Page 54 of The Eternal Mirror
“Get against the wall,” I say. The last thing we need is a squadron of unsuspecting guards tripping over us. I press myself flat against the wall as they appear around a corner. One of them passes so close that I feel the brush of him against my arm, and my heart stops. If I breathe out, they would feel me. But then they’re past, oblivious to our presence.
“Come on.”
We continue along the wide corridor, down the grand curving staircase, and then toward the main entrance. The guards don’t even glance our way as we slip past them. No response at all.
“Wow,” Zayne breathes. “That is seriously cool.”
“Hush,” I whisper. “We might be invisible, but they can still hearus.”
A few people are milling about, mostly soldiers. Just a bit further across the courtyard, and then we’ll burst through the gates. Freedom is so close. Just a little longer, and I can make us a mirror.
But my concentration is flickering. Holding three people in an invisibility spell while projecting an illusion of an alicorn to distract Khronus? Yeah,not easy. The effort is pulling at me, fraying the edges of my focus like burning thread.
A cry rings out from above. I glance up. My alicorn is glitching—flashing in and out of existence. I try to catch her with my magic...and the invisibility spell slips.
We’re back.Shit.
Luckily, everyone’s eyes are skyward, watching the flickering alicorn, and I manage to snap the invisibility back into place before anyone looks our way. That wastooclose. I drop the alicorn illusion entirely and focus everything on shielding the three of us.
There’s shouting from the tower. I don’t care. The gates are all that matter now.
But then—
A tall, hooded figure steps from the shadows. Her presence thrums through the air, sharp and cold. It’s one of Khronus’s tame witches. Her head tilts. Eyes closed. She’s listening, but not for sound.
She’s listening forme.
She pulls back her hood and scans the courtyard. “Where are you?” she mutters. “I canfeelyou.”
My heart drops. I freeze, and Zayne bumps into me, stifling a curse. Her gaze snaps toward us.
For a moment, she’s staringright at us.
Something flickers in her eyes. Recognition? Is it over? Can I take her down and still get us out?
Then she steps back. And nods. Just once. I don’t question it. I also don’t breathe until we’re moving again.
That was close. She knew. Sheknewwe were there.
And she let us go.
Why?
Maybe even Khronus’s witches remember what it means to be decent. But there’s no time to think about that now because behind us, guards are bursting through the palace doors. Boots thunder across the stone. They’re heading for the gates—the gates that are closing.
“Go,” I whisper. “Get through!”
I shove Zayne and Josh forward and give them two seconds. Then I dive through the narrow opening. I crash into Zayne on the far side and hit the ground hard.
“Josh?”
“I’ve got him,” Zayne breathes.
I hold the invisibility spell in place. Just a little longer. We’re outside now and suddenly—I canbreathe. The weight of the palace, of Khronus’s magic, of everything isgone.
The air out here isn’t clean exactly, but it’s not soaked in shadows either.
I reach out into the dark, fumbling for Zayne’s hand. “Come on,” I whisper. “Just a little further.” There are a few people on the streets, and I don’t want to do this in front of an audience. I walkaround the palace walls until I reach the same burned-out stable where I met the Wolfpack.
