Immortals After Dark 04 - Wicked Deeds on a Winters Night

longer will you be given hints of information or power. Because you are the Queen of Reflections, knowledge will flow from the mirror straight to your being. You’ll learn everything from how to coax fire from water to how to shield yourself from another’s magick attacks, deflecting damage.”
    Mari thought over all Elianna had revealed, struggling to remain calm. “Does Häxa have any weaknesses?”
    “It’s been reported that her eyesight is poor. Her animal familiars see better than she does.”
    “Familiars? What kind?”
    “Trolls, some kobolds, ravens, and—”
    “Ravens?” Mari bit out. When Elianna nodded, Mari said, “Häxa’s already been watching me! I saw them in the jungle, and in my dreams. Even just now when I stepped into the mirror, ravens were on the windowsill.”
    “It makes sense that you’ve had foresight about her. And I figured she would already be spying on you. But remember, she can’t get to you here.”
    “Were you watching the scene when the fey princess showed up?” Mari asked.
    Elianna gave an emphatic nod. “Was I ever.”
    “Mariah said a sorceress brought her back—it has to be Häxa that’s done this. What better way to create misery than to return a male’s mate precisely when he’s decided to move on.” To herself, she thought, What better way to hurt me? First take my parents from me, now separate me from the man I love.
    “It’s certainly possible. This is how she operates.”
    “If I actually succeed in killing her, what will happen? Will the world be changed?”
    Elianna answered, “Aside from freeing so many souls, your act won’t change anything about today . But if Häxa is not stopped now, she will continue to grow more powerful. Soon there will come a time when she will enslave the entire world in misery. Hell will reign on earth.”
    “But if Häxa’s destroyed, what will happen to the balance between her, Hekate, and Hela?”
    “This balance might be disrupted already because Häxa is no longer a goddess. And some are saying that Hela isn’t as beneficent as she once was.”
    Mari exhaled a long breath, wondering if she’d have to do battle with Hela one day as well. Had Mari actually dreaded the idea that her career highlights would peak when she was twenty-three? “How do I begin?”
    “I suppose you’d best conjure a mirror. Just imagine one you’ve seen and a facsimile will appear here.”
    Mari pictured her oval antique mirror, framed in oak in a spindle stand. Within a nanosecond, a copy manifested itself. “I just stand in front of it?”
    “Yes, but be cautious with it,” Elianna said. “The knowledge is potent and addictive. You’ll receive an understanding no mortal has ever experienced. If you feel yourself getting in too deep, then you must pull back.”
    Mari nodded and faced the mirror. Beautiful glass.
    Her eyes flashed, reflecting back. To infinity, Mari’s eyes seemed to reflect. No more tedious questions and answers. Knowledge had begun to funnel directly into her, spells and magicks becoming part of her.
    It was exquisite, but now she had only one thing she wanted to know.
    How to kill a sorceress.

    “You always stand outside,” Mariah said as she joined Bowe at the porch railing. “Is it to scent her ?” Over the last few days, Mariah had settled in here, as best as she was able.
    “I want to know she’s safe.” Bowe had just returned from another failed attempt to locate Mariketa. Though he could scarcely believe it, the witches in her coven had allowed him to come and go into Andoain at will. But none could—or would—tell him how to find her.
    Bowe had found that to the naked eye, the property had a proud-looking mansion surrounded by laden apple trees with shockingly green leaves. Butterflies flew everywhere.
    Yet when he’d blinked for a fraction of a second, he’d seen an entirely different landscape. Hot stones choked up steam and smoke around a dilapidated manor house. Serpents wound along rotting balusters. That was the true Andoain—Mariketa’s home.
    “You are so miserable, Bowen. It’s clear to me that she’s cast a spell on you. What’s unclear is why you seem not to care.”
    “Mariah, the years after your death were... harsh.”
    “I know. But I want to get past those times and look to the future. I need new memories. My last memories are of my death, and it was a... horrific death. But you know I don’t blame you.”
    Then why bring it up? he thought, then flushed.