Chapter 44

W ulfric rubbed his chin with the cloth as Scarlet walked further into the room. Her steps left prints in the thick layer of dust on the bare marble floors. Near the broken window by the rose, the dust wasn't so thick due to rain. The walls were bare, the lighter color revealing where paintings and tapestries had once stood.

Wulfric only assumed that the servants had scrubbed this room from top to bottom after the bloody mess. Scarlet opened and closed the vanity drawers, revealing jeweled combs and perfume bottles with delicate designs.

Scarlet shut the last drawer and stretched her neck. "Did you hear her? She said there were servants here. They probably got stuck after the curse spread. I can't imagine what they went through or how they died. Do you think she killed them?"

Wulfric scowled and tossed the cloth next to the pitcher by the rose. "No, she didn't kill them. That's my daughter you're talking about."

Scarlet rubbed her temples. "Oh gods, your daughter is the queen. She's alive, and she hates me, and—oh gods, how old are you?"

Wulfric rolled his eyes and stepped behind her, rubbing her shoulders in a massage that had her melting in his hands. "I'm forty-seven. How old are you?"

"Thirty-five. I've been going into taverns first with my dad as a Ranger and then with the Hunters, but I don't remember you at the tavern here in Demerel."

He kissed the side of her neck and moved his hands down her spine. "I don't remember you either. Perhaps the goddess kept us apart until we were ready for each other."

Scarlet snorted. "The gods were smart then, if they kept me from raising your daughter. I'm not so sure about being a mother."

Wulfric paused. "If we're mates, you're practically her stepmother already."

Scarlet whirled out of his arms, her hands going wide. "I can't be the evil queen's stepmother!"

Wulfric's hands fisted, and he snatched the cloth from the vanity. Angrily, he wiped his face and ground out, "For the last time, she's not an evil queen. She's just misunderstood."

Scarlet slammed her hands on her hips. "Don't underestimate her, wolfie. I don't remember all of that day, but I do remember the flying flesh and bones when the bed exploded and the Robin died."

He prowled to the window and stared into the night. His chest ached with pent up emotions, and his head was beginning to pound with the effort to process so much information. "So that really happened?"

Scarlet nodded, and walked toward him, leaning on the damask covered wall to face him. "Yes," she said softly. "It was awful. I still have nightmares about it."

He scrubbed hard on his jaw, wincing as he reopened a barely scabbing scratch. "When I left, she was barely fifteen. She was mature for her age, probably from reading so much in her spare time, and I was afraid of leaving such an innocent girl in charge of the tavern. But she'd been tossing out drunks for years. I thought she'd be able to handle it."

Reaching down for the cloth, he blotted his face and shook his head. He was a fool. He never should've put her in that position. But when the draft came, he had no other option. The weight of responsibility sat heavy on his shoulders as he tried to wipe away the guilt and shame that threatened to consume him.

"So you never thought she'd so coldly kill someone by wrapping them in blankets and wringing them like a wet dish towel?" Scarlet asked, her brow arched and tone wry.

Wulfric dropped the small cloth onto the floor as if burned. "She was emotional and over-wrought. Let's say, for example, someone killed your grandma right in front of you like the Robin did to the king. How would you react?"

Scarlet fingered the sheath for her dagger as her eyes flashed. "Don't you talk to me like that, wolfie. You're not going to goad me into—"

He raked a hand through the dried blood stiffening his hair. "Into what? Seeing her as human? Seeing that she can make mistakes like any of us? You heard her. She's been working to fix the curse all this time."

Scarlet pointed a finger at him and stepped closer. "And you heard her too. The servants that were left here all died. Don't be fooled, Wulfric. It doesn't matter if she's your daughter or not. Be cautious."

He reared back as if slapped. She was his daughter, and it didn't matter to her? Gods, she was so cold-hearted. His stomach twisted.

"Oh because keeping people at arm's length has served you so well thus far, has it." It wasn't a question. His jaw clenched as he side-stepped her and prowled to the heavy oak bed frame. He wanted to shred it, tear anything apart.

No mattress remained. Whatever servants had been here had cleaned the room as best they could.

"Hey, I do what I have to to survive."

He spun on his heels, his hands wide. "No, you do what you must to protect yourself. But if you don't learn to trust people, especially those who love you, then you're no better than Brody or Gastone or any of the other selfish bastards who—"

She gasped, and her daggers flashed. "Don't you dare call me selfish. I'm the one who woke up alone earlier. Where were you? You left me outside the castle walls."

The air rushed out of his lungs, and he held his head in his hands as he groaned. His chest tightened and his claws retracted.

"Fuck, that's all I'm good for, isn't it? I'm a leaver. I left you alone outside while I found a safe spot for the horses. I left Trix—no, Bella—at the tavern while I went to war and became a Growler."

Silence met his harsh words, but he just panted and pressed the heel of his palms to his eyes. He turned away from her, his shoulders hunched.

"It's all my fault," he said softly. "If I hadn't left, she would've been safe and would've grown into a different woman. If I hadn't put the energy into the world by saying she was dead, maybe she wouldn't be a spirit now."

"What, like you could've protected her from a mad wizard?"

He dropped his hands and cried out, his heart breaking. "Yes! I'm her father . It's my job to protect her, and I failed. If I'd been here, maybe I could've kept her safe."

Thunk .

He looked up. A dagger quivered in the wooden bedpost, and Scarlet stalked toward it as she talked. "Damn it, Wulfric, you can't keep everyone safe. It's not your job. We have to be allowed to make our own decisions. That's just part of life. Learning from our mistakes and growing into better people. What happened to Bella, what she did… it's not your fault."

He breathed deeply, his chest rattling. "Don't be dense, of course it is."

She yanked the dagger out and held it up, tip pointed at him, her green gold eyes glittering in the soft light of dusk. "What happens if I choose not to live with the Growlers, huh? What if I keep being a Hunter and you go back to your tribe? What if I choose to live apart?"

His stomach twisted, and he choked on bile. "You—"

A scream reverberated through the castle, making the walls shake. His hands trembled as claws grew, and the scent of fear filled the air.

"Bella," Scarlet whispered. His heart in his throat, he lunged for the door, shifting mid-step.

Bella flew down the stairs, the knights rattling and stepping behind her as she raced through the hallway, following the glowing light to the ballroom. Lists of spells flew through her mind of possible ways to defeat him, but the problem was none of the books in the library covered necromancy. She was just blindly praying to the gods at this point.

The animals still on the walls shook as she neared, and she focused on her magic and emotions. She slowed to a halt outside the ballroom doors, controlling her vibrating body with deep, even breaths. The magic threatened to burst, but she had to control it. It was the only weapon she could use against the wizard, weak and untrained though it was against him.

She'd long ago had the servants keep all the doors open, not liking the feeling of going through them as a ghost because it was too cold. She took a deep breath and stepped through the doors, the army of knights clanking loudly behind her as she looked around.

A layer of dust filled the empty room, but the magically lit chandeliers still glowed overhead. Cobwebs filled the corners and some of the lights, casting strange shadows on the tiled marble floor. Golden pillars were evenly spaced around the room, some forming doorways to other rooms.

Across the ballroom, the man in the mirror walked away from the open terrace doors. She swallowed and looked up and down. Her body was hideous. Scales covered her hands and face. Tiny horns stuck through her brown hair. Pulled into a low ponytail, the end hung over the shoulder on her deep blue finely embroidered dinner jacket.

Horror filled her to see her body this way, so foreign to what she'd been before. Her stomach clenched, threatening to be violently ill as she watched her own body move without her control, inhabited by this vile creature.

The smile was toothy and cruel when the man said, "Ah, there you are." Even her voice was lower than it should've been, hoarse and scratchy.

She shivered and fisted her skirts to hide the reaction. Questions filled her mind, and she tilted her chin up. "Are you here to kill me, then?"

The mirror—she couldn't keep calling it her body, that was ridiculous—chuckled. "Unfortunately I can't kill you outright. But I'm curious. How did you defeat the shadow daemon outside the castle walls?"

She'd had lots of practice schooling her features with Gastone and customers, so she didn't even flinch at the question. She'd known the shadows appeared when they shouldn't have, but a daemon? They were the stuff of nightmares, the things parents warned their children of when they wanted obedience. That thing that had kept Ignot and Sharlo in here with her had been a daemon?

She blinked and countered, "Why do you want to know?"

He glared. "It was my shadow daemon. Do you know how much energy and magic it takes to summon just one of those slimy things? Ugh." He shivered and strode closer to the mantle. The portrait of Gastone sat above it, covered in dust. He flicked a wrist, and the portrait slashed as if from invisible claws.

"No matter. I have a new plan," he said, turning to her, removing a bracelet, and tossing it to the ground. A small portal opened on the floor, growing out from the bracelet.

He knelt, leaned inside, and pulled a large mirror through, laying it face up on the ground before doing some complicated hand movement. The portal closed with a flash of purple light, leaving the bracelet behind. He grabbed it and put it on his wrist.

"What do you mean, a new plan?" Her voice wavered, but she didn't move or back down. Dread filled her stomach, making her want to vomit.

He turned to the mirror, not looking up as he answered. "Since you got rid of my babysitter, I'll just have to confine you to something else so you won't cause trouble."

"What trouble can I cause when I'm trapped here by a plant?" Her voice rose with incredulity. Panic crept up her spine, making her fingers and toes tingle at the idea of what he meant.

He chuckled. "I didn't think you could cause trouble like this, but then my shadow was dispatched. So into the mirror you go."

She imagined her reflection staring back at her for eternity, slowly going mad as the world moved on without her. Bella's mind raced, searching for a way out. There had to be something she could use against him, some weakness she could exploit. Her gaze darted around the room, looking for anything that might help.

He pushed a sequence of runes on the sides of the mirror, and she jerked back at a sound behind her. She twisted her hands, and the knights stepped in front of her, making a circular line of defense around her as she shook her head.

"Into the mirror like you? No," she said, her stomach twisting and the wall of windows rattling. She couldn't be trapped in a mirror. She'd felt trapped at the tavern and then this damn castle, but a mirror? It was too small. It would choke her, smother her. She grasped her throat, feeling the air cut off as she thought more about it. Her vision blurred, but the clank of a knight behind her brought her back to the moment.

She clenched her fists, anger burning away the fear. Who did this creep think he was? She'd been through too much, fought too hard to let some wizard tear her life apart.

He smiled but didn't look up from the preparations. "Oh yes. Sadly, you won't be trapped inside for hundreds of years like I was."

"Hundreds of years? Who are you? Why are you doing this?" she demanded, her voice trembling with fear and anger.

"Just a disgruntled wizard tired of his lot in life who made a deal with the devil himself," he replied casually.

She gasped, falling into a knight behind her. It didn't budge, and she stood upright, stepping toward the man in the mirror.

"Are you mad? No one but the god Asmo wins in those deals. Everyone knows that, both from the old religions and the new," she whispered furiously.

He threw his head back and let out a maniacal laugh that sent chills down her spine, reminding her of Gastone's mad cackling on that fateful day. A wave of coldness spread through her body from her chest like tendrils of ice.

"Are you worried about me, little girl?" he sneered. The condescending nickname only fueled her rage. "Don't worry, I'll be just fine. Especially once phase two of my plan for world domination is set into motion."

His condescending words made her mad. Only Da had ever called her that. This wizard had no right to just dismiss her so easily. The windows rattled violently as her fists clenched at her sides.

"Too weak for world domination, eh?" She taunted him, channeling all her pent-up fury into the words. "Trapped in a mirror for hundreds of years because you couldn't escape?"

His shoulders tensed and he glared up at her with a venomous look. "Don't push me, woman. You'll still be bound to the rose and suffer for just a few more months. When it dies, you can happily go to hells and say hello to my master for me. Once he joins me in Busparia, we'll go from ruling the continent to the world to the heavens themselves."

A smug smirk spread across his face as he resumed his preparations, completely unfazed by her taunts. But she refused to back down, determined to break free from this twisted fate.

Her body vibrated in fear and anger. How dare he plan to spread his misery to the rest of the world. The windows shook, the knights rattling. If he trapped her, she'd never be able to fix the curse she'd caused. If he succeeded, he'd destroy the world, perhaps even the gods themselves. If Asmo truly was working with him, that is.

The knights shook as she animated them. It was clunky and awkward, so she pushed her spirit into one of the empty metal suits of armor and broke into a run. Still the wizard didn't look up from muttering and tinkering with the runes as part of the mirror's edges began to glow.

She screamed and dove at him, the tackle a maneuver Da had taught her years ago. She aimed low, and the knight knocked him to the ground. The knight broke into pieces, and she came to her knees, her dress twisting. She threw the knight's helmet at him, but he batted it away like a fly.

He stood and laughed, brushing off dust on his sleeve. "Did you really think it'd be that easy? Oh, you precious little girl."

Bella screamed again and threw more pieces of armor. When she ran out of parts, she pulled the curtains down from the windows with a wave of her hand. She flung them to the wizard, but he waved a finger and they turned to ash before they reached him.

The walls shook with her rage. The chandeliers swung wide. The gilded life-sized portrait of Gastone fell to the marble floor with a crash. The rest of the knights marched upon the wizard, who now crouched beside the mirror once more.

The lights on the edge of the mirror swirled, and he looked up as the knights neared. His brows rose in surprise— her brows, in the body that he stole. One knight lifted his foot to step on the mirror, but the wizard pushed his hands outward. A gust of wind shot from him, throwing them back where they skidded on the floor, toppling one over the other.

"Bella!" A deep voice cried from upstairs, and her stomach dropped. No, they couldn't come down here. They'd only get hurt.

A vibration on her thigh gave her pause. She reached into her pocket and pulled out Jaq and Gus. She threw them as hard as she could, then pushed magic into the action.

Gus flipped end over end, the arched handle of the spoon hitting the soft spot where the wizard's thigh and hip met before falling to the ground. Jaq's fork tongues embedded into his thigh, and the wizard howled in pain. He grabbed the fork, yanked it out, and threw it across the room toward the knights.

Eyes blazing with fury, the wizard stepped on Gus and bent awkwardly to push one last pulsing rune on the edge of the mirror. Magic swirled, and the wizard stepped back, flipped the bracelet, and stepped through the portal with one boot.

He looked at her, ears and nose smoking, and said, "Tell Asmo I'm waiting."

Then he stepped the rest of the way in and closed the portal in a flash of purple, the bracelet disappearing with him.

Bella closed her eyes against the flash, but her feet slid on the floor. Her heart still racing in anger, a swirl of smoke circled above the mirror. Pulled inexplicably toward it, she windmilled her arms then leaned her body against an invisible wind storm.

A flash of movement to her right drew her gaze, and she yelled, "No, don't come inside! It—it's sucking me in!"

Wulfric and Scarlet skidded to a halt on the floor just inside the door. Scarlet almost fell over the pile of knights, but Wulfric pulled her back with an arm around the waist.

Bella looked back at the mirror, her eyes widening as the tornado had grown as wide as the mirror. It whipped around, and she tried to grab onto anything. She threw magic at the sconces, the chandeliers even. While they vibrated, they didn't move.

She screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks as the tornado sent her airborne, flinging her around the room.