Chapter 43

B ella stood at the window and waited, listening to the shuffle of feet along the hallway. After so many months of stillness, she tracked them easily. She turned when they stepped inside the room.

Her gaze paused on her father, but settled on Scarlet to see what reaction the room would have on her. To the Hunter's credit, her face paled but she simply canvassed the space silently. Her gaze stopped on where Gastone had died, and she plastered herself against her dad's side.

"Do you remember that day?" Bella asked, the pressure on her chest making it tight. "I try not to. I mean, you saw what happened below when I get upset and emotional." She sighed and smoothed her skirts to stop the shaking.

Scarlet swallowed. "I remember being cursed, yes."

Bella's eyes were fixated on the dark scorch mark on the floor, her hands clenching and unclenching her skirts as she spoke in a detached tone. "After Gastone cast that curse and you turned into a rabbit, the two Robins burst in. One claimed he was going to arrest Gastone, but then the other slit his throat without hesitation. Gastone threw a fireball at the assassin before succumbing to his injury. I became so angry, I wrapped the bedsheets around the assassin so tight that he burst into pieces. Body parts went everywhere."

Scarlet and her father held each other, but neither said a word.

The image of that gruesome scene was now burned into Bella's mind, and she let out a hollow chuckle. "I must have truly horrified the remaining Robin, because he ran out of here as soon as you transformed and hopped away."

Her father and Scarlet clung to each other, silent in their shock and grief. Bella could only give a bitter laugh. "And then there was the magic mirror on my vanity desk. It had whispered to Gastone all his life, and when I came to the castle it started whispering to me too. I didn't realize it was manipulating my thoughts and actions...even influencing what books I read..."

As she glanced over at the now empty vanity that Ignot and Sharlo had cleaned out months ago, Bella felt a tightness in her chest from the weight of those memories. But she couldn't allow herself to succumb to those emotions now; she needed to finish telling them everything about that fateful day.

"Anyway, Gastone died, and the mirror told me to rip out his heart and make a potion, so I did." She was proud of her voice for not wavering, but she didn't stop to remember, too afraid of the emotions that would be unleashed.

"You ripped out his heart?" Da asked.

Bella nodded and stared at the vanity, wiped clean of all materials yet still covered in a thick layer of dust. "I did," she whispered. She was still horrified and so afraid of what her father would say about her actions. Inside she was terrified of the darkness within her that could commit such an act and freely admit that if she could go back, she'd do it all over again anyway. Haunted by memories of her heinous deed, the guilt of her actions and fear of what he would say consumed her.

Scarlet hummed. "That was pretty badass of you."

Bella gave a surprised laugh. "I assure you it wasn't, but thank you?" She wasn't sure what to do in this social situation and winced when it came out as a question.

Scarlet just grinned and said, "You're welcome."

Da's shoulders relaxed at Scarlet's smile, and he dropped one arm from Scarlet to stay side-by-side. "Did you drink it? The heart potion?"

Bella tensed and turned to face the vanity, unable to look at him to see if he was disappointed in her or not. "I did. The potion hurt more than the pain of losing Gastone actually. It changed me into a unique creature. The mirror said it was because my human body couldn't handle the absorbed magic of the drakin king, so it had to morph into a drakin."

Silence met her pronouncement, and she glanced at them. Scarlet was frowning, and Da stared at Scarlet, taking his cues from her. Bella was frustrated by that because her father had never had a problem voicing his own opinion when she was growing up.

"You became a drakin? I haven't heard of that happening before," Scarlet said.

Bella shrugged and hugged her stomach, turmoil over her father's inaction making her want to vomit. "It shouldn't be possible at all, yet it happened. When my body began to change, I saw the mirror and my reflection. I—I became very angry and threw the mirror to the ground. It shattered, but I slipped and hit my head on the corner of the vanity."

Breathing too fast, she shivered along with the vanity itself. Still, she forced herself to be still and control her emotions and magic. Finally, she said, "My body and spirit separated at the blow. My body fell to the ground, but I held onto the vanity. When my head stopped spinning, my body was groaning and pulling itself to its feet. You see, when the mirror broke, it released the man who'd been trapped within it for gods know how long."

She turned and glared at them as her hands fisted at her sides and her shoulders hunched. "He stole my body. He left me here and tied my spirit to that blasted rose." She pointed at the rose in the pot under the broken window, barely visible through the darkness that was quickly descending outside.

Da rubbed his chin in a gesture so familiar, it made Bella ache. "So if that rose lives, you live? You're not quite dead yet?"

She nodded, tears pricking her eyes. "He said when it dies, my spirit will go to the hells for judgment. So no, I'm not dead yet. My body lives. My soul lives. The rose lives. We just all live apart."

He swallowed hard, his face open and slack in surprise. Scarlet scowled up at her father as he took Scarlet's hands in his. "So we can fix it, right? We can get your body back and transfer your soul from the rose to it?"

Scarlet scowled and reared back from him. "Are you crazy? That's not possible by anyone but necromancers, and that's been banned for hundreds of years."

Her father walked toward her, his eyes bright with hope. "But it's worth looking into, right? I might be able to fix it."

Scarlet walked closer too, grabbing her father by the arm and turning him away from the window to face her. "What we need is to fix the curses, remember? There are so many people relying on her to undo this nightmare."

Bella turned away from them, unable to see how at ease they were in each other's presence, with each other's touch. They were clearly lovers, and she didn't fault her father for finding a companion. But the ache of loneliness grew larger within her heart the more she was around them together.

She stepped to the window to stare into the darkness, unable to look at them when she admitted just how incapable of fixing it she was. "I've spent the past few months trying to reverse the curse I unknowingly released when I drank that blasted forbidden potion. Blood magic and necromancy was banned for a reason, you know. I'm trying to fix what I messed up before the rose dies, but it's been difficult these past few weeks since the others died…"

Her voice died in her throat as she noticed a sudden movement in the courtyard below. A deep purple portal materialized, surrounded by blinding white light. Her heart pounded as a boot emerged from the swirling hole, followed by a figure cloaked in a long coat and waistcoat.

Bella's hands trembled as she pressed them against the shattered window, causing the curtains and furniture to shake. It couldn't be her...but it was. The man who'd stolen her body, the wizard she had feared for so long had suddenly appeared. Had speaking of him made him appear? Why was he suddenly here for the first time in all these months since the curse? Why—

She jerked, her hands fisting on the windowsill. "How did you get past the shadow monster outside?" she asked suddenly.

Da paused in his whispering with Scarlet, his voice rising as he said, "The one outside the castle walls? We killed it."

Oh no, the magic mirror's shadow babysitter had been killed. That must be why he'd shown up. The last time she'd tried to escape with Ignot holding the rose, that thing had stopped them, nearly killing the old man in the process. She'd known then it's purpose to keep her securely behind the walls.

Just when she'd thought she could escape with her father and find the resources needed to fix the curses and reunite with her body, the mirror showed up. Fear gripped Bella's heart in a vice as she realized nowhere was safe from the mirror's power.

But she could keep Da and Scarlet away from him. He looked so confident as he strode into the castle in her body, and if he was powerful enough to create a portal like that, then he'd destroy them easily. Her heart raced and her hand shook as she touched the budding yellow rose. She had to face the mirror, but first she had to distract her father and his companion.

She took a shuddering breath and turned to face them, shoulders back with determination. "I will reverse the curse, Scarlet, but I need help. It's hard to practice spells, gather ingredients, and all the other prep work when I'm incorporeal and can't pick things up."

Gus and Jaq poked her from where they sat in her pocket, and she patted them gently. She didn't have time to explain them to Scarlet and Da.

"So you'll come with us into the Feral Forest?" Da asked, his brown frowning with worry as he stepped closer to her.

She tried to walk past her father and Scarlet, but Da stepped in front of her, his hands raised. They passed right through her arms, making her wince at the icy feeling that shot through her. He stepped back with a frown, his hands falling limply by his sides. She winced at the pained look on his face and walked deeper into the room. He turned his back on the window, and she hoped he hadn't seen the wizard downstairs.

She pursed her lips and glanced around the room, her mind planning the next steps. "I will, but I need to gather some books that I don't want to leave behind. Night is falling, so we can head out in the morning, if that's alright with you both?"

Scarlet glanced out the window at the fading light. "That's a good idea."

Bella breathed a sigh of relief, but her shoulders were still stiff with tension. "Scarlet, you probably want to tell Da your version of what happened that day, so I'll leave you to it. There's also a clean cloth here to wipe away the blood."

"Thank you," Da said, reaching for the cloth and turning to his companion to dab at her cheek.

The tender move sent a pang of jealousy through her, and she stepped faster toward the door to the hall, waving to the opposite wall. "There are clean but dusty clothes in the wardrobe, Scarlet. Feel free to help yourself."

"Oh, I could never—"

Bella glanced over her shoulder, remembering the Hunter from those nights in the tavern. "If you'd prefer pants, the king's chamber is across the hall. I'm not sure if any of his clothes will fit either of you, but you're welcome to look."

She reached the door and held her hands to her stomach, fear making her hands shake as she thought of meeting the mirror below. "The water closet is through that door as well, but there's no water up here to help you wash from the battles and your journey. Since the servants died, it's been incredibly difficult to get water up here to the rose. If you'll excuse me, I'll go back those books. I'll see you both in the morning?"

Scarlet's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to say something, but Da gripped her chin gently and turned her head to the side for easier access. He wiped in soft, light circles down her neck, and Scarlet's eyes fluttered closed and she hummed.

Bella animated the door with a spell and shut it behind her. She still had so much left to explain, but there was no time. She had to face a wizard.