Chasing Demons (Book 2) Rated R

Chapter 8

Giavana was her name.

I caught her arm, which was cool and smooth as alabaster, just as she rounded into a circular room covered by several floor-to-ceiling mirrors.

I was briefly distracted by the nearly fifty versions of us, reflected back from different angles. I shook my head just as the faerie swung around to look at me, her violet eyes widening in surprise.

"Oh," She gasped, bending at the waist. "Your majesty."

"I haven't told you who I am." I said, wrinkling my nose. "How do you know me?"

"I don't need to know you, your majesty. Your resemblance to the late Queen..." She said, alabaster skin tinging with the most delicate hue of pink. Her silver locks hung over her face and it could have been the mirrors but I was sure her pale skin glowed.

"No need to do that," I said, waving my hand. "I'm not royalty, please."

"But you are," Giavana whispered. "You are a princess."

"I--" I opened my mouth to respond but wasn't sure what to say, because, in a way, the faerie was right. Liana had been a queen so whatever that made me, I hoped it at least gave me the power I needed to rescue my family.

"I need your help," I told her. "Please."

"Oh," She breathed again. "My help...my help with what, your majesty?"

"Aimee," I corrected. "And I need your help getting into Faerie."

Giavana glanced over her shoulder at the dozens of mirrors.

"Sure," She said. "I mean, of course, your majesty. I can take you into Faerie but you should know..." She bit her lip as she trailed off.

"Yes?" I prompted.

She shook her head, "Nothing. I won't bore you with our politics. But we can only enter Faerie through a clear surface. A mirror, a lake...and that sometimes the transition there can be painful for..." She pursed her lips together and did not go on.

"Please," I said, growing annoyed. "You can be direct with me. I won't be offended."

"The transition there can be painful for half-blooded faeries and other supernatural creatures."

"That's fine," I said. "Please, can you make it happen?"

As her palms spread out and she focused on conjuring the portal, I glanced around the room, to the place in one mirror where our reflections began to waver ever so slightly.

"You mustn't let go of my hand, your majesty. Doing so could leave you stranded in the void. Do you understand?"

"The void?"

With her eyes still closed, and while she conjured up the magic necessary to get them into faerie, she explained. "Faerie is not a place mortals can go. Faerie lies in a dimension created by Him for us to dwell in. Because we are neither angel nor human, faerie is neither heaven nor Earth. Trying to travel into it, without the help of a faerie will leave you stranded in a dark place. Trust me your majesty, this is not a place you want to go."

In my head, I pictured the void as just that: a black and desolate place with no beginning or end.

"I understand," I swallowed.

Her cool, slim fingers slipped into mine.

Where the mirror had once stood, a dark purple and silver fog began to swirl. The glass warped and twisted, like a mirror in a fun house. Our reflections elongated until they disappeared, replaced by slowly churning molten silver.