Effie sighed. “One of your less attractive qualities, to be sure.”
“Your statement implies you find some of my qualities quite attractive.”
Effie could feel the heat creeping into her cheeks. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
“Don’t you? You’re the one standing here stalling and telling me how attractive you think I am.”
“I did not say anything resembling that.”
Lucian ran his knuckle over her burning cheek. “Sure you did, fledgling.”
Her heart sped up at the touch and any half-hearted protest died in her throat.
“I’ll see you later, Effie,” he murmured before wandering back down the hall.
“Bye,” she whispered to his retreating back.
Alone once more, Effie faced the arched doors with a grimace. She couldn’t put this off any longer. Steeling her shoulders, she took a deep breath and walked inside.
“Daughter.”
Effie gave the two robed figures a little wave. “Just the two of you?”
Mirror One tilted his head. “Does that bother you?”
She gave a quick shake of her head. “No, I just thought all three of you would be here. So which one of you is absent? Smoke?”
She guessed his name, only because he had a tendency to stand front and center whenever he was with the others, while the Mirrors always stood side by side. It was hardly a perfect science, but it helped her when she could pretend she knew which of them she spoke with.
The odd rush of wind she’d come to associate with their amusement flowed through the chamber.
“With the telepathic link we share, the three of us are always present no matter how many physical forms you see before you.”
“That must be . . . loud,” Effie said, trying to imagine her mind being constantly invaded by others’ thoughts. “So, you can hear everything . . . all the time?”
Was anything she’d said to Smoke kept between them or had the Mirrors been listening in the entire time? The thought stung.
The Mirrors shrugged, avoiding the question. She really should know better than bothering to ask direct questions by now.
“It is convenient.”
“And allows us to go where needed.”
“Of course,” she murmured. “So I suppose you wanted to ask me about our findings?”
“We know about the Shadow-touched.”
Effie straightened at the unfamiliar term. Are they referring to the land . . . or what happened to Tinka? They didn’t give her time to ask.
“You had another vision,” Mirror Two prompted.
“I did.” Let’s see how they like it.
“Care to discuss it?”
The question was a courtesy. They weren’t actually asking.
Effie shuddered as the memory of hands tearing her apart filled her mind. Any futile desire she might have had to try and fight against telling them what they wanted to know fled. The two men standing before her might be the only people in all of Elysia who knew what her vision meant.
“Before I do, may I ask you a question?”
“You may always ask, Daughter.”
“Can you at least promise to try to answer this one?” she pleaded, trying to keep any note of aggression from her voice. This was a genuine request; she didn’t want them to ignore it out of hand.
The Mirrors nodded in unison.
“Is it true that Keepers never have visions about themselves?”
“Never in our history.”
“Then why is it I keep seeing myself in my visions?”
“Seeing yourself how?”
“You’re familiar with my last few visions.” It was a statement because she knew that they would have Seen everything when Smoke pulled the visions from her mind. “The objects in my visions are continuing to interact with me personally.”
“Yes, but the visions are not about you.”
“They have been warnings about the Shadows.”
Effie shook her head. “That’s not how it feels. Especially this most recent one. The Shadows weren’t just attacking me. They tore me apart. I was falling through the sky until I landed in glass, shattering it. The shards filled the sky, reflecting thousands of terrible images—each one of them mine. Then they fell, shredding me and leaving me blind as I drowned in a pool of my own blood. How is that not personal?”
“Our visions come to us in metaphor.”
“You need to seek out the truth trapped within.”
Maybe that was the case for most visions, but this time Effie was certain they were wrong. Today’s vision wasn’t about the Shadow attacks, or at least it wasn’t just about the attacks. The images it contained might very well be metaphors, but somehow they directly related to her. There was no other subject contained within her vision outside of the faceless monsters that destroyed her.
“With all due respect, I’m telling you my truth. This is what I sense when I replay the images from my vision.”
The robed figures remained silent for several heartbeats while they considered her words. As the silence continued to stretch, Effie wondered if they were carrying on a private conversation.
Mirror One held up his hand, the navy rune in its center standing out in sharp contrast to the pale skin. “Perhaps if you showed us?”
Effie shrank back. Knowing that the member of the Triumvirate that touched her could relive every experience she’d ever had left her feeling vulnerable in a way she didn’t like. Some memories were too personal to share. Especially some of the more recent ones.
She didn’t feel as comfortable with the other two members of the Triumvirate touching her. It didn’t matter if Smoke could telecast her every thought to the others as he was experiencing it, or however their connection worked. At least with Smoke it didn’t feel like an invasion when she opened herself up to him. Maybe it was because he made a point to speak to her directly, and it had created some sort of bond between them. Whatever the reason, the other two felt like strangers by comparison.
Unsure how she could express her reservation, especially after allowing this very thing on multiple other occasions, Effie glanced between them.
“Daughter?” Mirror One prompted as his hand started to fall.
“What don’t you want us to See?” Mirror Two asked.
“It’s not that I’m hiding anything, I promise. I would just feel more comfortable if Smoke was the one to access my vision, if you really feel it’s necessary.”
There was a rustle of fabric as Mirror Two stepped forward. “I’m right here,” he said, switching to the smoke and campfire voice that was uniquely Smoke’s.
“Why did you let me believe—” Effie trailed off, realizing it didn’t matter. It had been her assumption that Smoke wasn’t among them. No one had misled her except herself. “Well there go the nicknames,” she said with a little sigh.
He stepped off the dais, closing the distance between them until Effie could no longer see Mirror One behind Smoke’s hooded frame.
“May I?” he asked.
Taking a deep breath, Effie dipped her chin in a nod. She closed her eyes as he lifted his hand, but before he could touch her, the door crashed open. Kieran stumbled in, long hair wild and his eyes bloodshot.
“You dare set foot in our sanctum uninvited?”