2. Vai

Seeing her sitting with her friends in the club made all the effort to find her worthwhile.

She was beautiful with shoulder-length hair and a smile that lit up the room.

She was dressed in a bright yellow dress half a shade darker than her hair.

Stunning.

To think I came this close to dying on the slopes of the Wailing Mountain, this close to never setting eyes on her.

I shivered at the memory of the unbearable cold as I scaled the Wailing Mountain's sharpest slope.

My body strained against the wind that pummeled me from every direction, seeming to come first from the left, then the right, then directly ahead.

But never from behind.

It couldn't be seen to aid me in my mission up the sheer cliffs.

The mountain had battled me every inch of the way.

Sometimes it shoved me forward before sweeping my feet out from under me.

Nothing was easy when it came to scaling the mountain.

Nothing but succumbing to death.

And many had.

Too many.

The mountain was said to be home to the spirits of those who'd fallen on its slopes, failing to make it to the summit.

They were said to be the origin of the mountain's name.

It wasn't the wind that wailed but the souls forever trapped on its snowy tips.

They would never reach the summit, would never learn the identity of their fated mate.

They inhabited the wind and the snow and the shifting rocks beneath my feet.

Every time a man fell on the slope, his spirit was added to the challenge.

It was such a long and honored ceremony that many creatures that lived on the mountain made it part of their annual cycle.

Some followed in our wake and ate at the scraps we left behind.

Others were interested in our ordeal and followed with idle curiosity.

Others liked to hunt us.

It took all my skill to overcome the vicious creatures and reach the summit.

I still bore the scars from those battles.

But they were just that.

Battles.

I never looked back.

Turning back only made you realize the distance you had covered would still be there on the climb back down.

The summit was right there, I told myself.

Just ahead.

Just a little further.

I'd told myself the same thing since my very first step.

No matter how many times I said it, it didn't make it any truer.

Except for when the last step onto the peak finally came.

Then and only then would I be right.

I struggled up the incline, digging the tips of my boots in the ice.

My breath was ragged and sore in my throat, the temperature so cold it clouded about my face, but the wind snatched it from me the moment it was born.

I raised the oxygen canister to my lips and sucked what little remained inside.

The wall of white peeled back like a curtain, revealing the majesty of the view on the other side.

And in the instant it was there, it was gone again.

Many men had fallen at this point, right when they should have been celebrating victory.

The howls on the wind grew louder.

I couldn't decide if they were cries of victory or jealousy.

The snowdrift rippled like the coils of a snake.

As it waved, it revealed something within its folds like a magician's show.

Standing before me, tall and glorious, was a mirror carved from ice.

Its outer rim was smooth and perfect, without blemish.

Its glass shimmered with light.

It was unaffected by the buffeting snow and wailing winds.

I reached the small flat expanse of the peak and pulled the muffler free from my face.

It wasn't wise to bare skin to the elements but I wanted to see her clearly, unimpeded by my protective clothing.

I joined a long line of ancestors who'd journeyed up these precipitous slopes, the most hallowed place in the entire empire.

One of the few that hadn't been destroyed by the Shadow.

I eased up the slope a few more feet to stand before the circle of ice that shimmered with holy light.

I fell to my knees before it.

A blast of light from an unknown source glinted off its surface and revealed not my reflection but the image of someone else.

My fated mate.

In the mirror's shimmering surface, I saw her.

She was as beautiful as I knew she would be.

She was humanoid, with two arms and legs.

Her arms lay splayed out from the blankets entwined around about her, her hair spread across her face.

There was no disguising her beauty, how gorgeous she was.

Drool seeped out the corner of her mouth and her left foot protruded from one corner of the bedsheet.

She snored loudly and the bitter cold that slashed at me with each powerful puff of wind eased, forgotten as I gazed upon her.

Warmth spread from the center of my chest to my outer limbs, comforting my frozen hands and feet.

I memorized every line of her face.

I would recall it for the times ahead.

The dark, hard times.

The glow of light in my chest coalesced and formed a tight ball.

I peered down at my chest and pressed a hand to my heart where I felt that golden glow pulse.

I peered up at the mirror again and found the girl was no longer there.

She was gone.

"Never look away from the mirror," my father had told me. "For your mate will disappear as quickly as she came."

And I had accidentally broken that rule.

"No…"

I reached out to touch the mirror's surface before pulling my hand back, recalling another rule about never touching the sacred artifact.

"Please no. Show her to me!"

I got to my feet and peered at the craggy vista, desperate and alone.

I had this one chance to see her, to know who she was and where I could find her…

And I had blown it.

Then I felt the pulse in my chest.

The throb of golden light was still alive.

More than that, it pulled at me, tugging me toward the far side of the mountain's peak.

No, not toward the mountain's edge…

I peered up at the sky.

Toward the heavens.

That was where she was.

Out there among the infinite glittering stars.

My eyes settled back on the mirror.

A figure stood staring back at me.

My reflection.

I was momentarily surprised by my gaunt cheeks and haggard appearance.

My thick brown hair poked out from under my cap and my eyes shone with the same intensity.

Except…

There was something wrong.

Something was off.

I peered closer at my "reflection" and took a step back.

My reflection didn't move.

Instead, a smile curled his lips and darkness swept over his eyes.

His eyes.

Golden and bright, mimicking my own, but there was a dangerous darkness in them.

It wasn't my reflection at all.

It was Iav, my Shadow.

He turned and, buffeted by the dark rising winds and distant spires of his own Wailing Mountain—this one in his Shadow Realm, he began his slow journey back down the slope.

His goal was easy enough to ascertain.

It was the same as my own.

Except his was for a dark and sinister purpose.

I had to reach the girl first.

I had to protect her from the demon in the mirror.

From my Shadow.

I tossed the muffler over my shoulder and turned to head into the baying wind that howled and screamed and coursed over my body.

It might have destroyed me if it wasn't for the memory of the girl lying in her bed and the certainty of what would happen to her if I failed.

I couldn't fail her.

I had to protect her.

I entered that wall of shimmering white that shoved so hard against me I almost lost my feet.

I headed back down the mountain toward my destiny.

Toward my fated mate.

Toward the girl.

I fortified my resolve to fight for her with every sinew and ounce of strength in my body.

I would not lose her.

I would rather die first.

And so I followed that pulsing ball of light in the center of my chest.

It led me across the galaxy to this planet, to a city called San Francisco on the west coast of a country known as the United States.

That same throbbing light drew me to this club.

To that table.

To the girl who sat with her friends, laughing and joking.

The girl looked even more beautiful now than she had in the mirror.

She wound the strands of her shoulder-length blonde hair around her finger and idly kicked her legs.

Her friends giggled and prodded her in the ribs.

Her attention was taken with something across the room.

And it wasn't me.

She hadn't seen me yet.

The girl smiled and it lit up her entire face.

She fiddled with her ear and glanced at the tabletop shyly before flicking her eyes back up at her point of interest on the other side of the room.

At the bar.

My heart stopped and the blood fell from my face.

The figure that held her attention, the figure that she was taken with, was an exact duplicate of me.

My dark twin.

Iav.

My Shadow.

I spun around soneither my Shadow nor the girl could see my face.

She didn't need to be confused by seeing both of us there right now.

And if the Shadow saw me…

The scene would quickly descend into chaos.

Shadows were not known for their calm temperament.

He'd succeeded in reaching her first.

But he hadn't planted his seed in her yet.

That was the point of no return, when there was no way I could save her.

I had time.

I hoped I had the patience not to act too quickly.

For now, I would watch.

Observe.

The sight of him crossing the room with their drinks turned my stomach.

It was painful, almost unbearable.

The sensation was heightened when my fated mate's friends left them alone.

The girl accepted her drink and took a sip from it.

She shut her eyes and a smile curled her lips.

She looked over at my Shadow, a new sense of hunger overtaking her expression.

It wasn't the look someone could develop within a short period of time.

I knew Iav couldn't have reached her much faster than I had.

He couldn't have cultivated that kind of craving from her in such a short expanse of time.

He must have drugged her drink.

The Shadow were capable of doing such things if it meant they got what they wanted.

When my Shadow touched her hand, I could have slit his throat.

Fat lot of good that would do, I thought.

My Shadow was as easy to kill as I was.

Then there would be a full-scale panic and everyone would scream and run.

The human species was developed enough to have enforcers to keep the peace.

Were they strong enough to take me or Iav down?

I didn't know.

I leaned against the bar, grinding my teeth into non-existence.

When the girl didn't complain about my Shadow touching her hand, he shifted position and laid his hand on her leg.

The girl turned toward him, encouraging him.

He must have given her a heavy dose for her to react that way.

It was more than I could bear.

I turned away and ordered something strong from the bartender.

I handed over a wad of notes and watched the bartender's eyes boggle at the sight of it.

Too much or too little?

I didn't care.

"Do you want your change?" the bartender said.

I waved him away and a grin spread across his face.

I nursed my drink and kept a close eye on the table of sin across the room.

A pair of girls approached the bar and ordered drinks.

I recognized them as the girl's friends.

"I wouldn't mind a piece of him myself," the one with wide eyes said.

The brown friend slapped her on the arm and stabbed a finger in her face.

"Don't you dare, Charlotte! Emma's in desperate need of a shag and you're not about to take it from her. I've never seen her like this around a guy before."

"I know, right?" the one called Charlotte said. "It's like she's become a completely different person."

The brown one frowned over her drink and set it down.

"Maybe we should intervene."

"We shouldn't ruin her evening, Olivia. She just needs to let her hair down. It's been a while since she was last with somebody."

"Greg," Olivia said, rolling her eyes. "What a nightmare. No wonder she hasn't seen anyone else since. He almost put me off cock too."

Charlotte snorted.

"I don't believe anything could wean you off your addiction."

"I said ‘almost', didn't I?"

Charlotte chuckled.

"Do you think she'll want to take him back to her room?"

"I hope so. She needs proper protection and she's not going to get it in his room."

I glanced over at the table with the girl—her name was Emma, and what a beautiful name it was!—and my Shadow.

They were still deep in conversation.

She threw back her head of gorgeous blonde hair and laughed hard but I couldn't hear it over the music.

I didn't want to hear it.

Not when he was the one making her do it.

And to think how the evening might turn out…

What he might do to her if he got his way with her.

I couldn't let that happen.

And wouldn't let it happen.

I downed the drink and although I desired another, I decided against it.

I needed to keep my wits sharp.

Emma's life depended on it.