piece.

And while this isn’t a beach in Hawaii, it’s also not a stinking dungeon under the palace. Things could be worse. I need to learn to count my goddamn blessings .

Instead, I close my eyes and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

I jump as a hand shakes my shoulder.

“There’s someone here,” Zayne says, and I can hear the fear in his voice.

I roll onto my back and then push myself up. There’s a soldier standing in the doorway. One of Khronus’s bodyguards, I guess. Dressed in black armor and bristling with weapons.

“What?” I growl.

“The king requires your presence,” he says.

“Just me?”

“Yes.”

That’s good; at least I won’t have to worry about Khronus torturing my brothers in front of me. We can have a nice, civilized conversation. I get to my feet, find my boots—they've hidden under the bed—and pull them on. And I’m ready to go.

“Maybe I should come with you,” Zayne mutters. He’s so brave. Always my protector.

I pat his arm. “No, you stay with Josh. He needs you.”

He sags with relief. I don’t blame him. I sort of wish I didn’t have to face Khronus, either. But at the same time, I really want to understand what’s going on here—what he wants from me.

Basically—why the fuck am I here?

I head out the door, the guard falling in behind me.

I slow my steps so we’re walking side by side and cast him a glance.

He looks young, but of course that means nothing with the Astrali; they’re immortal.

Look at Khronus—he’s over five thousand years old and still looks good.

I’m Astrali as well. I sometimes forget that, but then I’ve never lived here.

This man is handsome, with dark blond hair cut short and a chiseled face.

Like a menswear model in a swanky magazine advertising expensive watches and aftershave.

“I’m Amber,” I say. He almost jumps at the sound of my voice. Maybe he’s not used to people talking to him; maybe it’s some sort of rule. “What’s your name?”

He doesn’t answer.

“Can you talk? Or does Khronus cut out your tongues so you can’t give away state secrets?”

His lips twitch. “I’m Warden Corvus Vahl.”

“You don’t look old enough to be a warden.” Actually, I have no idea what a warden is or where they fit in the hierarchy of the army, but I’m just trying to keep the conversation going.

“I’m old enough,” he replies, his tone dry.

“I’m nineteen,” I say. “You’re surprised, aren’t you? That’s because I look old for my age. It’s my mature attitude toward life.”

He clears his throat. I take it that’s an agreement. But he doesn’t say anything else, and I fall silent. I’ve always been crap at small talk.

But a minute later he says, “There’s a rumor...”

“Is there? What about?”

“That you are an alicorn shifter. The first since the goddess.”

I think for a moment. Do I want everyone to know?

The truth is, I got really fed up, really fast, with the whole ‘she’s the goddess returned’ thing in Valandria.

But I think, on balance, it might be a good idea here and might make people think twice about killing me or anyone I care about.

Anything that reduces the chances of that has to be good.

“It’s true. But you’re going to have to take my word for it.”

“The king will want to see.”

“Well, he can’t. And yeah, I know about the whole beastmaster thing, but I’ve done a spell and it’s not happening. Not with me.”

He glances at me, and I see the doubts in his eyes. He’s thinking about asking me something else, but he’s clearly unsure. “Spit it out,” I say.

He frowns. “It’s also rumored that you know the prince.” I nod. “Is he alive?”

“Khaosti? Yes, he’s alive.”

“We heard he was killed by the shadowguard.”

“Well, you heard wrong. I was with him yesterday.” God, it seems like forever ago.

He looks like he wants to say more, but I think we’ve reached our destination. There’s a door with another guard, and we stop beside it.

“Great meeting you, Corvus.” I hold out my hand. He looks at it for a moment and then takes it.

“Great meeting you, Amber. Good luck.”

It’s a nice reminder that not everyone here is evil.

They’re probably just trying to survive, like the rest of us.

The other guard is giving us a funny look, but he nods his head to Corvus and opens the door, waving me inside.

I glance back at Corvus, not wanting to leave my new friend, but he’s standing at attention, and I guess I’m going in alone.

I take a deep breath and head through the door .

I feel Khronus’s magic straight away, dark, malignant, pressing against me.

The room is much smaller than yesterday’s; it could even pass for cozy.

But still more white marble—it gets really boring after a while.

There’s a comfortable seating area, only spoiled by the man lounging in the chair opposite the door.

He stands as I enter and waves me to the chair across from him.

“Good morning,” he murmurs. “I trust you slept well.”

“Not really.”

I sit down. There’s a small table, and it has cakes and a steaming pot of what smells like coffee. I reach out and pick up a pastry—hey, eating settles my nerves, and this guy makes me very nervous.

He pours me a coffee and places it on the table close to me, then sits back down.

He’s smiling today, positively oozing charm, but his magic slicks across my skin like oil, cold and corrosive, reeking of things that should never be.

I remind myself that only hours ago, he would have stood and watched my little brother being torn to pieces by my big brother.

I chew for a minute, finish my pastry, which is very good, all light and sweet and...

“So,” I say, “Where do we go from here? I mean, what is it you actually want with me?”

“You intrigue me,” he says. “When I first heard of you, I thought you must be a child of Khendril’s that he was hiding from us, and that is why he had run. And why Khaosti took an interest in you. ”

Ugh. That would make Khronus my grandfather and Khaos my… I am so glad that’s not true. “Total load of bollocks,” I say. “But why would Khendril have to hide me?”

“The guardians are forbidden to have children.”

“Jesus.” I shake my head in disgust. “And you wonder why so many of them decided my father was the better option.”

He goes still. “You know about the shadowguard?”

“Duh, yeah. But you don’t have to worry about them. They all died when Hell was destroyed.”

“Did you really destroy Hell?”

His words drip with doubt. And that’s a good thing, because I don’t want to sound too powerful. I want him to lower his guard around me. “The spell was my mother’s,” I say lightly. “But I’m the one who spoke it.”

He jumps to his feet and paces the room.

He’s obviously playing down the scary-as-shit vibes today, and he looks so much like Khaosti; it’s sort of freaking me out.

I eat another pastry. I should have bought a doggy bag—Josh would love these.

Finally, he sits back down. “I have sent out people to check your story.”

“How do you do that?”

“If the shadowguard are gone as you say, we will soon know. But on balance, I believe you. It is too far-fetched to be otherwise.”

“Tell me about it,” I mutter.

He studies me, eyes brooding, lips pursed—again, so like his son.

It doesn’t look as though he’s going to tell me why I’m here.

I suspect he doesn’t know himself for sure.

But I “intrigue” him. I’m a mere whim, something he doesn’t understand, and therefore wants to possess.

Dissect. Break open and sift through for power.

“Okay,” I say, “I’m here as you asked. Can you please let my brothers go?”

“They cannot really be your brothers.”

“Yes, they are, and that was the deal.”

“I’ll think about it. In the meantime, perhaps as a show of good faith, you could introduce me to your beast.”

I want to snap at him that she’s not a beast. And does he really think I’m going to shift for him like a performing monkey...or alicorn? Is he crazy? Does he think I’m crazy?

“I don’t think so,” I say quite mildly.

His features harden for a second, and prickles run over my skin. I resist the urge to scratch.

“Can you do anything?” he sneers. “Can you give me a reason to keep you alive?” He glances away as though he thinks I’m not worth looking at.

I decide to intrigue him a little more. “I’m a witch.

A mirror mage,” I say. His head turns slowly back to look at me like I’ve said something interesting.

I smile. “I have heard that you have quite an interest in mirror mages.” Though I’m not sure that interest extends to keeping them alive.

“But that’s something else I can’t prove.

For some reason, my magic doesn’t seem to work here.

Wards, I’m guessing, but they’re like nothing I’ve ever encountered.

” Except that’s not exactly true. I came across something similar in Hell.

The spell the witch put on me there had the same feeling.

“It’s dark magic, isn’t it?” It makes sense.

After all, Khronus used dark magic to create my father.

“I always thought dark was a misnomer,” Khronus muses, but he doesn’t deny it. “It is the magic of Vortex, the creator.”

“I think ‘dark’ covers it.” I shake my head. I think of the witches who have gone missing. “Surely you learned your lesson with my father—don’t meddle with what you don’t understand. Please tell me you are not still dabbling in the dark arts and making another devil.”

“No, this time I am not making a devil.” His voice is calm. Reverent. Wrong. “I am making a god.”

“Aren’t you a god already?”

“A true god,” he says, his eyes glowing like molten gold. “Elevated to the level of the First Gods. With the power to shape existence. To create life... and to destroy it. Entire worlds will kneel before me. Or die.”

I frown. “You can’t kill entire worlds. Who’ll be left to worship you?”

“I will create new worlds.”

Shit, he’s serious. He would snuff out Valandria and Earth just because they don’t bow down to him.

And then he smiles. That slow, creeping smile that makes me want to punch something.

“And I think perhaps you can help me after all. Maybe that’s your purpose.

” He steps closer, voice low. “Your mother was stolen from me. But maybe... maybe you are the gift the gods sent in her place. The final piece I need to ascend. ”

He’s looking at me like I’m some sacred artifact wrapped in flesh. Like he’s considering unwrapping me and drinking the magic straight from my bones.

Yeah. That’s not disturbing at all.

But in that moment, I know something for sure—

Whatever he’s building…

I’m going to burn it to the ground.