Prologue #2
But as I gazed at it, a strange fog clouded over the glass. Words appeared in the fog, as if an invisible person were writing letters on the misty glass with their finger.
I murmured the words softly as I read them. “Magic mirror, whose glass I see, reveal and reflect the truth unto me.”
The mirror began to tremble in my hand. I almost dropped it in surprise.
The handle grew hot, and I hissed in pain, prepared to set it down until I noticed a white glow forming around the glass.
It ignited the room, and I sucked in a sharp breath, my heart hammering loudly in my chest. The light burned against my eyes, making me squint.
Gradually, the glow faded, and I nearly yelped in surprise at the sight of my own pale face reflected back at me. My black tresses almost blended in with the darkness of the room around me.
And I had a pair of pointed fae ears.
My breath hitched, and I quickly ran my fingers over each ear. They were round, just as they always were. Round like a human’s.
And yet, this mirror was showing what I would look like as a full-blooded fae.
I blinked slowly, entranced by the vision.
My skin looked softer, my eyes a brighter shade of blue instead of the pale icy color I was accustomed to.
My hair was shinier, the curls a bit tighter and neater than my usual messy waves.
Never before had I looked like this, though I had often dreamed of it. My life would have been so much easier if I looked like all the other fae nobles. I would not have been scoffed at or mocked. I would have been like everyone else.
I swallowed hard, struggling to remember the task at hand. I was here to find evidence, not daydream of a life that would never be.
But curiosity burned within me. Why did Calista have this mirror? It clearly showed visions, but did it do anything else? And most importantly—why did she have it hidden under the false bottom of a drawer?
It had to be damning somehow. It had to be important.
Perhaps it had to do with my father’s death. Did she use this magic mirror to kill him?
I was so focused on the mirror that I didn’t hear the soft creak of the door opening behind me. During the shock of seeing my altered reflection, I had also dropped my invisibility.
It wasn’t until a thick black mist pooled into the room that I went completely rigid, horror washing over me like a bucket of ice water. A foul odor filled my nostrils. It smelled like the decaying flesh of a dead animal.
I was not alone.
“Little thief,” hissed a familiar voice. “That belongs to me.”
I froze with terror, my eyes wide as I stared at the mirror’s reflection.
Behind me stood a creature who was both familiar and foreign all at once.
It was my stepmother—the same blood-red lips, pointed ears, and bronze hair.
But long, sharp fangs were visible between her parted lips.
The whites of her eyes were gone, leaving nothing but a red abyss.
Deadly claws extended from her fingers. Her skin, usually as pale as mine, was now leathery and gray.
I remembered the tales—the bedtime stories told to me as a child.
The fae who had dabbled in black magic were twisted and transformed into something horrific and unrecognizable.
Demon Fae.
With a shriek, I whirled to face her, only to find her completely normal. She wore a regal crimson gown, and her skin was ivory like normal. Her eyes were the usual brown. No fangs. No claws.
“B-But… I…” I sputtered, unable to form words. My heart slammed against my rib cage, making it hard for me to breathe.
She inched closer, her eyes flashing with lethal intensity.
Her movements were so smooth and graceful, like a predator.
My skin prickled, every instinct screaming at me to run.
“How did you find that, Eira?” Each word was sharp and precise.
“In fact, I’m fairly certain my chambers were locked.
You shouldn’t have been able to get in at all. ”
My throat went bone dry. I held up the mirror, then glanced at the reflection again, angling it so it was facing her.
That beastly creature stared back at me, baring her fangs.
I flinched, and Calista hissed, “Give it to me!”
I darted backward just as she lunged. The black mist in the room thickened, concealing the floor from view. I tried to stumble away, but I tripped over something. Pain ricocheted up my body, and I crashed to my knees with a loud cry.
A low growl echoed, making my skin crawl. Blood and ice, what was that? Did she have an animal with her?
Or had the sound come from the queen herself?
Shivering bones, she was going to kill me.
Light gleamed in my peripheral vision, and I glimpsed the open door of her bedchamber. The faint lantern light from the corridor beckoned. My only chance to escape.
I moved toward it, but I was hit by something heavy and solid, my body crumpling from the impact. Dizzy, I staggered to my feet, only to gape in horror at the sight before me.
Calista stood nearly as tall as the ceiling, her skin gray and leathery, with great black wings stretched behind her.
She looked exactly like the vision in the mirror. Her all-red eyes blazed as she bared her fangs at me. She was positively monstrous. A creature from my nightmares.
Pure, blood-chilling terror clawed its way through me, coiling so tightly that I felt like I was choking.
“Give me the mirror!” she screeched. She swiped her arm, claws slashing.
A sudden rush of adrenaline flooded my body, and I ducked just in time.
On instinct, I draped my invisibility over myself, backing slowly away from this beast that was my stepmother.
I heard Calista’s sharp intake of breath as I vanished from view.
Where were the guards? Her door was wide open. Why weren’t they coming? Surely, the people had to see this. They had to know who their queen truly was.
All this time, she had been harboring a secret. But the evidence wasn’t hidden in her chambers. It was what lay underneath her powerful glamour.
Father had said Calista’s true nature was horrifying. This was what he’d meant.
She was a Demon Fae.
“Where are you, you vile vermin?” Calista shrieked, her head swinging back and forth as she searched for me.
Thanking the gods I had managed to hide my invisibility from her all these years, I stumbled toward the open door, desperate to escape, to survive. If I was the only one who knew about Calista’s true form, it was my duty to the people to expose her. I had to—
My thoughts were silenced by a sharp pain, followed by white-hot fire scorching my veins. Calista had been wildly slicing her claws through the air in her efforts to cut me.
And she had succeeded.
I tried to scream, but no sound came out. Gods, the pain was blinding. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t feel my body at all.
I let out a low groan as my head started to spin.
Calista’s eyes narrowed as she turned her head in my direction.
“What is this?” she hissed.
I froze, alarm coursing within me. Had she seen me?
Quick as lightning, her claws lashed out. I screamed, thinking she had sliced into me again. The sound of paper ripping made my blood chill.
“I had meant to destroy that letter,” she said smugly. “Thank you for reminding me. It’s a shame Judas never got to send it.”
Oh no… In my haste to escape, I had dropped my father’s letter.
It now lay in tattered pieces on the floor.
Rage boiled within me, and my fingers curled into fists. I wanted to kill her. I wanted to destroy her.
My vision blurred, and I swayed on my feet. The wound in my arm burned as if someone had branded me with a hot iron.
Calista drew nearer. If she had seen the letter, then she knew I had to be close.
Move! I thought. You have to keep moving!
Something hot and liquid dripped down my arm. Numbly, I glanced at it, only to find a bloody gash just below my shoulder. Bubbling green liquid formed around the exposed wound.
Shit, shit, shit.
She had cut me.
She had my blood.
But I didn’t have time to clean it off. If I lingered, she would kill me.
I had to risk it.
“Ah…” Calista inhaled deeply, a slow, cruel smile spreading on her face. “You’re bleeding.” Her eyes fixed on the droplets of my blood staining the floor, which led to precisely where I was standing.
In a flash, her hand darted out, clawed fingers wrapping around my arm.
“I’ve got you, foul brat,” she hissed, drawing me closer. I wriggled in her grip, but her fingers clutched me more firmly. Blood continued to gush from my wound, making me see stars.
Shivering bones, if I didn’t get out of here now, I would faint from blood loss. And then she would have her way with me.
I had to fight. I had to survive.
With a grunt, I elbowed her in the ribs, then stomped on her feet. She snarled, her grip on me loosening.
It was just enough for me to duck down low, where she wouldn’t expect to find me. On all fours, I wriggled toward the opposite side of the room, knowing I wouldn’t be able to get past her to the door.
Fine. If she blocked that path, I would take another.
Calista let out a roar of fury as I crawled toward the balcony doors. When I reached them, I staggered to my feet and threw them open.
“Help me!” I screamed into the chilled night air. My voice echoed around me.
Calista chuckled, drawing closer. “No one is out there to save you, child. You’re mine now.”
In the distance came the whooshing of heavy wing beats.
I faced Calista and dropped my invisibility, then gave her a savage smile. “Think again.”
Her face slackened in surprise, and I tumbled over the balcony wall. She let out another deafening roar that pierced the night. I was careening, tumbling to my death, the icy wind burning against my skin. My stomach hollowed, and my scream was drowned out by the frigid wind.
A blur of midnight blue appeared, and I landed hard on a patch of firm scales. Gasping, my eyes moist with tears, I righted myself on Azure’s back and let out a trembling sigh of relief. Sybelle’s dragon arced around the castle, a low grumble quivering through her body.
I interpreted that as admonishment. She didn’t like being summoned like some pack mule.
“Sorry, friend,” I murmured to her, patting her scaly back. The dark blue scales blended in with the night sky. The muscles of her shoulders flexed with each beat of her wings, shifting underneath me. “Just get me out of the city and you can return for Sybelle.”
I pressed a hand to the wound in my arm, trying to staunch the flow of blood.
Anxiety coursed through me as I glanced up at the castle spires we were leaving behind.
From the folds of my dress, I felt the solid weight of Calista’s small hand mirror.
She had been fooling the court for years with her glamour.
But this mirror seemed to reveal her true nature.
I had to find a way to use it to expose her for who she really was. I only hoped it would be enough to destroy her.