Page 44 of Mirror of Vanity

“Garrick, please,” I whispered, my voice cracking under my desperation. “This isn’t you. Remember Angarth, remember Maggie. Remember the man you were, the friend I knew.”

I thought I saw a flicker of confusion in his eyes, a brief hesitation in his step. Then the Grimoire’s power surged, and the coldness returned, harder and more implacable than ever.

I stumbled backward, my heart pounding as I realized the futility of my efforts. The wall was cold and unyielding against my back, a dead end in every sense of the word. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for the inevitable pain of Garrick’s sword.

But the blow never came.

Instead, there was a sudden rush of air, a blur of movement too fast for my eyes to follow. I opened my eyes to see Justice standing in front of me, his sword drawn and his stance unwavering.

The look in his eyes was one I had never seen before, a fierce, protective intensity bordering on murderous. He glanced back at me, and a silent reassurance passed between us before he faced Garrick again.

“Stand down, Garrick.” Justice’s voice was low and dangerous, each word laced with a threat.

Garrick laughed. “What’s this? A vampire protecting a hunter? How touchingly naive. The first chance she gets, she’ll stab you in the heart. It’s in her nature, just as it’s in yours to feed on the living.”

I flinched at his words, a small part of me wondering if he was right. Could Justice and I ever truly escape the roles we had been born into, the centuries of blood and hatred between our kinds?

Then Justice spoke again, his words ringing with conviction. “You know nothing of her nature, or of mine. We are more than the labels others give us, and I will stand by her side until my last breath.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

As Justice stood before me, his sword raised and his body a shield between me and Garrick’s wrath, I felt a surge of emotion so powerful it nearly brought me to my knees. Tears stung my eyes, blurring my vision, but I couldn’t look away from the man who had become my everything.

At that moment, all my fear and dread began to melt away. The terror of facing a Garrick who no longer knew me, who saw me only as an enemy to be cut down, was replaced by a warmth that started in my chest and spread through my entire being.

Justice remembered me. Despite the Grimoire’s cruel machinations, despite the curse that had stolen so much from us, the love we declared in those desperate, passionate moments before the ritual had survived. The bond between us, forged in the fire of shared trials and tempered by the depth of our feelings, had proven stronger than any dark magic.

I thought back to the anguish in Justice’s eyes as we faced the Grimoire, the way he’d held me as if he could shield me from the impending loss by sheer force of will alone. The memory of his kiss, fierce and tender and filled with a love that defied words, had been a talisman against the darkness.

Seeing him here, ready to defend me against impossible odds, I knew our love had not been in vain. The Grimoire may have stolen my memories of hunting, may have twisted Garrick into a dark parody of the friend I once knew, but it had not erased the most precious truth of all. Justice and I belonged to each other, heart and soul.

Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks, but they were tears of relief, of gratitude, of a love so vast and deep that it could reshape the fabric of the universe. In a world where nothing made sense, where ancient curses and supernatural threats lurked in every shadow, the fact that Justice still knew me, still loved me, was a miracle beyond price.

I wanted to run to him, to throw my arms around him and never let go. I wanted to tell him a thousand times over how much he meant to me, how the thought of losing him had been a wound more grievous than any sword could inflict.

Yet, this was not the time for reunions or revelation. Garrick still stood before us, and the Archives of Shadows held secrets that could unravel the foundations of our world.

I placed my hand on Justice’s arm, feeling the tension thrumming beneath his skin. The urge to flee, to put as much distance as possible between us and Garrick’s murderous intent, was nearly overwhelming.

“Come on,” I urged, my voice low and urgent. “We need to get out of here.”

Justice didn’t take his eyes off Garrick, his sword still held at the ready. “No, Sawyer. You need to remember your vision about why we’re here. Because I can’t. The only thing I do remember is you and how I’ve given you my heart.”

The words hit me like a physical blow. In the chaos and terror of the moment, I had almost forgotten the true reason we came to the Archives of Shadows. The vision that had haunted my dreams, the fractured memories of a mirror and a demon that held the key to unraveling Maci’s evil plans.

“I remember.” My voice gained strength as the details of the vision came flooding back. “The mirror, the demon. It’s here somewhere, in the Archives. We have to find it.”

Justice nodded, a flicker of relief passing over his face. “Then let’s finish this. Together.”

He turned back to Garrick, his stance unwavering. “I don’t want to fight you, Garrick, but I won’t let you hurt her. Stand down and let us pass.”

Garrick’s laughter was a jagged, ugly thing. “You really think you can stop me, vampire? You’re weak, burdened by your pathetic feelings for this hunter. I’ll cut you down where you stand, then I’ll finish what I started with her.”

My blood ran cold, but I refused to let the fear control me. I stepped forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Justice, and gave Garrick a hard stare. “You’re wrong, Garrick. Love isn’t a weakness. It’s the strongest thing there is. If you can’t remember that, if you can’t remember the love you once had for Maggie, you’re already lost.”

Something flickered in Garrick’s eyes at the mention of Maggie’s name. A brief hesitation, a flash of confusion. It was gone as quickly as it had appeared, swallowed by the Grimoire’s malevolent influence.

“Enough talk,” Garrick snarled, raising his sword. “Time to die.”

---