“Dot!” Kato called and stumbled over. “Where have you been? It was dangerous to go off by yourself.”
“Are you seriously going to lecture me now?” I met him in the middle of the room. “What happened?”
“It’s nothing you need to be concerned with, really. We had a minor disagreement over the current management of the guardians.”
Did he really think I was going to fall for that? Putting my hands on my hips, I gave him the royal glare I had seen my mother use so often. “Since the current management is you, I would say that is certainly something. How bad was it?”
He waited to speak until the guards carted off the ice chimeras. Then Kato’s demeanor changed alarmingly fast. If his chest were a balloon, then someone had let all the air out. His shoulders slumped in resignation and his head drooped. He looked like he hadn’t seen any rest for years as opposed to days. “First, Grifflespontus altered the lava flow in my room, since that’s where he thought you’d be. Then he attacked me with about five other chimeras. It was close; let’s leave it at that.”
“What are you going to do now?”
He growled a little. “Much as I loathe to admit it, I won’t be able to keep him frozen indefinitely, even though I boosted the ice with life magic. Your Emerald flames might be useful as a last resort.”
I frowned and helped shore up his wings, since he was having trouble walking. “I already gave you my answer.”
“I know, and I refuse to accept that one.”
Sparks shot off from the tips of my hair. “Look, you stubborn ogre…”
I was so busy scolding Kato that I didn’t notice Rexi barreling into the room. She didn’t notice that the floor had spots of ice. Without a tail to help steer her sliding, as Bob had done, she bowled right into us, and we ended up in a big, tangled ball of limbs and fur on the floor.
“Why do you people keep landing on me?” Rexi moaned from the bottom of the heap.
Expecting to see a comical sideshow, I looked at our reflection in one of the mirrors lining the walls. My chest tightened, and not just from Kato’s weight. In our reflection, I didn’t see the Chimera, but the rugged human prince from the ballroom—dark, mussed hair; bronzed, dirt-smudged skin—lying on top of me.
Kato followed my gaze and peered at us in the mirror. Our eyes met for a moment, making me feel even more uncomfortable. No, that wasn’t right. I couldn’t exactly place how I felt, since it was so foreign. It was sorta like leaning out of the highest window of the Emerald tower. Cool view, but it still made my stomach do queasy flips.
“Any day now, people,” Rexi hollered from beneath me.
Kato blinked and backpedaled off like I’d bitten him.
“Thank Grimm! I thought I was gonna suffocate.” Rexi stood and saw our reflections for the first time. “Hey, who’s… Why is… Well, I’ll be spelled.”
Rexi’s knapsack had gotten tangled up in Kato’s horns, hanging like it was on a coat rack. The reflection showed the bag hovering over his head, held up by an invisible pointy bit of the horn.
“That’s just weird.” Rexi rescued her bag.
Kato seemed to be entranced by his human reflection. He raised a paw to his muzzle, and the mirror image raised a hand to his cheek. He continued making motions, the human counterpart doing the same.
I was getting impatient for an explanation. “Enough of the mime act. Is this an enchanted mirror or what?”
“Wouldn’t it be freaky if one of these times the mirror guy didn’t move?” Rexi said.
Both Katos huffed and stared up at the ceiling. “Yes, Rexi. That would be freaky. And no, Dot, it’s not. I think that magic doesn’t show up in a reflection anymore.”
“That can’t be right.” I knocked on the mirror, trying to get it to work right. “My reflection is still on fire.”
“Maybe because that’s who you really are,” Rexi said quietly.
I started pacing across the floor, and when I opened my mouth, all my fears tumbled out.
“I think I might be evil. Verte’s dead, and it’s all my fault ’cause I broke the barrier and let Griz in, and then Kato bonked me on the head with the potion, and voilà! Girl of Emerald bathed in flames bent on world destruction. Or at least the destruction of Black Crow, ’cause I felt all-powerful and angry there for a second and she needed to pay, but then I didn’t mean to, but then I did anyway, and then she was all melty and…poof! She was a scarecrow. But the power felt good, which is bad, so I can’t do what Kato asked ’cause I’m afraid if I hurt someone else, I’ll tip the scale over to total badness and end up exactly like Blanc.”
I forced my jaw shut before any more spilled out.
“I thought you said a house fell on Crow,” Rexi said, completely missing the emotional point of my ramble.