"Miss Rogers," Fox called from down the hall.
"Coming!" I called back as I scurried down the hall to where they waited in front of a pair of closed doors. An easel beside the entrance held a large white placard that advertised the exhibit: Temporary Exhibit of Ancient Hygiene. Samples of ancient perfume and makeup are available to try and purchase!
I arched an eyebrow and my eyes flickered to the curator. "The real stuff?"
"A practical application for our exhibits," Bedwyr explained as he opened the doors and we stepped inside the dark room. He shut the doors behind us and flicked on the lights.
The exhibit hall was half the size as the permanent rooms, but laid out in much the same fashion with cases and displays around a central item. That item was a full-length mirror made of some dark glass that barely reflected the floor in front of itself, much less us. The stand-out among the old items was a long, cloth-covered table against the left-hand wall. An assortment of perfume bottles old and young, along with small, empty glass bowls, were lined up along the table. At the end was also a bucket of ice with four bottles of various kinds of alcohol.
Bedwyr stepped in front of us and turned his attention to Fox. "Might I ask how long you propose to use the room?".
Fox shook his head. "Unfortunately, we don't know, but we expect an unwanted visitor to arrive shortly to try to steal the Smoking Mirror. Until she's dealt with I must ask that the security system for this room be switched off."
Bedwyr pursed his lips. "I see. One of your former captures intends to use it?"
Fox nodded. "Yes."
I looked at Fox but jerked my thumb at the curator. "So he knows about your collection?"
He smiled. "Yes. Emery was an invaluable source of information to gather my collection, but he wasn't the only source."
"I'm sorry I helped you if it means so much trouble for everyone," Bedwyr spoke up as he forlornly shook his head.
Fox set his hand on the man's shoulder and shook his head. "On the contrary, it has been an enlightening experience."
"Maybe for you. . ." I muttered.
"Did you need any help with this matter?" Bedwyr asked him.
Fox shook his head. "Only what I asked about the security being shut off, and for the doors to be locked tightly behind us once Emery-" The door opened and Emery slipped inside.
Bedwyr sighed. "I suppose that's my cue to leave. I wish you good luck in your endeavor, and if you are in need of any refreshments-" he gestured to the table with its bucket of alcohol, "-help yourselves early to our grand opening celebration." He left the room, locking the doors behind us.
Fox swept his eyes over the room as Emery walked up to us. "She doesn't appear to have found her way here yet."
"How will we even know she's here?" I asked him.
"As we witnessed in the Vault, she is fond of a flashy entrance and will no doubt choose the most ornate of the mirrors through which to enter," Fox told me.
I frowned. "So she's coming through a mirror to get into here?"
"Yes."
"So how come she just doesn't come through the Smoking Mirror and take it?" I pointed out
He walked up to the mirror in question and pressed his palm against the dark surface. "The magic power within this dark obsidian is too powerful for her to break through with her plate, but it will grant her the power to pass through any reflection were she to get her hands on it."
I walked up beside him and looked the six foot-tall, three foot-wide over before my eyes flickered to Fox. "Isn't it a little big for her to lug around?"
He turned toward the other mirrors that stood to my right. "Were she to grab it she could shrink it much like she shrinks her plate into a small barrette so she can wear it in her hair. It was in that form that I snatched it from her prior to catching her."
My face fell. "These mermaids seem to be prepared for anything."
"Perhaps it was evolution that granted them such strength," he mused as he walked over to the most ornate mirror, a round vanity glass with decorative wood carvings of flowers. "This may be the mirror she chooses. We must get out of sight of its-" A dripping-wet hand reached through the reflection and grabbed his throat.
"Fox!" I yelled.
Emery leapt forward and grabbed Fox's shoulders. He wrenched him backward and free from the grasp. They stumbled backward as the arm retreated back into the mirror.
Ligeia's grinning face appeared on the other side. In her hair I could just make out the barrette that was her plate. She laughed at the pair of men. "What fools you mortal men are stand so close to my doors and let yourself into my hands!"
Fox rubbed his throat as he stood straight and grinned at her. "I won't make the same mistake twice."
She glared back at him. "That is only because I will not allow you to live long enough to do so." Her face receded into the reflection and vanished.
Fox turned so he could look at Emery and me. "Watch the mirrors! She's playing a game of Russian Roulette!"
A column of water blasted out of a round mirror beside me and hit Emery in the back. The pressure pushed him across the room and into the wall with a dull thud. The water drew back and he slid to the floor unconscious.
Another column shot out of the ornate mirror. Fox dodged the blast, but the column stopped after passing him and the end morphed into a huge wet hand. It curled around and wrapped around his chest. It lifted him off the floor and tightened its grip so that his arms were pinned to his sides.
Ligeia's voice echoed around the room, coming from everywhere and nowhere. "Now you know how lucky you were to catch me the first, and last, time."
I rushed forward and leapt at Fox. A smaller hand emerged from the larger column and slapped me down. I landed hard on my left arm and the pain from my nerves shot through my entire body.
I struggled to my feet as Ligeia's upper half emerged from another mirror. She wore a Cheshire grin and gestured to her captive. "Do you like my splashy entrance?"
I clutched my inured arm with a furry hand. My werewolf self was coming through as I glared at her. "I've seen water parks with more pressure."
Ligeia laughed as her body was drawn out by another column of water so that her fish half always stayed submerged. She wrapped around me like a python and hovered over my left shoulder so that we both faced Fox.
Ligeia set her hands on my shoulders and pressed her lips to my ear. Her cool voice wafted over me like a summer breeze. "Scratch him."
I whipped my head to her with wide eyes. "Do what?"
She nodded at Fox. "Scratch him so that he will become as you are, and then I will seal him away in my home."
"But why? What's the point?"
Her eyes searched mine. "Do you not see? Now we may use him to achieve what we both seek."
I frowned. "What's that?"
She laughed. "Why, revenge, of course. Revenge for his wrongs against us."
I shrugged off her hands and spun around to face her as I gestured to the captive Fox. "By doing what? The same thing he did to us?"
"Of course "That's doing the same thing he did to us! Or worse!" I countered.
Her eyebrows crashed down as she drew all but her upper half back into the mirror. "If that is how you feel, then you will die as well."
9
Two columns of water blew out of two separate mirrors. I ducked and rolled out of their paths, but hands drew out of their ends and they twisted around to grab me. My hands lengthened into werewolf claws and fur sprouted from my arms up to my elbows. One of the hands stretched its fingers to wrap around me. I swiped my hands and cut the water to ribbons. Whatever magic held it together was neutralized by my own mythical strength and the hand splashed to the ground in a puddle of fail. I dodged the other hand and leapt at the water that held Fox. A single long swipe and he dropped to his feet.
"Excellent work," he complimented me as I sidled up to his side.
"Thank me after we've won," I advised him.
The last water hand flew at us
. I leapt forward and swung down. The hand split into two and I ended up in the middle. I tried to dodge, but I was too slow. The hands gave me a one-two punch that sent me stumbling backward.
The sheath of the Sikin Alqamar pushed against my back as the hands circled me like wolves. Two against one. The odds weren't in my favor.
I drew out the weapon and the blade glistened like a lamp in darkness. I clenched my teeth and sliced a small cut across my arm. It was like injecting myself with adrenaline. The colors in the room dulled, but my sense of smell, sight, and sound increased three-fold. I could feel my muscles tense as my strength more than doubled as I slipped the weapon back into its sheath.
The watery hands tried to clap me between them. My speed allowed me to duck and roll behind one. A few swipes and it was gone. The next one also fell into a puddled mess. I turned to face Ligeia with a grin and fangs peeking out.
My good humor fell off my face when I saw she was wrapped around the Smoking Mirror, a smile on her own lips. Her fish half was connected to the dark surface by a column of water that came from the glass. One of her hands stroked the dark mirror and the object came alive with a dazzling blue light.
Ligeia chuckled. "Now we shall truly play."
A wall of salt water blew from the mirror and slammed into me. I was thrown backward against the makeup table and the contents came crashing down on me. Several of the perfume bottles dropped into my lap, unbroken but wreaking through their glass stoppers. A memory of my earlier conversation with Dakota flashed through my mind. Alcohol.
Ligeia's maniacal laugh filled the room. "Wonderful! Beautiful! I could never have hoped to transport the ocean, but this mirror makes the task as though it were nothing!"
I scooped the bottles into my arm and struggled to my feet as Fox joined me by my side. "I don't know if this'll work, but maybe giving her dry skin will make her weaker," I told him.
He studied the contents of my arm and pursed his lips. "Can you get close enough to hit her?"
I shoved all but one of the bottles into his hands and turned my attention to Ligeia. "I can try." My furry toes pushed out the front of my shoes, and I used them to push off from the floor.
I rushed forward as Ligeia stroked the surface again. "Come forth, all the waters of the world."
Another blast, larger and heavier than the first, spewed from the glistening glass. I was prepared for this attack and rolled to one side. The water rushed past me, but a small column branched off the main stream and rushed toward me. It was too close to dodge, so I swiped my empty hand at it. My claws cut into the first foot of water, but the rest of it knocked into my stomach.
The air was pushed out of my lungs as I was pulled off my feet and slammed into the far back wall. The water kept coming, pushing me deeper into the plaster walls to the metal beams that held up the walls. My attacker receded and I slumped to the floor, soaked and drained of my energy.
Ligeia slithered around the mirror and grinned at me as another wall of water floated out of the Smoking Mirror and hovered behind her. "Farewell, friend."
The wall dashed forward toward me. I clenched my teeth and braced for impact.
A shadow came from my left and with it came the mirror through which Ligeia had emerged. The water was sucked into the mirror and continued absorbing the water as Emery, who held the mirror, glanced over his shoulder. "I'm sorry I'm late."
"Don't mention it," I wheezed out.
Fox appeared in my clouded vision. He actually looked concerned, but it could've been my blurry eyes. "Can you stand?" he asked me.
I grasped the floor with one hand and tried to pull myself up, but my strength failed me and I fell back into my hole.
"Sir, I'm not sure how much longer I can maintain this position," Emery spoke up.
Fox's eyes flickered to the mirror Emery held. "I would ask how you're even doing that, but we don't have time."
I shifted and the sheath poked me in the back. A terrible idea hit me and a bitter smile slipped onto my lips. "Looks like there's no choice. . ." I murmured as I reached behind me and drew out the Sikin Alqamar from its sheath. I pushed the dagger into Fox's empty hand-the other one held a bottle of alcohol-and caught his gaze in my own. "I can't do it, but you can."
He frowned and shook his head. "I won't do it against your will."
"It's not against my will, but I know I can't do this, not by myself." I squeezed his hands and lowered my voice to a whisper. "I trust you to do this. You have to do this."
Fox pursed his lips, but set the bottle of alcohol on the ground beside me and slipped his arm behind my back. He leaned over me and raised the dagger above my chest. I thought about closing my eyes, but I wanted to see this from start to finish. Hopefully not a permanent finish.
The dagger came down and sank into my chest. A pain like hot fire followed its descent into my body. Fox's aim was true and the blade struck my heart. My eyes widened as I felt the organ punctured and burst, but not in an explosion of death. My heart pumped faster as a warmth traveled from the blade into every point in my body that it touched.
Fox stepped back as my clothes were torn to shreds by my emerging werewolf body. Fur sprouted from my flesh and my hands turned into sharp claws. A long snout protruded from my face and the world changed to dull grays as my vision grew more focused.
The column of water that rushed into Emery's mirror poured over the sides and pushed him to the floor. Unobstructed, it shot toward us. Without thinking I pushed off from the wall and swiped at the wall with both clawed hands. My long fingernails dug into the water like it was flesh and tore it asunder. The water rushed on, but my hands moved faster and I found myself gaining ground toward the Smoking Mirror.
Ligeia scurried around to the far side of the mirror which was the front and gawked at me. I sliced through a couple hundred gallons of water and leapt into the air toward her. She shrank back and hissed at me. Her physical features changed from a beautiful young woman to that of an ancient hag as her skin wrinkled and her eyes sank into her face. She swiped at me with fingernails as long as knives. One of them cut me across the stomach and threw off my attack. I slammed into the back of the Smoking Mirror, and both me and the object crashed to the floor.
I raised myself on my hands and knees and lifted my head. Ligeia hovered over me with the fish part of her body trapped beneath the weight of mirror. I growled and lunged at her, beginning a brawl of teeth and claws as we duked it out. My wound slowed me down so that she was able to get in a few more gashes, but she was hampered by her immovable lower half. I got in a good swing that connected with her jaw. She retaliated by wiggling a column of water out from beneath the mirror and hitting me in the chest. The salt water stung my wounds like angry bees and the force pushed me off the mirror.
I rolled across the floor and ended up on my back a few yards away. Ligeia laughed as she began to raise the mirror through the use of her water. "Foolish girl! Did you believe you could defeat me?"
"No, but we can."
Ligeia whipped her head behind her. Fox stood over her with a bottle of alcohol in one hand and a blue barrette in the other. She clapped her hand on the back of her head before she narrowed her eyes at him. "Give it back, human, or-"
"I don't believe you'll be doing anything for a long, long time," Fox interrupted her as he tossed the bottle at her.
The glass crashed against her body and shattered. Her body was doused in alcohol, and every bit of her flesh it touched was burned like the drink was acid. Smoke rose from the bubbling sores as Ligeia let out a terrible shriek. She shrank beneath the mirror and disappeared.
Fox grabbed the edge of the mirror and glanced at his servant. "Help me with this."
Emery hurried to his side and together the pair lifted the mirror and lay it so the glass faced up. The surface no longer glowed, but in its depths there was a face that wasn't a reflection. Ligeia. She hissed at the men. "Filthy humans!"
Fox knelt on one knee and smiled at her. "I'm sorry you feel th
at way. You'll be seeing quite a few of them before the exhibit is over." She hissed one last time before she faded into the darkness.
I closed my eyes and sighed as I felt my body revert back to my human form. We'd won. Now I could sleep.
10
I felt something warm fall across me. I forced my eyes open and found my naked body draped in Fox's overcoat. The man himself knelt beside me with a gentle expression on his face.
I turned my head to him and smiled. "Not bad, huh?"
Fox returned the smile with a mischievous one of his own. "Remind me not to get on your bad side from now on," he teased.
I shifted and winced as my aching body complained. "So did your brilliant plan need to involve me getting my ass kicked?"
"On the contrary, you deserve the entire credit for this success," he told me.
My eyes flickered to the mirror and I pursed my lips. "Can she get out?"
He held up the barrette. "Not so long as I have the primary source of her magic. And speaking of that-" he lifted his eyes to Emery who stood nearby, "-how were you able to capture her magic for so long?"
Emery pressed the bridge of his glasses against his nose. "I merely turned her own portal against her, sir. So long as her magic was still active any portal she created would remain open until either she willed it shut or lost her power. I am glad the former happened before the latter."
"So am I, but Bedwyr might think differently," Fox commented as he swept his eyes over the destroyed room.
"I will speak to him immediately and have the exhibit postponed," Emery promised.
The doors opened and Bedwyr stepped inside. "There's no need. I watched the whole thing through the security cameras."
"Then I don't need to tell you that no one is to touch the surface of the glass," Fox returned.
Bedwyr reached us and nodded. "You have my word."
"Good. Then let us be off." I yelped when Fox slipped his arms beneath me and lifted me off the floor.
My hand reached out and grasped his collar. "I can walk!" I argued.
"That would be quite the feat considering your body is shaking," he commented. His eyes flickered to my hand and his smile widened. "It appears the effects of the dagger have already started."