Page 11 of The Eternal Mirror
He makes me…uneasy. But what I feel most right now is an intense weariness. A sense that no matter what I do, it will make no difference. This shit will never end. So nothing I do really matters. If I manage to get Zayne and Josh out of this place, no doubt the gods will find another way to torment me. Because...actually, I have no clue why.
I want to go home. Except I don’t have a home. I recently came to realize that home is people, not a place. And the nearest I ever came to having one was with Hecate. Only that turned out to be a fucked-up lie.
I’m in serious danger of wallowing in self-pity.
Khronus is quiet; he’s watching me, his head cocked to one side, a brooding expression on his face.
“What?” I ask, sounding a little belligerent.
“You remind me of someone. I just cannot think who.”
Do I remind him of my mother? My father? A little of both? I actually don’t look much like either of them, though I do have my father’s eyes and my mother’s nose. I decide in that moment what I can tell him. He wants to know what I am. I will tell him who I am. Also, maybe suggest that he owes me big time.
But at that moment, the door opens, and a couple of servants enter, wheeling in a trolley loaded with food. They roll it slowly—tooslowly—across the room and park it in front of me.
“Thanks, guys,” I say. “This looks fabulous.”
I wait until they leave. Then I hover my hand over the tray and murmur a detection spell—just a quick one. The air shimmers faintly above the dishes, but no warning flares.
No poison. No enchantments.
Which is good news. So I dive right in. There’s crusty bread and creamy butter, ripe tomatoes, hard cheese, a steaming bowl of rice and vegetables, fluffy scrambled eggs, and a bowl of grapes.
I eat fast because I have important things to do, but I eat a lot. And I can feel the strength flowing into me. That’s why I was feeling so pathetic—low blood sugar. Nothing to do with my life being a steaming pile of crap. Finally, I pop one last grape into my mouth, chew, swallow, and sit back.
At some point, while I was eating, Khronus took the seat a couple down from me. He’s still watching me, a frown on his face.And I study him back for a moment—there’s something so wrong about him, but I can’t put my finger on what it is. He’s handsome but he makes my skin crawl, the feeling strange and familiar at the same time. I push my unease down deep inside.
“There’s a grape left if you want one,” I offer, waving a hand at the decimated table.
He ignores my offer. “So tell me, little girl, why are you so important? Why did Khendril ask my son to look out for you?” I feel I should point out that Khendril was also his son, but I’m guessing he doesn’t acknowledge half-breeds, and Khendril was a guardian. “And why would Khaosti betray me over you? He chose you.” He bites out the words—obviously that rankled. “I need to understand why.” I can sense his anger rising, and I consider telling him to chill out but decide against it. Anyway, he’s already talking again.
“Why can I not call your beast? I can feel it under your skin. No one has ever defied my magic. How can you—one so small and insignificant—withstand my call?”
I feel I should be insulted, but I’ve been called worse.
He stands abruptly and paces the space in front of me a couple of times. “Tell me,” he says softly, “or I will make you watch as I force your brother to kill your other brother. The young one, so small and tender, a mere morsel for a basilisk. I wonder...how long do you think it would take a basilisk to finish a boy that size?”
Well, I always knew he was a bastard. So I try not to respond. But inside me, the celestial fire flickers to life. At last, a sign that it hasn’t deserted me completely. Relief floods me. Because I’d like toburn the whole fucking palace down. Except I’m sure Zayne and Josh are here somewhere, so maybe it’s not a sensible move, even if I could.
But two of us can make threats. “You do that, and I will burn this fucking palace down around your ears. Because right now, the fact that they are here somewhere is all that is stopping me.”
“Mere bravado,” he murmurs. “And not wise under the circumstances.”
I’d so like to prove him wrong. Instead, I close my eyes for a moment and search for my inner peace. Nope, not there. Then I sigh; threatening each other is getting us nowhere. But I need to see my brothers. I sigh again. “You want to know what I am? Well, here goes. I’m Lucifer’s daughter.”
Yeah, that got a reaction. I can see it in the way he goes instantly still.
“That’s not possible. He has been confined to Hell for five thousand years. He can’t be your father.” He stares at my face, his nostrils flaring. “And yet, you have his eyes. You found a way out of Hell?”
“Sort of. I was born in Hell, five thousand years ago. When I was only days old, my mother sent me forward in time through a mirror, entrusting me to the care of her sister, Hecate. She clearly decided Lucifer wasn’t prime father material.” Another thing Khronus and Lucifer had in common: both were crappy fathers.
He’s staring at me now, but I can’t define what’s in his eyes. “Your mother was Ravenna?”
“Yes, I gather you knew her at one point.” Yeah, stole her husband, turned him into a monster, and locked her in a tower.
“You are Ravenna’s daughter?”
Duh, if she’s my mother, then obviously, I’m her freaking daughter. But I don’t think he’s waiting for an answer. He sounds as though he doesn’t believe it. He’s clearly in shock. I mean, I suppose it is a little far-fetched, like being haunted by ghosts from the past.
