by Wendy Knight
And the note on the table.
"What's going on?" The wicked grin died from her face. Now her eyes were narrowed, half-suspiciously, half-worried.
"I've gotta go. I'll talk to you later, okay?" He tried to maneuver her out the door without it seeming like he was trying to maneuver her out the door. She sidestepped his attempt and planted her hands on her hips.
"Landon."
Sighing, he raked his good hand through his hair. "I've gotta go. A friend is in trouble."
"Right after you mysteriously break your hand? What the hell is going on, Landon?" Her eyes narrowed more.
He set his teeth. This was going to hurt.
Her. Not him. He'd never loved her. Not with Eiress in the mirror.
"Cassie, it's a girl. She's in trouble and I'm going to help her." There. That hadn't been so tough, had it?
"A girl?" Her voice was suddenly shrill. "From school?"
"No. Not from school."
"Then from where?" Shriller, still.
"I can't tell you that."
Her thin eyebrows shot up and her cheeks reddened. "What do you mean, you can't tell me that? Are you cheating on me?"
He shook his head. "No. But you should know…I'm in love with her," he said softly.
Cassie sucked in a breath, paling like he'd hit her. He'd never told her he loved her. She'd said it, a few times. He never had.
And he felt like the biggest jerk ever, right then.
"And…" She tilted her head, tears pooling in her eyes. "You're in love with her, but you aren't cheating on me?"
"No. I'm not cheating on you." He was aware of the clock behind him, the ticks of the second hand mocking him. He was losing so much time. "Cassie, I can't explain this to you tonight. I've gotta go. When I get back, if you still need answers—for closure or whatever—I'll tell you what I can. But I've gotta go now."
"You always treated me like crap. I treated you like a god, and you—"
"I know. I'm awful. You deserve better. I'm sorry, Cassie. I really am." He was glad she was angry. Anger was easier to deal with than pain and tears. If she'd let those tears fall, the guilt would have eaten him alive.
"I'm not going anywhere." Cassie folded her arms over her chest and glared. "I want to meet this mystery boyfriend-stealer."
"She's not—Cassie, you can't meet her. Not tonight. I won't even be back tonight."
"Then I'm going with you." She reached over, plucked his truck keys from the post by the door, and tightened her fingers around them, hazel eyes daring him to try to take them away from her.
But he wouldn't. He didn't need his keys, and wrestling them away from Cassie would only waste more time. Sighing, he grabbed his bag. "I'll be right back."
He left her there, in his kitchen. Alone. Because he was in love with someone who was not her, and Cassie was safe and Eiress was not, and he was a horrible boyfriend.
He went into the bathroom and shut the door, praying Cassie didn't try to follow him in. Hefting his bag over his shoulder, he dug the cat's eye ruby from his pocket, holding it tightly in his good hand. With shaking fingers, he reached out and turned off the bathroom light.
He had no more excuses. It was time.
"Bloody Mary."
His voice shook. He didn't sound like a brave hero. He sounded like a scared little boy.
"Bloody Mary."
The mirror seemed to fog, and he felt the cold seep from it and into his bones. For several long minutes, he stood in silence, eyes wide, throat closed with fear. He couldn't do it. He couldn't summon her. He wasn't brave enough.
"I'm so sorry, Eiress."
Eiress smiled in her sleep. In that smile was forgiveness. No judgment, no anger. It encompassed everything she was—good, strong, beautiful.
And he couldn't fail her.
"Bloody Mary."
For the first time since he could remember, he couldn't see Eiress in the mirror. He didn't see himself, either. The room froze, the light from under the door vanished, and icy wind swept through the bathroom. Landon stumbled back, slammed against the wall, where his legs refused to move.
Mary appeared before him.
"What is this?" she purred. "It's not often I'm summoned by a boy. Only the girls are brave enough to face me." She smiled, a wicked, soul-sucking smile, and reached for him.
Landon didn't fight. He wasn't sure if he would have even been able to, so frozen in fear were his limbs. He felt her claws sink into the skin of his throat and he had a wildly horrified moment when he thought she might kill him without even pulling him in—like Eiress's sister.
But then he was dragged through the mirror. It was like being pulled through the ice on a frozen lake. The edges tore at his skin and the cold chilled the breath in his lungs. Everything hurt. Everything glacial. He fell to his knees on the black ground at her feet as chains raced through the room and clamped on his wrists and ankles. "I have no use for men," Mary said. "But Elizabeth does. She'll—"
Landon thrust his fist in the air. The cat's eye ruby seemed to burn through the ice in his veins.
Mary screamed and fell back, clawing at the black and gray walls. "Get thee hence! Elizabeth!"
Landon scrambled to his feet, trying to force his sluggish body to do his will. This was not the time for immobility. Digging the key out of his pocket, he ran for the throne room, where he'd seen the chains attached to the giant lock behind the thrones. Behind him, he could hear Mary screaming for Elizabeth, could hear her footsteps stumbling through the darkness, but he didn't dare look behind him.
Get to the lock. Get to the lock. Get to the lock.
He raced past Vlad, who stood at the doorway to the ballroom, stunned. Apparently, they weren't used to live men running through their haunted halls.
It worked in Landon's favor.
"Stop him!"
He saw Elizabeth come in the side door, more horrible in person than she'd ever been in the mirror. She was beautiful, yes, in a nightmarish, horrific sort of way.
She wasn't fast enough.
Landon dove for the throne and the lock between them, chains curled around it like sleeping snakes. The key fumbled in his casted hand, and he dropped it. It glowed against the black floor, translucent light. He snatched it with his good hand, fell to his knees and shoved it into the lock.
I'm going to die. But Eiress will be free.
And he would go to hell, because he died here. Whether he deserved it or not.
It didn't matter. Eiress would be free.
The chains hissed, lashing at him, coiling tighter around his wrists. He fought them, pushing the key through the lock. Elizabeth screamed and dove at him, but Mary was strangely silent. He didn't have time to search for her, though, as he fought Elizabeth off and tried to untangle himself from the chains.
Vlad was rushing from the doorway. Landon landed one miraculously placed kick to Elizabeth's face. Her nose broken, black blood gushed from her gray face, and she tumbled back, howling.
Vlad froze, eyes on the blood, fangs biting into his bottom lip.
Landon didn't hesitate. He sprang to his feet and ran for all he was worth. Elizabeth was behind him, Vlad's fingers grabbed at the collar of Landon's shirt, and there was no time to think. He dove for the wide, stained-glass windows. The glass shattered around him as his body hit, and hot air enveloped him as he flew through the air and landed hard on the black grass below. He rolled to his back and crab-walked backward, trying to get his feet under him, injured hand screaming as more bones cracked.
Above him, Elizabeth, broken and screaming, stood at the window, Vlad next to her. Neither of them made any move to follow Landon, and although he had no idea why, his feet were finally under him so he turned and ran for all he was worth into the darkness.
AT SOME POINT, EIRESS had dozed off. She wasn't sure when, and she had no idea what time it was when she jerked up in bed, heart hammering in her chest. Cold dread gripped her, making her shake despite Kaida's warmth.
Something
was wrong.
As always, she searched for her friend, first. He wasn't there.
Or…he was there? But he was far away.
Confused, she pressed a hand to her forehead. No, he was close. Closer than he'd been before.
What did that even mean?
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and pushed herself to her feet. Padding silently across the dark room, she went to the mirror and pressed her hand against it.
Cold.
Ice cold.
Shivering, frowning, panic clawing at her throat, she turned in a circle, trying to place the difference.
He was in trouble.
Chills raced up her spine. Yes, he was in trouble. Of that much, she was suddenly certain.
At the window, Kaida whined, clawing at the shutters. Tentatively, Eiress walked toward her little dragon, checking over her shoulder to watch the mirror. It had never seemed so lifeless before. So devoid of hope.
Had she lost him completely?
But no, she could still feel him. He was alive.
Unless he wasn't. And he was here.
Shaking her head so hard her red hair swirled around, she growled. No, he was good. His soul was good. Had he died, he would not be here. This was the Isle of the Damned. Good souls did not venture here.
The commotion from the hall distracted her. Elizabeth, in a screaming fit, demanding the blood of a virgin. "He can't see me like this!" she wailed, her voice coming closer and closer.
Coming to Eiress's door.
Because Eiress was the only one left. They'd killed all the others.
Mary will never let her kill me. They need me.
But Mary was strangely silent. Her vicious laughter didn't follow Elizabeth's screams. Only Vlad's monotone pleading.
Across the room, the door handle shook.
Kaida clawed more frantically at the shutters, trying to light them on fire when he couldn't break through. Frowning, Eiress backed toward him, unable to tear her horrified gaze from the handle.
The door swung open.
Elizabeth stood in the doorway, illuminated from behind by the hallway candles, her face bathed in shadows except for her glowing red eyes.
"Mary said we weren't allowed to touch her," Vlad said, stopping behind Elizabeth. "She'll destroy us all—"
"I don't care what Mary says!" Elizabeth shrieked. "Mary's not here, is she? I am the Queen, and I say it's time for you to taste her blood. It's time for me to bathe in it."
Vlad's red eyes glowed bright with hunger.
Kaida squealed, throwing his tiny body against the shutters as Elizabeth and Vlad advanced. Stifling a scream, Eiress stumbled backward, away from them. As Elizabeth's claw-like hands reached for Eiress's throat, Eiress grabbed Kaida, tucked him against her chest, and threw herself backward.
Out the window.
She expected to feel free, as she fell. She'd always thought falling to her death would be the best way to go. But she didn't feel free. Her body twisted over and around, tumbling through the air, and as she fell she saw in the distance a light.
A light, being smothered by the darkness.
And Eiress knew she had to fight. She could not die—not now.
She had to save the light.
Suddenly, somehow—she didn't know how, even when she thought back on it later—but the shadows devouring the bright light exploded. The darkness seemed to rip apart at invisible seams, and the light was suddenly free and running.
Running away from her.
And she never figured out how, but Eiress was suddenly no longer falling. She was on her feet, Kaida wrapped around her arm like a shaking bracelet, and then Eiress was running. Running away from the castle and toward the darkness and the nightmares and the lost souls.
Toward the light.
She was yanked clear off her feet, though, as her chains caught.
Her chains. She'd forgotten all about them.
She whirled, felt them tangling around her ankles and wrists, up her legs. She teetered and fell to the ground, her head bouncing against a rock. Eiress struggled to remain conscious as blackness blurred her vision. Elizabeth stood at her windows, pulling the chains, pulling Eiress back toward the castle.
Beyond the edges of the courtyard, the light had fallen again. Hungry shadows fought over it, as they'd fought over Kaida, and she thought she could hear screaming, but she couldn't be sure it wasn't Elizabeth.
She could not go back to the castle. She had to save the light.
She had to save the light. She had to. She had to.
Her chains exploded.
They burned her skin, scorched her skirts. Elizabeth screeched, falling backward and out of sight, her face and hands afire.
Eiress was free.
She wasted no time. Struggling to her feet, she kicked her bedraggled skirts out of the way and ran, barefoot and cold, as hard as she could go toward the light.
LANDON HAD PLAYED FOOTBALL HIS WHOLE life. He thought he'd known what pain was.
He was so wrong.
Shadows he could barely see, attached to claws and teeth and glowing eyes, monsters he remembered living under his bed and in his closet, they tore at him. Somehow, he'd kept his throat intact, but the arms and hands that protected it were torn to shreds. He wasn't going to make it.
But at least he'd freed Eiress.
He felt his hands slipping away from his throat, his broken hand more useless than before, as his eyes fell shut.
Her voice echoed in his mind, begging him to stay with her. Begging him to hold on, she was coming.
And then suddenly, the monsters were gone.
His eyes opened, he struggled to see through the pain, and then soft, cold hands were sliding over him, checking injuries. Warm puffs of air tried to thaw the ice from his veins, and he could just see the little dragon next to him, doing his best to help.
But he couldn't see her. The only thing he'd ever seen when he'd looked into a mirror, and now he was here and she was hidden behind the blood and the pain. "I came all this way…" he mumbled, his eyes sliding closed.
"No! No you don't. Stay with me, my friend. Please stay with me."
He heard cloth ripping—it sounded like the time his uniform had been torn right off his shoulder during football. And then cool cloth was being placed on his wounds, and dabbed at his eyes, and he blinked twice as the blood was wiped away.
She was there.
She was right there in front of him.
She was there, taking care of him.
"Eiress," he breathed.
Her hands froze and in the still of the frozen night, he could hear her heart pounding. "You—it is you—I knew! I knew I recognized your soul!" She kissed the knuckles she had been wrapping. "First, we must bind your wounds. When you're strong enough, we will talk. For now, save your strength." Although worry still creased her brow, a small smile played around her lips.
He'd made her smile.
"Your chains—you're free. I unlocked them." His voice was barely a whisper. Not quite the way he'd wanted to make her acquaintance.
Her eyebrows shot up. "You unlocked my chains?" Then she looked at Kaida. "That would explain why Elizabeth was trying to hold on to them. So I couldn't escape…"
Landon's head fell back and he let his eyes close. "You're free."
"I'm free of the castle. You are my hero." He could hear the smile in her voice without opening his eyes, which was good, because it hurt too much.
"We just—just need to find a mirror and go back out—"
Her voice was infinitely sad when she spoke again, several quiet seconds later. "I can't go back out."
This time, he forced his eyes open. "Yes you can. I unlocked the chains. With the key."
She smiled, placing her hand against his cheek. "There are rules."
Behind her, there was a growl.
Landon had never been a hunter, but he'd always been fascinated by animals. Especially predators—wolves, bears, lions, cheetahs.
This growl, it was like all of those and none of those at the same time, rolled and permeated with evil.
His heart stopped. Eiress froze, her eyes widening in horror. He could feel the pulse in her wrist jump against his jaw. Kaida raced up her arm to her shoulder and hissed into the darkness.
"We need to run," Eiress whispered.
Right. Landon couldn't even open his eyes without wanting to scream like a little girl. Running was out of the question.
But Eiress didn't seem to realize that. She was pulling on his arms, trying to heft him to his feet—good hell, she was trying to lift him over her shoulder as Kaida scampered out of the way—
Not trying. She did. She lifted him over her shoulder.
And then she ran.
They didn't make it far, but it was farther than they would have made it if Landon had been in charge of moving them. She collapsed between a huge tree and a solid black wall, and carefully slid him off her shoulders. "I'm sorry," she whispered, peeking around the tree to see if they had been followed.
Landon forced himself to sit up, leaning against the icy wall. He could still hear the growling, but it wasn't as close, now. Past Eiress's head, he could see the red, glowing eyes. Everything in this awful place seemed to have red, glowing eyes.
Except Eiress. She turned to him, worry creasing her brow, and he saw for the first time that her eyes were brown. He'd never seen her so close before. "Friend?" she asked when he didn't blink.
He'd gotten lost in the beauty of her gaze.
"Landon."
She raised an eyebrow. "What?"
He cleared his throat and tried again. "Landon. My name is Landon."
She smiled, so sweet it broke his heart. It was the only light in that world, but it was enough to melt the ice and chase back the shadows. "Landon."
Kaida hissed, racing up one arm, across her shoulders, and down the other arm. He blew puffs of smoke at the darkness, like he could possibly chase away the monsters.
"We need to get somewhere safe," Landon said. "So we can come up with a battle plan." Because clearly, winging it had worked so well already.
She smirked, patting his unbroken hand. "There is nowhere safe, Landon. Not on this side of the mirror."
The Isle of the Damned. It had been fittingly named.