Page 9 of The Eternal Mirror (Lucifer’s Mirror #3)

“I couldn't really leave him behind. You might have noticed he's not good at following orders.” Neither is Zayne, but he wasn’t shadowing my every move, so it was easy to avoid him.

“No,” he sighs. “And neither am I. You're right—I would have wanted to go. And that would have left Josh alone. So what happened? Obviously, you're still alive, so it couldn’t have been too bad. Aw, I bet you got to meet your dad. You always wanted that.”

“Maybe, before I knew who he was.” I close my eyes for a moment, and a shudder runs through me.

“It was a close thing.” I exhale. I don't really want to think about how close it was. I’d gotten to the point where I'd accepted my death. It’s strange, such a weird sensation, and something I don't think you ever come back from.

But maybe...we'll talk about that another time.

“Come on, Amber. Spit it out. What happened?”

I decide to get it all—or the highlights at least—out fast. “I went to Hell. I met my mother. She died. And I killed my father.” There. All nice and succinct.

He's staring at me. “You're kidding me?”

“Nope,” I say. “He's dead. He's gone. Hell is no more. It's over. I fulfilled my fucking destiny.”

He looks at me in wonder. “Wow. Was it horrible? ”

I let out a laugh at that. Horrible doesn't even begin to describe it. I watched my mother die in front of me—the mother I’d thought was dead 5,000 years ago.

Instead, she'd been stuck in some stinking dungeon, being tortured by my father all that time.

I watched as my father's malevolent witch tried to tear Khaos’s wolf from his body.

He fought so hard that Fury died—and that nearly broke my heart.

Fury, his beast, loved me long before Khaos did.

And I'll always mourn him. But all I say is. .. “Yeah, it was pretty horrible.”

“Come on, Amber, I need more than that.”

“My mother gave me a spell to destroy my father—yup, just one big happy family. She couldn’t do it herself—she still loved him.

The amber around my neck contained the good part of my father.

I had to destroy it and speak the spell.

But the spell also destroyed Hell and everything in it—including very nearly—me and Khaos. ”

“And yet here you are,” he says. “How?”

I shrug. “Magic.”

I don't want to talk about it anymore. “I’ll leave the rest for another time,” I say. “But yeah, it was all pretty unbelievable.” There’s one last thing I need to tell him. “There’s something else. Hecate is dead. She betrayed us.”

But that's not quite correct. “She did what she thought was right. She wanted to save Lucifer. She wanted to reunite his good part with his bad. And honestly, that was never going to happen. She died for it. She was destroyed with Hell.”

“I don't believe it,” he says. “She loved you. ”

“I know she loved me. And she loved me at the end. But I think she loved Lucifer more. But that’s another story for later.”

I think I'm ready to try and get us out of here.

I push myself to my feet and cross to where Josh is lying on the sofa, his little body curled up around itself.

I can see the tracks of tears on his cheek.

I reach out and touch his shoulder, and he almost jumps out of his skin.

He's shaking. Then he glances up and sees my face.

His fear melts away and a smile blossoms. “Amber, you came. You rescued us.”

“Yeah, I did, didn’t I? Sort of. Except we're not quite out of here yet, Josh. So you’ve got to be strong, okay?”

He casts a glance at Zayne, and I can see the fear flickering in his eyes. Ouch. That must hurt.

“Hey,” I say, “it wasn’t Zayne’s fault. It was a horrible, evil man. He made him do it.”

“I know. But he was scary.”

“I bet. Zayne can be very scary. And you were very brave.” I reach down, get my arms around him, and hug him hard. “Come on. Let's see if we can get out of here for good.”

I lift him off the bed and whirl him around, then put him down on the floor. There’s still a worried frown between his eyebrows, but I’m guessing that’s not going away anytime soon. He nearly died at the hands of his own brother. And he knows it. Only time will heal him now.

Zayne, still seated in his chair, long legs sprawled out in front of him, watches us. His face is almost clear of expression, but I know him too well, and I can see the pain in his eyes. He’s another one who’s going to need some time.

It’s so not fair. Both of these two had horrible childhoods. That’s how they ended up at Pete and Lisa’s. It wasn’t much better there, but they survived.

And then I landed in their lives.

Yeah, definitely not fair. But if there’s one thing I’ve come to realize, it’s not to expect fairness from life.

When I had no memory of who I was, I didn’t believe in any gods; I thought it was all just random shit.

Now I remember, and I know the gods do exist—hey, I’ve even met one—and it makes no difference.

If they are making decisions about us, then they are making crap, malicious, fucking senseless decisions that we have no control over.

You can pray all you like, and it won’t do you a damn bit of good.

“Okay,” I say, trying my best to sound cheerful. “Let’s get the hell out of this joint.”

I look around and find a space big enough. I peer inside myself, and yes—my magic is building. It should be enough. I take a deep breath and whisper the words of the mirror spell.

And absolutely nothing happens.

“Crap.” I whisper the words again—and guess what? Still nothing happens.

I take another look inside myself; the magic is definitely there. It’s more like there’s something stopping it.

How the hell can that be? And more to the point—what can I do about it ?

“Amber? Nothing seems to be happening,” says Zayne, ever one for stating the obvious.

“Really?” I snarl. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Josh tugs on my pant leg. “Are we leaving, Amber?”

Oh, Lord. What do I say? I hate to disappoint him. “I don’t think so, Josh. I think we’re going to have to stay a little while longer. But hey, don’t worry. Me and Zayne—we’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

Behind me, Zayne snorts. He knows that promises like that are worthless.

I grit my teeth. I was so sure we were going to be out of here.

That I could do this. But obviously, it’s not going to be that easy.

Maybe Khronus has some sort of ward set up around the place.

Though my other magic seems to work. I hold up my hand, whisper a spell, and flames flicker from my fingertips.

Ouch. Yup, working. Maybe it’s just the mirror magic that doesn’t work here.

I have a vague memory of Sheela mentioning there were no mirrors in the palace. But I hadn’t been paying too much attention at the time. That was when we’d been trying to rescue Khaos from the dungeons, and my mind had been on other things.

Now I wish I’d listened more.

And I’m hungry again. I’m always hungry. I need a lot of energy for some reason.

I back up and sink down onto the bed, staring at the empty space where my mirror should be. I’m trying to work out what my next move is, but I really have no clue.

And food always helps me think. I need food .

Josh comes and sits beside me, his legs dangling over the edge of the bed. He’s nearly as tall as me now. But not quite. I pat him on the leg and then get up and cross the room to the door. I try it, but it’s locked.

Of course it is. We’re prisoners here. And who knows when Khronus will turn on us again?

“Shit, shit, shit.”

But at that moment, there’s a knock on the door, and I almost jump back. The lock clicks open, and the door is pushed from the other side. I hold my breath. I really cannot face Khronus again right now.

But it’s a man I haven’t seen before, dressed in some sort of black uniform, which I suspect means he’s a servant in the palace. He’s pushing a trolley with food—and I love him.

He places the trolley in the middle of the room, gives a funny little bow, and then backs away. The door closes behind him, and the lock clicks.

The food looks wonderful.

Maybe Khronus isn’t so bad after all.

I pick up a little sandwich and push it into my mouth, chew, and swallow, then pick up another. I glance up and find Zayne watching me, amazement on his face.

“We have to eat,” I say sanctimoniously. “We need to keep our strength up. We owe it to Josh.” I stuff another sandwich into my mouth.

“Yeah, right,” he mutters .

I don’t think he’s got much of an appetite, and I’m not surprised. But I’ve learned to eat when I can. Then I notice something—a piece of paper sticking out from beneath one of the plates. I reach across and slide it free, then open it.

It’s a note.

Can we meet? Sheela.

“What is it?” Zayne asks.

“It’s a message from Sheela. Khaosti’s cousin. Remember?”

“Of course I remember,” he says. “What does she want?”

“To meet.” I frown. “The thing is, after we rescued Khaos, she left. She said she was heading north to join the rebellion.

“There’s a rebellion?”

“Yes, apparently. She’s part of it. And now she wants to meet.”

And I have to decide—do I want to be dragged into someone else’s rebellion?

Gods help me...but I think I just found my next terrible idea.