mirror.
“Dorian,” Sara cried, lowering the mirror.
But it made no difference.
Next, a barn owl made of sunlight joined the crystal owl, shooting into the mirror with Tristan dragged behind it as Sara wailed.
Miranda clung to Bron, a determined look on her pale face.
“No,” she said firmly. “I can’t lose you again.”
But he smiled at her sadly as his stag pulled him closer to the mirror.
Cullen found his heart aching with sympathy.
He expected to draw fresh power from this pain. Instead he felt bereft.
Something crashed through the woods, heading their way.
He looked up to Jessica running toward him.
“Cullen,” she cried.
All eyes turned in his direction, finally noticing him.
“It’s Miranda,” she called to him. “Please don’t do anything to harm these people.”
“I know it’s Miranda,” he told her. “I cared about her, looked out for her. She was my assistant.”
“She’s your daughter, you idiot.” Jessica said, reaching him at last, grabbing his arms in a surprisingly strong grip.
“Sh-she’s what?” he asked.
“She’s our daughter,” Jessica sobbed. “Please don’t take the man she loves from her.”
Our daughter.
It was true.
The whole thing hit him like a sledgehammer.
Jessica’s sudden disappearance, the years between, the way Miranda’s smile reminded him of Jessica, the intuitive way he had felt protective of his new assistant from the moment they met…
His eyes went to the mirror.
It was too late.
His brothers were being drawn inexorably into his trap.
Miranda, his daughter, held her king’s face in her hands, following him as he was pulled from her. He saw her lips form the words I love you.
Cullen’s heart was jerked back in time to the day Jessica disappeared.
That day, and every day until he found her again, was a hollow agony.
Her loss had changed him, made him into a true monster.
He could not let that happen to Miranda.
“I will avenge you,” Miranda cried to Bron.
The words chilled Cullen to his soul.
He could not let her follow his dark path.
He had to send his daughter back into the light, no matter the cost.
He had only one tool left at his disposal.
21
Jessica
Jessica watched in agony as her daughter’s face was transformed by loss.
“No,” she cried, but in the rush of wind sucking the men into the mirror she couldn’t even hear her own voice.
She turned back to Cullen, desperate.
The expression of cold determination on his face frightened her. He ripped the hourglass from around his neck and smashed it onto a stone below.
Instantly, the wind went still and his brothers landed on their feet.
“I’m sorry,” he said, turning to Jessica. “It was the only way to stop them from going over.”
Tears sprang to her eyes and she ran to him, taking his hands in hers.
“Cullen,” she sobbed. “You made the right decision. We’ll be happy there in the little cottage with the flowers and the fairy fruit. We’ll have each other and that’s all we need. I don’t mind going back, if it helps Miranda.”
But he gazed at her with an expression of terrible sympathy.
“Oh, Jessica,” he said, his voice deep and sad. “You were never a part of this bargain.”
She gaped at him. Could that be right?
She thought back to his bargain with the Queen of Silence. Somehow, he had left her out of the deal.
“You can stay,” he told her with a sad smile. “You’ll get to know our daughter. I’ll be happy knowing you’re together. It will all be worth it.”
Pain cut through her, threatening to destroy her heart.
But a hush had fallen over the forest, and she could speak no more.
Cullen was fading, a strange after-image like a fox gathering around him.
But instead of dragging him into the mirror, it was fading, too.
Before her eyes, Cullen blurred as if he were moving, ripples of color sparkling all around him, so bright she had to close her eyes against the sight.
“Jessica,” he said.
She opened her eyes and he was before her again.
Instead of his usual clothing, he wore a flame-colored cloak. A golden crown wove itself around his head. The aura of the fox surrounded him, and a healing warmth emanated from him.
He looked down at himself in confusion.
At least she wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand what was happening.
The air beside him wavered and suddenly, the Queen of Silence stood in their midst.
Her clothing was as resplendent as always, but her beautiful face was set in a mask of disgust.
“I hope you’re happy,” she said flatly. “I can’t believe I fell for your cheap trick.”
“My trick,” Cullen echoed, for once looking like he was at a loss for words.
“The King of