Page 114 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
Quinn’s necklace buzzed, forcing her to pull it out. Once again, the crimson shard melted into liquid scarlet as it did piqué manege turns out of its cage. When it finally stopped dancing, the liquid metal solidified before shattering into tiny pieces and leaving the brunette woman, Blood, once again standing before them.
“Hello, Quinnevere.” Blood smiled, and her eyes were green pools of love. It was as if she were seeing an old friend after years away.
“Ugh, you brought her again.” Midnight’s voice was a tantrum. “She’s absolutely no fun. No helping this time unless I say so, Blood.”
Before the two could get into a fight, Quinn cut in, “Midnight, I would like you to give me my memories back from the night I was attacked by a vampire.”
“That’s not my name,” the teenage mirror with the baby-like voice said.
Quinn rolled her shoulders back, preparing to deal with the tricks Midnight would play. “What is your name?”
Midnight tapped her nose in thought. “Umm . . . I like periwinkles.”
“Your name is Periwinkle?”
“Sure . . . Yes, I like that. Call me Periwinkle.” She dropped her hand and smiled brightly. “So, you want your memories back. I could do that for a price, of course.”
Of course . . .
During the exchange, Emrys leaned with his arms crossed in silence, amusement lighting his tawny cheeks. Giselle seemed fascinated. She followed each word as if she were cataloging it for later. The girl always responded to dangerous situations in adverse ways.
“What would you like for my memories?” Quinn asked. “Hair again?”
She didn’t particularly want to give more hair, but she was willing to sacrifice her life to save people’s lives. Especially her friends’ lives, who would most likely be the murderer’s next victims if Quinn didn’t find them.
“No, not hair. I already have yours.” She pursed her lips. “It would be no fun to take more.”
Quinn heard the girl’s words but was too stuck in thought to acknowledge them.The mirror.How much would that information cost? She vocalized the question out loud.
Periwinkle frowned. “Unfortunately, that cost would be quite steep. It’s not quite soul-steep, but for me to give that information, I would have to defy another mirror, and it would cost me quite a lot, which means your cost would have to be as emotionally or physically high as mine.”
Not quite soul steep.
It wastoosteep.
So, she would focus on finding the mirror a different way . . . possibly using her necklace?
But for now, she focused on the killer first.
“So, how much for the memories?” Quinn asked.
Periwinkle tapped her nose again, her face bright with mischief. “You could give me five days of your life or your necklace or a gallon of your blood.”
That would be nearly all of it.No one would survive giving a gallon of their blood. An adult human had roughly 1.5 gallons of blood in their body. Quinn opened her mouth to respond when the Blood Mirror spoke.
“You must be very lonely,” Blood said, her head tilting empathetically.
Quinn narrowed her eyes, unsure if the brunette was compassionate or faking it. Both mirrors were gutturally unsettling, but at least Periwinkle’s motives were clear. On the other hand, Blood was a shroud of darkness and mystery.
A shiver skated down her spine.
“I am an endless abyss of isolation,” Periwinkle said with a sigh, her voice light and filled with childlike awe.
“And hyperbolic.” Giselle tittered, enjoying herself far too much.
“Yes, yes, that big word, too,” Periwinkle agreed.
Quinn cleared her throat, trying to get them all back on task. “We’re discussing payment for my memories.”
