50

Mari was shamed to realize that although the fates of the earth and of a thousand tormented lives and those of her parents were dependent upon her defeating Häxa, she still couldn't get Bowen out of her head.

She did assiduously study and train in her new home - the imagined shelter on her plane had become a melding of the cottage where she'd grown up, her room at the Andoain manor, and the island house where she'd fallen in love with Bowen. Elianna and Carrow spent every day with her here at - as Carrow had dubbed it - the "Cottanorouse."

Yet in between the times when Mari had learned how to attack and deflect and how to bind others' powers, she'd used the mirror to try to uncover more about how the princess was resurrected. Every time Mari consulted the glass about her, it grew blurred, giving up no information - which only convinced Mari further that Häxa was behind the resurrection...

And sometimes, Mari found herself wanting to use her mirror simply to gaze at Bowen.

Like right now.

Mari furtively checked for her friends, peeking around the corner of her bedroom door. For some reason, she thought they might frown on her taking the time to stalk her ex-lover when the future of the world rested in her hands and all.

The two were in the cozy den before a fire. The coast was clear.

Apparently, Mari was not above spying on him - even though she knew she couldn't watch if he kissed his princess, or worse. So far, she'd rarely seen them together. In fact, Bowen spent more time at Andoain, or searching for Nïx, than he did at the Lykae compound.

Yet sooner or later, she knew she was going to see something that she wouldn't be able to handle.

Do I really want to do this... ?

With a nod, she whispered, "Show me... Bowen."

The mirror image shifted until she saw him pacing the sitting room of his house, looking as if he hadn't slept in days. He also appeared to be intent on voicing something, yet couldn't seem to bring himself to do so. Mariah patiently sat on the sofa, hands folded in her lap. A perfect lady.

"Mariah, I was true to you," he finally began. "For so many years, I was."

"I know. You're a fine male. I couldn't be prouder."

"Damn it, I doona want to hurt you, but I have been with Mariketa, and I have feelings for her. Undeniable ones."

Mari's eyes widened. He was telling her this?

"Bowen, I understand how difficult all those years must have been for you. And I forgive you for your... indiscretion. But can't you see that the witch has tricked you? Enthralled you?"

"I canna believe that what I feel for her is no' real." He raked his fingers through his hair. "Would you want me, knowing I will never love you?"

The princess stood and crossed to him. "I can change how you feel about me. If you'll take me to your bed, in nine months you'll welcome our first child to the world."

If? So they haven't slept together?

"Think of it, we'll start the family you've always wanted - the family that you can only have with me. Things will be wonderful. I'll make you happy, and you'll keep me safe. Just as providence intended."

Gods, she's good.

"I'm sorry, Mariah, truly sorry for all you've been through. And I will help you find another male, a good protector - one who would love you as you deserve. I'll help you in any way I can."

He was truly telling the fey this!

Of course, Mari had known that leaving Bowen hurt, but she hadn't acknowledged how utterly devastated she'd been, until there was hope of being with him once more. Mari could help Bowen find someone for the princess - setting her up with another male was the ideal solution! Mari would be on the horn to Rydstrom and Cade directly. Hell, the princess was tall and blond - Acton would love her.

Mari frowned to herself. Would she actually set up her first love with another female just so she could have Bowen?

In a freaking heartbeat.

But Princess Mariah wasn't giving up yet... "I surrendered my soul for you." She'd begun softly crying, and her tears were obviously killing him. "And you made an oath to me before you did to her. Can't you at least give us a chance? Don't you think you owe me that?"

"I do owe you that."

Mari's heart fell.

"But I canna live without Mariketa," he said, and Mari's eyes widened. "I will no'."

The princess was now openly weeping, and Bowen's expression clearly told how agonized he was about this.

"You - a loyal Lykae - would break your vows to your mate and give up your only chance for children, all for something that isn't even real? For a witch?"

Though he looked as if he was about to double over with guilt and shame, he still said, "Mariah, I will no' be moved from this. If I canna live with that witch, then I'd rather no' live at all."

Mari gasped. At once, Mariah's head whipped around, her eyes narrowing on the mirror.

There was no way she could have heard, and yet even now she seemed to be staring directly at Mari.

Impossible. Unless...

Mari broke away from the mirror. "Oh, great Hekate!"

Or rather, the great Häxa - wearing a false face. Mariah had never returned, had never been resurrected. This was all Häxa, and the sorceress was... feeding. Expertly building Bowen's misery, then seizing it.

"Elianna, Carrow, I'm going!" When they hurried into her room, she was yanking on a pair of canvas pants, with pockets along the sides - to be filled with as many mirrors as she could carry. "I've found her, found Häxa. She's wearing a false face, as Mariah. She's right through that mirror - currently feeding off my male!"

Wide-eyed, they gazed through the mirror.

Then with a sigh, Elianna said, "It figures - it's always either the butler or the resurrected mate."

As Mari frowned at that, Carrow asked Elianna, "Is Mari ready for this fight?"

Elianna seemed to force a smile. "Mari will never be more prepared to battle her than she is now."

Carrow was too jacked up with excitement to notice how cryptic Elianna's answer was, or how sad her eyes looked now.

But Mari got chills. I might die tonight.

"Here, Mari," Elianna said as she dug into her seemingly infinite apron pocket and pulled out a small, mirror-covered box. "Your parents wanted you to have these. They were made by druid weavers."

Mari took the box. Inside was a pair of fingerless gloves fashioned of a jet mesh. "Um, thanks?" They were striking, but maybe not so apropos just now. Mari's mentor was as befuddled as ever.

Elianna scrunched her lips. "Just turn them over."

When Mari did, her eyes widened, and she breathed, "Things - just - got - interesting."

Lining each of the palms was a mirror - made of spun-glass threading. The mirror mesh was perfectly flexible, smooth, and resilient. She slipped the gloves on, stunned by the fit, the soft fabric seeming to conform to her hands.

Elianna explained, "These gloves will be like megaphones for your power. And you'll always have them at hand, so to speak, if you want to rub them for focus."

"Lock and load, babee!" Carrow cried, more than ready to engage the sorceress. "Marines, we are leaving!"

But Häxa wasn't like a rogue demon or a malevolent phantom, where one additional spell could mean the difference between success or failure. The sorceress would simply use Mari's friends to wield them against her.

Just as Häxa would do with Bowen if she discovered how deeply Mari had fallen in love with him.

"I'm going alone."

"Alone?" Carrow blinked. "What did I tell you about things like this? It starts with 'Darwin says.' Come on, Mari, how many chances does a witch like me get to rid the world of ultimate evil?"

Knowing Carrow would continue protesting, Mari said, "I'll tell you what, let's compromise. You guys watch the fight through the mirror. If I get into trouble, then just crawl through and come rescue me. That's fair, right?" She said this even as she planned to block the portal to them.

Carrow seemed whipped with disappointment, but when Elianna said, "That's for the best," Carrow agreed to stay. "For now."

With that settled, Mari gazed out at her enemy. Any fear and doubts she'd had fired into outrage. This evil being had already devastated Mari's family, and now she seemed bent on using Bowen's feelings for Mari to torment the proud, stalwart warrior - the warrior who had chosen Mari over... everything.

Häxa was as good as dead.

"I'm going." Mari might not live through the night, but if she went, then she was taking Häxa down with her. She turned back. "I've got a wicked bitch to destroy."

Carrow stared at her eyes with a look of something like awe. "Mari, I think... I think you are the wicked bitch."

Bowe rubbed the back of his neck, sensing that he and Mariah were no longer alone. He turned, scanning the room. Had the wall mirror just moved?

Suddenly, the glass bulged out. Two small, gloved hands broke the surface in the middle, drawing the now pliable glass to the sides.

Mariketa.

His heart leapt at the sight, even as he knew Mariah studied him. He didn't want to hurt her needlessly, but he couldn't hide his excitement. He'd begun to fear he'd never have the opportunity to talk to Mariketa, or to tell her how he felt about her.

Yet the witch didn't spare a glance at Bowe. With magick growing in her strangely gloved palms and a murderous look in her glassy eyes, she made straight for Mariah, who retreated, visibly frightened.

"Witch! What in the hell are you doing?" Bowe lunged after her, absently realizing he was more worried about Mariketa's hurting an innocent than he was about Mariah's safety.

Had she lost her mind? Over the spells or over Bowen's perceived betrayal? Was she under some kind of spell?

Mariketa peered over her shoulder, eyes brilliant.

"Don't fight me, Lykae." The coldness in her stunned him as much as any of this...

With a wave of her hand she shot him against the wall and froze him there. True fear coursed through him.

He was unable to move, unable to speak, forced to do nothing but watch as the witch closed in to kill.

51

Mari wondered how long the sorceress would keep up the charade. Now that Mari knew Häxa's real identity, the cloying and the play were so obvious.

Still in disguise, Häxa finally stood her ground. "Come to fight me for him?"

Mari gave a bitter laugh as they began circling each other. "No, Häxa. He matters not at all," she lied baldly. "If I wasn't about to destroy you, I'd wish you two well."

"Destroy me, is it? I was musing when you'd finally find the courage to come face me." Her voice began to change, becoming raspier as she sneered, "Or when you could drag your pretty gaze from the glass."

Mari could feel Bowen's confusion, heard him struggling. To him, this still appeared to be Mariah talking.

"Yes, I know all about you," Häxa continued. "The vain witch. The Queen of Reflections." Her eyes darted in Bowen's direction. "Does the Lykae's heart beat so madly for you or me? I wonder."

"Before I kill you I want to know why you seized on him. Why use Mariah?"

"Kill me? Oh, you fanciful child."

Her amusement rankled.

"I'll tell you. Eighteen decades ago, a spoiled princess bade me enchant him."

Mari's lips parted. There'd been an enchantment - but it hadn't been Mari's.

Behind her, she heard Bowen's struggles abruptly cease. This revelation had no doubt confounded him.

Häxa continued, "Seems Mariah hadn't appreciated that when all other males fawned after her, begging for her hand, Bowen had absolutely no interest in her, even seemed to disdain her - Mariah, a princess. For years, she loved him from afar, or at least she fancied herself in love with him. No other would do. She had to have him. So I granted her wish, knowing that this situation would be replete with pain and suffering - and that if I grant a wish, I get to reap the misery from the outcomes of all involved.

"I gave him to her, and her to him, then killed her within weeks. On the night I caused her death, I realized that the wolf would lead me to you, the Awaited One. I merely watched him until you came into his life." She turned to Bowen. "Thank you for removing her cloak for me. The red made my vision irritatingly blurry."

"And the plane wreck?" Mari said. "The earthquake when we were on the bridge?"

"That was merely playing. Every time this one thought he'd lose you again, I got an infusion of despair. Besides, the demon pilot begged me to unfreeze his family, volunteering to do anything for me. How could I resist?"

Mari's animosity toward the pilot left her in a rush.

Häxa continued, "Since I've returned as Bowen's dead mate resurrected, he's given me a veritable feast of misery, seasoned with guilt. Delectable. I could have killed you at any time. But you hadn't used your magick against me, so I couldn't siphon it from you. And captromancer, I do so want your unique powers."

Häxa? Bowe struggled to comprehend what was happening.

She can assume any form, Mariketa had said. And Häxa was revealing that he had, in fact, been under an enchantment - but long before he'd ever met Mariketa.

Mariketa held out one of her hands in his direction, displaying a strange mirror in the palm of her glove. Suddenly, his medallion began tearing from his neck, shooting pain through him. It was as though the thing had planted deep roots in his skin that were now being stripped away, tearing as they went. In the past, every time he'd decided to remove it, he'd always forgotten to. Now he knew why, and now he understood why Mariketa hadn't sensed another curse on him - because it had been a part of him, like a cancer.

Once freed, the medallion flew across the room to her. She caught it, then melted it in the heat of her mirrored palm, until it resembled a lead ball.

When she dropped it to the ground, a thick haze seemed to be lifted from Bowe's vision. Now when he gazed at the image of Mariah, he felt nothing but... fury.

For so long he'd suffered immeasurable grief. He'd walked around like the living dead in an existence of nothing but longing and pain - and it was all because of the whim of a spoiled princess.

Mariah had invited this sorceress into his life, had ensured that Häxa found Mariketa, and had driven a wedge between Bowe and his true mate. Mariketa hadn't even seemed able to stand the sight of him earlier.

"Vain witch, did you see your parents' bodies? My handiwork is so beautiful."

What had been done to her parents?

"You won't feed off me, Häxa. I feel only hatred."

"No loss. I've had a surfeit from that Lykae and am as strong as I've ever been. Are you certain you wish to battle me? When I take your powers, I'll be a goddess once more."

"When I take yours, I'll be a sorceress," Mariketa said, sounding confident and as brave as ever.

"You have no idea what you toy with, child. But tonight, on another eve brimming with purpose, I'll teach you one last lesson."

Häxa finally began to shuck her disguise, like a snake slithers from its dead skin. The windows exploded and wind rushed in, howling over them. Curtains flew and furniture skidded across the wooden floor. Pictures on the walls went flying like discs.

Her true form was hideous. The whites of her eyes grew black, the pupils a filmy yellow. Her skin was waxen and gray. She stood at least eight feet tall, with claws as long as his fingers.

In comparison, Mariketa looked so small and frail with her hair whipping, buffeted by the wind and struggling to remain upright.

Häxa raised her hands; Mariketa's eyes went wide. She opened her own palms and tossed a table in front of Häxa's beam just before it hit her. The wood disintegrated into dust.

Another two beams flashed out. Mari dodged one by shooting up on her toes and arching her back. The other hit her, sending her spinning into the wall.

The Instinct screamed inside Bowe for him to protect his own, yet he could do nothing.

Mariketa lurched under yet another beam, but she was getting slower, weaker. At last, she fled, ducking behind a wall across from where Bowe was trapped. She slid down to the floor at the corner. He saw her swallow with fear, peek out from the edge of the wall, then squeeze her eyes shut as she barely missed a sudden blast by her face. Leaning her head back, she stared at the ceiling. He barely heard her whispering, "Shit, shit, shit."

Run! He wanted Mariketa to escape. Instead, she brought magick to her palms. Then, as if testing, she glanced around the corner... and finally threw a beam at the sorceress.

Häxa was shot across the room.

With her brows raised, Mariketa dropped her gaze to her gloved palms.

The sorceress shrieked with pain and rage. Smoke began to swirl in a tempest around her, growing thicker and thicker until she was concealed. Mariketa stood and crossed the room to face her, her eyes glowing feverishly, looking like she'd bloody follow her into the haze.

Doona go in there! Doona go...

He finally managed to roar his fear for her. At the edge of the tempest, Mariketa turned to him. But he didn't think she even saw him. A gruesome gray hand slithered out from the smoke and palmed her entire head. Just as claws dropped down like a cage over her forehead, Mariketa put her forefinger against her red lips to quiet him.

Then she smiled as she was yanked into the chaos.

He fought against his invisible bindings, grappling with all the strength in his body. Arms free. He had to get inside to her. The smoke choked him, blinding light sparking inside it -

Suddenly, Häxa was thrown from the tempest.

When Mariketa followed, her feet didn't touch the ground. She looked like nothing he'd ever seen - a killer ready for annihilation.

Mariketa kept her mirrored palms up, delivering a continuous beam at Häxa. Bowe could see Häxa's neck begin to stretch and heard bones snapping. Shrieking, she tossed frenzied beams at Mariketa, but they were useless. "Give me another, Häxa," she sneered. "I didn't quite feel that."

Take her head! Do it!

As if his frantic thoughts called her attention, Häxa raised her head and cast a beam at him.

The hit struck him like a battering ram to the chest. Bones shattered under the force.

52

Her concentration was interrupted just long enough for Häxa to grasp her beams and pull. She yanked Mari into her like a pitched ball, then batted her away, sending her flying.

Mari landed on her back, with such a crushing force that blood sprayed from her mouth. Even prone, she tried to attack, raising her gloves, but Häxa had somehow bound her outgoing magick.

"Just stay down, child," Häxa said, rising to her towering height to close in on Mari. "Your father didn't even make it this long. I yawned while I froze your mother."

Häxa loomed over her, building magick in her eyes, her mouth, her hands. Building... building. She was going to use everything she had to finish this, to render Mari to ash.

The Queen of False Faces was just too strong.

The kill shot neared.

Coughing up blood, Mari lolled her head to the side, wanting to see Bowen a last time...

The bone in one of his legs was broken, jutting up, piercing his jeans. His chest was bleeding profusely. The blood had spread out across the front of his shirt and was sopping a trail along the floor as he still struggled toward Mari.

All at once Mari understood why people fought losing battles - because if you want something badly enough, you can't do anything else but fight for it.

Mari would fight.

The mirror she'd climbed through lay on the floor between her and Bowen. She met his eyes, furtively opening her palm for it. Calling it to come to her, she might have budged a corner. Gnashing his teeth, he lunged for it, spinning it across the wood floor to her until her magick could seize it and draw it close.

The sorceress blinked her eyes at them, then shrieked with fury, letting loose her power. At the last second, Mari shoved the mirror upright, huddling behind the glass like a knight behind a shield against the fire of a dragon.

The beam reflected, trapping Häxa with her own unstoppable power.

So hot... hold on... fight!

Häxa's screams echoed, piercing the night. In a circle all around Mari, the force of the beam's overflow splintered the floor as though a jackhammer had broken through. Shards of wood flew upward. Stakes embedded themselves in the ceiling.

Just have to hold on longer than she can.

Häxa's screams grew dimmer.

Hold on...

Bowe watched as Häxa's body seemed to rupture from within, cracking open into thick fissures. With her claw-tipped fingers clenched in pain, she began to shift - and a thousand forms flashed over her.

In the midst of them, Bowe spied a witch with raven hair and draped in a black stole.

Then... light exploded inside her, incinerating her.