Page 47 of The Eternal Mirror (Lucifer’s Mirror #3)

Heading Home?

T he rest of them take a little convincing. Well, Zayne does anyway.

“You want to take us to Hell?” Zayne yells. “Are you fucking out of your mind?”

There’s a good chance the answer to that is a resounding—yes.

I’ve left Josh to sleep or whatever he's doing. Grimlet stayed with him and promised to send for us if there’s any change. But the rest of us have moved on to the dining tent. I haven’t had much of an appetite recently, but I’ve decided I need to eat—I need to get my strength back. I need my magic.

I take a bite of my sandwich, chew, and swallow. I glance at Khaosti; he hasn’t said anything about my suggestion, but then he did promise to follow me anywhere .

I sigh. “It isn’t Hell. Hell is gone. We’ll be going to what was left of Lucifer’s home when Hell was made. It’s the perfect place to hide. Khronus will never think to look there because, well, actually no one ever goes there.”

“I wonder why?” Zayne says. “Are you even sure it exists?”

“Hecate said it did. That it’s there, but shrouded in shadows. Whatever that means.”

“I know where it is,” Khaosti says.

I frown. He’s never mentioned it before. “You do?”

“There’s a blank area on all the maps to the north of here, edging the Silverveil Sea.

I fought in a campaign near there once when I was just a boy.

I was curious, so I went to look. It was a strange place of mist and shadows.

And there was no way in, that I could find.

It was rumored that if you did get in, you would never be seen again. I don’t think many tried.”

“Well, that’s comforting,” Zayne mutters.

“I remember,” Khaosti continues, “I wanted to try. At that point, I didn’t really care if I was never seen again.” He shrugs. “But I did my duty instead and fought another of my father’s battles.”

“So, you’re for it then?” I ask.

He looks startled. “I already followed you into Hell. I will go wherever you ask.”

Zayne makes gagging motions.

I look at Thorben, who we asked to join us, as he needs to make this decision as well. “What do you think?”

“I’ll take it to the Council, but right now they will follow you anywhere. Even into Hell. ”

“It’s not Hell,” I growl, and finish the rest of my sandwich while I consider logistics. “I think we should have an advance team and check it out,” I say. “You know, just in case we do disappear forever, never to be seen again.” Sounds quite nice. I see how it would have appealed to Khaosti.

“Really fucking motivating,” Zayne mutters. “Who?”

“You, of course.” I smirk. “Me, Khaosti, Josh—because I need to keep an eye on him—and Grimlet. The rest can pack up the camp, and I’ll come back for them when we know it’s okay.”

“Or not.”

I look him in the eyes. “You can stay here if you want to.”

“I’m not getting left behind. Last time you snuck off with the asshole—” He waves a hand at Khaosti—“it did not end well.”

“Good, it’s settled. I’m going to rest in the healer's tent with Josh. I didn’t get much sleep last night, and we’ll leave as soon as I have enough magic to make a mirror.”

It’s twenty-four hours before I feel ready to go. We held a funeral for Sheela this morning, along with the rest of our people who died. That was nice. More burning bodies. I’m finding it hard to believe Sheela is gone, that she’s nothing but smoke and ash.

Zayne has Josh in his arms. He still hasn’t woken, but he hasn’t gotten any worse either. That’s a win. Or the pathetic ghost of one. My standards are wrecked. Grimlet is on Khaosti’s shoulder. We have food for a few days, but otherwise, we’re traveling light.

I step forward and whisper the words...

“Show me what the world forgot,

The home where shadows veil a lot .

Mirror deep and silver-bound,

Reveal the place long lost, now found.”

The air shivers, and the mirror forms: dark glass and a silver frame.

“You ready?” I turn to look at my little group.

“No,” Zayne says.

I ignore him and step through the mirror.

And I’m somewhere else. But it feels familiar. I think I’ve dreamed about this place. Maybe I was always meant to come here. I sense the others coming through behind me.

We’re on the crest of a ridge, and below us is the edge of what was once my father’s home. And yup, there are lots of shadows—an impenetrable veil.

Lucifer’s lands.

Or what’s left of them.

It’s not Hell, but it’s not right either.

The ground is cracked like old marble. Silver mist creeps out from the shadows as though trying to engulf us all. Trees twist into each other, bare of leaves. No birds. No wind. Just a faint hum—too deep to hear properly but too strong to ignore.

“Is this it? Hell?” Zayne asks, low.

“It’s not fucking Hell,” I say. “And no, we have to get through those shadows.”

I step forward. The air shifts—heavy, expectant.

“It doesn’t feel evil,” Khaosti says.

I nod. “No. Just...forgotten. Sad. ”

We move slowly, the others quiet now. Everyone can feel it—that hush before something breaks. At the base of the ridge, I stop. There’s a wall of lightless shimmer—like shadow turned to silk stitched across the air.

The barrier.

I walk forward but don’t actually move. It’s totally weird. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get any closer.

I consider for a moment, then I draw my sword and make a tiny cut on my thumb. Blood drips onto the ground. It hisses, and the shadows stir restlessly.

“Let me pass where dreams were sown—

The land my mother walked, my father owned.”

The shadows flare—white-gold, then black, then a soft, steady silver.

The barrier shivers.

Then parts.

The curtain of darkness splits down the middle, opening like a slow-blinking eye. Beyond it...mist and silence. Trees warped with starlight. The air shimmers like it’s made of memory.

I step through.

The air is cool against my skin. I glance back.

Khaosti is right behind me. Zayne hesitates, then takes a deep breath and steps through the shadows.

Josh stirs in his arms, just once, as if something deep inside him recognizes this place, then settles again.

Zayne peers around, as though expecting the devil to leap out from behind a bush.

When it doesn’t happen, some of the tension seeps from his body .

“This doesn’t look bad for—”

“If you say the H word one more time, I’ll turn you into a goddamn toad,” I snap.

I glance around, deciding which way to go. There’s a faint pathway heading south, and it’s as good a direction as any. I start walking. As we move from the shadows, the air shifts again—lighter now. And there are whispers on the breeze.

Something here remembers me.

And it’s waiting.

It’s as if the darkness has been leached from the place. There’s no sense of evil, but no good either. It’s like a blank page.

Lucifer’s lands. My inheritance, if you want to get poetic about it. Or delusional. It’s...quiet and still. A land caught between memory and dream, where nothing has weight—not even time. Something is definitely off.

Khaosti scans the horizon, his jaw tight. “It’s not real.”

“It’s real enough,” I say. “Just...rewritten.”

“What happened to this place?” Zayne asks.

“When Khronus created the devil, he took all that was good from my father and locked it in amber. At the same time, he created Hell from all that was bad about this place. And this is what’s left.

” I wave a hand around. “But I guess everywhere needs a balance of good and bad; otherwise, it feels insubstantial, unreal. As though there’s something vital missing. ”

After that, no one speaks for a while. We just walk. Soon we come to a forest, and I think I know where we are. The track leads to a clearing with a pergola at one end .

I love you.

The words echo through time—my mother’s voice.

This is where she first met Lucifer, where they married mere months later. This is also where I stood in Hell and spoke the spell that destroyed my father forever.

I trail my fingers over the cool marble.

Flowers are trained around wrought iron, beautiful in form but devoid of color and scent.

I look around, remembering the last time I was here—or rather, in Hell’s version of here—with Hecate and my father and Khaosti.

I thought we would die in this place, Khaosti and I.

But here we are.

My eyes catch something glinting in the faded light. There, lodged in the roots of an old dead tree, is my sword.

Nightfall.

How?

I can only presume it’s due to some part of the magic that connected this place to Hell. The last time I saw my sword, she’d been in Khaosti’s hand—just before everything went completely to shit.

I can’t believe she’s here now.

I pull her free. The weight is perfect in my hand—familiar, solid in a world that isn’t. The blade hums faintly, as if she missed me .

“I missed you too,” I whisper. Pulling the sword from the sheath at my back, I rest it in the pergola and replace it with Nightfall.

We have hours of daylight left, and we keep moving. Khaosti takes Josh and walks beside me. Josh is restless.

We pass through the village. In Hell, it was haunted by ghosts.

Hopefully, they are all at rest now that Hell is no more.

Finally, we reach my father’s house. It’s beautiful—graceful, with tall towers at each corner.

The wrought iron gates are wide open, leading to a broad driveway with a fountain in the center.

“It’s the same, but so different,” Khaosti murmurs.

We walk up the stone steps to the great doorway. A shiver runs through me as I remember the last time I walked these steps. That didn’t end well, either.

“Welcome to my father’s house,” I say, pushing open the great doors.

Zayne is staring around him. “We used to joke about how your family was likely royalty. Looks like we weren’t far wrong.”

“There was no royalty when my father lived here. Khronus only named himself King after Lucifer was safely locked away in Hell.”

I walk past the door leading to the great hall. I have bad memories of that place. But the next door opens into a sitting room, and Khaosti walks in and lays Josh down on a velvet sofa.

The rest of us sit down as well. I reach into my pack and pull out a bottle of water, passing it around.

“It’s not bad,” Zayne muses. “But it’s not good either. It’s like...nothing.”

He’s right. There’s something missing. But I don’t think we’ll come to any harm here. I get to my feet, suddenly restless. “I’m going to take a look around.”

No one follows, perhaps realizing I need time to myself. I wander the halls and the rooms .

Then, in one, I find a painting, and I stop and stare. Like everything else, it is faded and unreal. But it’s them—my mother and father. I’m guessing it’s on their wedding day; she has flowers plaited through her long dark hair. And they look so happy.

I hear an echo of soft laughter.

Staring at that picture, finally the tears that I couldn’t cry begin to fall. And I can’t stop. I think it’s that I finally realize what could have been. What should have been. I would have grown up in this house surrounded by love and laughter.

I sink to the floor, hug my knees to my chest, and cry until there are no tears left. Afterwards, as the tears dry on my face, my mind is clearer.

One thing is crystal clear: Khronus has to die.

But I also realize that if I’d had that perfect life, I would likely never have met Khaosti. Or if I did, I would have been five thousand years older than him.

And Zayne and Josh would never have been part of my life.

I wipe my face on my sleeve, sniff, and get to my feet.

When I return, Josh is awake.

He’s sitting up on the sofa, blinking, as if he’s surfacing from deep water. Grimlet is beside him, chattering softly, holding his hand like he’s afraid Josh will vanish again.

Zayne tosses me a smile, the first genuine one I’ve seen from him in—longer than I remember. Khaosti is leaning against the wall, watching. He gives me a sharp glance, no doubt taking in the evidence of my crying jag. I give him a smile, and he relaxes.

Then I drop to my knees beside Josh .

“Hey,” I say.

Josh looks at me and smiles.

Relief crashes through me—bright and hot and almost enough to knock me over. But then he speaks, and his voice is...strange. It echoes, as if it’s bouncing between two places at once.

“Glad to have you back,” I tell him. “You’ve been asleep for way too long.”

“I dreamed I was inside the stars,” he says.

I freeze. Grimlet does too.

“What else do you remember?” I ask carefully.

“Light. And mirrors. And someone calling my name. But they didn’t call me Josh. It was a different name, but I knew it was me.”

I glance at Khaosti. He’s watching, jaw clenched. No answers there, just worry.

Josh looks down at his hands then back at me. His eyes shimmer faintly, and just for a second, they flash silver, like moonlight on water. He blinks and it’s gone.

I swallow hard. He’s alive but clearly not unchanged. And I have no clue what that means.

Two weeks later, I sit on the stone steps and stare at the faint stars. I know we have to think about leaving. We can’t hide here forever.

This place is starting to blur at the edges. People sleep too much. The colors fade. The food tastes like ash. Even time feels...wrong. Like if we stay too long, we’ll forget why we ever needed to leave.

We’re all rested, and the injured have recovered .

My magic is back to full strength. I can feel it inside me like a fire coaxed back from embers. That deep well of power Selene gave me as a baby is still there. And it wants out.

I’ve been reaching out to Selene, but so far, she’s been impossible to contact.

Khronus will come again. But this time, I won’t wait for him.

This time, I’ll bring the fight to him. I’ve seen his world in my visions. They visit me each night. I’ve witnessed the suffering of the ones I love. Over and over. I won’t let that happen.

For the first time in what feels like forever, I know where my path leads.

But that’s my path, and it’s only for me to know. I don’t think the others would understand. They haven’t seen my visions of a future under Khronus.

I whisper a promise to the stars: “I’d rather burn this world than let him own it.”