Page 10 of The Eternal Mirror
He’s frowning at me now, which makes him look even more like Khaos, who frowns at me a lot. I decide it’s time to open the conversation. Maybe start with a compliment. “You look amazingly like your son,” I say. “It’s uncanny.”
He tilts his head slightly, not curious—calculating. “Where is Khaosti?” he asks, his voice soft and smooth as silk over a blade.
“I left him behind. I felt it would be a wise move. I wasn’t too impressed with the accommodations you provided for him last time he was here.”
His eyes narrow, as if he can’t quite make me out. Time to get down to business. I take a step closer and glare. “Where the fuck are my brothers, you fucking asshole? I want to see them now. And I mean right fucking now.”
His head tilts to one side. “Or you will what?”
I shrug, then give a disdainful sniff. “I haven’t decided yet. But something very, very bad.”
A long pause. Then—he moves.
Just one step.
And the magic in the room tightens, sharp as a sword pressed to my throat.
I hold myself very still.
“I have heard rumors,” he murmurs, walking in a slow circle around me. I twitch. “I do not believe them. They cannot be true.”
I wonder which rumors he means.
“There has not been an alicorn shifter since the goddess herself.”Ah, that rumor.He comes to a halt in front of me. I suspect I know what’s coming next, and I hope he’s in for a big disappointment.
He starts to murmur low under his breath, his gaze fixed on me. The air roils with dark power. It rubs against my skin—too familiar, too deep. Something inside me stirs.
My alicorn blinks awake, for a second panic grips me, but then she settles, and I almost sag with relief. The spell is holding.
Rage flares in his eyes. He grits his teeth and speaks his magic again, louder this time and the air seethes with darkness.
But my alicorn ignores him completely. She’s so cool.
“What is this?” His voice is soft, but every word feels like it’s choosing where to cut.
I shrug and give him a small superior smile. “Your beastmaster magic won’t work on me.” I keep my spine straight, my mouthsharp. My gut’s telling a different story, but he doesn’t need to know that. “Now, are you going to take me to my brothers?”
His anger flares again and my muscles tighten in expectation of pain. Obviously, I could fight back, but that would hardly get me to Zayne and Josh. Maybe I could knock him out and use some sort of finding spell. But I would still need to get through the palace with a whole army between me and my brothers. In the end, though, he turns away for a few seconds, and when he looks back, he’s wearing a smile like a mask.
“And what do I get in return for your brothers?” he asks.
I frown. “You get me. That’s what you asked for, and here I am.”
“But what are you?”
Good question.
He’s studying me again, as though he doesn’t know quite what to make of me. I sway and realize that I’m exhausted and I’m starving. I haven’t eaten in ages, and I do not do well when I’m hungry. I get snippy and make bad choices. “Just tell me one thing. My brothers—are they alive?”
“Of course.”
There’s no “of course” about it. This guy is well known for throwing people off roofs. But I’m guessing that’s as good as I’ll get, and I need to keep my strength up if I’m going to get everyone out of this. “Okay then, how about you feed me, and I’ll tell you exactly what I am.” Well, as much as I know. “Please.” I’m not above begging for food.
Confusion flickers through his eyes—and then vanishes behind a wall of ice. I don’t think he’s met anyone quite like me before. Isuppose being a king keeps him separate from the riffraff. Though, in actual fact, from what my mother told me, at one time my father and Khronus were on the same sort of level in Astrali society. Both were on the Council that ruled this world before Khronus decided Astrali would be better served by a king. For a minute, I think he’s not going to feed me, and that sucks, but then he goes to the side of the room and presses something. A moment later, the door behind me opens, and the man in black crosses the room, bowing to the king.
“Food for our guest,” Khronus says.
“I don’t eat meat,” I say as he passes me on the way back. I hope he’s quick. My mouth is watering at the thought of food. I totter over to one of the chairs, and without another word, I sink down and let out a long sigh. My rage has been sustaining me. But now that I’m here, in the presence of the source of my fury, the last of it drains away.
