Page 14 of Demanding Discord
My breath came out in a rush, and my stomach churned with nausea. I doubled over, the adrenaline and power draining from my system as quickly as it had entered. Unable to hold on to my demonic form, my body morphed into human. I stumbled toward my clothes, but my demon had shredded them.
A loud crack echoed in the chamber. Hecate’s statue split and crumbled, her head breaking into a hundred pieces as it hit the floor. The walls groaned. Slabs of stone fell from above. The angled column toppled.
“Cinder!” I rushed toward the magical wall. “Cinder, we must run.”
5
CINDER
“Discord!” I slapped my palm against the stone. “Let me out.”
Muffled growls and the sounds of a struggle emanated through the wall. I ran my hands along the smooth surface, searching for a seam or a hidden release switch or spot where his magic didn’t solidify…anything to get me into that room so we could take out Tumult together.
It was as if the doorway never existed.
“You and your damn walls.” I rested both hands against it, straining to hear the commotion. “For someone whose powers are waning, you sure spent a lot of vim on a stupid barricade.”
I blew a hard breath through my nose and turned toward the hall of mirrors. Lighting a fireball in my hand, I touched the flames to the vat of oil, hoping to illuminate the room, but it didn’t ignite.
The crimson sigils on the mirror in the distance brightened, pulsing, and a faint blue light glowed from the center of the glass. The temple groaned like it had when I’d shattered a mirror, the cracking sound of millennia-old stone making my muscles tense.
How could I have let Tumult lead us into a trap? He was here, waiting for us the moment we arrived, but…how? I definitely sensed Hecate when I scried. Did the asshat have the ability to enter my mind? To manipulate my visions?
Or had he simply followed us here? With his ability to disappear, he could have been riding along with us the entire time, waiting for the most dramatic moment to make his appearance.
The mirror hummed, drawing me from my thoughts, and I moved toward it. My abdomen tightened, my mouth going dry as I cautiously put one foot in front of the other. If Tumult had set this all up, it could be another part of the trap. Maybe he materialized the mirrors like Discord could walls. He certainly didn’t place them all one by one.
Or did he? Honestly, I had no clue what other powers he possessed.
The humming intensified, drawing me deeper into the room. I glanced into the first mirror, and my breath caught. I spun to face its twin and then turned back to the first one. The mirrors reflected each other, going on and on, into infinity, but I…
I still had no reflection at all.
Unease made my stomach sour, but I pushed on, pausing to look into the next one. I held up my firelight, stepping closer to the glass. Still, I had no reflection.
“What the hell?” I reached forward, tentatively pressing my fingertips to the glass, half-expecting them to pass right through. The surface was solid. I rested both palms against it and applied pressure. It didn’t give.
It would be my luck if Tumult had shoved me into the ether, and now I hung in limbo, here but not really here. My sweaty handprints marred the glass, so I had to be on this plane.
“Why no reflection?”
The sigils on the mirror in the distance glowed brighter. The hum intensified. Goosebumps pricked my skin. This long, narrow room should have been filled with thousands of Cinders, reflections of me as I passed each mirror.
Instead, I was completely, utterly, painfully alone.
I took a deep breath, centering myself, the gravity of my predicament settling heavily on my shoulders. I had no idea what was happening in the other room. The only thing I knew for certain was that Discord was still alive. How long he’d remain in that state, I had no clue.
My pulse thrummed, and I extinguished my flame. I needed to look into the mirror that called to me. Whether Tumult set this up or not, there was only one way in and out of this chamber…and my dear, sweet demon had barricaded the door.
I was trapped, alone, and I really, really needed to pee.
My throat thickened, and I swallowed hard before stepping in front of the mirror. My breath came out in a rush as I took in my reflection. The mirror opposite mine didn’t reflect my image back, though. I turned, looking into it, but it was as if I wasn’t there.
I spun to the illuminated one. The sigils surrounding it pulsed softly, some of them familiar, others I had never seen. If only Ash were here. She could decipher whatever message someone had engraved in the glass. She was the smartest person I knew.
If Ember were here, Tumult wouldn’t have stood a chance. She’d have skewered him the second he materialized in the room. I loved fighting alongside my sister. She was the fiercest woman I knew.
My chest tightened, a homesick feeling making it ache. The three of us together were an unstoppable force, but I… Dammit, I shouldn’t have come here alone. Everything I had done for the past year went against my very nature.
