“What's the imperfection?”
“I was told to look for a mirror with a spot of black on it,” I said. “Like the kind you'd find on an antique mirror.”
Narcissus gaped at me. “I've seen that mirror. I know where it is!”
Narcissus started running. The mirrored wall before him split open, and he plunged into the black void. I didn't hesitate; I dove into the dark after him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Tima!” Kirill's cry brought me to a stumbling halt.
I'd been blindly running after Narcissus down the dark hallway but then a light pierced the shadows and spanned out. A spotlight fell on Kirill. He was strapped to a stone altar several feet to my right. He was in his black lion form, and little giggling creatures swarmed over him with knives in their hands. They were spindly-limbed and skinny with pale flesh and bulbous heads. Their sharp teeth gnashed as they sheered Kirill's beautiful mane away; tufts of fur falling like sooty snow around him. He roared and shook, trying to dislodge them, but they held firm like tiny bull riders.
“Kirill!” I cried brokenly.
“Tima, help me!”
“It's not him!” Narcissus shouted over the giggles. “Look at him; he's in lion form. He hasn't been able to shift here, has he?”
“No,” I whispered. “And this is the exact thing he feared. That's a little convenient.”
“It's the Mirror trying to stop you by reflecting your fears back at you,” Narcissus said. “Come on, let's keep moving!”
“This isn't Narnia, you moron!” I snarled at the Mirror.
I resolutely turned away from the image of my husband and the spotlight winked out. Mocking male laughter followed me down the shadowy, sinister hallway. I caught up with Narcissus and noticed how his eyes slid side-to-side as he ran. He was scared. He shouldn't be; the Mirror couldn't kill him.
But the Mirror might not know that.
Even as I thought it, Narcissus stumbled and a noose wrapped around his ankle. He fell backwards and the up, yanked into the air by his foot to dangle before me. A sword appeared at my feet. I stared from it to Narcissus.
“Put him down; I'm not killing him,” I said calmly.
“He is a murderer,” a hollow voice echoed around me. “The years have broken him, Godhunter. Narcissus is precisely the sort of god you kill. Do your duty; kill the evil god.”
“No.”
“Those braids aren't tributes, they're trophies,” it went on.
“Liar!” Narcissus shouted. “You're the killer, not I.”
“I cannot kill,” the Mirror said. “You killed them for me. You sacrificed them so that I would grow in strength and bind you to me in that strength. He is the liar, Godhunter. He has swayed you with his soft words. It was his idea to pull humans through my glass and then kill them. None of them died by starvation; they were all murdered by Narcissus on a mirrored altar. Their blood gave me power and in exchange for that, I shared my power with him.”
“That isn't true, Vervain,” Narcissus begged me with his eyes. “I swear it. I have never murdered anyone with my hands, only my indifference.”
“See how easily he lies?” The Mirror went on. “He is what humans call a psychopath; completely devoid of emotion. He has no sympathy or kindness in him. All he cares about is himself.”
“Fuck you, Mirror!” Narcissus cursed. “How's that for emotion?”
“Nothing you say will sway me,” I said. “Put him down.”
“You must see the truth, Godhunter!” The Mirror shouted.
“The truth is; if I kill him, you will implode,” I said.
Everything went still. Even Narcissus stopped fighting his bonds and stared at me.
“No,” the Mirror said.
“Look deeper inside yourself,” I told it. “Your sole purpose is to hold Narcissus for eternity. If he dies, your purpose dies with him. You will self-destruct; it's how you were built.”
More silence and then came a screeching roar. Narcissus dropped to the floor and stared up at me in shock.
“You curse yourself if you free him!” The Mirror shouted. “This is my warning to you, Godhunter.”
“If it's the truth, I thank you for it,” I said. “But I have no choice; there is only one way out for me. Unless you'd like to send my husbands and me back from where you took us?”
“I cannot,” it said grimly.
“Then I must continue.” I waved Narcissus forward. “Let's go, Narc.”
Narcissus got to his feet and started shambling forward, his expression fixed forward in shock.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Trevor's screams turned my head briefly, but I kept going. I knew it was another trick. The screams tore at me, though, and I had to clench my teeth to keep myself from looking. But then I smelled him.
“Trevor?” I stopped and turned.
My wolf was chained to a metal floor by his ankle. He was snarling and fighting for all he was worth, but he couldn't shift and it was hard to battle beasts as a man. I screamed when one of the numerous lions surrounding him tore a swipe in his side. Trevor howled and bashed at it with his fists. Another came at him from behind. Lethal claws gleamed in the dim light and Trevor's eyes glowed. His gaze flicked to me wildly.
“Run, Minn Elska!” He shouted.
I felt the line connecting us inside me and knew that it was the real Trevor. He was being torn apart by the very beasts who were precious to me.
“Damn you!” I shouted.
But I knew the Mirror couldn't kill Trevor. The best thing I could do for him was to find that flawed mirror and get us out.
“It can't kill him!” Narcissus echoed my thoughts. “It only looks as if he's being hurt. Trust me; he isn't. Now, come on!”
Narcissus grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hallway. It ended in a simple, steel wall and a full-length mirror hung on it. It was an exact replica of the mirror I'd been pulled through, gilded narcissus flowers and all. And in its center there lurked a
