Page 66 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
However, according to Uncle Matias’s report, the seven were monitored and forced into routine check-ins with a parole officer daily.
Uncle Matias ended with, “As of now, we have no viable suspects or motive for the murder.”
Emrys snorted, his legs still dangling off the chair like he had no cares in the world. “The motive is clearly the Blood Mirrors.”
Matias Thyssen returned to his seat as a middle-aged lady with a countenance of daggers stood and walked to the center of the floor. She was all sharp edges.
She made a sound of pure disgust before saying, “No human or vampire will ever find the last two mirrors. They are hidden from our memories and far out of our reach, cloaked by mirror protections. Not even our pretty prince can find them, and we all know you’ve tried for nineteen years.”
Nineteen years.Quinn stiffened.
Emrys slightly raised his head, showing a modicum of interest. He yawned before saying, “I’ve only searched for them as a means to find the person who murdered my friends and stole my family’s paintings.”
“And how has that gone?” the angular woman asked, her tone an insult.
“As you have clearly pointed out, I don’t possess the talent for hunting.” Emrys stroked a leisurely finger down his lapel as if the lady’s words meant nothing. “Regardless of my skills, it doesn’t change the fact that someone far more talented than I am is hunting down those mirrors and killing anyone who gets in their way.”
“They must not be that talented,” the lady said. “It’s beennineteen years, and no one’s found the other two mirrors. You need to let this obsession go. The mirrors are protected.”
“Those protections won’t last forever.” Emrys’s words were a haunted, hollow warning.
“By then, the killer will be dead.” The angular woman stood taller, making her display of dominance known. Quinn wasn’t sure if this woman was human, Mirror-Blessed, or immortal, but she certainly was an even bigger narcissist than the prince.
“And if they’re not? What then?” Emrys rose a brow. “I have lived many lives, Lady Annabelle Ravenscroft, long enough to know that one does not need to be a vampire to live forever.”
Lived many lives . . . One doesn’t need to be a vampire to live forever.Quinn gulped. Emrys was immortal, but was he Mirror-Blessed or a vampire?
Quinn blinked and clutched her head, suddenly feeling an ache accompanied by her lost memories from the library. They came back!
The royal family’s curse. But . . . maybe it wasn’t a curse. Maybe the prince was trying to show her all the different lives he’s lived. Because . . . because he was a vampire.
Emrys adjusted his crown as if reminding the lady it was still there. “We all remember Gideon.”
“I remember you plunging a dagger through his heart,” Lady Annabelle said.
“Yes, and ending his reign of terror, but if I hadn’t, he would still be eternally young like a vampire.”
Francois cleared his throat and stood up. “Lady Ravenscroft, are you suggesting that we allow this murderer to kill us off one by one?” Francois’s expression was wildfire. “Seven council members are dead, and one reporter.”
“Someone is after those mirrors,” Hadleigh, Francois’s new second, said, her voice slightly unsteady. “And they killed Jane because of it. We cannot let this go.”
Jane was killed because of the mirrors, and the gang knew. This would have been important to know about earlier.
“We have no new evidence or suspects. What are we to do?” Lady Annabelle asked. “We must stay the course. The mirrors are protected, and that is what matters.”
“Except Jane found the second mirror,” Emrys said as chatter broke out through the hall. “She told me the night she died but refused to tell me where. If we let this go and do nothing, we’re doomed because while we might’ve forgotten about them, the murderer certainly hasn’t.”
That was the conversation Quinn overheard. Things were finally starting to make sense.
“Someone wants to steal our paintings, destroy the mirrors, and, in essence, destroy the accords,” an unknown young man said.
“Maybe the accords should be destroyed.” Every set of eyes turned in unison to Countess Teagan Atwater as she held her head high and shoulders back.
In a blink, she was at the center of the room. Quinn gasped but tried to stifle it with her hands because no one else was remotely shocked by the woman’s vampiric speed.
“Perhaps the laws are too strict. Death to all vampires if the public learns our secret? Come on, even you have to admit that is going too far.” Countess Atwater said the last bit directly to Emrys.
“The laws keep vampires from our worst impulses like human laws restrict their worst impulses,” the unknown young man said, also disappearing and reappearing in the center.
