Page 151 of Till Death

“The friends you keep are dangerous,” the brothel owner said, moments later.

“That’s how I like them.”

“Me, too.” She smiled, staring at the door. “Just don’t tell her I said that. It ruins the fun. Tell me what you want from Ro.”

“It’s none of your business.”

Realizing Lady Visha couldn’t actually force me into a contract, nor had she truly bound Paesha, made the words come easier, but still, my truths were my own, and I wouldn’t say any more about Orin than I needed to.

“She’s always protected you, Deyanira. Don’t you ever wonder why?”

“Ro was my only friend growing up. She was all I had. I’d like to think it was because someone actually gave a fuck.”

“Then where is she now?”

I plucked Chaos from my thigh and began to clean beneath my nails. “Obviously, I don’t know where she is, Visha. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”

Shoving the end of her cigarette into her golden ashtray, she snorted. “Some friend.”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t,” she said with such finality I let the conversation end.

We sat in silence for hours, Cordelia coming and going from the room like a wraith, silently serving her master without speaking. I’d begun to worry about Paesha, wondering if she’d run into Drexel and he was alive after all, until she walked in unannounced, slamming a giant leather-bound book on the desk before Lady Visha. The brothel owner’s shoulders visibly sank as she moved her fingers over the etchings in the leather.

“Try standing before a mirror and calling her by her real name: Cythronia Eiria, Goddess of Life, Truth, and Reflection,” she said simply, lifting the book to her chest as she walked out of the room.

Chapter 57

“Should I be concerned that you just happened to know there was a long mirror in this disgusting apartment?”

I shrugged. “Should I be concerned you stole Lady Visha’s power?”

She looked at my dusty reflection in the mirror. “The book wasn’t her power. From what I understood, it was her ledger, but for some reason, she couldn’t keep someone bound if she didn’t write their name inside. Some kind of weird rule on her power. At least that’s what Drexel thought when he sent me in to get that book.”

“You know, it’s strange. I never really considered you to be a thief, but the more I think about it, that’s what Drexel turned you into. Whether you chose it or not.”

She stared at herself in the mirror for several minutes. “I guess now I do get to decide what I am.”

“Yes, you do.” I reached forward, sliding a finger over the edge of the mirror as a title I hadn't had time to truly believe fell bitterly from my lips. “Cythronia Eiria, Goddess of Life, Truth, and Reflection, it’s time to come out and play.”

For a moment, the mirror didn’t respond. And I thought for sure I was going to have to keep my vow and start hunting down all the mirrors and breaking them, just to lure her from her hole, but eventually, the glass rippled, and we were able to step beyond the threshold and into an open clearing I’d seen one other time.

“I don’t like to be summoned,” Ro said, standing with her feet shoulder-width apart, arms crossed and glaring at the two of us.

“A goddess, Ro? Really?”

She rolled her eyes, and I couldn’t help but think of how un-godlike that gesture was. “The writing was on the wall, Deyanira. But that’s not why you’re here.”

I pulled the tiny flower from my pocket, withered as it was, and held it out toward her. “Why did you choose this design for the tattoos on my back?”

She plucked a small white petal and studied it for several moments before softening. “Because I knew when it was time, you would figure it out.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me? Of all people, Lady Visha had to. How did she know?”

“Because she’s a nosy cunt.” She dropped the petal to the ground, walked directly past us, and through the mirror. We shared a glance before following, both hesitant to trust a goddess in a godless world. But when we stepped through, we entered the hall of mirrors I’d originally expected.

Traipsing down the stairs, I pushed the door open to her sitting room as Paesha took my side, still silent.