Both Puck and Daphne nodded.
She turned back toward the Room of Reflections, trying to follow the sound. It was clearly coming from inside the room, which was empty except for the mirrors.
“Where is that coming from?” Daphne said, looking about.
Puck walked around the circular room, listening closely at each mirror. “It’s not coming from these.”
Sabrina agreed. “It seems to be coming from the door.” She studied the open door closely, then wondered if something might be behind it. She pulled it shut, closing them into the room, and that’s when she saw it. A passageway!
“What’s this?” Daphne asked.
Sabrina shrugged and stepped through the secret door. There she saw Pinocchio, surrounded by his evil marionettes, standing in front of a wall that contained thousands of shards of broken mirrors. They looked like tiny holes in space. None of them had a reflection, but rather, they acted like windows into places all over town and beyond. A quick glance showed her Nottingham’s office, Mayor Heart’s bedroom, Jack the Giant Killer’s empty apartment, even the Wizard of Oz’s workroom at Macy’s in Manhattan. Sabrina recalled seeing huge full-length mirrors in each of those rooms, and it was clear that this room allowed a person to peer into them. There were faces in some of the broken pieces—the Frog Prince, the Beast, Mayor Heart, and Nottingham himself. They were all waiting, as if expecting some important instructions.
“Have the doors been opened in the Grimm home, Master?” Mayor Heart said from one of the shards.
“You’re the Master?” Daphne shouted. Pinocchio turned and Daphne kicked him in the shin. The little boy howled and fell over. His marionettes leaped to his defense, jumping on Daphne’s back and punching her. It took all of Sabrina and Puck’s effort to free her from the tiny villains.
“You sick, twisted monster,” Sabrina seethed at Pinocchio. “Do you know the nightmare you have inflicted on my family? You’re a horrible, evil worm.”
“I’m not the Master!” Pinocchio shouted.
“Why should we believe you?” Puck said.
“Because I am the Master,” a voice said behind them. Sabrina spun around. Mirror was standing in the corner holding a little boy in his arms. A horrible mixture of terror, betrayal, shock, and disgust filled Sabrina’s head, sending a wave of mixed signals to every part of her body. One moment she wanted to run—to put as much distance between her and Mirror as possible. The next moment she wanted to snatch him by the collar and shake him in anger until he explained himself.
“No,” Daphne whispered.
“You? You’re the Master? You’re the leader of the Scarlet Hand?” Sabrina said.
Mirror nodded his head slightly. “Yes.”
“But you—” Daphne said, trembling.
“But I was your friend? Is that what you were going to say?”
“Yes! I trusted you. We all trusted you!” Sabrina cried.
“Then I’m afraid you’ve made a terrible mistake,” Mirror said.
Sabrina ran at Mirror, but a bolt of lightning stopped her in her tracks. She had witnessed Mirror’s magic before, but never had it been intentionally directed at her. She studied the boy in Mirror’s hands. He was small, maybe a year and a half old, wearing footie pajamas. He had curly red hair the color of Granny Relda’s. He had Sabrina’s father’s face and her mother’s beautiful eyes. “That’s my brother. You took him,” Sabrina said.
Mirror nodded. “It was unavoidable. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get my day started. Pinocchio, I believe I have a wish to fulfill.”
“Thank you, Master,” the boy said, bowing respectfully.
Mirror scooped the baby boy out of the crib again and turned to the children. “I’ll be needing your help.”
Sabrina shook her head but another blast of lightning told her Mirror wasn’t asking—it was an order.
Mirror walked them down the hall until they reached an oak door Sabrina knew at once. It was the room that she had seen with Pinocchio a few days before—the room that had no name and no keyhole.
“One of you has to unlock this door,” Mirror said.
“Uh, I don’t have a key for this room, and there’s no keyhole anyway,” Sabrina said.
“You don’t need either. You are the key,” Mirror said.
“I think Charming is right about you,” Daphne said. “You are defective.”
“When your family acquired me, this room was created to house your most important possession. Even before there were locks on the doors, there was concern that access to this room could fall into the wrong hands. Thus, this room was given a special lock—one that can only be opened by a Grimm,” Mirror explained.