Page 13 of Kick the Candle (Knight Games 2)
The mirror in Rick's hands was a misshapen stretch of polished silver I'd enchanted during my second lifetime. It didn't exactly tell the future, but it did zero-in on supers who were thinking about making bad choices. Nine times out of ten, they'd act on those impulses and Rick and I would catch them in the act. Rick placed it flat on the floor where it looked like a puddle on the hardwood.
I sat down across from him, not bothering with my clothes. It was better this way. Nature had the strongest connection with magic and clothing only complicated the clarity of the vision.
"Ready?" I asked.
He nodded and placed his fingers at the edge of the mirror. I did the same. Instantly the magic awakened, the silver bubbling to a boil and swirling like liquid mercury.
"Mirror, mirror, on the floor-" I began.
"I do not know why you insist on starting that way," Rick said, giving me a sour glare.
"It's funny," I said. "It's from Snow White."
He rolled his eyes. "Mi cielo, please."
I straightened up. "Fine, but you could benefit from more humor in your life. You take yourself way too seriously."
He cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows.
"Okay, okay." I stared at the swirling silver and said in a cool, strong voice, "Reveal."
The bubbles rose to form buildings, a 3-D model of an area I recognized immediately.
"It's the edge of Carlton." I pointed at a blinking silver sign at the center of the cityscape. "See, it's the Mill Wheel nightclub."
"You know this place?"
"Everybody knows this place. It's where all the college kids go because they don't enforce the drinking age."
A male figure boiled up in the back alley, watching silver skinned girls filter past him to smoke near the dumpster. I frowned.
"I believe a certain vamp would like to take advantage of the most impressionable guests." Rick's brows knit.
I passed my hand over the mirror and the scene melted into a pool of swirling silver.
"Reveal," I repeated. Another scene boiled to the surface. Another man, another alley.
"I know this place," he said. "Maison des Etoiles. It's a fae bordello."
"Should I ask why you are familiar with a bordello?" Rick told me he'd never been with anyone but me.
"These fae are friendly to our cause and often have information about creatures of the night due to their profession."
"So, you use them for information?"
"Yes."
"Ah." A wayward pang of jealousy sliced through me at the thought of Rick in a Bordello. Had he really saved himself for me? And if he had, why did that mean so much to me now? Hell, why did the thought of Rick in a bordello fill me with green-eyed rage? I shoved the feeling down deep. I had no right to that emotion, not while I refused to commit.
I turned my attention back toward the mirror and watched the voluptuous silhouette of a shiny winged fae meet the man in the alley. He grabbed her shoulders, and she writhed in pain, dissolving between his hands.
"That's not a vampire. What is this, Rick? He just eviscerated her with a simple touch."
"I'm not sure. The fae are filled with light and warmth. Whatever he is must possess the opposite to have that effect."
I blinked at the silvery scene, an ominous sinking feeling in my belly. Then I passed my hand over the top and said, "Reveal."
The scene changed again. This was going to be a busy night.
