Quinn
Tobias went completely still as he stared at Silvius.
His eyes blazed with hatred, his face tight with fury that looked a breath away from breaking loose.
Silvius bowed slightly in response, sneering.
Two guards flanked him, both clad in nondescript black leathers.
Their expressions were distant, their eyes almost unfocused as they stared mindlessly at their leader.
It was strange finally seeing the person responsible for so much harm. Silvius was shorter in stature, though he held himself like a king. His long gray hair was tied back into a no-nonsense ponytail. A permanent frown etched his forehead and a pronounced droop pulled at his lips.
He had the look of someone who had lost too much weight too quickly—like he wasn’t quite at home in his own skin. His spotless white robe billowed behind him as he walked into the room, similar to the ones the healers wore in the Enclave.
A familiar silver dagger was attached to his belt. My dagger. My gift from Tobias.
“Apologies for the delay in welcoming you,” Silvius said with faux enthusiasm. “I’m afraid I had to change after getting some blood on me.”
Dolion.
My hands formed into fists. “Where is he? What did you do to Dolion?”
“Finally, you’re asking the right questions,” Silvius said snidely. Tobias’s chains creaked as Silvius’s gray eyes focused on me. “Does that mean you’ve figured it out?”
The surprise must have shown on my face because Silvius tsked as he came closer. “I’ll take that as a no. There are two answers to that question, and both are, in a way, correct.”
Tobias let out an exaggerated sigh. “You always liked hearing yourself talk.”
“A shame you’re now able to talk back,” Silvius sneered. “Now her I understand not recognizing me. The second I saw you at her side, I was worried you would find me out.” He glanced between us. “How lucky I am that you were too busy staring at each other to look too closely at your companion.”
Tobias’s face slackened in disbelief. Something like horror crossed his face, gone before I could be certain.
“What is it?” I demanded, hating the fact I couldn’t feel him. “What’s he talking about?”
Silvius laughed, high and cruel. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
“He hasn’t been breaking in,” Tobias said stonily. “He walked through the front door.”
Silvius tipped his head toward him in acknowledgement. One eyebrow raised as he looked at me. “Don’t you recognize me? Perhaps a different skin would help.”
His features blurred, his stomach deflating as he stretched taller and taller.
His hair and skin darkened; his shoulders grew broader.
Horror tightened in my gut like a fist as the insufferably smug look on his face changed into the features I had seen almost every day since our arrival in Mayim.
The color of Dolion’s sharp gray eyes stayed the same, though dark eyelashes now replaced Silvius’s sunken gaze.
Silvius was a shifter.
I didn’t even realize I backed up until I felt the stone wall against my back. Tobias trembled with rage, the rattle of his chains echoing through me.
“You were there the whole time,” I said shakily. “Why did you even let us get as far as we did?”
I was going to be sick.
“I would’ve thought that was obvious,” Silvius sniffed. “I wanted a cure on hand, should I need it. And I thought it best to keep an eye on you before you could administer it to the only person in this realm whose magic might be able to stop my creation outright.”
That was why Eva had been infected first. Not as some sick form of revenge, or at least not solely for that reason. Silvius had made sure the magic of the land couldn’t be used to cure anyone.
He had been planning this from the beginning, had been standing next to me since the first day we arrived. Worse than that, if he had been the one writing me letters, he had orchestrated everything even earlier than I imagined.
“Was it always you?”
I had to keep him talking—something I doubted would be difficult. He was far too self-impressed not to brag about his accomplishments, especially now that we were under his control. His hubris and his certainty that he was smarter than us might make him careless enough to reveal too much.
Silvius was used to answering my questions after so long working together. It wasn’t much…but I would use it to my advantage.
“Dolion was my way into the Enclave after my fall from grace.” Silvius’s mouth twisted.
“It took some time to tempt him out of his laboratory, but I needed someone with his level of access. It was easy enough to have those loyal to me get me close. Once I had the right face, it was a simple matter of getting him alone.” His eyes darted from Tobias back to me.
“The mist is an aerosol version of the serum I created to knock fae out as well as temporarily incapacitate their magic. My own invention.” He looked at me like I should be impressed by that fact.
“Much more civilized than a hilt to the head. You should be thanking me.”
He was delusional.
It was an effort to keep my voice civil as I asked, “If he wasn’t part of this, how did his lab connect to the mirror? Unless you have someone who’s able to connect the tunnels?”
“Very good.” He said it like I had succeeded in correctly imbuing another cure rather than unraveling the secrets of his plotting. “The tunnels below the castle already existed, of course. From there, it was a matter of having the earth elemental in my employ inconspicuously work their way up.”
Tobias shifted, but I didn’t dare look at him, not when Silvius was finally giving me answers. I kept my tone neutral, careful not to betray anything other than clinical interest. “So you took Dolion’s place in order to take over his lab?”
Silvius stroked his chin. “I needed somewhere to work after I lost my laboratory in Morehaven. When I saw your letters sitting on his desk, I knew I had a singular opportunity to lure you here.” He looked at Tobias, a cruel smile splitting his face.
“The fact that you brought my favorite test subject was an unexpected bonus.”
My blood boiled. If only I had my magic, I would make him crawl. I would make him beg for the chance to survive me.
Tobias’s jaw flexed, but he said nothing. Sweat beaded at his brow, the only sign of his nerves. I wasn’t sure whether he was holding his tongue because he knew what I was up to, or because his voice refused to work.
“And Dolion…” My voice wavered, but I forced myself to remain purely inquisitive. “Is he still alive?”
“For now.” Silvius gave me a thin smile. “He’s been my guest ever since and will be as long as he still remains…useful. Just as I hope you will be, my dear.”
I didn’t let myself react to the pet name, though I saw Tobias’s fists clench. Hopefully that meant poor, innocent Dolion was nearby somewhere. But if that wasn’t Dolion’s blood on the stairs, who had Silvius dragged down them? There was no way the blood was his, or he wouldn’t still be standing.
Silvius leaned against the iron bars between us, wheezing as Dolion’s face faded away.
His hair lost its color, graying from root to tip.
Then his features sagged, his face paling as lines traced his forehead one by one.
His eyes, the same ones I had grown used to, stayed the same shade: a flat, lifeless gray.
His hands tightened on the bars like he was wringing someone’s neck. I was suddenly aware of how vulnerable I was, chained and magicless, if Silvius came into our cell. I chanced a look at Tobias.
If looks could kill, Silvius would already be flayed alive.
“I take it you shifted to hide yourself from capture,” I said quickly, drawing Silvius’s attention back to me. “Considering no one’s been able to track you down. Lucky that you hid that particular ability.”
Silvius’s face twisted in a scowl. “Luck had nothing to do with it. My magic has a divine purpose—one that led my King to find me in the first place. His Majesty was a siphon, not a shifter. I earned my place as his most trusted servant.”
“He took your magic to look like his younger self,” I whispered as it dawned on me. Tobias shook his head in disgust. His hair hid his eyes from me as he leaned forward, the muscles in his back pulled taut.
Silvius smiled, cold and cruel. “He borrowed that power from me. And it was my honor to do so.”
There had been a mention of shifters in some of the research I had done on blood magic. Something nagged at me in some far corner of my brain as I resisted the urge to press my hand against my temple. Something that I was too distracted to fully remember.
I opened my mouth, but Silvius raised his hand. “Enough questions. We have more work to do together, my dear.”
Together? Surely, he didn’t think I would assist in his research.
“She won’t be going anywhere with you,” Tobias growled.
My voice trembled with barely contained fury as I ground out, “I have no intention of helping you.”
“I think you’ll change your mind.” Silvius reached into an inner pocket, removing an iron key. A shudder traveled through Tobias as he placed it into the lock. “After all, helping me isn’t just the only way to save everyone you love, it’s your only way out.”
The cell unlocked with a loud click. Tobias flinched so violently his chains clattered.
A grim wave of helplessness surged through me, pressing down on my chest. I couldn’t even touch him, let alone comfort him—not when I couldn’t even help myself.
Silvius glanced behind him, nodding once. One of the guards strode across the laboratory towards the dark, frozen mirror. I exchanged a confused look with Tobias as he reached it.
Then he drew his sword, raising its hilt high above his head.
I realized his intent a moment before he brought the pommel crashing down. It hit the dead center of the glass, its frame vibrating with the force of the blow.
No.
My gasp was eclipsed by a sharp crack. Tiny fractures spiderwebbed outward, the sound scattering through the silence like a rock breaking through the surface of a frozen pond.
The guard brought his sword down again. My heart caught in my throat as those cracks multiplied, his grunt of exertion drowning out their brittle dissonance as they spread.
Everything seemed to stand still as he raised it one last time.
With one final blow, the mirror shattered.