Page 140 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
Quinn let out a scream.
The ball went from a glittering tapestry to a decaying catastrophe in a matter of seconds.
A river of gore painted the floor, pouring from the throats of dying humans. It was gruesome and too horrible to look at. They didn’t even have a chance to escape, and they had no warning. They were simply gone in the blink of an eye—at the snap of Jevon’s fingers.
Quinn’s white hair fell into her face and shock dangled in the air like a hangman’s noose floating on a wicked wind. A moment of stillness was preceded by utter chaos. Horror stroked Quinn’s esophagus, pain burning up like heartburn. “You didn’t tell me . . .”
Seren’s eyes went wide. “I didn’t know.”
“Liar,” Constance hissed, still holding her sister by the throat.
Constance, Seren, Kordelia, and Quinn were the only still figures in an ocean of mayhem. Humans ran for the exit while Jevon’s newly made vampires attacked anyone in sight, ripping out throats, pulling out intestines, and sucking up a brilliant feast. The compelled vampires also joined the fight, forced to kill humans as well. But they did it in a more dignified manner. It was only ten vampires who resisted. Quinn’s ten whose paintings she’d rescued from the third Blood Mirror.
In the disorder, Seren freed herself and clutched Quinn’s arm, pulling her away from Constance. Blood and guts soaked the ground. They walked over the gruesome floor as Seren tried to say something, but her voice didn’t carry over the destruction.
“What?” Quinn yelled.
Seren paused and turned around, her wrist still on Quinn’s. “I truly didn’t know, Quinn. I never wanted innocents to die.” The last bit was a plea. “You have to believe me.”
“I don’t have time to care about you right now.” Quinn ripped her hand free, and she forced her mind to still and focus on the battle. She needed to find Jevon and get the handheld mirror from where he kept the other paintings. She needed to free the compelled vampires because they were far outnumbered.
Through a sea of blood and battle, Quinn spotted Giselle pulling the princess out of the fray and to relative safety. Francois was also by her side, helping.
Oh, thank the mirrors.
Possibly compelled, Emrys stood frozen at the center of the ballroom, watching in horror—unable to do anything. Quinn couldn’t imagine the torment that caused because, despite how much he had used her, he had done it all for his people. And his people included all members of New Swansea from vampires to humans to Mirror-Blessed. This must have destroyed him.
Jevon stood in front of the massive windows, silhouetted by the moon, watching in delight. The monster inside him clearly enjoyed bathing in blood and death.
“Everyone stop,” Jevon commanded.
Every person in the room froze except Quinn’s vampires. It was the only shot they had, and they took it. Three of them immediately snapped the necks of the vampires they were fighting. A smile rose on Quinn’s lips. Maybe they could win this after all.
Except her glee was short-lived. Because when Quinn’s vampires didn’t respond to Jevon’s command, his face grew tense, and the vein in his jaw feathered. He yelled the command again, to no avail, and his confusion was replaced with a dark, wicked rage.
Then he spotted her. “You,” he hissed. “You’re responsible for this. How did you do it?” He chewed on the question for a moment. “No matter, let’s do this the hard way.”
With a snap of his fingers, the dead bodies slowly rose from the floor, blood soaking their clothing, and some even had intestines hanging out of their torsos. It was disgusting. The newly animated corpses grabbed more humans, holding them hostage. With the second snap of Jevon’s fingers, Quinn’s body froze, her muscles growing heavy and impossible to move.
What the fuck?
Her eyes tracked to Jevon, who had a wide, evil smile on his pale, hollow face. In this moment, he resembled a corpse. Hecould control bodies—not just dead ones but all living and dead flesh.
Instantly, all of Quinn’s plans melted because if Jevon was fueled by the chaos, they were all fucked. Because his power—whatever it was . . . possibly Necromancy—was growing to unimaginable heights.
He was unbeatable.
From the looks on everyone else’s faces in the room, they all knew it, too. Quinn saw the precise moment when hope faded into ash and was left with only despair.
Every human and vampire in the room was frozen, stuck under the weight of his power.
How could she fight this? How could anyone?
They were all going to die. Quinn’s throat grew dry because she had nothing left, nothing to do but accept her fate. Quinn pinched her eyes closed and waited to die—or for whatever the monster would do next.
But hope came in the most unlikely place.
Seren squeezed Quinn’s hand. “Calm your heart. His power feeds on chaos. On your chaos.”
