Page 178 of Lady of Ashes

“No one has been beyond these doors in centuries. That is the entire point here,” Sorin retorted, pushing past her and peering into the darkness beyond the door. The ?ames illuminated a long, rectangular chamber. Shelves full of books ran the length of both sides.

White ?ames raced past him along the skystone ?oor, running the entire length of the room and re?ecting off of it. The room illuminated, and he looked back at Scarlett, who gave him a simpering smile. “You were taking too long.”

“These books are not in any language I have ever seen,” came Ashtine’s voice from where she’d drifted over to one of the bookshelves.

Scarlett moved next to her, pulling one from the shelf. “This is similar to the Avonleyan language, but slightly different. Some of these words though …” She ran her ?nger along some text. “Some of these words will be the same.”

Briar had moved farther down the chamber along the trail of ?ames Scarlett had let linger to keep the space lit in a low light. “Any guesses as to why there is a mirror at the end of this chamber?”

Ashtine’s head snapped up. “A what?”

He pointed to the end of the chamber where the room was indeed re?ected back to them. The mirror was the size of a large door, starting at the ?oor and reaching perhaps a foot taller than Sorin.

“It is a mirror gate,” Ashtine breathed.

“What is that?” Scarlett asked, returning the book to the shelf, her attention now also on the mirror.

“There have long been legends of the mirror gates. They are said to be doors between the kingdoms,” Ashtine replied, making her way towards the mirror.

“So every kingdom would have one?” Scarlett asked, following her. “In theory. Knowledge of them was long lost. Only brief mentions in old scrolls,” Ashtine said.

As they neared the mirror, they could see the symbols of the gods were carved faintly into the skystone around it. Scarlett reached into her pocket, drawing out one of the amulets, holding it up beside the symbols. A messy knot, black as night, beside the same carved into stone blindingly white. Temural, god of the wild and untamed.

“Where do you think it leads?” Scarlett asked, leaning in to study the symbols more, her breath coasting over the amulet.

“Home, Lady of Darkness. It will lead you home,” came an answering voice, and Sorin was snatching Scarlett back from the mirror in the next heartbeat.

Standing in the mirror, looking back at them, was a tall, broad man. He was as muscled as any Fae warrior. His silver hair reached past his shoulders, arched ears barely visible, and his silver eyes matched Scarlett’s when her power was at full strength. The male barely glanced at the rest of them, his focus on Scarlett, who was staring back with wide eyes.

Shock was ?ooding him down the bond, but there was no fear. No terror. And the shock was quickly morphing into something else. Her shadow armor covered her skin as she forced Sorin to release her, and she stepped towards the mirror.

“Time for explanations, Lord of Night.”

CHAPTER 38

SCARLETT

He was inside the fucking mirror, staring back at her. A faint smile of amusement played across his lips as he surveyed her.

“I have been waiting a long time for you to discover one of these mirrors,” the beautiful man said, adjusting the sleeve of the black jacket he wore.

“Why?”

“They do not require magic to operate, unlike when I seek you out in your dreams,” he answered.

“You have just been … what? Standing in front of a mirror for months on end waiting for me to appear?” she asked, tilting her head. “That seems like a rather dull use of your time.”

The man chuckled. “You spoke to me through the stone.”

She glanced down at the amulet she still held in her hand, Temural’s symbol hanging from the chain.

“You were serious about that?”

“Why would I lie about it?”

“I just thought you were being an ass.”

“Scarlett,” came Sorin’s tentative voice from behind her. “Is this …?”

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