Page 35 of The Midwinter Mirror
We move before we can talk it to death—clothes, boots, breathless half-laughs that aren’t really laughter. I want to etch this quiet before the storm into my bones, but there’s no time.
There’s only the snow, and the mirror, and the children.
And the magic roiling inside me.
For the first time, I’m not afraid of it.
Chapter 14
My Very First Spell
Holly
We’ve dressed warmly, and we’ve stuffed all the blankets we can find into two rucksacks. We’re at the bottom of the stairs when Josh slips out of the library, Grimlet perched on his shoulder. Grimlet is wearing a scarf made out of scarlet tinsel—he must have pinched it off the tree.
“It worked?” Josh asks.
I nod.
He searches my face. “Are you okay?”
He’s such a sweet kid. “Not really. But maybe I will be if…” I don’t finish. We all know what’s at stake here.
“It will be all right,” he says, and there’s a calm certainty in his voice.
I wish I felt as sure. But I’m not. I’m riddled with doubt. I need time to come to terms with all the stuff swirling in my head—like maybe a hundred years or so. But, hey, I’m immortal. If I survive the night, then a hundred years is nothing.
But right now, I have no time. I just have to hope that it all makes sense when I need it.
“Come on,” Zayne says, “let’s get this done.”
I cast him a quick sideways glance, and my breath catches. He’s so beautiful. And he loves me. He hasn’t said it yet, but I know. He must feel my stare because he turns, smiles, and offers his hand. I take it, and Josh high-fives.
“Yay. I knew you two would get together.”
“Grimlet didn’t.” The gargoyle gives me a narrow-eyed glare. I have my work cut out there. If we survive this, I’ll give him the biggest box of chocolates ever for Christmas.
“Brown phoned while you were…” Josh waves a hand up the stairs, and I feel the heat flush my cheeks.
“What did he say?” Zayne asks.
“That he looked into this Khazim. And Zayne—he’s Khronus’s father.”
“Who’s Khronus?” I ask.
“He’s the king, the dead one, who killed all the witches. Shit. Wow.”
But wasn’t Khazim around, like, six thousand years ago? Oh, right—they’re immortal. Or rather,we’reimmortal. That will take some getting used to. But maybe I won’t have to…
“Come on, we’d better go,” Zayne says.
“Just a moment.” I run into the library. There’s a pile of chocolate on one of the side tables, and I stuff it into the top of my rucksack. The children might be hungry if—when—we find them.
Zayne grabs my hand again, and we head to the front door, Josh and Grimlet close behind us. Outside, the night is crisp and clear. Everything feels different.
There’s a tingle in the air, but also a heavy feeling of…waiting. I can hear the faint sound of Christmas carols carried from the village. There’s a service around the Christmas tree in the village square. It was going to be canceled, but Dad persuaded them to continue. He said the singing would guide the children home. Wishful thinking at its finest.
I also realize my hearing must be way more acute than before if I can hear singing all the way from the village.
