Quick-healing; medicinal remedies may wear off sooner than normal or be ineffective altogether.
The Illusoden. Is that why it didn’t last very long?
Additional qualities:
Ability to employ any reflective surface as a Threshold, i.e., water, glass, etc.
That’s cool. I file the tidbit away.
Ability to perceive façades earlier than most with consistent practice.
Also cool. I flip the page over. Here we go.
Restrictions:
Only one Mirror may exist at any given time.
Mirrors can be affected by every other Calling, i.e., can be harmed by a Shield despite their own Shield ability.
May only pass through a reflective surface to a location previously seen.
May only transport one person at a time through reflective surface. Skin-to-skin contact required during transport.
May retain Calling so long as the connected vessel remains in possession of the Verity. Should the Verity transfer to a new vessel, the current Mirror will be bereaved of all abilities as expounded upon above. Should the soul bond break, the Mirror will be bereaved of all abilities.
Holy Verity, that’s a lot to swallow. Sounds like my newfound gift won’t last much longer. When my bond with the vessel breaks, I’ll be average. Normal. Nothing special.
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What is perhaps most fascinating about the Mirror Calling is the unique symbol in correlation with it. Unlike other Callings, this symbol is located on the face instead of the shoulder, relating directly to the force that drives a Mirror’s abilities—song. A Mirror’s song is by far her most powerful asset, not only igniting her strengths, but working as its own weapon. When honed properly, a Mirror’s song could bring an entire legion to its knees.
An exact replica of my birthmark curves and winds at the entry’s end. This is what sold me before confronting the Soulless. Seeing it here, with its delicate lines and strokes, the image is clear. I always gazed upon the mirrored, backward version in my reflection. Now I see it for what it is—a song. Note after miniature note weaves in and out of vine-like staff, jumbled, disorganized. On the beach I did my best to “ahh” the few bars I could make sense of. How much more powerful will this melody be when I decipher the pattern, learn the entire piece by heart?
I tuck my hair behind my ears. Stow the paper and Mom’s books in my pack.
Ky returns to his side of the boat and my body relaxes. He grabs the oars. “What now?”
Great question. Can I really use any reflective surface as a Threshold? If so, I have a door to anywhere. I could jump ship, enter the castle, rescue Mom. We could go straight home. Be done with this place forever.
Except nowhere does E. G. A. give instructions on how exactly to do that. Do I simply start swimming, hoping I’ll end up in the castle the farther I dive? Does my touch alter the surface? My mind? My song? A combination of all three?
Determination riding on my recent high, I ask, “How far to Lisel Island?”
We’re going to see my grandfather. Nathaniel gave this book to Joshua. Perhaps he can elaborate on E. G. A.’s theory. He’s one of the oldest Physics alive according to Wade. If anyone can shed some light on this subject, Nathaniel’s the one to do it.
I pass the time by perusing Mom’s journal again. The next entry is dated nearly two months after her last one.
Twenty-second Day, First Month, Fourth Year of Jasyn’s Reign
Tiernan has changed. He rarely comes around since Eliyana’s birth, but when he does he is distant. He refuses to hold his daughter, hardly glances in her direction. His behavior is unsettling. Tiernan talks of nothing but gaining a son—an heir. And when he does look at my sweet girl, there is a madness in his eyes. This is not the man I fell in love with . . .
Ky still doesn’t know how Tiernan connects us. Is Nathaniel aware of my father’s adopted son? What will Ky’s reaction be if he finds out?
. . . He is so easily angered now. Accuses me of giving all my attention to Eliyana instead of to him. He yells and screams. Sometimes he hits me, though, thank the Verity, he’s yet to lay a finger on Eliyana. He says if I won’t give him a son, he’ll find one on his own . . .
Ky. I glance at him beneath my lashes as he rows. Mom’s journal only confirms what I feared. Tiernan’s anger began with my birth. Mom wrote he was sweet and kind to her up until the day I came into this Reflection. If I had been a boy, he wouldn’t have adopted Ky. If I had been a boy, Ky might’ve had a completely different childhood. A good and loving family. A life free of the pain he’s endured.
What happens when Mom and I go home? Will I ever see Ky again? Is he just another character I’ll have to kill off? One more number to cut when my link to the king breaks?
A new possibility forms, meek and fragile.
What if we stayed?
. . . We have to leave. I must get Eliyana as far from her father as possible before Tiernan hurts her too.
Once the boat stabilizes, I snap the book shut. Ky arches his back, interlocks his fingers, and stretches his arms over his head, palms facing the sky and knuckles popping. He makes a noise like brakes squeaking and says, “All ashore who’s going ashore.”
I scan the coast. Rocks jut at sharp angles like bayonets, ready to impale anyone who might be dumb enough to get too close. High above them, snowcapped trees similar to evergreens stand as soldiers at attention.
Ky starts toward the rocky slope. “Any idea where your grandfather lives?”
My knotted arms loosen, replaced by spiraling guilt. I omitted Nathaniel’s last name on purpose. All Ky knows is I believe my grandfather can help me use my newfound Calling to find the vessel.
And save my mom.
“We’re looking for a brownstone.” I remove Mom’s sketchbook-slash-journal from my pack. I flip to the page featuring Nathaniel, purposefully keeping my thumb over the caption bearing his last name.
Ky’s brows scallop.
“What is it?”
He leans closer. “I think . . . I’ve seen this place before.”
Oh, crud. He knows.
He shakes his head. “Weird. It kind of looks like your house.”
“Yeah.” I bite the inside of my cheek. “It does.”
“Probably why it seems familiar, eh?” His tone is light, teasing. Like Mom when she’s keeping a secret. The way she sounded the night she gave me my eighteenth-birthday cupcake. She told me to make a wish.
It did not come true.
I stow the book and exit the boat. Amendment. I try to exit the boat. Clumsy as ever, I catch my ankle on the lip and soar toward mud and murk.
Mr. Catlike Reflexes catches me by my hips, tows me into a hug. A briny aroma masks his natural scent. Water spots soak his shirt. It’s similar to when we touched after he saved me from Gage, but also different. Other.
My vision clouds, my brain conjuring an alternate future. We stay. Make a home here in the Second. Mom and Makai can finally be together, unhindered by their need to protect the vessel. And me? I open up my heart to someone new.
I shake away the premonition. Focus. My top rides up my middle an inch. Ky’s fingers graze the skin on my lower back, yanking me into the now. Heat floods my cheeks. Goose bumps freckle my arms. His breath grazes my forehead. His pulse thuds against my ear.