Page 61 of The Eternal Mirror
“Don’t let her go alone,” he says. “She needs us.”
Yeah. Because whatever she might think—she can’t do everything alone. “I won’t,” I answer.
I sit up and cross my legs, and Grimlet crawls into my lap.
“She’s like her mother,” he says. “And her father.”
“That’s pretty scary, considering who he was.”
“He wasn’t always the dark lord. The Lady Ravenna would tell me stories of Lucifer before the fall. She fell in love with a good man.”
It’s hard to believe that the Lucifer I met was ever good. He’d been so steeped in evil and darkness that he would never be clean. And he knew it. In those last moments of his existence, when he realized what he’d become and what he could never get back.
We both fall silent and wait. She’ll have to come out eventually. And then we’ll finish our discussion.
Sleep is an impossibility, and I don’t even try. So I’m wide awake when a figure approaches me from the edge of the camp. I place Grimlet on the ground and get to my feet, hurrying forward.
And then she wraps me in her arms. We’ve never been a demonstrative family, and this might be the first hug she’s ever given me. Maybe her time away from the palace is changing her.
Sheela was the closest thing to a mother I ever had—but even back then, she was distant. I suspect she always hated my father, though she hid it well. But who could blame her? Both her mother and father were dead by my father’s hands.
But she never took it out on me.
Finally, she steps back, puts her hands on my shoulders, and stares into my eyes.
“You look...” She gives a little shake of her head, and a frown forms between her brows. “Okay. Well, at least you look better than when I last saw you. But there’s something different. Something has changed.”
Oh yeah. Lots of things have changed. “Fury is dead,” I say.
Shock flashes across her face. Unsurprising, as usually the death of your beast
results in the death of the man. “What? How?”
“Lucifer.”
“I’m sorry.” Her frown deepens as she studies me. “But there’s something else...something new.” Her eyes widen. “It’s the dragon—Amber told me about it.”
“Yes. I’ll show you sometime. But maybe not right now.” I study her back. “You’ve changed as well.”
I realize now that she always tried to blend into the background so she wouldn’t be noticed. Not a bad plan if you spend your life in my father’s palace. Now she’s dressed in pants, long boots, and a dark cloak over her shoulders, her long black hair in a plait over her shoulder. She holds her head high. The strain is gone from her face, and she seems at peace with herself. “You look well,” I say.
“It’s amazing what a change in scenery can do.”
“And a change in company.”
“That too.”
There’s a noise behind us, and we both turn. The tent is being unlaced from the inside, and then Amber appears. I think it’s clear she’s had no more success sleeping than I have.
Her hair is tangled, and her eyes are shadowed. But when she sees Sheela, a smile curves her lips, and she steps forward to give my cousin a hug of her own.
I didn’t realize they were this close, but I’m glad.
“So, you joined us after all?” Sheela says.
Amber flicks a glance in my direction. “For a little while. Can we go somewhere and talk? There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Of course. I’ve been traveling all night. I could do with some food and something to drink.”
