Page 119 of Reap & Sow

No.

“Smash it,” Eda cried. “Smash it, quick!”

Ben hissed something beneath his breath and brought down the hammer with fresh urgency. The cracks webbed. The image splintered and whirled, a chaos of color like a living thing trying to break free.

Eda dove for Tenelle’s bag in a panic. She grabbed a vial of colloidal silver just as the mirror rippled in that familiar tar-like way.

A hand shot out.

Ben tore himself away even as the hand grazed his, razor-like claws scoring his knuckles. A figure stepped through. Ben fell on his backside with a grunt.

The demon bared white fangs. “And what impudent mortal trespass is this?”

The very air held its breath.

Beautiful was Eda’s first thought. Terrifying was her second.

The demon was female—the first Eda had ever seen. She stood at least as tall as Kit, but her skin was a darker basalt gray. Her black hair sat tightly curled and braided into an elaborate crown about her head, glimmering with tiny golden clasps. A long-sleeved gown of deepest sapphire hinted at generous curves beneath. Gold hung from pointed ears and a slender neck. Even the two spiraling horns poking through her hair were capped in it. Her lips were red in a way that felt threatening, but her eyes were worse—yellow, paler than either of the males Eda knew. They cut through the dark like drops of sunlight, painful in their intensity.

Shit was Eda’s third thought. Shit, shit, shit.

“I see,” said the demoness in a rich voice. “Two little rats, scurrying about Severin’s lair in secret. And lacking the courtesy to simply try to steal the Gateway. Destroying it? Oh, he will be vexed.” The demoness toed the chisel with a slippered foot. Her tone took a sharp dive. “But not so vexed as I.”

Ben tried to shift away. Her foot slammed down on his ankle, hard enough to make him cry out. He reached for his sword—the demoness only laughed and wagged her finger. “Now, now. What good will that do? I could rip out your heart before your blade touches me. Is that what you want, human? So eager to die?”

Eda stepped forward. Those bright eyes shifted her way.

“My name is Eda Shaw. This is my brother, Ben. We only wish to destroy this mirror in order to kill Baelion Ansellis.” It was a gamble, but Lich himself had told her about the discontent among the nobility of Infernus. They resented Mr. Night, and this female did not look like commonfolk.

The demon cocked her head in that same uncanny, stiff way Mr. Night did, an owl assessing its prey. “What?”

“Baelion Ansellis. He’s one of the archdukes, no? He keeps a Gateway for his own personal use, against your customs.”

She stared at Eda as though she’d grown another head. “You know much for a scrap of a mortal thing.”

“I do. And I know that his Gateway has been seized by the Order of the Blade. It’s going to be destroyed, and he’ll have no other mirror but this one.” She took another step, calculating the distance between them. “He means to take this Gateway for himself.”

The demoness’s eyes narrowed. “He would not dare.”

“He already took one. Why not another?”

“This is the Prime Gateway,” she hissed, spine bowing, claws curling. “A relic of travel to the mortal world kept safe for millennia, to be shared among all those who are worthy. The archdukes themselves appointed me and mine its sworn protectors. Baelion Ansellis will not have this mirror.” She smiled grimly. “Neither will you. I would give you to Severin to deal with as he sees fit, but the damage you have done calls for swifter judgment.”

Eda’s heart raced fast and hard. She palmed the vial beneath her cloak. “Destroying this mirror is the only way to trap Baelion here, to give us a chance to kill him. Isn’t that what you want?”

“Ha!” The demoness crouched, tensing. “If anyone can kill him, it isn’t you, you arrogant little wretch.” She leaped.

The demon was so fast that Eda barely finished her throw—she was knocked back into the wall. Ribs screamed. Breath fled. She should have stood gutted, but the demoness was shrieking, rearing back. The vial had hit her square in the chest. She clawed frantically at her smoking skin. “Vhesak!”

Ben rose with sword in hand. “Break it, Eda! Now!”

Eda dove for the chisel and hammer. Everything felt as though it were moving very slowly, her legs not fast enough, her vision not clear enough. In her peripheral vision, the demoness backhanded Ben so hard he nearly fell.

Don’t look, don’t look!

She brought the hammer down.

The mirror cracked ominously. Oily black swirled and writhed like a school of fish just beneath the surface. The magic was frantic, sensing its own freedom at hand.