Page 29 of The Eternal Mirror (Lucifer’s Mirror #3)

Mirror, Mirror, Get Me the Hell Out of Here

T hree fucking days. I am so ready to be out of here.

I might even consider torture a viable alternative.

Without Khaos, I would have probably banged my brains out on the wall.

I’m dirty and smelly. Though not hungry, thanks to Khaos, who has kept me well-fed.

Which was just as well since no one else fed me, part of Khronus’s punishment period, I presume.

Though they did bring me water—just handed it through the bars without a word spoken.

So at least Khronus doesn’t want me dead.

I think I have become closer to Khaos than I ever thought possible.

I know his favorite color: red. His favorite food: meat, the bloodier the better.

His favorite place: mountains. On the face of it, we are so incompatible.

I wonder what criteria the goddess used to decide we were fated mates?

Though I suppose they do say opposites attract.

He’s stayed outside the cell, so we haven’t touched in this time. We talked a lot, but not all the time, and it was amazing the comfort his closeness brought me. I’ve slept more than I have in as long as I can remember.

It’s like being in the eye of the storm. Time out. If a somewhat smelly time out. If Khaosti can just keep his head and not reveal himself, I might almost admit that I’m glad he came.

Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, they come for me. I hear the stomp of boots on the stone floor. Khaosti doesn’t say a word, but I can sense him moving away along the corridor, so no one trips over him.

This time, things are different. I hear the key in the lock, and the door swings open.

The same two guards stand there. The one on the right holds out a pair of cuffs, and I hold out my hands.

They cuff them in front of me this time.

Much better, and I follow them down the corridor.

I presume we’re heading for the throne room again.

Instead, we head downwards, into the dungeons. And as we turn at the sign of the dark flame, everything in me goes still.

A shiver races down my spine, the kind that doesn’t fade, just lodges behind your ribs and starts to rot. The walls around me pulse with power—stronger than before. Wrong power. Old. Hungry. It vibrates in my bones like a scream just beyond hearing.

My steps slow.

I don’t want to go in there .

I don’t want the mirror to suck me dry.

For a second, I seriously consider turning invisible and grabbing Khaos and just vanishing. Running. Hiding.

Has Khronus decided my magic is more useful without the rest of me attached? That I’m too annoying? Too unpredictable? Too... me?

Maybe I’ve miscalculated.

Badly.

But the door is forming and I know I’m out of time.

So, I walk forward, slow and careful, as if the floor might collapse beneath me.

And then I see him.

Khronus. Ugh. He’s naked from the waist up and he’s hooked into the cracked mirror like he’s part of its machinery.

Lines of silver snake from the glass into his back, his neck, his wrists—embedded deep, pulsing like veins.

His skin is too pale, too smooth. Almost inhuman.

His chest rises and falls in a slow, unnatural rhythm.

His eyes are closed, his expression ecstatic.

More ugh .

Magic pours into him in threads of light so thin, they shimmer like spider silk. He reminds me of some parasitic creature feeding off the life force of others.

The mirror behind him is still cracked—light bleeding through the fractures like a wound that refuses to close. I feel it tug on me the moment I enter, as though it recognizes me. Wants me .

Or wants what’s inside me . But again, I get no feeling of evil from the mirror—just from the man behind it. Where did it come from? Did the mirror mages create it. But it feels old. Or rather ageless.

I force my gaze away from the glass, and that’s when Khronus opens his eyes.

He’s smiling. Gods, I hate it when he smiles. It makes my stomach twist. He unhooks silver lines from his body with a casual snap.

A shudder runs through me, but I force myself to step closer. Reaching out with my magic, I test the wards around him, probing, pushing, trying to sneak around them, but they’re solid. Damn.

His gaze drops down my body, and his smile deepens. “You look a little worse for wear,” he murmurs. “Were your accommodations not...comfortable?”

“It was a stinking pile of shit,” I answer with a smile of my own. Yeah, I know I could be a little more conciliatory, but I suspect this guy already has enough people kissing his ass. He doesn’t need me to do it as well. I’m not kissing anything of his. That’s a hard pass.

“Well, maybe we can arrange something a little more pleasant,” he says.

My eyes flicker to the locked cell doors all around the outside of the room, lingering on the one that holds Yasmin. Is she still here? Is there an empty cell waiting for me? A shudder runs through me.

“Don’t look so worried. I think we can find you better accommodation than this. But that’s really up to you.”

The silver trails still lead from the cracked mirror to the individual cells. Some are faint, some bright and pulsing .

Khronus steps closer, and I brace myself, waiting for the blow to land. But he just comes to stand a foot away—so close that I know the celestial fire could burn him to a crisp before he could move away.

Except I can sense the hum of the wards around him; my fire would likely just bounce off them. “So, have you used your time wisely?” he asks. “Are you ready to be my...ally and not my enemy?”

I nod. “I told you—that’s why I came back. I want to help you destroy the rebels. I want revenge for Khaosti.”

He purses his lips. “Did you love my son?”

None of your goddamn business. “Yes.” I can’t say any more—it doesn’t feel right talking about Khaosti with this man.

He shrugs. “You’ll get over it. You’re young.”

He’s silent for a moment, and I force myself to look straight at the mirror; the glass is dark, showing nothing. Khronus moves around so he’s standing at my shoulder as we both stare into the broken glass.

“Do you know what it is?” he asks.

“A mirror?”

“It’s not just any mirror. It’s a splinter of the Eternal Mirror—the mirror that Selene and Vortex came through when they created this world.”

Is that true? I wouldn’t know, but Khronus clearly believes it. And I don’t really know what it means.

I reach out with my magic, and the mirror glows.

Then ripples run through the glass, and our reflections form.

I see myself—gods, I look like crap. And I see Khronus.

He’s not looking into the mirror but down at me, and there’s something in his eyes…

Something that makes the bile rise in my throat.

I swallow and force myself to stand still.

His gaze shifts to meet mine in the mirror. “You remind me so much of your mother.” He reaches out, and I freeze. But his hand drops before it reaches me. Maybe the wards prevent him touching me.

This is the man who was responsible for everything that happened to my father, my mother, and me. My shit childhood was solely due to this monster. Is he so egotistical that he believes I could ever care for him?

I suspect the answer is yes.

A flash of dark hatred radiates through me.

My reflection shows nothing of my feelings.

Maybe I am finally learning to act. But it seems the mirror senses my emotions.

A pulse of crimson runs through the glass, then it fades along with our reflections.

There’s darkness, then the pinprick of stars, and finally, the rings of silver form in the distance, whirling and shimmering, made of starlight.

Behind me, Khronus takes a sharp breath. “The Eternal Mirror,” he whispers. “It sees you.”

I think he’s right. I can feel it calling to me, pulling me forward. My hand lifts of its own accord, and I reach out slowly. The rings grow bigger, drawing closer, until they fill the frame, and I’m overwhelmed with an almost irresistible desire to dive headfirst into them.

At the last moment, I feel the bond with Khaosti pulse, and I go still. Then my hand drops to my side, and I take a step back .

Go , I whisper in my mind. The silver rings retreat farther and farther until they are nothing but a speck of starlight, and then they are gone, leaving the mirror blank once more.

The room is filled with silence. I’m not quite sure what just happened, but it feels significant. I take a deep breath and turn to face Khronus. He’s watching me with narrowed eyes. I suspect he’s both annoyed and pleased.

Finally, he says, “Sometimes I have seen flashes of the Eternal Mirror in the darkness, and I knew I was close to making the connection. But you? From the moment you arrived, the mirror was aware. For some reason, you call, and it answers. Why you?” His words are tinged with dark emotion, maybe jealousy.

I suspect it has something to do with the gifts Selene bestowed upon me to help defeat my father. Or maybe that I am a child of dark magic. Also, perhaps the bond with Khaosti was forged from Vortex’s magic. Vortex is the source of all dark magic, but maybe he got it from the mirror.

Khronus shoves his hands in his pockets and watches me with his golden eyes; he’s clearly deep in thought. I hope he comes up with something good. I hope his need for success outweighs his jealousy that I can do something better than him.

“I thought you were a tool I could use to achieve my ultimate goal,” he says, studying me so intently that I want to twitch under his gaze. “But I’m beginning to understand that you are so much more than a tool. Together, we could be something beyond imagining.”

Well, I certainly can’t imagine it. I’m not even going to try .

He smiles, and it’s really creepy, as if he’s suddenly seen the light and likes it. “Clearly, you were sent to me by the gods,” he muses. “They used to have the power to create a bond between two people.”

I almost splutter at that. I make an odd choking sound in the back of my throat. Khronus doesn’t seem to notice; he’s too wrapped up in his vision of the future. He’s probably planning a white wedding or whatever they do here.

I turn my head and stare into the corner of the room, where I know Khaosti is keeping out of the way. But obviously, he’s no freaking help.

“An unbreakable bond,” Khronus continues. “That bestows almost unlimited powers. Together, we will find the Eternal Mirror, and we will control all of creation. And destruction. We will be true gods in control of all the worlds for all of time.”

As he smiles that creepy smile, I think I’m going to be sick all over his shiny boots.

“Your mother was taken from me. But now the gods have brought us together.”

Like hell they have.

“You’re in shock,” he murmurs. Understatement of the century.

“This has happened so fast. I’m in shock myself.

I need time to think, to decide the best way forward for us.

The guards will take you to your rooms. Rest—” he peers down at me and frowns, then wrinkles his nose, “—and clean up. I will send food, wine, and anything you desire...?”

He looks at me with a question in his eyes, and I just shrug. A psychiatrist to treat his obvious delusional psychosis? Perhaps not.

But one thing is clear.

There is absolutely no alternative.

I’m not marrying that fucker. Which means he’s got to die.