Chapter 10
Hot Chocolate, Cold Truths
Zayne
It feels a bit like old times. Christmas Eve at the manor.
It was a tradition for the family and me—from when I was ten years old, and by that time inseparable from Holly—to gather in the library for afternoon tea.
As always, a huge Christmas tree stands in the corner, reaching right up to the ceiling, adorned in red and gold decorations.
A log fire crackles in the hearth, filling the room with the smell of yew smoke.
Except, of course, it's not really at all like old times. I don't belong here anymore. And yeah, I can now change into a fucking great basilisk—that’s new. There’s also a gargoyle crouched under the Christmas tree, eating the chocolate decorations.
That’s new as well. As I watch, his little clawed hand reaches up to the lower branches and tugs down one of the foil-wrapped chocolate coins.
He catches my eye as he peels off the wrapper and shoves the chocolate into his mouth.
I think it's fair to say that Grimlet likes chocolate.
Josh and Milo sit close together on the sofa. Josh is writing something on Milo's cast. They've become close friends. Holly’s mum told me that Tansy has been Milo's best friend for the last few years. Maybe I’ll need to take Milo with us as well, if only to keep Josh and Tansy happy.
Holly is ensconced in her favorite chair, staring at the flames.
She's avoided looking directly at me since she stormed out of the stables yesterday. I’m not even trying to look away.
I’m staring as much as I like. Unfortunately, just looking at her makes the blood rush to my dick.
Not what you want for afternoon tea with the family.
An image of her naked flashes before my eyes.
Gods, she practically offered to blow me, and I went all noble and said we had to talk.
I must be crazy.
I shift in my chair, then glance up and catch Josh peering at me, then turning to look at Holly, then back at me. He waggles his eyebrows.
He knows me too well.
I slouch lower in my chair and will her to look at me. But nope. Not happening. And I know it’s nothing to do with the sex and everything to do with our talk afterward.
I get it. It's a lot to take in for her. The last few days must have been hard. But I realize something as I gaze at her from where I'm leaning against the wall: she’s mine. Always was. Always fucking will be. Mine.
I'm not sure what that means or how I make it work, though I do know one thing: we’re not staying here in Elderfell.
And beneath all of it, a stomach-churning fear: that maybe I’m too late for Tansy and the other children. That they’re never coming back.
I should never have left Tansy here in Elderfell.
At the time, I thought it was for the best. I may hate my aunt, but I can't deny that she loves Tansy. And I’d been a fifteen-year-old with no place to live, no money, no other family, fuck all, in fact.
Not to mention my huge anger management issues at the time.
Or the fact that I was seriously questioning my sanity.
What could I have done differently? I'd been powerless. I'd promised myself that I'd never feel that way again.
When I aged out of the foster system, I'd made a promise to myself that I would keep an eye on Josh and Amber and not leave them behind like I had with Tansy. And I’d kept that promise. And look where it got me.
Though I’m not sorry. In fact, I love my new life. And Josh has a chance at a real future on Valandria. Not the fucked-up life he had on Earth.
Right now, we're just waiting for Holly’s mum and dad to finish phoning around, checking to see if anything has changed. If the kids have miraculously turned up. Then we're having a meeting to make a plan on what to do next.
At that moment, the door opens, and they appear. Her dad is carrying a tray with hot chocolate—another Christmas Eve tradition. He places it on the table and then hands them around. There's even a small Grimlet-sized mug. He downs it in one go, licks his lips, and peers around for more.
“Did you find anything?” Holly asks in a quiet voice, as though she already knows the answer but can't help asking anyway.
Her mum shakes her head. “Nothing. Nobody's seen or heard a thing. They're gone.” Her eyes are red from crying, but she stiffens her shoulders. She's tough, but then she’s been through tragedy as well, like the rest of us—like just about everybody in this shitty village.
The news about the children doesn’t surprise me. I was really hoping they would turn up, but I didn’t expect it. Because I know in my heart that they’ve gone through a mirror to fuck knows where—a mirror that no one can see and probably no one can open.
Except we need to find a way. Clearly, it’s been closed and hidden by some sort of spell, and I’m guessing it needs a mirror mage to open it.
God, we need Amber.
But she’s way beyond reach.
And there are no other mirror mages left.
Khronus, the old king of Astrali, a right bastard, killed them all.
The only other person—and I use that word “person” lightly—who might be able to help is Selene.
And while I’ve never been a praying sort of person, I’ve prayed to her more than a few times over the last few days.
But getting a goddess’s attention makes winning the lottery look easy. I guess most of the time she’s just not listening.
Holly’s mum clears her throat. Everyone looks at her as she pulls something out of her pocket, then glances at her husband. He nods, and she steps toward Holly, holding out an envelope. It’s yellowed, thick parchment. Her hand is trembling.
Holly stares at it as though it might bite. “What is it?” she asks.
“I believe it’s a letter from your birth mother.”
What little color Holly had fades from her cheeks. But she reaches out and takes it. She stares at it for long moments.
“She said we were only to give it to you if you ever found out,” Holly’s dad says.
Holly glances at me—about time—but I can’t help her here. Finally, she opens the envelope and pulls out a piece of paper. She scans it, frowns, scans it again, then scowls and shoves it in her pocket.
Everyone is watching her.
She glares around the room. “Aren’t we supposed to be having a meeting?” she snaps. “Well, meet.”
I really want to know what’s in that letter, but I guess it will have to wait. Everyone is quiet. I don’t think anyone knows where to start, so I guess it’s up to me.
“The children are gone,” I say. “And I don’t think we’re going to find them here on Earth.” Holly snorts—at least whatever was in the letter has snapped her out of her apathy. I ignore the snort. “I believe they were lured through a magical mirror at Silvergate.”
“So what do we do?” her dad asks.
I’d filled her mum and dad in on the whole other-world stuff last night, so it’s not coming as much of a surprise to them. I think about how to word this.
“Most mirrors open into this chamber on Astrali, but there’s been no sign of the kids there.” I’d called Brown this morning; he’d checked it out for me. “So right now, we have no clue where they’ve gone, and it could have been anywhere.”
“So can we open the mirror?” Holly’s dad asks.
“Only if we know the spell—and we don’t. We need a mirror mage, and there are none left.”
“What’s a mirror mage?”
“A particularly powerful witch who can create mirrors and portals to other places in other worlds.”
“Oh.”
I turn toward Josh and Milo. Josh had told me this morning that they’d discovered some information that might be of use.
“Josh, what did you two find out?” They’ve been researching the myths and legends of the area, seeing if they could come up with any answers—any reasons why the children might have been taken.
Josh jumps to his feet. Grimlet stuffs a last chocolate in his mouth and flies up to perch on Josh’s shoulder. I see Holly flinch—I don’t think she’s quite accepted Grimlet yet.
“Go on,” I say.
“Okay, so this all started a long time ago—like five or six thousand years ago, when the village was just starting up. There’s this legend that when it snows on the winter solstice, then the Wild Hunt comes through the mirror at Silvergate.”
“Where from?” Holly snaps. “Where is this Wild Hunt supposed to be the rest of the time?”
Josh looks straight at me and grins. “Get this—according to the legend, they came from the stars.”
Fuck. “Astrali?”
“Yeah. Anyway, they would come through and hunt the humans. Like for fun. They’d slaughter the men, and with the women, they’d…you know.”
“We know.” Josh isn’t comfortable talking about sex, though he knows about it.
But that makes so much sense. The reason I survived the bite of the shadowguard and became a shifter is that I have Astrali blood.
If I’d been pure human, I would have died.
So, this Wild Hunt was coming through the mirror, having a bit of fun, shagging the women, and leaving their legacy behind.
I’m betting one of these guys was my great…
a zillion times—grandpa. So yeah—legacy.
Not the type you brag about. But right now, all I care about is Tansy.
So why don’t we ever see them?” Holly asks. “I mean, I think someone would have noticed. Taken a picture…”
“This is what me and Milo”—Grimlet tugs on his hair—“and Grimlet think. The villagers got fed up with being hunted and prayed to their god for help. And he did help. He killed the hunters, all except the leader—his name was Khazim—who was too powerful. So they locked him away in an ice prison, through the mirror, for all eternity. And for hundreds of years, it was all good.”
“And then what happened?”
Josh is looking at me again. “There was a great battle in the stars. And after that, if it snowed on the winter solstice, then Khazim would walk.”
“Holy shit,” I whisper. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Josh nods.
“Vortex—Vortex is one of the first gods,” I add for the people who don’t know, “locked him in the prison and shut the mirror. But then, when Vortex was killed, the spell weakened, and this Khazim somehow managed to get out. But only on the solstice.”
“I think it must be a bit like the shadowguard,” Josh says.
“He’s not really here, but he sort of manifests.
Except he’s getting stronger, able to do more.
That’s why in the last years there have been so many…
bad things happening here on the solstice.
” He looks at me as he says this. I presume he’s come across a report on what happened with my mum and dad.
Sadness washes over me. The Astralis are responsible for so much shit on all the worlds.
“We’re thinking that for some reason, he’s managed to lure the children through the mirror. But why?”
“We don’t know. We couldn’t find anything. Maybe he’s…lonely. But there’s something else.”
I can tell by his tone that it’s not going to be good.
Josh swallows. “There’s a story that the humans who aided him were locked up with him as punishment. It was a death sentence. Humans can’t survive in the ice prison. They die after three days.”
Everything tilts. “That means…?”
“We’ve got until Christmas morning—tomorrow,” Josh says. “If we can’t get them out before dawn, they’re dead.”
The words land like a blow. The fire hisses and goes quiet. Someone knocks over a mug. Holly’s fingers go white where she grips the chair.
And I hear the clock in the corner start to tick like a drum.