Page 111 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood
If I told her again of the Prince of Death, would she believe me now? It doesn’t matter right now. I don’t think it would bring her any comfort to hearI told you so. We need to just figure out what to do from here.
“Oh gods, Lenny. What ’appened to ye?” Melly brings me in for another hug. Her embrace is comforting but I can’t help but feel I’m the stronger force between us. There are no other powerful arms, no great wings to protect me. Melly is the last of the people I love. I must be the protector now.Be brave, Lenore.
“Where is the mirror?” I am determined to lay eyes on it for myself. The in-between showed me a great many things and in a way, helped rid me of some of my fears by forcing me to come face-to-face with them. Whatever Catreena has in that mirror can’t possibly rival the monsters I’ve encountered.
“She ’as it in yer mother’s quarters.”
Anger turns my blood to fire. That woman has the audacity to use my mother’s room for her depravity? Darkness curls through me, wrapping around my fear and burying it deep down.
“What is the best path to the hidden entrance to my mother’s quarters?”
Melly shakes her head. “Ye mustn’t. That creature. Please don’t go. Run away. Leave this castle and never look back.”
“Show me the way to my mother’s quarters. I’m sure you know a secret route.”
“I can’t go with ye. I’m too afraid. Ye mustn’t go, neither. It will be the death of ye.”
Patting her hand gently, I offer her a soft smile. “I’m harder to kill than you’d think. Now, at least tell me the way. I will go alone.”
Tears stream down Melly’s face as she nods. “Take this.” She hands me my dagger and thigh strap.
“I thought it was lost.”
“I took it, saved it for yer return. I pray ye will never ’ave to use it.”
My loyal friend. Pulling her into another fierce hug, I whisper, “Thank you. Now, tell me the way to the mirror.”
I follow her directions, slinking through the darkness of the many hidden hallways behind the walls and beneath the castle floors. There are no others hiding down here. Is Melly the last? Have all the others fled or been taken by the mirror creature she speaks of?
The energy in the castle is all wrong, slanted, draped in sadness.
My fingers glide along the unfinished walls. Such sorrow now haunts these halls. The air grows heavier the closer I get to my mother’s room. Something terrible is happening behind her door.
I press my ear against it, waiting a full five minutes before daring to open it. There’s a soft click as I pop the panel free. The hidden door opens in a high arching shape that I realize is one of the paintings along the far end of my mother’s room. I’ve only pushed it a few inches when the unmistakable stench of death hits me. Nerves awaken within me, causing my breath to quicken and palms to sweat. I push the panel open farther, leaning my head inside, and nearly faint at the sight.
God have mercy.
My mother’s bedroom has been turned into a mass grave. Decaying bodies litter the floor. Blood, organs, bones all piledatop one another. Their cause of death is obvious. Torture. Some are still nailed to boards or covered in bone-deep lashes. My gaze continues around the horrifying scene, landing on a figure that’s been crucified on the ceiling. An inhuman sound screeches out of my throat.
Lifeless eyes that once held such warmth stare down at the floor. Salt-and-pepper hair hangs from emaciated cheeks. The captain of the guard emblem has been burned into the center of his bare chest. “Gestin…” Tears flood down my cheeks. I was only under the spell for a few days. Gestin looks as if the life has been sucked from his body. I’ve got to find a way to get him down. He deserves a proper resting place.
The bedroom door flies open, slamming loudly against the wall. Ducking behind the panel, I hastily mop up my tears with the backs of my hands as I pull the panel closed until only the tiniest sliver remains open for me to see out of.
Catreena strolls in, as elegantly beautiful as ever. She’s dressed in a beaded black gown that fits her womanly curves to perfection. The train ripples along on the floor behind her, and with it is… a person? The silver chain wrapped around Catreena’s right fist is attached to a young girl. Muffled sobs have my chest tightening as the girl is dragged across the floor. She must be from the village. I do not recognize her as part of the staff.
When the sobbing girl takes in her surroundings—the bones, the bodies, the blood and gore—she screams. Catreena rolls her eyes, gripping the girl’s chin and raising her off the ground with abnormal strength for a woman of her stature.
“Do stop screaming. This isn’t even the scary part.”
A morbid satisfaction fills me. I was right about Catreena. The apple, the poison. I knew it was her. There were moments I began to doubt myself. Even began to believe the whispers of my damaged mind. Everything I said about her was true.
Catreena moves to the far wall, facing an ornate silver frame. Is that the mirror? I’d been so captivated by the carnage, I’d forgotten all about the haunted décor. The mirror itself reflects nothing in the room. Not the furniture or windows, or the lifeless bodies scattered around. Only Catreena appears in its oval face. Its edges are a silver so dark they border on black. What type of metal is that? A gnarled tree with leafless branches rises up from the top of the mirror. Its twisted roots creep down around the outside, surrounding the entirety of the oval. There are serpents woven between the roots, and more than a few skulls.
Dark energy oozes off it, permeating the putrid air and reaching all the way to my hiding spot. I can’t ignore the feeling that I’m being watched. Not by Catreena, but by the mirror itself. As if it knows I’m here hiding.
When Catreena speaks, her voice comes out as many. Male, female. Young and old. “Magic mirror come to call. Let darkness rise and cover all. Bring forth your magic, your aid I’ll take. To keep my beauty, a trade I’ll make. My soul to you grants power to me. The trade, this youth. Come hither, thee.”
A ripple runs across the mirror’s surface, distorting Catreena’s flawless face. Her chest rises and falls, pressing against her tight beaded bodice as her breathing quickens. Her eyes are bright, pupils dilated.
