Six
“Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tic?—”
Charming stares at me with a scowl marring his features, his arms banded tightly across his chest. I think he’s trying to be intimidating. “Why are you imitating a clock?”
“I’m willing time to move, so I am making the tempos go faster,” I explain as I sit cross-legged on the weird lake that somehow holds us on the surface, yet gets my butt wet like I’ve peed myself.
“Even you can’t control the sands of time.”
“Who says?” I raise a brow at Prince Poopfloof, who Erik unceremoniously dumped at my feet, declaring I should take the Hallows trash back home with me. I don’t know when I became responsible for assholes, but I guess this is a small price to pay to get back to my realm.
Eron chuckles from his seat beside me. “You know what? If anyone could bend space and time, it would be you.”
“Glad we agree on that,” I reply, still reeling that everyone back home had already worked out I was trapped here. What gave it away?
I glance over my shoulder at Erik, who remains standing and alert as he watches over us. “What will you do when Malice returns?” I ask.
Erik emits a low growl. “I will force her to give up the mirror shards she’s held hostage for far too long, and then I’ll kill her.”
Yikes. He’s got a violent streak to rival my knights’.
Eron smiles softly at him. “Malice will face a fair trial, just like anyone else in the Land of Reflection.”
I’m pretty sure the trial is a moot point when the victim is their king, who they clearly love.
Hart’s voice booms through the mirror. Somehow, Eron has the power to allow us to view the room, but not give away our presence. It’s a good thing that I trust my mirror man isn’t a pervert who spies on my nocturnal activities in the arms of my knights. I make a mental note to cover all mirrors when getting naked in the future just in case, because Eron can’t vouch for all of his people.
I jump to my feet and move closer to the mirror’s surface to study Malice as she waltzes into the chambers with Nash hot on her heels.
He glances around with a frown, no doubt wondering where everyone has retreated to.
Hart advances on Malice, determination plastered on his face, and I half expect him to pick her up and throw her at the mirror. It could work.
“Get ready,” Eron advises. “The moment she touches the surface, you need to do the same.”
“That’s it?” I check.
“She’s the imposter, Daphne. Your soul knows where it belongs. The magic needed to reclaim your body is minimal.”
I suck in a breath and track Malice with a sharp focus. Energy flows down my body, knowing I’m about to be back where I belong, surrounded by my knights.
Nash’s eyes skim over the mirror, and it’s like he’s reaching through the surface and wrapping his hands around my heart. Malice huffs as she dumps Excalibur onto the table, making slices of sausage tumble to the floor. A squeak of horror leaves my lips. Not the sausages!
“That damn rabbit eludes us,” she whines. She doesn’t even sound like me, probably because I don’t whine. What would be the point? My parents weren’t the loving and emotionally supportive type. My physical actions are already a burden on Gwyneth, and I won’t add to that with emotional turmoil.
Hart rounds the table and jerks his head at Nash in a silent instruction.
Nash nods once. “I’ll go get cleaned up, then we can come up with a new plan, Daphne,” he promises.No need—I have the plan already worked out.
Nash strolls to his chambers while Eugene and Hamish dash out and make happy clucking noises around Hart’s feet. The chamber door drifts closed, leaving Hart and Malice alone with my capons who aren’t fooled.
I shake my arms loose and get ready.
“Wait, how do I leave?” Charming asks. “My body is not here.”
Eron sighs. “You’ll need to take up temporary residence in one of the others.”
“That seems like asking for trouble,” I note.
