I lugged the chair back to the window, and Narcissus stepped out of my way with an encouraging nod. I tossed the thing at the glass with all of my significant might and then jumped back; expecting shards to go flying.
Nothing flew but the chair; right back into the room.
Narcissus and I both gaped at it as it came to a screeching stop on a mosaic.
“What the...” I didn't have the words.
“So, it's war then,” Narcissus muttered as he glared at the obstinate window.
“It seems that way,” I agreed.
“I guess we're going to need a better plan.”
“And a bigger boat.” I grimaced. “Or chair, rather.”
We may not have been dealing with a giant shark, but it sure felt as if I were floating in deep water with something monstrous circling below me. Something with sharp teeth and a huge appetite.
Chapter Fifteen
There was no way out of Narcissus' bedroom; only the door we had come through—that now had a metal wall blocking it—and the indestructible window. The only other door in the room led to a closet; a long corridor full of wooden boxes. I had expected it to be a dressing room but with Narcissus' ability to manifest clothing, he didn't need a dressing room.
We spent hours trying to come up with a way out; Narcissus floating in his tub—he said the water helps him think—and I on one of the lounges. I was strung tightly with worry for Trevor and Kirill, but I could sense them through our bonds, and I knew they were alive. I could have even tracked them if there had been a way out of that damn room.
Narcissus fell asleep at one point—not in the tub, he'd gotten out to lie on a chaise across from me—and I watched him thoughtfully. Morpheus had said not to trust him. Yes; Narcissus had refused to kill me, but that clearly stemmed from my promise to get him out. If the Mirror made it a choice between him or us, I had no doubt that it would be us. Not that I'd have chosen any differently. But it didn't allow for trust.
I got up quietly and began to search the room. I might as well find out as much as I could about the narcissist when I had the chance. There weren't a lot of hiding spots in the bedroom so after I pulled open the vanity drawers and peered under the bed, I headed for the closet.
“Aw, what's in the box?” I whined theSevenquote á la Brad Pitt. “Damn it; now, I'm thinking of heads in boxes.”
I went to the first box and opened it warily. Then I gaped at the contents. Nope; not heads.
I reached down and picked up a blonde braid of hair. Silky strands shone softly, bound by blue ribbon at each end. One of the ribbons had a tag attached to it. Looping script in sepia ink announced; Joy Pritchard, female, Geneva, Ohio, U.S.A. 2019. I dropped the hair as if I'd been burned. The box was full of them; locks of hair in all colors, some long braids and some just tufts in tiny pouches. My eyes skimmed over other tags; each lock bore a name, a place, and a year. I shut the lid with a soft but horrified thud. My skin ran cold as I looked down the line of boxes.
On shaking legs, I stood and went down the row, randomly flipping back lids. Every box contained locks of hair; the years on the tags going back further and further until I reached the end of the room and found hair dating back to a time before Christ's death. Granted, they didn't say “B.C.” on them, but I figured it out from the descent in numbers and then the sudden climb. The further back I went, the fewer braids there seemed to be for each time period. Narcissus had told the truth; the Mirror had started taking more humans in recent years. What he hadn't told me was that he'd kept mementos of each victim.
Or were they trophies?
I hurried out of the room and found Narcissus still asleep on the chaise. I seriously considered killing him, but I wasn't certain that he was guilty of murder nor was I sure what his death would do to the Mirror and its curse. Narcissus might be the key to keeping this world of illusions from self-destructing. Magic can be tricky.
I moved away from Narcissus and went to lie on his bed instead. I needed to calm down; I was already strung tightly because of the whole being trapped and separated from my husbands thing. The possibility that Narcissus was a psychopath on top of everything else was too much to deal with. I closed my eyes and started to breathe deeply. Maybe I could relax enough to sleep and contact Morpheus again.
I slowed my breaths and forced my muscles to unclench until I did manage to fall asleep. But my dreams unfolded into nightmares, dark, filled with wet mist, and completely devoid of dream gods. I called for Morpheus, but the mist swallowed the sound like cotton. I felt swathed in it and tossed restlessly until a pair of soft hands slid over my skin.
I sighed as a warm body pressed against my back; a hard shaft seeking entrance between my thighs. Lips went to my neck and nibbled me there as a hand slid beneath the blankets and then beneath my bunched skirt. Hot tongue on my neck and expert fingers on my sex; I writhed and moaned awake. A finger slid inside me as the pad of a thumb rubbed me insistently, and I ground back against the urgent erection pressing between my ass cheeks.
I turned my face to kiss my husband, but none of them lay behind me. It was Narcissus.
I screamed and shoved him away from me. Narcissus smiled viciously and pushed me back down to straddle my body. Naked and flushed with arousal, he rose above me, his eyes full of heat and violence. He delivered a quick slap to my face and then dove down to nestle his face against my breasts. Narcissus bit me through the cloth, and I bucked him off.
A quick punch to that pretty face sent him sprawling but when I tried to form my hands into dragon talons, my magic wouldn't come. Narcissus shambled to his feet; looking furious and intent on doing things to me that I didn't want to contemplate. I searched the room for a weapon while I internally searched myself for magic I could use. But everything seemed to be on the fritz. I could feel it inside me but nothing rose to my call.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a door appear in the wall. I ran for it as Narcissus snarled and gave chase. It looked as if the Mirror was taking pity on me. I didn't understand; didn't the thing want me dead? Maybe that was it; it wanted me dead, not raped. Or perhaps it intended to rile up Narcissus until he killed me. Whatever motivated it, I was out of options. I took the escape offered.
Another steel hallway formed as I ran; my footsteps clanging loudly in my ears. Despite the cacophony, I could hear Narcissus chasing after me.
“Vervain! Vervain, stop!” Narcissus shouted.
I ran faster. The corridor angled sharply to the left. I bounced off the wall when I took it too quickly. Narcissus' footfalls boomed louder. My heart rattled in my chest, the beats reverberating through my body. There I was, running away again, and every cell inside my body wanted me to stop and fight. Every cell except for the ones in my brain; those screamed at me to; Run, you damn fool!
