Chapter 28 Danni #2
A shadowy figure moves up behind the weird version of me inside the mirror; I turn to look behind my actual self, but there’s nobody there.
I glance back at the looking glass and my heart almost bursts from my chest. It’s Knox, wrapping his arms around my waist and staring back at me as if I’m in the mirror.
He whispers something in my ear and my reflection bursts into a fit of giggles.
The pair of them look so comfortable with each other.
So familiar and natural. I notice then that Knox’s eyes are no longer red, but a startling shade of blue, much like the veins that usually stretch across his face.
Those same veins are invisible underneath his warm, tanned skin.
Is he human?
“This can’t be real.” I examine my blood-soaked knuckles, proof that at least I was real.
When I look back up at the reflection, it’s changed.
Knox has disappeared and the nicer version of me is standing alone.
She looks pissed. Her polished red fingernails drum against her folded arms. I take a step closer to the mirror.
The reflection sees me and smirks back, like she has a secret she’s dying to tell me.
She holds out her hand. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is here, with me. Let me show you.”
I startle at the familiar voice. My mother’s voice.
“Mom?” The mirror changes again, and there she stands. Dressed in the jeans and T-shirt she wore on the day she died.
“Come on, love. I’m right here. I’ve been waiting for you.” Her eyes sparkle with tears, and my own vision clouds in response. I bring my hand up to my mouth to stifle my sobs.
“You’re dead,” I manage to splutter between gasps. I take a step back. “No. This isn’t real. You’re not really here, none of this is real.”
My mother’s face turns ugly as she throws her head back with laughter.
I look around the expanse, trying to find a break in the illusion, but it’s just empty space. A blinding void of nothing. I sprint away from the mirror, determined to find an exit. My mother’s hurtful laughter echoes all around me.
There must be an end somewhere.
The ground shakes again: more mirrors erupt through the ground.
Each one blocks my path, forcing me to hurl myself from side to side in order to get around them.
As I pass, I try to catch glimpses of what each mirror holds.
I think I see some sort of banquet feast in one, then a huge pile of money in another.
Are they showing me everything I’ve ever dreamed of? Do I need to pick one?
The biggest mirror of them all springs up right in front of me, cutting me off completely from my escape attempt.
My feet skid on the white floor as I try to stop myself from colliding with it.
My heart flips at the image it reveals. I stumble and almost fall straight through the looking glass into the open arms of Knox, but I catch myself on the gilded frame at the last second.
“Tell me how to get out, please!” I beg. I don’t even care that he isn’t real. I need to get out.
“Choose one,” the mirrors say in unison.
I glance around to see I’m completely surrounded, each one framing different versions of me.
“Which one should I choose? Will I get stuck inside if I do?”
In the grand mirror before me, Knox throws head back with malicious laughter. “Are you so pathetic that you can’t work it out for yourself? Must I provide all of the answers for you?” He sneers and my heart aches.
So I close my eyes and think.
This is no different than the other training sessions. It’s always a test.
But what are they testing me on? They all show my desires. Which desire is the right one to choose?
Damon’s words flood into my mind. I’ll tell everyone you broke the rules and drank your Master’s blood.
This is a test of loyalty.
I’m being presented with endless possibilities before me, ones that satisfy my own greed or gluttony or pride. I need to choose the one with Knox inside. I need to prove I’m loyal to him, to claim him as my Master.
But what if I’m wrong and I get stuck inside of there with a fake version of him?
Fuck.
Only one way to find out. I’m so close to the end and getting what I truly desire—my mother’s killer dead by my hands. I look back at the mirror version of Knox. I steel myself, rolling my shoulders back before stepping through.
The mirror’s glass ripples at my touch, and it feels like wading through satin sheets. When I reach the other side, Knox is nowhere to be found. Instead, I’m in a medieval-looking room, complete with exposed dark wooden ceiling beams and candlelight in every corner of the cream-colored walls.
I’m also surrounded by the other Familiars. But far fewer than before. I notice that Megan isn’t here.
“Did we all make it through?” I ask, glancing around at everyone.
Cyprian’s Familiar shakes his head. “The gateway closed just after you made it through,” he mumbles. He then turns and gestures towards a round table in the center of the room. On the surface, a handful of small vials are nestled in a velvet-lined case. One for each of the surviving Familiars.
“I guess not everyone was loyal to their Masters,” I say as I take a few tentative steps towards the table. I pick up one of the vials, but the glass is too dark to see through. “What’s this?”
“Each one is filled with our master’s blood,” Cyprian’s Familiar answers. “But they’re not labeled with names, just these weird pictures. My guess is they want us to see if we truly know our Master by choosing the correct vial.”
I wonder if he was told how to get through this last trial, or if he is just smarter than the rest of us. Ugh, what if this one is Damon’s blood? I carefully place the vial back in its spot, not wanting to choose the wrong one.
“I’ll go first. If I get it wrong, then you guys will know what to expect.” He takes a step toward me as the others murmur behind him.
“What’s your name?” I ask as he reaches down for the first vial in the row.
He gives me a cruel smile. “Why do you suddenly want to know? You’ve taken no interest in us so far.”
“I’m sorry. I thought it would be easier to distance myself from everyone here, since not all of us make it through the training.” And because I have a dangerous mission to fulfill.
He studies me carefully with narrowed eyes. “Maybe if you had, you wouldn’t have been so alone. You should pay better attention to the people around you, Chosen One.”
I cringe at the nickname, but he has a valid point.
“Here goes nothing.” He removes the stopper and toasts before downing the liquid in one gulp.
A bell chimes from somewhere outside of the room. Our heads whip around to find the source, just as the ground cracks open and swallows up Cyprian’s Familiar. Eyes wide and heart pounding beneath my ribs, I stare at the empty space where he just stood.
I glance back over at the bottles, then at the remaining Familiars.
It’s now or never. I’m not about to let anyone else go next because I don’t think I can watch another person fail.
I study each of the vials, focusing on the different animals carved into the opaque glass.
Cyprian’s Familiar drank from one with an elephant on the front.
The other vials have an owl, a peacock, a snake, a wolf, and one more animal that I can’t quite make out, but it looks like a hyena.
They all seem familiar, but my mind can’t place where.
A memory flashes before my eyes. At the masquerade ball, Knox had dressed as a wolf. Cyprian was an elephant and Egor had been a snake. How clever. I pick up the one that bears the image of a wolf.
This is it. I’m about to officially bind myself to him. There is no going back once I take a drink. But what other choice do I have?
Just as I reach for the stopper, a loud rumbling noise drags my attention away. The bare wall behind the other Familiars warps and twists as Megan steps through.
“I believe that vial belongs to me,” she says through gritted teeth.
Megan points at the vial in my hands, looking as if she had been dragged through a thorny bush backwards a dozen times before being tossed into a ravine.
Her curls are a tangled mess, her clothes are torn and stained, and her face is bruised in several places.
“Um, no it doesn’t. You’re Egor’s chosen Familiar, not Knox’s.” I remove the stopper as she rounds on me.
“No. Knox told me last night to choose him instead. Who could blame him? You’re so boring compared to me.”
Wow, rude, much?
“You’re delusional, Megan. You’ve been paired with Egor this whole time. You’ll die if you drink this—that’s the entire fucking point of this final test.”
I bring the vial up to my lips and drink the blood; Megan lunges for me, but she’s too late. I’ve swallowed every drop.
“You bitch!” she screams.
Knox’s blood doesn’t taste how I thought it would. There’s no metallic tang to it. In fact, it’s quite pleasant. Knox’s blood tastes like the setting sun on a warm summer evening. Sweet and satisfying.
Megan grabs me just as the world explodes in technicolor. But before I have a chance to appreciate the new sights and sensations that I know are coming, the bell chimes and the ground swallows us both.