“We should do the hall of mirrors.” Selene pointed to the building to our right. “I’ve always wanted to do one of those.”
I wasn’t a huge fan of mirrors, but if Selene wanted to play, then I’d go along with it. I mean, did they even have carnivals undersea?
“You two go ahead,” Tate said. “I’ll wait here.” He held his hands out for the teddy.
“Take care of Mr. Cuddles for me.” I handed him over.
Tate raised an eyebrow.
“It’s a temporary name, okay.” I kissed the bear and then followed Selene to the ticket booth for the hall of mirrors.
Two figures stood in the shadows of the building, but one broke away and strode off into the night as we approached while the other headed to the ticket booth.
As we got closer, I recognized the woman with the curly hair who usually manned the candy floss stall.
She smiled brightly and raised a hand in greeting. “Hello, savior.”
I returned her smile. “Hardly.”
“I’d say so. You saved our asses the other day.” She beamed at Selene. “Your friend is a hero in these parts.”
Selene slung an arm around my shoulder. “She’s a hero in most parts.”
The compliments should have given me the warm fuzzies, but instead they left me cold. I was no hero. I was a murderer with a darkness inside me, struggling each day to keep it together and prove that I was in control of the genes gifted to me by a monster.
I looked around. “Everything seems back to normal.”
She made a soft sound of disbelief. “Strange, isn’t it?”
“Just a bit, but I’m glad it didn’t ruin your business.”
“Me too.” She reached for the ticket machine. “You two going in?”
“Yep,” Selene said.
“That’ll be five quid, please.”
I paid and we headed up the steps to the building and through the doors into a dark entranceway.
Our reflections stared back at us in greeting as we encountered our first mirror. A regular one.
“Which way?” Selene asked. “Left or right? Oooh, or shall we split up and meet in the middle?”
I shrugged. “Sure.”
She headed left and I went right. Darkness surrounded me, broken only by my reflection on either side. Short and squat, squished and fat, wobbly and distorted. I took my time, studying each image. Perception was such a weird thing. I mean, was who I saw in the mirror every day what others saw when they looked at me? Did we all see the same thing when we looked at a person? They said beauty was in the eye of the beholder…could that be literal?
I followed the hall to the left, passing more mirrors, reflection upon reflection, some that made my legs look long, others that made my arms seem like noodles.
I was examining my elongated face in a mirror when a shadow appeared behind me and a second reflection appeared in the mirror. Even with an elongated jaw and midget legs, there was no mistaking who this was.
I spun to face the figure, tension radiating throughout my limbs.
“Hello, Quinn,” Willow said.
10
Willow looked composed, serene and calm, nothing like the guilty, traitorous bitch she was. Then my attention dropped to the serrated blade clutched in her hand.
I locked gazes with her. “Not content with turning me into a murderer; you’re here to kill me now?”
“I didn’t make you kill that man.”
“No, but you orchestrated the situation that led to his death. Why? Why did you do it?”
“Because I had to. Just like I have to do this.” Her throat bobbed.
Confusion buzzed inside my head. If she was working for the taint, then this made no sense.
“The taint doesn’t want me dead.”
She flinched.
“I mean, that is who you’re working for, right?”
She licked her lips nervously. “You will kill me, Quinn. You won’t have a choice. You’ll want to.”
And suddenly it all made sense.
“She wants to corrupt me, activate my dark side, and killing that innocent human did that. It activated something inside me, but I didn’t go dark.” I took a step closer to her and she took one back. “I didn’t go dark because that isn’t who I am. She might have given me her genes, but she doesn’t drive my intentions. She won’t accept that, though, will she? So she sends you to attack me, hoping I’ll kill you and taint my soul even more because…” Oh, shit. “You’re an innocent. You’re an innocent in her grip. She’s making you do this. What does she have on you, Willow? Tell me. I can help you.”
Her bottom lip trembled, and her eyes welled up.
I couldn’t help but feel compassion for her. “Willow…it doesn’t have to be this way. I can help you. I promise.”
She shook her head and took a shuddering breath. “No. You can’t. It’s too late for that.” Her expression smoothed out to one of calm indifference. “She knows you, Quinn, she knows you better than you know yourself. Killing an innocent isn’t the only way to corrupt a soul. The destructive chaos of vengeance can do that too, especially against an unarmed opponent.”
What? “You literally have a knife in your hand right now.”
“This isn’t for you, Quinn. I already used this on someone you care about very much.”
I noticed the bloodstains on the blade for the first time. Ice trickled through my veins. “What did you do? Willow? What did you fucking do.” Oh, shit. Selene. “Did you hurt Selene?”
“Not her. She’s not important. Not in a way that matters.”
My pulse pounded, breath coming shallow and short. “What the fuck did you do?”
She reached into her pocket, scooped something out, and then unfurled her hand to show me what she was hiding.
A tiny figure lay on her palm, curled on its side, pale and bloody, silent and still. I’d only seen her this small once, when we’d gone into the faewilds for the trials. She’d sat on my shoulder and clung to my hair.
No. This was a trick. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. I was seeing things, that was all. Just seeing things that weren’t there.
“She cried out for you to save her, you know,” Willow said. “She believed you’d come.”
This was a trick. A ploy. It had to be because Bea was safe at the clifftop house, probably baking cookies for our girls’ night. Still, the thing in Willow’s palm refused to disappear, lying there like an accusation.
I reached out and touched the tiny, silent thing. Soft and still warm. Its tiny head lolled to one side, and I saw its face properly. A beloved face. My Bea’s face.
My gut twisted painfully. “Bea?” She didn’t open her eyes. “Wake up. Come on. We have plans, remember? We have girls’ night. Wake…” My voice cracked. “Wake up…”
But Bea would never open her eyes again. She’d never smile or laugh or drink coffee until it made her jittery and crazy. She’d never hug me and tell me everything was going to be all right. My champion, my friend, the mother I’d never had was gone.
This was real, and she was gone, and an aching cavern filled with pain opened inside me.