Page 46 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
“I am fine.” Quinn hiccupped as she slumped down onto a bench next to Jevon. The world was a bit blurry now that she wasn’t in motion.
“Well, I know that is a lie.” He squeezed her hands. “You’re like my little sister, Quinny. I know when you’re hiding the truth.”
“Truly, I’m fine,” she fibbed. “I am okay.”
“You’re allowed to mourn,” Jevon said. “I don’t know if I ever told you this, but I lost my brother. I know what it is like to grieve.”
“What?” She breathed. “I didn’t know you had a brother. I’m so sorry.”
Shock rattled her core, eating away at her composure. Jevon never talked about his family before and certainly never told her something like that.
He pinched his lips together. “He wasn’t blood, and we weren’t related at all, but he was my brother. I am not sure if that makes sense.”
“It makes sense.” Quinn nodded. “It’s like how I feel about all of you. You’re family without beingmy family.”
“Yes, exactly,” he said. “Anyway, I get it. I know what it feels like to have complicated feelings about the ones we’ve lost, too.”
Quinn rubbed her eyes to keep tears in. “I don’t wanna feel, and I know I’m a terrible person for it.”
“I understand that well. Sometimes, I hated my brother.” He tensed. “But I also loved him, but he died because he tried to murder me, and I unfortunately fought back.”
She gasped. “He tried to murder you?”
“He became obsessed with fixing what he deemed to be a massive mistake I made. He wasn’t alone. He convinced my other best mate to join him in his delusions. They didn’t like that I traded with the mirror and thought that I’d become a monster that needed to be exterminated. Because of their obsessions, they lost track of who they were.” Jevon’s voice was hollow, and his eyes were distant, as if he were remembering it all again.
“What happened to your other best mate?” Quinn asked.
“After the dust settled and our friend was dead, we made peace, but we’ve never talked since that day.”
It was all horrible. Quinn couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be so betrayed by her family. Jevon was strong.
He was being utterly vulnerable. Was she even worthy of this level of trust? “Thank you for sharing with me.” Quinn gulped, her throat burning with unshed emotions. “I know it wasn’t easy.”
Jevon opened his arms for a hug, but when she bristled, he dropped his hands into his lap. Quinn didn’t hug. “Thank you for allowing me to share it.”
His words cut to the core and both warm and sad feelings stirred inside her. But she still refused to cry.
After the conversation, the night continued, but she couldn’t help the dread pooling in her stomach. Jane was murdered, and it was somehow linked to Blood Mirrors, but she had absolutely no way of getting information about them.
The Grand Library had archives, but it didn’t keep a history of mirrors because the Bargainers forbade it. If someone wanted to learn their history, they had to bargain for it. This was another way the mirrors kept the city dependent upon their deals.
None of the current evidence pointed to a suspect. Even if Quinn pulled prints from the feathers and cross-checked them, all she would have would be a match with no suspect. There was no feasible way to test every citizen’s print to find a suspect.
So, she had nothing useful. No real clues.
She was stuck, and her life depended on solving this case in the nextnine—eight—days. The killer would strike again before the week was out.
Sixteen
Aknock pounded at her door, and Quinn awoke from the nightmare that dripped with blood—she watched as her father was murdered on repeat. Oh, how she hated the Looking Glass—the Mirror of Nightmares—and its stupid deal. She hated waking up every morning in cold sweats.
Quinn rubbed the hilt of her palms into her eyes, groaning. She had a massive headache snaking up the back of her skull. Drinking last night had been a terrible mistake.
Her head pounded again, louder, and more irritating this time.
“Ginger, open your door. We have a murder to solve,” a male said with a voice like liquid magic. Smooth and intoxicating. And she knew that voice, but her muddled mind couldn’t quite connect the dots.
Quinn groaned and smashed a pillow into her face. “No.”
