“Do you see her?” I asked Kirill as I pointed at Lesya. “Is she a hallucination?”
“I see her,” Kirill growled a second before he started tearing his way through the firewood.
The crowd lurched forward and grabbed him. Kirill snarled and fought them, but they restrained him easily. I leapt past them while they were distracted with him and climbed the pile of wood. I kissed my daughter on the forehead quickly and then started untying her. The ropes were rough and tore at my fingers, but I kept trying. Even when my blood soaked into them, I kept trying.
“Mommy,” Lesya sobbed. “I'm sorry. I wanted to help you.”
“It's okay, baby,” I crooned to her. “It's going to be—”
Hands grabbed me and yanked me down. I screamed and tore at them. They were amazingly strong for humans. But then, I guess they weren't humans. This was all the Mirror.
“She's just a little girl!” I shouted. “Let her go!”
“She's an abomination,” the man who had picked up the torch hissed in my face. “A beast in a child's body.”
“I will fucking tear this place apart, Mirror!” I screamed. “You hurt her, and I won't stop until you are only shards of useless glass!”
“How much do you love her?” The man grabbed me by the front of my dress and pulled me forward. “Will you die for her? Will you take her place?”
“Nyet!” Kirill shouted. “I vill die. Take me! You leave zem alone!”
The man's head jerked toward Kirill and a vicious smile spread over his face. He started for Kirill.
“No!” I shouted. “Kirill!”
The men yanked him forward as another group untied Lesya. She tumbled down the wood and ran for me. Lesya hugged my legs as I struggled to get free of the men holding me. They had Kirill at the pole and were starting to tie him to it when I took a deep sniff and realized that I couldn't smell Lesya. I searched for our link and found none.
“Kirill! It's not her!” I kicked the illusion of my daughter away from me, and it went tumbling backward.
Kirill stopped and stared at me in shock before he looked at the sobbing doppelganger of our daughter. The men who had been leading him to the stake stood still, watching us warily. I frowned at that. They weren't forcing him to the pyre. Why not?
“It's the Mirror!” I shouted in revelation. “It can't kill us. We have to kill each other or kill ourselves. That's the only way it can take our energy!”
Kirill's stare remained on the sobbing, fake Lesya, but then he slowly looked at me and then at the hands holding him. They fell away as he shook them off.
“I'm not sacrificing myself, Mirror,” Kirill growled.
“Wrong lion,” I snarled at the torch bearer. “Try Aslan, he might fall for your bullshit.”
The illusion—all of it—faded suddenly, and we were left in an empty room paneled with mirrors. I ran for Kirill and hugged him tightly. My body was trembling with fury, fear, and relief. She wasn't there; Lesya had never been there. It was all a trick; a deception to get one of us to kill ourselves. And it had nearly worked.
“Stay close to me,” I whispered to Kirill. “It can separate us if we stand far enough apart. That's what it did to Narcissus and me.”
“I've got you,” Kirill whispered in my ear. “I von't let go, my love.”
Kirill moved back but kept a tight grip on my hand.
“We've got to find Trevor,” I said grimly.
“Da,” Kirill said. “Ve vere split apart too. I vas vandering hallways alone vhen I heard Lesya. I got to zat village but didn't see her until after you attacked me.”
“I heard her too. The Mirror led me there, and you looked like one of those villagers except you were holding a torch,” I said. “The Mirror is learning our weaknesses and exploiting them.”
“It showed Trevor and me images of you vith Narcissus.” Kirill grimaced. “It's devious indeed.”
“As if I'd ever want that egotistical pretty boy,” I scoffed.
Kirill's lips twisted wryly. “Trevor said same zing.”
“The Mirror attacked me this morning using Narcissus' face,” I added. “I ran and when the real Narcissus chased me, I tried to kill him. I nearly did but, luckily, Narcissus refused to attack me. He was able to convince me that it hadn't been him who had attacked me, and we figured out that it was the Mirror. He was pretty shaken by the Mirror's betrayal. He considered it a friend and now, that friend has turned on him. After his little revelation, it put a wall between us and forced us apart.”
“Divide and conquer.” Kirill stared around the empty room warily. “It's playing vith us.”
“No; this isn't a game to it. This is survival. We've threatened to take its charge and now, it's defending itself. But its only weapon is illusion.”
“Zat's a powerful veapon,” he said grimly.
Kirill's stare was shaky. I knew the image of our daughter tied to the stake would haunt him as it would me. A nightmare too vivid to escape.
“It's only powerful when you don't know it's being used against you.” I squeezed his hand reassuringly. “We know its tricks now, and we know how to see past them. It can't fake scent or bonds. I knew it wasn't Lesya because I couldn't smell her and when I searched for our link, it wasn't there.”
“But ze food.” Kirill frowned as he considered it. “Vhen ve ate, I remember smelling it.”
“Those are known smells; things that Narcissus would remember,” I mused. “I think the Mirror is limited to the knowledge it can find in Narcissus. They're bonded; that's how it keeps him imprisoned and it's how Narcissus can use the magic of the Mirror to create things.”
“But Narcissus vouldn't know vhat Lesya smells like.” Kirill
