Chapter 31
T he gauntlets knocked against my thighs as Rasimir hustled me through the Drakhold. Where are you taking me? I wanted to scream, but of course I couldn’t.
Maybe that was why he’d muzzled me. He wanted the freedom to taunt and insult me without repercussions. This whole time, he was the one who’d been pretending. He believed himself a mighty king, but he was too fragile to handle even the slightest whiff of truth.
BOOM.
The fortress shook, dust raining from the ceiling. Rasimir halted in the middle of the corridor.
BOOM.
Men’s shouts drifted in from outside, followed by pounding footsteps. A scream sounded in the distance.
“Someone will answer for this disruption,” Rasimir muttered, dragging me to the window. Outside, knights sprinted toward the stone bridge Vander and I had crossed the day I arrived. A man in a long coat strode toward them. He flung out his hands, blue light crackling around his fingers.
“Move, idiots!” Rasimir hissed.
“ Uci !” the man cried, the vor muffled through the glass. A knight fell to the ground. The others paused. Two werewolves on all fours streaked from behind the man and tackled the knights.
BOOM.
The Drakhold shook again.
“There’s a giant at the gates!” a knight shouted as he ran toward the chaos on the bridge. “We’re under attack!”
“ Uci !” the witch yelled, and the knight toppled over the side of the bridge, his body spinning as he fell.
“Come on,” Rasimir growled, pulling me from the window. Agitation snapped around him as he hustled me back the way we’d come. I ran to avoid being pulled off my feet. I had no doubt he’d drag me or, worse, toss me over his shoulder if I couldn’t keep up.
Moments later, he yanked open my door and shoved me into my chamber. I staggered forward several steps, the gauntlets swinging away from my body before I regained my balance and rounded on him.
“You stay put,” he snarled, stabbing a finger at me.
Fuck you , I thought, pouring my hatred into my eyes.
The message must have landed, because he stepped forward and raised his hand.
BOOM.
A vase of flowers on one of the tables tipped over and rolled off the side. Porcelain shattered.
Snarling, Rasimir spun and rushed out the door, slamming it behind him.
And I was alone. Shoulders aching, I hurried to the balcony. Werewolves in beast form sprinted from the forest. Knights and courtiers with swords poured from the castle to meet them. They clashed in the courtyard, a battle exploding before my eyes.
I was trapped in my room. Vander and Lorcan were in the dungeon. Who knew what Rasimir had ordered his men to do to them? I couldn’t just sit around and wait to be rescued. I had to act. I had to do something. But what could I do with my mouth and hands bound?
Rushing to the vanity, I peered at myself in the mirror.
Bile burned my throat as I tried to open my mouth.
The metal stretched with my skin. Until Rasimir released me, I was stuck.
I couldn’t eat or speak or draw a full breath.
And the men I loved were imprisoned. I’d failed at everything, and I had nothing. No magic, no hope, no plan.
Dhampir. I was supposed to be rare and powerful.
Legendary. The daughter of a vampire king and an assassin witch.
But I was weak and helpless. My reflection blurred as hot tears welled in my eyes.
Delphine, my only friend in the castle, was frozen in the courtyard.
Alon was dead. Duncan was dead. My fault.
All my fault. I couldn’t protect them. I couldn’t even hide my emotions.
You should practice in front of a mirror.
It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. I’d lost, and now I’d watch Lorcan and Vander die.
A scream of rage, fear, and frustration boiled up. Swinging a gauntleted fist, I smashed it into the mirror.
Glass shattered, shards pelting my gown and scattering over the vanity and floor. My chest heaving, I staggered backward. Evening sunlight sparkled in the mirror pieces. Dozens of copies of my face stared up at me, my mouth a square of metal.
Rage scalded my veins…and then it changed, streaking blistering paths through every part of my body. And it was different from desire. Different from the monster’s hunger or anything else I’d experienced. It was raw and primal. Ancient and wild.
It was power. It was magic —and I’d always had it. The knowledge burned as hot as the magic, which had been sleeping. But it was awake now.
And it was mine.
One by one, the shards of glass lit up. In the mirror fragments, my eyes widened. The glow spread and swelled, each piece of glass turning bright blue.
I eased backward, my heart racing. The shards rose into the air, and the mirror reformed.
It hovered in front of me, blue glowing around the edges.
Magic built in my chest. Power pumped through my veins.
The light shimmered, and connections formed in my mind like a lit candle touched to other wicks.
Spots of light appeared in my mind’s eye, forming a blazing path to every mirror in the castle.
A mirror in the ballroom.
A mirror in the dining room.
Mirrors in chambers.
Mirrors down wide corridors and narrow hallways no one ever tread.
A mirror that stretched from the ceiling to the floor, its thick frame carved with serpents and roses.
Courtiers’ mirrors tucked down bodices and hidden in pockets.
I saw all of them. Every single one. Each reflective surface.
The mirror in front of me shimmered more brightly. My mother appeared in the center.
“Corinthe!” she gasped. She looked at my mouth, and anger crackled in her eyes. “What has he done?” Giving her head a hard shake, she lifted a hand. “Never mind, I know you can’t speak. Listen, I don’t have much time.”
What? Why? I stepped forward, a whirlwind of emotions spinning in my chest. Frustration pounded through me as I tried to talk, my lips stretching and my voice emerging as garbled moans.
“It’s all right,” Mama said. Wherever she was, it wasn’t our cottage. A single candle flickered behind her, and a black piece of cloth draped over a window. “Just listen, don’t try to say anything.”
With a nod, I stopped struggling.
Tears sheened her eyes as she offered a tremulous smile.
“Your magic is within you, my love. It’s always been there.
I know because I built a wall around it.
By now, Vander has told you my story. But I need you to know that I always, always loved you.
I made mistakes, but loving you was not one of them.
” A tear streaked down her face. She swiped at it like she swatted an insect, impatience flashing in her eyes.
Then she leaned forward, her gaze intense.
“I felt your life beating within me the moment you were conceived. And I knew that, no matter what, I had to protect you. Marrigan and Rasimir are dangerous for different reasons. Both would devour you in their own way.”
BOOM.
Screams drifted through the balcony doors. The Drakhold shivered.
“My root was the word for ‘wall,’?” Mama said.
“I was the greatest ward witch to ever walk this plane, and Nocta will never see my like again. And days before you were born, I poured every ounce of my magic into you. I created a ward so powerful, it rendered you invisible to witches and vampires alike.”
My face paled in the mirror. The candle behind my mother danced, the flame casting a shadow on the wall.
“I broke my magic,” Mama said. “I burned out, and I became a null—the language of spellcasting stripped from my tongue.” She flashed a bitter smile. “I’m a null still, and I’ve been one for twenty-five years. But it was worth it to keep you safe.”
She’d sacrificed her magic for me. My mother is human , I’d insisted to Vander and Lorcan. And in a way, I’d been right. She was powerless. According to Vander, witches who lost their root vor often couldn’t bear to live. But Mama had lived for me.
Her image rippled in the mirror. She glanced over her shoulder, and fear flashed in her eyes as she faced me again. “I have to hurry.”
Why? The plea was a high-pitched moan as I stepped closer.
“Corinthe, listen to me. No ward lasts forever. Mine lasted for almost twenty-five years, but it was starting to fail. Your father searched for you. I hid you for as long as I could, but he would have found you eventually. Vampires can always sense their own.”
Kindred. I nodded, tears burning my eyes.
“You’ll wonder why I didn’t teach you words of power,” Mama said. “But I couldn’t have spoken them, let alone taught you how to seize the magic behind them.”
You taught me , I tried to say. She’d taught me how to fight, and how to value myself.
She’d taken me everywhere, teaching me which herbs relieved headaches and what kinds of salve to put on a burn so it wouldn’t scar.
She’d taught me how to put dislocated shoulders back where they belonged.
She’d taught me to control the monster and the thirst that would have ruled me if I let it.
“And you were so curious,” she said. “I feared you would go looking for the witches if you knew about them. The promise of power can tempt even the strongest and purest among us. I wanted better for you.”
A knot formed in my throat. You gave it to me.
“When my ward started to buckle, I knew it was time to let you go.” She swallowed. “Not even my love for you could keep you from your destiny.”
BOOM. Sounds of battle climbed higher, men’s screams and animal growls penetrating the balcony doors.
“Your root is strong,” Mama said, pride shining in her eyes. “I can’t speak it. Only you can do that. But you have to wait for my ward to fall. When it does, you’ll see your root word. All you have to do is look in the mirror.”
The candle behind her danced more wildly. The Drakhold shook. She looked over her shoulder again.
Why did she keep doing that?
Mama , I said behind the metal.
“I have to hurry,” she said. “And so do you.”
Why? I pleaded, the word muffled.
“It has to happen this way. I wish it didn’t, but I can’t change it, my love. My ward is strong, but it’s not quite ready to break. I have to help it. The wall crumbles when I do.”
No.
NO.
A door burst open behind her, flooding the room with light. Mama sprang to her feet and whirled around as Cyprio Kormaz rushed inside with a drawn sword.
“You led me on a merry chase,” he panted. Sweat stained the front of his shirt, which looked like it had seen better days. “You’ll pay for that.” He squinted behind her, his eyes finding mine. “What the…?”
Mama swung back to me. “I love you,” she said breathlessly. “Never forget it.”
No! I screamed behind my gag.
My mother spun and rushed Cyprio. With a panicked cry, he thrust out the sword.
She impaled herself on it.
The mirror shattered.
No! I screamed again, falling to my knees. No, no, no! My voice climbed, my lips stretching as rage and sorrow filled me. Overflowed me.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The battle outside thundered like a heartbeat.
BOOM. BA-BOOM.
Tears poured down my face. My mother broke her magic. She was a null, as helpless as a human.
BA-BOOM.
Staggering to my feet, I threw my head back and screamed. NO!
IRATA.
The vor boomed in my head. Blue light filled my vision. The metal flew off my mouth as my root vor stretched my mouth wide.
“ IRATA !” I screamed, and every window in the chamber shattered. The shards of the mirror on the floor spun into the air, reformed, and flew to the vanity, perfect once more.
Power flooded my veins. Blue light spun around the room, the force of it blowing back my hair.
When I faced the mirror, my eyes glowed like emeralds soaked in sunlight.
In my mind, blue magic sizzled from one mirror in the castle to the next, connecting them in a map of pulsing power.
And magic put knowledge in my head, whispering that I could enter any mirror I chose and travel to another.
I could do a lot of things, my power finally free of the chains that had bound it.
“ Irata ,” I said, my voice hoarse from screaming and the blast of magic. Reflection. Mirror.
You should practice in front of a mirror.
The sound of steel clashing soared through the busted balcony doors. Glass crunched as I ran to them and looked out. A werewolf pinned a screaming knight on the ground, the wolf’s jaws snapping as it ripped into the man’s neck.
“ Apa !” a female witch cried, flinging a hand toward another knight. He dodged the magic, then rushed at her with bared fangs. She threw herself behind a statue of a centaur.
Spinning, I ran for the door. Halfway there, I stopped, skidding on glass before I rushed to the armoire. The gauntlets made it impossible to open the doors, so I used my mouth. Then I dragged the dragonstone gown from its hook and let it flop onto my shoulder.
“I need armor,” I said.
Nothing.
“Really?” I cried, my frustration rising. Wriggling and sweating, I fought with the dress until I got it over my head. Spitting hair from my mouth, I ended up with the fabric bunched around my shoulders. But the gauntlets wouldn’t fit down the sleeves.
“Please, please, please,” I chanted. “Turn into armor. I need to save Lorcan and Vander.”
Change swept down the dress. A metal breastplate covered my chest. More pieces wrapped around my arms and legs.
Boots rose to my knees. Elation pumping through me, I rushed to the vanity.
In the mirror, a snarling green dragon shone in the center of my black breastplate.
My hair streamed over my shoulders, and my eyes glowed bright green.
I looked down at my hands. “Can you do anything about the gauntlets?”
Nothing.
Well, it was worth a try.
I leaned over the vanity, my face close to the mirror’s surface. Magic licked over my skin, and whispers slid around me, the words urging me forward. Doubt nipped at me as my reflection loomed closer. Did I just…dive into it?
A clink made me look down. One of my gauntlets bumped against the glass.
I tapped it harder. The whispers intensified, indistinct voices tugging at my hair.
But the gauntlet brought me up short again.
The metal wouldn’t pass through the glass.
For now, at least, I was stuck moving around the castle the usual way.
With a final glance in the mirror, I sprinted to the door. It took a few tries and a lot of swearing, but I managed to clamp the gauntlets around the latch. Then I was out the door and sprinting down the hallway.