Chapter Thirty-Eight
I was still screaming when he dropped me. I scuttled backward, my towel lost somewhere along the way, and then got to my feet hastily. Narcissus stood before me with his hands held out in a placating gesture.
“I'm not going to hurt you, Vervain,” Narcissus said gently.
Then his gaze lowered.
I stiffened and narrowed my eyes at him.
“Sorry.” He picked up the towel and tossed it to me.
The towel shifted as it flew through the air. I held my hands up automatically and caught a silk robe. With a grimace, I slipped it on and belted it tightly.
“How did you do that?” I hissed at him and started to point back at the mirror he'd pulled me through.
Except the mirror wasn't the size of Toby's bathroom mirror, it was enormous. I stared up its height and then down its length. Just as in his old prison, this mirror reined in Narcissus' territory in a seamless ring. I gaped around myself again; at the familiar forest and then the path that I was certain would lead to a lake. And in the center of that lake, a palace would dominate a tiny island, connected to the shore by an arched bridge. I hadn't recognized it at first since the grass spread verdantly beneath my feet, and the forest burgeoned in full color, but this was an exact replica of the Mirror's forest. Narcissus had recreated it all.
“When you broke the curse, the pieces of it that had befriended me latched onto me,” Narcissus explained. “You didn't just free me, Vervain, you empowered me. You made me the Mirror.”
I turned slowly to stare at him in horror. “That's why there isn't a tracing point into your territory.”
“I have no need of one. I can move through mirrors now; all mirrors. I enter one and come out another.” He grinned. “My territory is impregnable to everyone but myself.”
“Nemesis,” I whispered. “Did you take her too?”
Narcissus made a face. “I don't want to talk about her.”
As he pouted, I reached for my magic but it was just as it had been in the Mirror; I could feel a connection to it, but I couldn't reach it. I remembered what Morpheus had said about god magic getting trapped within the glass. Was my magic in Narcissus' mirror-boundary or was he holding it? I searched for my dragon, but she was gone too. That made me flinch. This was far worse than the Mirror; all of my magic had been taken, not just my god magic. Did I even have my witch magic? I wouldn't know until I tried to cast a spell, and that couldn't be done without tools and herbs.
In short, I was screwed.
“Come along, Vervain.” Narcissus took my arm in a powerful grip and dragged me up the path. “I've recreated the palace just as it was except I've made it Summer. You'll be able to enjoy it at last. We can swim in my lake and make love on the shore.”
My blood went cold as my eyes widened. “I'm not having sex with you, Narcissus.”
“Maybe not today, but you will succumb to my charms eventually.” He sent me a wicked wink. “No one has ever denied me, Vervain. You will not either.”
Narcissus glanced at my robe and then frowned in concentration. The silk flowed outward until I was wrapped in layers of the stuff; a gown worthy of a Paris runway.
“There; that's better,” Narcissus declared. Then he pursed his lips. “No; one last tweak.”
My bodice lowered into a deep V; low enough to show my navel. I tried to jerk away from him, and he laughed.
“Keep fighting me, and I'll have to restrain you, Vervain,” he warned. “I know you've just gotten over your issues with chains, and I'd hate to be the one to return them to you.”
“Did the Mirror tell you that?” I hissed. “How much did it see in my head?”
“Oh, it didn't have to tell me. I saw everything as it did; a benefit of those sacrifices I made to it.”
“It was telling the truth,” I whispered.
“Oh, yes.” Narcissus grinned. “But you so sweetly gave me the benefit of the doubt. You really do have a kind heart.” He stopped and stared at me with a tender expression. “I've never known anyone so willing to fight and also forgive. I need that forgiveness, Vervain. I need you; a woman who will not simply bend to my every whim but who will fight me and forgive me when it's over.”
“I think I may be plumb out of forgiveness,” I growled.
“You're just focused on your husbands right now.” Narcissus pulled me across the stone bridge. The lake gleamed beneath us in turquoise placidity. “After a few years with me, you'll forget them and begin to love me. You'll see.”
I knew it was useless to argue with him; Narcissus had obviously gone insane. So, I calmed my racing heart and started to watch him carefully. He would screw up, and when he did, I'd be waiting.
“Was that really the Mirror who sexually assaulted me or was it you?” I asked calmly.
Narcissus glanced my way as we entered the palace. We strolled down a long hallway to the receiving room. Things had changed slightly there. In the center of the collection of chaise lounges, the floor opened up and the lake filled it, creating a little pond. Narcissus skirted the pool, pushed me down onto a chaise, and sat beside me.
“That was the Mirror. I was very angry with him over that. I expressly told him that you are mine.” Narcissus took my hand and stroked it; focusing his attention on my fingertips. He started kissing each one. “You're so lovely. These hands can kill or caress just like mine. I see a lot of myself in you.”
“Did you kill Nemesis?” I whispered.
Narcissus' hand clenched around mine as he growled, “She was trying to put another curse on me.
