* * *
CALLUM
I watch from the shadows as Prince Caspian storms out of Hilda’s old chambers, face pale, furious.
Baylin was right. Something’s very fucking wrong.
I follow Caspian, staying hidden as he heads straight for Snow White’s quarters.
When she opens the door, her expression of joy fades to concern. “Caspian? What’s wrong?”
“Your stepmother. She threatened me. Forbade our wedding. And she usedmagic.”
Snow blanches. “No. She wouldn’t. She’s different now…”
“She threatened your life. Said if I didn’t leave you alone, she’d make sure I could never marry.”
Snow is shaking her head. “The mirror is gone. She’s free. She has her mates, she’s pregnant…”
She stops. Eyes going wide.
“The mirror,” she whispers.
“What about it?”
“They destroyed the glass. But what if they didn’t destroy the creature inside it?” She looks terrified. “What if it’s in her?”
Fuck.
That’s it.
The mirror possessed our mate.
I step out of the shadows. “You’re right.”
They both jump.
“Tell me everything you know about that fucking mirror,” I ask Snow.
She swallows. “It wasn’t just magic. It was inhabited by something. A spirit. It fed on negative emotions. It’s been with Hilda since before she married my father.”
“And when we broke the glass?”
She wrings her small hands. “I think you broke its physical form. But the spirit must have survived.”
“How do we kill it?” I hear myself growl.
She shakes her head, eyes filling with tears. “I don’t know. I was just a child…”
“Then we find someone who does. A witch. A mage. Someone.”
She thinks for a beat. “There’s that witch in the northern forest. She helped my mother once. Her cabin’s near the old oak grove.”
“How far?”
She worries her lower lip. “I’d say three hours north.”
I nod, already planning, and turn to leave.
