Clank. Clank. Clank.I peer into the belly of the case, in awe as the malivite reproduces, a stone sounding against stone with each additional piece that pops into existence. It spills into every corner, then reproduces until the case is full.
Seven opens his eyes. “We have our malivite.”
I pick up one of the pieces and turn it in my fingers. It is identical to the original—same color, weight, and size. Seven fishes the original stone from the lot, still marked by the rubber band. “How long will the illusion last?”
“Forever. They’re not an illusion. They’re real.”
I gape at the case as he closes it. “I thought the point of using the wish was to not give Rayrcore malivite.”
“It is. There’s only one actual piece of malivite in this case. The rest are look-alikes. Pretty gray stones with the chemical composition of concrete.”
“Do you think they’ll fall for it?”
Seven gives me a wry grin. “I think we’re going to get lucky.”
His phone chimes, and he peeks at the screen. “Hearst got my message. He’s meeting me in twenty minutes.” He lifts the case and heads for the bookshelves at the back of the office.
“I’m coming with you.” No way am I letting him go back there alone.
“Bad idea. These people are dangerous.”
“Exactly why you need backup.”
His fingers find a latch at the back of the frame, and the bookshelf swings open to reveal a small elevator, barely wide enough for two. He opens the cage and steps inside. The shelf starts to close.
As fast as I can move, I slip through the narrowing crack and press my chest against his, shoving him to the back of the compartment. The cage closes, and the bookcase seals us in. We begin to descend.
“Sophia…” Seven’s cheek presses against mine. His breath softly brushes my ear as he says, “I want you to stay where it’s safe. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”
“You know what? I can’t remember the last time I was truly safe. But I can remember when I was happy. Now. Right here with you. If the choice is without you but safe or with you and in danger, I’ll take my chances.”
The elevator stops and the door opens. We’re in a concrete vestibule. I exit the lift and find myself in a tunnel. We must be in the secret underground garage, but this section appears to only be accessible through Chance’s old office.
“This is how they brought you back?”
“Not exactly.” He leads me away from the exit, through a tunnel just big enough for a single car. It’s a long and poorly lit walk until our surroundings transform. We reach a section that looks positively ancient. The ceiling is arched here and decorated with stone gargoyles and arcane symbols. I sense the ward before we reach it, like prickly burrs scraping my skin.
“It knows my blood. Take my hand.” Seven’s luck rises around us, and the prickly sensation fades. He leads me under the arch.
I’m in a chamber that would be at home in an archaeological dig. Stone walls carved with ancient runes surround us, and in front of us, a giant mirror stretches across one wall. I squeeze Seven’s hand, temporarily struck mute by the revelation. The silver undulates as if it’s merely a pool and fish swim just under the surface. But those aren’t fish, they’re souls, and this mirror is no reflective surface, it’s a portal.
“How?”
Seven swallows. “I don’t know.”
“And it leads to Rayrcore?”
“The garage under Rayrcore,” Seven says.
But my mind can’t reconcile that. “But Chance must have used this to get to his cabin the afternoon we confronted him. He had a mirror there. I saw it. Godmother said she delivered it to the hands of the guardians.”
Seven’s brow creases. “This is how they brought me back… but you’re right. I don’t know how these silvers work. The one we traveled through was a passageway between Devashire and Shadowvale, and we assumed that portal only went between those two places. Maybe they can be used to travel between any two mirrors?”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Why would we? The guardians own that knowledge.”
“I don’t like this, Seven. How do you know this can take us where we need to go and won’t dump us somewhere else?”
