Page 120 of Lucifer's Mirror
Yeah, saving me.
We fall silent again. Khendril was a good memory—until the end—but I lost so many decent men who died for me. That makes me sad, but it also makes me want to justify their deaths, to repay them for everything they gave up for me. Somehow I’ll make that happen, except I’m scared. And I still don’t really know how I’ll make things better.
It’s late by the time we reach the stone bridge that marks the edge of the wards. Hecate is waiting for us on the other side, and I cross the bridge, slide off the horse, and into her arms.
Finally, I step back and search her face, looking for similarities between us and finding them in the shape of her bones and the slant of her eyes.
She’s not my mother. I realize that I’d secretly been hoping that was the case, but it’s not. Hecate is my aunt. My mother was her baby sister, who obviously decided that Hell was not a good environment to bring up a baby and dumped me on her sister.
Hecate is staring back at me, searching my face. “You remember?” she says.
I nod. “Yes. Well, most of what I knew before.” There’s still a whole lot I don’t know.
She smiles, and I can see the satisfaction in her eyes. “I knew you wouldn’t let us down.”
I snort. “There’s still time for that.”
I want to ask her about my mother, but I’m a little scared. What would make any woman have the devil’s child? Had she loved him? Had he—and I hate this idea—forced her? Maybe it’s a conversation for when we’re alone. I glance around. Erik is seated on the bridge out of earshot, but Khaosti is close by.
I search my mind and realize that while I love him, I still don’t entirely trust him. He has other loyalties. What had Trystan been going to say before he died? And Khendril told me that even as a small boy, Khaosti had been taught to do his duty. It was ingrained. Besides, Khronus is his father. There has to be some love between them.
But there is one thing I need to know. “Is she alive?” I ask.
Hecate knows who I mean, and sadness flashes across her face. “No. Ravenna—your mother—used the last of her strength to send you to me. She knew the spell would finish her. And she’s never been seen or heard from since.”
An echo of her sadness washes through me, sadness for a woman I have no memory of. But she clearly cared for me. She gave up her life for me—like so many others.
The thought is like a weight pressing me down. “But it hasn’t been that long. Only nineteen years. Maybe she’s been hiding out, waiting until it’s safe to reveal herself.”
Hecate gives me a look of regret. “It hasn’t been nineteen years for her, Amber. It’s been over five thousand.”
“What?” I take a step back as shock punches me in the belly. Then I collapse onto the stone wall of the bridge. “I don’t understand.”
“Your mother was the most powerful mirror-mage since Selene herself. To send you to me, she created a portal not only through space but through time.”
“That’s not possible,” Khaosti mutters from beside me.
Hecate casts him a look of scorn. “Another thing your father has wiped from our history. But you’re right in a way—it’s not possible anymore. There’s no witch powerful enough to perform the magic, unless…” She gives me a curious look and then continues, “Your mother was the last, and she sent you forward in time to me.” She stares up at the sky for a minute. “At that point, I’d presumed she’d been dead for millennia. She was my younger sister, only thirty-five when she disappeared. I never heard from her again. And as the years turned to centuries, I gave up hope. Now I know that she created the mirror to bring you to me. Maybe she hoped that the years would help to hide you. She wasn’t strong enough to come through herself—I saw just a shadow of her beyond the mirror. She told me what I needed to know, and that you must always keep the amulet close to you”—my hand goes to the pendant at my throat—"to remind you of her. And then the image faded and was gone. And there you were. A baby.”
“I wish I’d known her. I wish I could remember something.”
“You were no more than a few days old.” She gives a sad smile, and, in her ancient eyes, I see an echo of the Crone she was when we first met. “One day I’ll tell you her story. When we have time to let ourselves wallow in the past.”
There is one more thing I want to know right now. “You once told me that you knew my father. How?”
“I grew up with him.” She looks away for a moment. “Lucifer is Astrali.”
I hear Khaosti’s indrawn breath.
“He was agoodman,” Hecate says fiercely. “And he loved your mother almost beyond reason. But something happened—I don’t know what, I was away at the time.” A shudder runs through her. “But your parents were both good people; never doubt that.” She falls silent for a minute, then asks, “Do you have the location of the mirror?” I can hear the urgency in her voice.
“Of course. But first—why is it so important? What does the mirror do?” Because that wasn’t in my memories. Maybe they kept it from me for some reason—I remember pestering Khendril for the answers—to no avail. Maybe he didn’t know. Or if he did, he thought that if I knew what was ahead of me, I would run away screaming. Not a comforting thought.
“Lucifer’s Mirror is the only remaining portal that leads to Hell,” Hecate tells me. “And Lucifer has been trapped there since it was taken from him.”
“For five thousand years?” Khaosti says from behind me.
“Yes, Ravenna hid it at the same time she sent you here.”
