Page 78 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
“The Viridian mirror never gets to me. Perhaps you’ve been faking it.” Giselle’s voice was a silk cravat fashioned into a noose, trying to strangle her friend.
“That’s not entirely fair. You’re the only one of us not affected by its memory warping, G,” Quinn said.
Giselle glowered. “Fine but blacking out is not an excuse. At any moment since Jane’s death, she could have told us about the council and vampires.”
“But I . . .” Constance trailed off, lost in thought, an unreadable expression storming on her face. She glanced at Jevon as if asking for help. He slightly nodded as if giving her encouragement. “I couldn’t have told you anything. The Accords bind me just like they bind vampires. I wanted to tell you. It’s been torture watching you try to solve the murders and not being able to say anything.”
Quinn fiddled with the fringe on her dress. It made sense. IfEmrys couldn’t tell the truth and she couldn’t, then how could Constance? All of Quinn’s pent-up hurt fizzled and melted. How could she be mad at her friend for something that she couldn’t help?
“She is telling the truth,” Quinn said. “I’ve seen the pain cross Emrys’s face as he’s tried to tell me about the Accords.”
“Then why keep us from going to the meeting?” Giselle asked.
Constance shuffled her feet, her face a deflated hot air balloon. Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes and threatened to fall at any moment. “I don’t know.”
Giselle was a frozen sculpture, but some of her ice seemed to be slowly trickling off. “Is there anything else you would like us to know?”
“What do you mean?” Constance’s brows crinkled.
“You don’t have a council tattoo.”
Constance glanced down. “I do.” She held out her arm, and the tattoo blinked into existence. “I keep it hidden with my mirror abilities.”
The illusion was so real and persuasive. Quinn knew her friend was powerful, but she’d never realized until this moment just how much Constance must have given for magic that was convincing. Maybe that’s why the Viridian mirror affected her so much more than others.
But then, the Viridian seemed to affect everyone’s memory except Giselle. There was something eerie about that, but Giselle never knew why either.
Perhaps she was keeping secrets, too.
After another ten minutes of cataloging the prints, Constance ambled up to Quinn’s side. “I’m very sorry about the lies.” She seemed to be still worrying about the easier conversation.
Quinn set down her dusting brush. “I understand why you had to lie about the council meeting, but you’ve been acting strangely lately. You always forget things, you lie, and you act like a completely different person around Emrys.”
“I know.” Constance wrung her hands. “I hate lying to you. I hate it.” The vein in her neck feathered. “Sometimes I don’t know what the truth is. I feel like I’m going crazy. The Viridian is slowly destroying my mind.”
Quinn also lost time and memories at the Viridian, and she was hardly ever there. She couldn’t imagine what it was like for her friend. “Why don’t you leave?”
“It’s not that easy.” Constance loosed a breath. “Kordelia is tied to the Viridian; she can’t leave for long periods of time, and I . . .”
“You love her.” Quinn finished the sentence.
Constance nodded. “Wouldn’t you do almost anything for the person you love?”
Quinn didn’t know. She didn’t love anyone romantically like that, but she could see herself going to the ends of the world to fight for her friends. “Yes.”
Constance’s lips rose in a defeated smile. “And as for Emrys, I do act like a different person around him because we have a complicated relationship.”
Quinn raised a brow.
“We used to be . . .” She cleared her throat. “Lovers.”
“What?”
“Keep your voice down. I don’t want everyone to know.” Everyone being Giselle. “Emrys and I had a . . .fling.” Constance swallowed, her face flushing, and she looked utterly uncomfortable.
“But I thought you only liked girls?”
“Well . . . it’s complicated. Constance likes—” She cut herself off. “Thisversion of me only wants to be with girls, but I had an experimental phase.”
