Beauty In Her Madness (Winterland Tale #3) - Stacey Marie Brown Page 0,80

was now. A Type A personality who lived by the rules, making lists and plans. Controlled. Safe. From what my mom said, I hadn’t always been this way, so what changed? Why?

My feet seemed to have a mind of their own, directing me back to my flat, like I was being summoned by a force I couldn’t see, leading me to answers I was terrified to learn. I didn’t stop until I was standing in my bedroom, staring at the covered mirror, my heart thumping in my chest.

Running into Trevor had deeply unsettled me, my brain having trouble with truth and fantasy, cracking lines in my reality. The ground moved and shifted under my feet, and I felt the earth no longer wanted me here, like it was telling me I didn’t belong.

The lure to the mirror swirled around me, energy bumping my legs forward. Air punched in and out of my lungs, a whimper on my lips as I inched closer, feeling a power coming off it. My curiosity and need to solve things held more weight than the dread stomping on my chest.

“You come to me tomorrow. And I can do anything I deem worthy of your punishment.”

The mirror is broken. I can’t go, I said to myself, but deep down, I sensed the truth, something that once again either showed I was totally sane or totally nuts.

My arm stretched out, the pads of my fingers brushing up against the comforter, my gut sensing something I was afraid to see with my own eyes. My hand yanked at the blanket, and it fell from the frame.

I inhaled sharply, more scared because I knew what I would find. The mirror was intact. Pristine. Like the day I brought it home and hung it.

“Fuck a nutcracker,” I strangled out, my head spinning.

I had shattered and destroyed the mirror, but here it was, magically repaired. As if nothing could keep me away from him, the link going against all logic and science.

“Dinah…” Whispers tickled lightly at my ear, brushing my skin. The middle of the glass started to swirl, hypnotizing me. “Come, my dear. Be our guest…”

This time I didn’t hesitate...

And gave myself over to the madness.

The fortress was silent as I moved through it, heading below. A thrill of excitement and fear curled up the back of my neck like a cat. I was scared to see Frost and, at the same time, I was afraid of not seeing him.

I wouldn’t say I came because he told me. I was here because I needed answers. Not because the pull was so powerful that I longed to see him.

Nope. Merely for answers.

I heard Dor sigh from the same room I had found them in the time before, and I inched closer to the door. “Stop being so dramatic.”

“I almost died! Died!”

“You stepped in a cardboard box.”

“It was a bear trap. It locked on and wouldn’t let go. It was so traumatic,” PB’s deep voice exclaimed. “How I suffer, and you don’t care.”

“Fudge bricks! You are making me want to drink again.”

I peered into the room. PB was stretched over the huge mattress with pillows in a theatrical pose, while Dor sat on a pillow next to him, sucking on a drink.

“Uhhhggg! What is this crap?”

“Peppermint, basil, rosemary, oats, and gooseberry tea.”

“Are you trying to kill me? This is like fruitcake in a glass.”

“Now who’s being dramatic?” PB rolled his eyes.

“This is awful! This teetotaler crap is like coal in my stocking every time I take a drink.” Dor’s face twisted up, and he batted at his tongue. “Ack! It looks promising on the outside, but when you see what’s on the inside, you’d rather get run over by reindeer.”

“I find it refreshing.” PB took a sip of his. “Plus, it’s good for your fur, and you have to stay on the wagon after the other night.”

“Best night of my life,” Dor huffed, folding his arms in a pout.

“You know what happens when you drink.”

“I’m actually happy?”

“You have no off switch.”

“I found it now.” Dor stuck out his tongue at the tea, shoving it away.

“Remember the countless times you almost drowned in mead while singing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’?”

“Better way to go out than drinking this crap.” Dor flopped back on the pillow.

“Spying, little one.” A deep voice vibrated in my ear from behind, my muscles jolting with fear as my body responded to his baritone voice as if it were trained.

“Shit!” Whirling around, my chest hitched at the sight of him,