Page 136 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
“You’re very good at stitching wounds,” Seren said, finally locking eyes with Quinn.
“I’ve had to be, considering I was raised in a morgue.” Quinn’s voice was poisonous gas.
Seren visibly swallowed. “I’m sorry.”
“For what? For Jane’s death? Threatening me? Killing my parents?” Quinn’s words were filled with a resolve that snapped every bone in her body, turning them into unbreakable diamonds. She wasn’t flesh anymore. She’d be stone. But not just any stone, diamonds.
“All of it,” Seren said without hesitation. “If it makes any difference, I never wanted you to play any part in this. But—”
“But what?” Quinn shook her head, disgusted. Her dress turned a lime green, but her hair remained dark crimson. “You cannot blame Jevon foryouractions.” Seren wouldn’t be absolved just because it wasn’t her intention. She betrayed her friends in the worst way imaginable.
“I know. My actions are my own,” Seren said, her brown eyes swelling.
Anger spiked through Quinn’s blood. Seren’s betrayal felt like thousands of shards of shattered glass slowly slicing away at the skin—slowly bleeding to death. The friendship was a lie.
A dirty, broken lie.
Having deep relationships was hard for Quinn, and she only recently allowed herself to get close to people. She was rewarded with this. Two of the people she thought of as family had been using her for three years, and worse, they killed Jane—Quinn’s only true family.
“You’ve been playing with me for three years.” The words tasted like violation and empty promises.
“I—I never toyed with you,” Seren bit her lip. “I always thought of you as my friend. Possibly even the best friend I ever had.”
Quinn’s nostrils flared, and her heart felt like melting icicles. “Best friends don’t lie. They don’t pretend to be someone else, and they certainly don’t kill their friends or kidnap them.” Her eyes stung, but she refused to let Seren see her cry.
“There is nothing I can say to make up for all of this.” Seren’s shoulder slumped. “But I wish I could. Youaretruly my best friend, Quinny. Even though I would have never imagined it at the start, I love you.”
Giselle scoffed again. “I think you need to learn how to treat your friends.”
Seren ignored the comment. “You’re angry. I understand that, but we have eternity. You will forgive me.”
Nails bit at the center of Quinn’s palms. “I won’t.”
“And not that it matters,” Giselle said. “Since you seem not to care about our friendship at all, I won’t forgive you either.”
Tension cascaded over the room, circling and invading Quinn’s body. It choked her and clawed its way down her spine.
Eventually, Seren said, “You need to get dressed.”
There was no use in arguing. If Quinn didn’t comply, she’d certainly be forced. But she needed to figure out a way to get her new undergarments without anyone noticing the paintings. “Fine,” Quinn said. “But I have to use the lavatory.”
“Sure,” Seren said.
Quinn stalked into the powder room, thinking. What were the chances that the painting attached to her leg was Seren’s and not Constance’s?
Low.
Could be possible that Jevon was the murderer all along and not Seren.
It was worth a try.
Finding a soap bar, Quinn turned on the sink, wetted it, and wrote on the mirror,Tel Teagin and the other vampirs to leeve.Then Quinn called, “Seren, can you come help me in here?”
As Quinn waited, her fingers absentmindedly hovered over the paintings. Seren opened the door, and Quinn pointed at the mirror.
“Do it,” Quinn said as commandingly as possible. She held her breath, waiting, hoping.
Seren stepped back as if slapped, and she gasped, holding ahand to her mouth. But then she said, “Teagan, Veronica, and Charlie, I need you to do me a favor and go find Marcus, and please go now. It’s vitally important.” Now, speaking directly to Quinn, “You have—”
