“I saw the collection of hair in your closet.”
Narcissus nodded; completely unsurprised or guilty. “You want to know who they're from.”
“I know who they're from,” I huffed. “At least, I'm fairly certain. They're from the people who died here, aren't they?”
“Yes.”
“What I want to know is why you have them.”
Narcissus blinked in surprise. “To remember them by, of course. Memento Mori.”
“Come again?”
“The Mirror consumes them until there is nothing left,” he explained. “No body to bury and no memorial to their life. After the first few died, I felt as if I should do something for them. I couldn't do much, but I found that if I took a lock of their hair, the Mirror would let me keep it. So, I began to take the hair and label them like graves. I noted their names, the places they were from, and the year they came to me so there would be a record of what happened to them.” He stopped and swallowed visibly. “It seemed to be the least that I could do for them.”
“Oh,” I whispered. Suddenly, he was less psychopath and more romantic.
“I know you must think I'm a monster,” Narcissus whispered. “You must think that I've done horrible things to end up here, and you'd be right. I was so self-absorbed and arrogant that when humans killed themselves for me, I thought it was the proper way of things. The Gods are meant to receive sacrifices, after all. But now, I see that they weren't sacrifices. They were heartbroken people who I hurt. A sacrifice is given with love and respect. But my victims killed themselves out of despair. Nemesis was right to imprison me.”
“If you truly feel that way, then you deserve a second chance,” I said gently. “And I'm glad to be the one to give it to you.” I dropped my voice to a whisper, “I know a way out, Narcissus.”
“You do?” He leaned forward eagerly.
“I'm setting my intentions to find the imperfection in the Mirror,” I declared formally.
The room shook angrily around us, and Narcissus' eyes went wide. We got to our feet as the palace continued to rumble; our arms stretched out to steady ourselves as things fell off shelves and shattered. Then the room disappeared and a vast, mirrored chamber took its place.
“What was that?” Narcissus asked in wonder.
“The Mirror must open the path to its imperfection once we've set our intention to find it,” I said. “And once we find it, we can break the curse.”
“What's the imperfection?”
“I was told to look for a mirror with a spot of black on it,” I said. “Like the kind you'd find on an antique mirror.”
Narcissus gaped at me. “I've seen that mirror. I know where it is!”
Narcissus started running. The mirrored wall before him split open, and he plunged into the black void. I didn't hesitate; I dove into the dark after him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Tima!” Kirill's cry brought me to a stumbling halt.
I'd been blindly running after Narcissus down the dark hallway but then a light pierced the shadows and spanned out. A spotlight fell on Kirill. He was strapped to a stone altar several feet to my right. He was in his black lion form, and little giggling creatures swarmed over him with knives in their hands. They were spindly-limbed and skinny with pale flesh and bulbous heads. Their sharp teeth gnashed as they sheered Kirill's beautiful mane away; tufts of fur falling like sooty snow around him. He roared and shook, trying to dislodge them, but they held firm like tiny bull riders.
“Kirill!” I cried brokenly.
“Tima, help me!”
“It's not him!” Narcissus shouted over the giggles. “Look at him; he's in lion form. He hasn't been able to shift here, has he?”
“No,” I whispered. “And this is the exact thing he feared. That's a little convenient.”
“It's the Mirror trying to stop you by reflecting your fears back at you,” Narcissus said. “Come on, let's keep moving!”
“This isn't Narnia, you moron!” I snarled at the Mirror.
I resolutely turned away from the image of my husband and the spotlight winked out. Mocking male laughter followed me down the shadowy, sinister hallway. I caught up with Narcissus and noticed how his eyes slid side-to-side as he ran. He was scared. He shouldn't be; the Mirror couldn't kill him.
