Chapter 2
1643 Words
2
Too late.
My hand touched the glass, or rather, it tried to touch the glass. Instead of a smooth, solid surface, there was a strange and terrifyingly familiar cold goop that sucked in my hand. I gasped as I felt the reflective liquid draw me into whatever cold abyss lay beyond its mirrored false front.
Luca wrapped his arms around me and yanked me free of its cold embrace. Cotio snatched the dropped cloth and tossed the cover back on the mirror. The proprietor spun around to glare at me. “You foolish woman! Never touch anything in my shop unless I’ve handed it to you!”
I cradled my chilled hand in my other palm and couldn’t stop a slight shiver in my body. Luca pressed himself against me and cupped my hand in his own. “You’ll be okay. That was merely another portal like one we discovered in the underground that led to the port.”
I lifted my eyes to the covered glass and shivered. “It’s not the same. Wherever that leads to is cold. Really cold.”
Luca turned his face to Cotio. “Where does that portal lead to?”
Cotio shook his head. “It’s not my business to know that. I only store it here for my client.”
Luca nodded at the mirror. “Then I’m sure your client won’t mind if I confiscate their property as is my royal right.”
The color drained from Cotio’s face and he fidgeted with his fingers in front of himself. “I-I would rather you not do that, Your Highness. My client is rather. . .fond of their property, and would not wish for me to give it up at any cost, even to you.”
Luca lifted an eyebrow. “And who might your client be that they would defy me?”
Cotio opened his mouth, but a terrible spasm struck his face. He wrapped one hand his throat and a choke escaped his lips. The man dropped to his knees as I noticed his hand tightened its grip on his windpipe.
Luca darted forward and grabbed Cotio’s hand. He wrenched the limb away from the man’s throat, but the fingers flailed about in their single-minded attempt to continue destroying themselves. Unable to reach Cotio, they turned on Luca and tried to grab his throat.
Luca swung a punch that connected with Cotio’s face. The man slumped down and hung from Luca’s grip on his hand. The fingers, too, drooped. Luca lay the man on the floor and stood.
I walked over to stand at his side as he studied the unconscious man. “What the hell was that?”
Luca folded his arms across his chest. “A controlling spell, much like that which affected Mia, though the magic controlled only his hand.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Why didn’t they just give Cotio a poison spell like that one pirate we met a while back?”
Luca lifted his eyes to the covered mirror and pursed his lips. “The spell may only desire to silence him, which his being unconscious has done.” He strode over to the mirror and drew off the cloth. Our worried reflections stared back at us. Luca stretched out his hand toward the glass.
“Wait a second!” I shouted as I shot over to him and grabbed his arm. I met his cool gaze with my fury. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
He nodded at the frame. “We need to see if we can safely move the mirror. It may be protected by other magic.”
I pursed my lips, but let go of his hand. Luca brushed his fingers against the gilded frame. I tensed, expecting some sort of explosion, or worse. After all, if it exploded we wouldn’t have to worry about anything afterward.
A soft black glow surrounded the frame of the mirror, and a faint line of runes appeared etched in the metal. Luca drew his hand back and we both watched as the glow faded and the runes sank back into their invisible places.
He frowned at the glass. “There’s a placement spell around the mirror.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
He stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest as he examined the tall object. “It means it can’t be moved, and there’s a lock on the true location. Wherever it leads to now is merely a ruse to trap anyone curious enough to walk through it.”
I shuddered. “So where do you think that is?”
Luca looked left and right before he spotted the inkwell Cotio had been using when we entered. He strode over and snatched the container from the desk, returning to face the mirror. Luca tossed the small pot at the mirror, and the portal swallowed it up with hardly a soft ripple across its surface.
I strained my ears and heard a soft swishing noise like wind through a pipe come back to us as an echo. Luca had a pensive expression on his face as I shrugged. “I have no idea what I just heard. Does it sound familiar to you?”
He shook his head. “Unfortunately, no.”
“So how do we lift this ‘lock’ thing?”
Luca brushed his hand against the frame once more and the runes reappeared. He stepped forward and squinted at the markings for a moment before he frowned. “I don’t know. I can’t read these runes.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “How many runes do you know?”
“Enough to comprise a dozen different languages.”
My jaw hit the floor. “There’s that many runes out there? And you know them?”
The corners of his lips twitched upward. “My father, understanding the magical limitations of our branch, insisted that if I couldn’t perform the magic I could at least understand it.” He returned his full attention to the vanished runes and pursed his lips. “These, however, are completely alien to me. I don’t recognize any of the symbols, nor can I even guess at the grammar.” He swiped his hand over the gilded shell and the runes reappeared. “There appears to be some sort of a magic surrounding them.”
I blinked at him. “But aren’t runes magical, too?”
He nodded. “They are, so there’s magic on top of magic here. The top most layer has a strange hazy film over it which keeps me from deciphering even the full shapes.”
I stepped closer and squinted at the runes. “Really?”
Luca grasped my hand and I couldn’t help but blush at the touch. He grinned and pressed a light kiss on the tips of my fingers. “Let me show you.”
Luca drew my hand up to the frame and pressed the tips of my fingers against the gilded border. I felt a strange tingle run through me as the frame lit up. With the tingle came a sensation like someone was tickling my eyeballs, and in doing so they blurred my vision. I instinctively squinted to adjust, but it didn’t work. The world became especially fuzzy around the border where I could see the blurry forms of the runes, but I couldn’t even be sure where their lines ended and the frame started.
Luca pulled me back, and as quickly as the light faded so, too, did my strange affliction. I dropped my hand to my hip and whistled. “Wow. That’s some funky spell.”
Luca studied the frame once more with pursed lips and nodded. “Yes. I’ve never seen the like.”
A soft groan at our feet brought our attention to our fallen acquaintance. Cotio’s eyes fluttered open and another moan escaped his lips. Luca stooped in front of him and grabbed one of his wrists as the man focused his gaze on him. Cotio’s eyebrows crashed down as he glared up at Luca. “Did you have to hit me so hard?”
A sly smile slipped onto Luca’s lips. “Perhaps not, but it was effective.”
Cotio rubbed his jaw as Luca helped him sit up. “Yes, but the damage will not outlast the spell. I cannot answer the questions you speak while still under the magic.”
Luca looked the man over. “I know someone with a gift for magic. He can no doubt lift the spell.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Cassius?”
Luca lifted his gaze to the mirror. “Just so, and he might be able to help us with the problem of this locked mirror. We need only have to put a guard in place until we return-”
That’s when we heard a loud march of footsteps. Luca and I looked at each other before I hurried to the door and peeked out. A line of men filled the narrow alley and marched in our direction. Sfetnic was at the lead with Tybalt at his back and a few rows of troops behind him.
The vampire adviser noticed me peering at them and inclined his head, but he didn’t crack a smile. Tybalt, too, looked tense as their quick stride brought us to them. Sfetnic opened the door and I scurried back to allow them through.
The vampire glanced down at the basket that hung from my arm. “My apologies for interrupting your shopping, but there is urgent news from the castle.” Nothing like a vague promise of disaster to get the old heart beating.
Luca stood and turned to them with a frown. “What is it?”
“King Landry has arrived.”
- Writer
