Page 31 of The Other Side of the Mirror

She was already hugging me. “Eva. Bash sent word that you’d be joining us here before you mirrored to Morehaven.”

I immediately liked how straightforward she was. But when Marin pulled away, she frowned absently, looking at me as if I was a puzzle to figure out.

“Did you have any trouble while we were gone?” Bash’s tone was serious, commanding, regal in a way I hadn’t heard from him before. The voice of the king of these lands.

Marin’s frown deepened. “A former advisor to the late High Queen went missing. We suspect the False King’s supporters, though we haven’t had any luck tracking him.”

“We can’t rule out inside help,” Rivan growled, flexing his arm muscles as if aching for a fight.

Bash glanced sideways at me. “Then it’s good we got to you when we did,” he murmured before turning to his sister. “Was anyone hurt?”

“No…but what about you?” Her eyes narrowed at Rivan’s torn and bloody clothing, visible now that he had removed his cloak. She walked over to him in two quick steps, her hand going straight to the wound on his side.

Rivan grimaced. “Shadowbeast.” Marin’s healing magic blanketed his side in a green glow, and he let out a relieved sigh. “It went right for Eva, but I was the only one stupid enough to get in the way of its claws.”

“You did a good job on this,” Marin murmured to him, prodding his wound with her fingers as if testing her work. Her eyes flicked to me. “But why would it go straight for her?”

“One problem at a time,” Bash drawled. “As I wrote before, I think Eva’s memories of her time in Agadot were blocked along with her magic.” When I stiffened, he shrugged, nonchalantly adding, “I didn’t want to worry you prematurely.”

I glowered at him as he dug into his pack, handing Marin my amulet. The black star sparkled darkly in the waning light. “When I released her magic, she reacted badly. Since she had to have lived in the faerie realm before her parents took her to the mortal world, it stands to reason they would have blocked her memory of magic, of our world—of all of this. But even though they took her away from here when she was young, I’m concerned that she still doesn’t remember anything from her time here now that the amulet’s off.”

My nails dug into my scar as I scowled, unable to hide my annoyance that Bash had kept this from me until now. But I was distracted from plotting against him when Marin stepped forward to link my elbow in hers, bouncing on her heels—her giddy curiosity obvious.

“Come inside, and I’ll see what I can do.”

I followed her lead, overly aware of my road-weary appearance in light of her courtly clothes. Hopefully, there were a few things I could borrow before I went to meet the prince, though my stomach dropped at the thought. We were a mere step through a mirror from reaching my destination, but the thought of leaving left me heartsick.

Marin walked us from the main courtyard into a massive entry hall, our footsteps echoing against the porcelain-tiled floor. On the far side, a large oval window looked over a city I hadn’t been able to see from outside the castle walls—so colorful and vast I gasped aloud. Bright blue roofs and basilicas stood in contrast to limestone buildings and groups of houses. Cobblestone streets, warm gray deepened with a touch of violet, stretched all the way to a large, snow-topped mountain. It loomed up at an impressive angle, the top of it lost in the clouds.

“That’s why Imyr was only taken once,” Marin said from behind me, making me jump. I had walked to the window unthinkingly, nearly pressing my nose against the glass trying to see it all. “The wall protects the main point of attack with much more than just stone keeping our enemies out.” There was a predatory glint in her eye that reminded me yet again that fae were far more than human. “Those wards are as old as time itself. And the mountain range surrounds where the wall doesn’t reach. Even fae don’t dare scale those peaks. There’soldmagic still alive up there…and creatures you won’t live to tell tales about.”

I shivered as I stared up into the clouds hiding the mountaintop from view. Marin directed me to a small sitting room off the back of the hall. We walked past a large, rectangular mirror—its surface faintly rippling—and I couldn’t help my shudder in response. Gratefully, I sank onto a green velvet couch, its lush cushioning welcome after the hard ride here.

Marin sat next to me, raising her hands without preamble. She grinned, obviously excited to test her skill. “May I?”

I glanced at Bash, who had come in behind us with the others, then nodded, emboldened by the trust on his face. Marin scooted close enough for me to count the freckles on her cheeks, placing two fingers on my temple. Her other hand still tightly clasped my amulet.

Bash walked over to stand protectively behind me, his arms crossed. Despite how annoyed I was at him, I couldn’t help but feel safer with him beside me.

Then, I wasn’t there anymore, falling into a memory like a waking dream?—

There was a shining castle, bronze turrets gleaming in the sun. A river flowed in front of it like a wild moat. My brother and I were laughing as he shot sparks of pure light from his fingertips, mixing with my darkness like stars in the sky. We shouted excitedly at each other as those stars sparkled in the false night before they faded away, while our parents clapped at the expectant looks on our little faces. But there was worry behind their feigned smiles, the timbre of their whispers.

I blinked, and I was near the peak of a mountain, looking up. My mother smiled down at me.

“Almost home, Evangeline.”

I blinked again…and it was our seventeenth birthday, before it all went wrong. Tobias was arguing against my parents’ mandated ‘family dinner’ as he stomped inside, bemoaning the fact that we hadn’t been allowed to go out with friends.

“There’s something we need to tell you.” My father’s face was grave as we sat around the flickering candles of a birthday cake, their flames eerily tall. But there were voices at our door, people shouting. My parents’ eyes met in horrified understanding. Then there was the first burst of flame, as pure terror flooded through me.

No—please, no?—

I was back at the fire that consumed everyone I loved. The smell of smoke filled my nose, and the sounds of my dad’s strangled voice urging my mom to flee with us while he held them off joined her panicked screams in a cacophony of suffering…

My vision darkened, the sound filling my ears as I stared into a set of cruel, pale eyes. And then there was nothing at all.

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