Page 48 of The Eternal Mirror (Lucifer’s Mirror #3)

Do I look like an Omnicidal Maniac?

A s soon as I close my eyes to sleep, I know something is different.

I can sense the Eternal Mirror. I can see it spinning endlessly amid the stars. It’s drawing closer, as though it can sense me in return. As though there’s a connection between us, pulling us together. Through it, I can see the endless void, filled with possibilities of worlds to come.

And worlds that have gone.

Maybe there was a connection forged when Selene gave me her magic.

What do you want? I whisper the question through my mind.

Then my vision changes, and I’m standing barefoot in the temple of Selene on Valandria.

The air smells like stars—like frost and fire. Above me, I see swirling galaxies of light and shadow. I know it’s not real, just a memory of the place.

The statue of Selene lies toppled, and the real thing is sitting cross-legged on the empty plinth, as though waiting for me.

“You came,” I say.

“Because you called,” she replies.

Hah. “I’ve been calling for the last week.”

“I’ve been a little busy,” she snaps. “The Mirror is unraveling faster than I anticipated. It’s taking all my magic to hold it together.”

I step closer. “Khronus is using the mirror’s magic from the splinter.”

She shakes her head. “It was never meant to be used like this. The Mirror is not a weapon.”

“He doesn’t care what it was meant to be. He just wants to use it to get to the Eternal Mirror. He wants to become a true god like you.” I frown. “What is the difference anyway? What makes you a real god?”

“We have the power of creation and destruction, and we wield the celestial fires. We are both shifter and mirror mage. We can bestow gifts upon those who please us.”

“Like the mating bond?” I ask. “Some gift.”

“It is what you make of it,” she snaps .

Very fucking cryptic. “Did you find out if you can sever the bond between me and Khaosti?”

“That is the wrong question.”

I think for a moment. “ Will you sever the bond?”

“I haven’t decided.”

Jesus, she’s annoying. Have I mentioned—I seriously dislike the gods. But at least I got her here.

Now I have to get the information I need without letting her know that I need it. Because I’ve got a funny idea that she wouldn’t be supportive of my plan.

I walk around the temple, trailing my fingers along the smooth marble. I come back to stand in front of her, arms folded across my chest. “So how do I stop him?”

“First, the splinter must be returned to its rightful place.”

“Good plan, but I don’t know where it is, and he’s protecting it with his magic, which is stronger than mine, by the way.”

She snorts. “You will never accept what you are.”

I glare. “And what does that even mean?”

“It means you are bound by the limitations you place on yourself. It has always been your weakness.”

Superior bitch. She reminds me so much of Hecate in that moment. My aunt was always saying the same thing. Always telling me that I must accept what I am. Freaking difficult when you have no clue what that is.

“So, you’re saying that I am more powerful than Khronus?”

“There are so many possibilities in this world. ”

I contemplate shifting into my alicorn form and letting Frenzy stab her through the eye. It would be so satisfying. Instead, I close my eyes and count to ten. I open them and smile.

“Tell me about these possibilities?” She just looks at me. “Okay. Then tell me about the Eternal Mirror. Is it possible to destroy it? And what would happen if it was destroyed?”

Selene studies me warily. “Why would you need to know that?”

“To stop it from happening, obviously.”

She still hesitates. I suspect she knows I’m lying.

“Please,” I say. “If it’s that dangerous—if I have to stop Khronus—then I need to understand what’s at risk.”

She exhales. “You need not worry. Only the Mirror’s core—where all realities converge—is vulnerable to spells of unmaking. And only one who is both shifter and mage can reach it.”

Very interesting. Because that includes me; I’m a shifter and a mirror mage.

I’m not sure exactly what a spell of unmaking is, but I suspect I’ve done one before. On my father. So yeah—I’m pretty sure I could come up with something.

“And that doesn’t include Khronus,” Selene continues. “He’s only a threat because he has the splinter—something that was never meant to exist in his world. He has no idea what he’s meddling with.”

“True.” But to get back to the important stuff… “What are the consequences if the mirror is destroyed?” I ask. “Is that the end of it? ”

“No, the Eternal Mirror cannot end. But it would cease to exist in this reality. And here magic will die. The Astral Plane will be gone. Gods will fade. And the wielder of the spell will cease to be.”

“Cease to be?”

“They won’t even become memory. The Mirror will take them back into itself.”

A shiver of prescience runs through me. “That’s a lot. What about the other worlds, Valandria, Earth?”

“They would continue. Isolated, cut off. In time, they would fade and die.”

“How much time?”

“Millennia.”

That’s good enough for me. A lot can happen in a millennium.

Her eyes narrow. “I see the path you walk, Amber. And it’s a dangerous one. You only see the evil in this world and not the good. Vortex was the same. Though it was worse for him, as he knew the evil was of his making. Still, he wanted to erase his ‘failures’ and start over.”

“So, you killed him?”

“Yes, I killed him,” she snaps. “What else was I supposed to do?” She stares at me. “Do not even think about attempting to destroy the Mirror.”

I smile. “Of course not. That would be way beyond stupid. Thanks for the warning, but do I look like I want to ‘cease to be’?” I try for a smile like I’m normal and well-adjusted and not an omnicidal maniac.

She frowns. Clearly, I didn’t pull it off .

But I got what I came for. If the only way to stop Khronus is to destroy his entire world, then so be it. Better that, than the future of my visions.

I wake gasping, cold all over.

But I know exactly what I have to do.