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Sage’s head lulled to the side, and I recoiled, my gaze meeting the ground in front of me as I retched.
First Lewis, then Sage—humans and demons.
I didn’t want to imagine what other horrid beings lurked between the mirrors. Six more of these trials lay ahead; I couldn’t fathom what else they’d try to break us down. What other moral dilemmas we’d face or how much more I could handle. If I was strong enough.
Resilient. Sure, I learned how to carry the burden of my mother’s illness on my shoulders, but this? This was something else entirely.
I forced my numb legs to move, running far away from the vynx. From Aeron. Before he came through the portal after me.
Mirror after mirror, my head spun from the endless apparitions, growing sick and tired of my reflection. Sick of the fixed landscape and the grim reality that stared back at me, unsure I liked what I saw. Who I was.
Was that the point of the trial? To face the mirrored versions of ourselves—the darker parts of our ego we keep hidden? My vision blurred. I wanted it to be over. I was going mad. Exhausted.
Stumbling through another portal, my head spun.
I collapsed onto the ground.
The incessant portaling was taking a toll on my body.
A mirror to my left rippled, and I spun around a corner, my foot slipping on a slick patch of marble, propelling me into another portal. My temple smashed into a wooden threshold, and I shook away the stars, glimpsing a set of oak doors attached to a copper archway between the flutter of my lashes.
That must be the exit—it had to be.
My shoulders slumped with relief as I got to my feet and made for the arch, running as fast as I could. A mixture of relief and uncertainty flooded me the closer I got. As grateful as I was for this trial to be over, I didn’t want to imagine what else the king had planned. The training it’d entail. The cruel trainer himself.
But I knew I must face it—chin held high. For Lilian. My mother. Myself. Prove I wasn’t the worthless bastard everyone thought me to be. Show them how capable I was, even if I had to fake it.
An object glimmered in my peripheral—a deep red shimmer that had me skidding to a stop and questioning if I was imagining things. A bundle of nightingale sprouted from the base of a mirror I’d just passed—blooming bright and full and owning the marble it sprouted from.
It called to me. Demanded my attention as I floated over to it on a light breeze, unable to stop if I wanted to.
Bells chimed in succession from somewhere above, the deep trill breaking my trance, and I stopped.
The countdown to the end.
The solution to every problem was right in front of me. If I could pocket it, take a bud or two, I could escape. Find a way around the water wraiths and get it to my mother. Save her. Put this torture behind me.
The bells continued, and a shudder ran through me as I took another step. All judgment leaped into a nearby portal. It was beautiful. I was so close.
Run!
An unusual voice shook me from my stupor, and I searched the arena, unable to locate where it’d come from.
Run! It demanded again.
The deep timbre came from within—an internal thought that didn’t belong to me.
It would’ve been alarming if, when I peered back at the bundle of nightingale, it hadn’t been replaced with the same grotesque creature who’d devoured Sage. Blood still smeared across its face.
Wind whooshed from my lungs as I bolted toward the exit. Sheer panic snaked around my chest, turning the corners of my vision black.
No, no, no. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, begging, pleading, praying to make it out of there.
The vynx chased me—it’s circular maw of fangs yearning for flesh. A hunter stalking its prey for the killing blow.
The bells chimed, and the vynx wrapped a hand around my leg, yanking me toward it. I flailed, digging my nails into the ground to keep from getting closer to its mouth—my heart rate spiraling into a dangerous rhythm as it pinned me to the ground. Its rows of teeth inching toward my face.
A final bell sounded, and the door to the exit closed, threatening to lock me inside.
