Page 36 of The Eternal Mirror (Lucifer’s Mirror #3)

Khaos

“ T he mirror is gone,” she says.

No kidding. It’s hard to miss that fact.

Which means I’d better start thinking of a way to get us all out of here.

Amber whispers the spell to make me visible again, and I hear a few gasps around the room as I materialize.

I look around and do a quick count. There are eleven witches, plus the four of us and Winter’s brother, who I took an instant dislike to. Probably because his sister betrayed us. I never trusted Winter either. But then I don’t trust many people.

Across the room, Sheela has her arm wrapped around the shoulder of a frail woman, who I presume is her mother, Yasmin. She’s my aunt, I suppose, but she disappeared nearly two hundred years ago, long before I was born.

My father apparently executed her husband—his own brother. But then, I’m his son and I’m pretty sure if he catches me this time, I’m a dead man. So I’d better not let him.

Amber steps up close to me. “Any ideas?” she almost whispers. Presumably, she doesn’t want to let the rest of them know just how precarious our situation is.

It’s very fucking precarious.

Suddenly, a woman comes to stand in front of me, her hands on her hips, her eyes narrow. She’s staring at me with a level of loathing usually reserved for the shadowguard and my father.

“What is it, Hella?” Amber asks.

“Him.” She points a finger at my chest. “That asshole is the reason I’m here.”

Oh fuck. This, I presume, is what’s known as your past catching up with you. Inevitable, I suppose, but not good timing.

I remember her now, though not her face.

I did my best not to notice that. She was my last assignment: a mirror mage, probably the last free one, who’d preferred to run than register.

I didn’t understand back then and didn’t care enough to try.

Now, having seen this place and what has been done to the witches here, what I did was beyond evil.

A combination of ignorance, stupidity, and apathy.

I didn’t question. I just followed orders. Like a good little monster.

But I can’t take back the past .

I’m filled with self-loathing. I draw the knife from the sheath at my waist and hand it to the woman. She takes it automatically and stares at it.

Amber gives me a dark look and steps between us.

“Sorry. You can’t kill him, Hella. He’s likely got to carry someone out of here.

” She takes the knife gently from her but doesn’t give it back to me.

“I’ve wanted to stab him a few times myself.

Maybe once we’re out of here, we can rethink the whole thing. ”

“I’m sorry,” I say. “It’s not an excuse, but I didn’t know.”

“No, it’s not an excuse.” But the fight has gone out of her.

“But he knows now,” Amber says. “And he’s trying very hard to do better. Aren’t you, Khaos?” She looks at me with one eyebrow raised.

I sigh. “Yes. Who do you want me to carry?” I just hope it’s not Hella. Though she looks to be in the best shape of all of them. But then, she’s only been here for a few years.

“I’m not sure yet.” She turns to Sheela. “Could we get out the way you brought me when we rescued Khaos?”

“Maybe.”

I know the way she means; it’s a direct route out of the dungeons without going through the main palace. And it might be marginally better than walking out the front door, but only marginally. If Khronus is onto us, then he’ll be guarding that route as well.

“Can you do your invisibility spell on all these?”

“No way. There’s too many. I struggled with just Zayne and Josh. Anyway, we’d make too much noise. And if we split up, we can’t find anyone and—”

“Okay, that’s a no then.”

“Sorry.” She frowns. “What about the roof? We could fly them down into the city.”

“The archers would get us. And I’m not sure most of these have the strength to hold on. There’s not much point in rescuing them if you’re just going to drop them from a great height. But it might work as a last resort. I think Wrath could take a few arrows.”

“Aw, you’ve given him a name. That’s so cute.”

“It seemed to fit.”

Whatever we’re going to do, we’d better do it soon. “Let’s try the other route first. If that doesn’t work, we’ll head for the roof.”

“Okay. She looks around. “The woman over there—” she points to a woman curled on the floor, “and Killian—you take the one in that cell.” She waves a hand behind her, and Killian disappears. I go to pick up my witch. She’s frail, all bones, and her skin is gray.

My father did this. I look up to see Hella watching me, but I don’t say anything. Shame seals my lips.

Amber takes the lead, Sheela behind her supporting her mother. The others fall in behind. Niall hesitates, and I cast him a dark look. “Go.”

He looks after the others. “You should have left them.”

“Fucking go,” I growl, and he goes.

I follow.

My burden weighs so little, she hardly slows me down, but it doesn’t matter.

Some of the women can barely stand, never mind run, so our pace is slow.

Then, up in front, everyone stops. I gently hand the witch to Niall.

“If you leave her behind, I’ll gut you,” I say and make my way to the front where Amber is whispering to Sheela. She looks up as I get close.

“Soldiers,” she whispers.

“How many?”

“Lots and lots of them.”

At that moment, there’s a shout up ahead. I suspect they might have just noticed us. I think quickly. It’s clear we’re not getting out this way. So, we switch to plan B. At least this time we have a plan B, even if it’s a crappy one.

“Take them up to the roof on the east tower,” I say to Sheela. “We’ll hold them off and give you some time. Go!”

They do. I watch them disappear back down into the dungeons.

Then I turn to Amber.

She’s already raising her hands, magic glowing at her fingertips. “How flashy do we want this?” she asks.

“Flashy enough to scare the shit out of them,” I say. “Just don’t burn the whole place down.”

Amber grins. “You got it. Though that rules out the celestial fire. It burns too hot. It would probably cook us as well.”

She mutters a spell under her breath, and a wall of orange fire erupts between us and the advancing soldiers. They skid to a halt, yelling and flailing as the flames roar toward them. Amber flings a burst of kinetic magic into the line of soldiers, sending them flying back like rag dolls.

A pair of cloaked witches appear, chanting a spell and the flames die. They send a bolt of magic toward us, and I hurl myself at Amber and shove her out of the way. We both crash to the ground .

“Thanks,” she mutters.

The soldiers regroup fast—too fast. But Amber’s magic is everywhere. Bolts of golden light streak through the air, knocking weapons from hands, setting cloaks alight, confusing and disorienting.

They push forward, but every time they get close, Amber hits them with another wave of force. The witches counteract with spells of their own, and we’re barely holding them back.

But we don’t have to beat them, we just need to buy time. I calculate how long it takes to get to the roof and double it. We only have to hold them off for a few more minutes.

A soldier lunges at me with a pike. I twist and slam into him, kicking him in the balls and sending him crashing into the wall. More are coming.

“Amber!” I shout. “One more minute!”

She gives me a quick nod, and we fall into sync. I attack. She blasts. We retreat step by step, buying time with blood and fire and fury.

We’ve reached the main doors to the dungeon and then we’re through. “Lock them and run!” I shout.

The doors slam shut, and I grab her hand. We’re racing through the palace, up the stairs. We catch up with the others as they reach the door leading to the flat roof of the East Tower.

As we flood onto the roof, arrows rain down on us, and everyone cowers against the walls.

Amber screams a spell, and a dome forms over our heads.

But we can’t hold out forever. There are too many of them, and beneath it all, I can feel my father drawing near.

I can sense the tug of his beastmaster magic.

But deep inside me, Wrath growls. He’s not coming out to play, at least not at my father’s bidding.

He can't reach us. Not anymore. Wrath isn’t like the other shifters; he’s not like Fury. He’s Vortex’s legacy—older than Khronus’s spells, maybe forged in the Eternal Mirror itself. Too powerful to answer to anyone but me.

But I’m not the only shifter here. I hear a groan behind me and turn as Killian drops the witch he was carrying and crashes to his knees.

Then he falls to the ground, rolling onto his back, his spine arching.

Shit, I can almost feel his pain. Been there, done that too many times to count.

If he shifts, he’ll attack us all, and we’ll have to take him out somehow.

“Sheela, do that spell,” Amber says. “Quick. Send him to sleep.”

Sheela almost shouts the words, and Killian’s body collapses to the ground. But he’s out cold and safe from my father.

“Are you okay?” Amber asks, a frown on her face as she studies me.

“I’m fine. He can’t touch Wrath. He’s more powerful than my father’s beastmaster magic. He chooses who to obey. And who to ignore.”

“That’s good. One less thing to worry about.” She looks around, no doubt searching for a way out.

My father appears in the doorway, surrounded by guards and a trio of witches. He scans the roof, his gaze landing on Amber.

His fucking queen? Never going to happen. She’s mine .

As though he hears my thoughts, his gaze slides to me.

And he goes instantly still, eyes widening in shock.

He reaches out a hand. Again, I feel the tug of his magic, but it slides off me.

I give him a slow smile. One day, I’d really like to introduce him to Wrath—up close and personal. But I suspect it won’t be tonight.

Sheela hurries up to us. “We need to get them away from here. They need healing and care.”

“I know. I know.” Amber is pacing in front of me, frustration evident in every line of her body.

“Give yourselves up,” Khronus shouts. “And they will be spared. They will be looked after. You can still be my queen.”

“And what about Khaos?” she shouts back.

“For him, there is nothing.”

“Such fatherly love,” she mutters. “And I thought I had it bad.” She turns her back on Khronus and paces some more. She's all pent-up energy. It's sexy as hell. If we get away from here, we—

She stops abruptly and turns to face me. “Oh my god. I’m so fucking stupid.”

“You are?”

“He’s taken the mirror from the palace. That’s where he went tonight, not to any stupid council meeting.”

“So?”

“The mirror was what was blocking my mirror magic from working here. But if it’s gone, then...”

She gives me a huge smile, then stands on her tiptoes and kisses me full on the mouth. Then she turns and lifts her middle finger to Khronus .

I’d laugh if we weren’t in dire danger.

She takes a deep breath and then whispers the words of a spell.

The air shimmers between us, and a beautiful mirror appears.

“Did I mention that I love you?” I say.

She gives me a strange look and answers, “Let’s go.”