Page 154 of Dhampira

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

The battle outside thundered like a heartbeat.

BOOM. BA-BOOM.

Tears poured down my face. My mother broke her magic. She was a null, as helpless as a human.

BA-BOOM.

Staggering to my feet, I threw my head back and screamed. NO!

IRATA.

The vor boomed in my head. Blue light filled my vision. The metal flew off my mouth as my root vor stretched my mouth wide.

“IRATA!” I screamed, and every window in the chamber shattered. The shards of the mirror on the floor spun into the air, reformed, and flew to the vanity, perfect once more.

Power flooded my veins. Blue light spun around the room, the force of it blowing back my hair. When I faced the mirror, my eyes glowed like emeralds soaked in sunlight. In my mind, blue magic sizzled from one mirror in the castle to the next, connecting them in a map of pulsing power. And magic put knowledge in my head, whispering that I could enter any mirror I chose and travel to another. I could do a lot of things, my power finally free of the chains that had bound it.

“Irata,” I said, my voice hoarse from screaming and the blast of magic. Reflection. Mirror.

You should practice in front of a mirror.

The sound of steel clashing soared through the busted balcony doors. Glass crunched as I ran to them and looked out. A werewolf pinned a screaming knight on the ground, the wolf’s jaws snapping as it ripped into the man’s neck.

“Apa!” a female witch cried, flinging a hand toward another knight. He dodged the magic, then rushed at her with bared fangs. She threw herself behind a statue of a centaur.

Spinning, I ran for the door. Halfway there, I stopped, skidding on glass before I rushed to the armoire. The gauntlets made it impossible to open the doors, so I used my mouth. Then I dragged the dragonstone gown from its hook and let it flop onto my shoulder.

“I need armor,” I said.

Nothing.

“Really?” I cried, my frustration rising. Wriggling and sweating, I fought with the dress until I got it over my head. Spitting hair from my mouth, I ended up with the fabric bunched around my shoulders. But the gauntlets wouldn’t fit down the sleeves.

“Please, please, please,” I chanted. “Turn into armor. I need to save Lorcan and Vander.”

Change swept down the dress. A metal breastplate covered my chest. More pieces wrapped around my arms and legs. Boots rose to my knees. Elation pumping through me, I rushed to the vanity. In the mirror, a snarling green dragon shone in the center of my black breastplate. My hair streamed over my shoulders, and my eyes glowed bright green.

I looked down at my hands. “Can you do anything about the gauntlets?”

Nothing.

Well, it was worth a try.

I leaned over the vanity, my face close to the mirror’s surface. Magic licked over my skin, and whispers slid around me, the words urging me forward. Doubt nipped at me as my reflection loomed closer. Did I just…dive into it?

A clink made me look down. One of my gauntlets bumped against the glass. I tapped it harder. The whispers intensified, indistinct voices tugging at my hair. But the gauntlet brought me up short again. The metal wouldn’t pass through the glass. For now, at least, I was stuck moving around the castle the usual way.

With a final glance in the mirror, I sprinted to the door. It took a few tries and a lot of swearing, but I managed to clamp the gauntlets around the latch. Then I was out the door and sprinting down the hallway.

32

The sounds of battle faded as I hurried toward the wing of the castle that housed Rasimir’s study. There were probably other ways to reach the dungeon, not to mention closer ones.

Then again, perhaps not. Rasimir housed his stable of powers there, and he’d hunted the witches to the edge of extinction. He was probably careful to limit access to his “menu.”

A sparkly new wave of hate surged through me, and I clung to it so I wouldn’t think about Mama. Later, I could fall apart. Right now, I had to reach Lorcan and Vander.