The Crumpled Mirror by Elizabeth Loea (free novel reading sites TXT) 📕

warning for me. I ducked into the room behind Indigo, glanced around, and there was Mint, covered in ash.

He reddened as he met our eyes. The freckles were back.

“I know you’re all mad at me,” he started, “but do you really have to attack me?”

Ginger stood a mere yard away from him and looked so tired she might pass out.

“Well, sorry,” she grumbled. “We’ve had a few unwelcome visitors lately.”

“The ghosts,” Mint responded. “You mentioned them earlier. I told you they’re harmless, didn’t I?”

Adrian and Lilac ducked into the room and we fanned out, five young adults facing what was essentially an ancient zombie.

“They aren’t harmless,” Ginger shot back. “They are definitely not harmless.” She glanced in my direction.

For a moment, Mint looked almost apologetic. His face was still shifting, still rippling.

“You’re not a priority,” he said at last, which was worse than no apology at all. “I’m sure you’re safe enough here. I thought your wards were pretty good, even though they were unnecessary. I had to use several combined spells to rip through them, and that’s no easy feat.”

Indigo held up a hand. “You replaced them, right?”

“No, of course not.”

Indigo shot a panicked glance in my direction. I nodded acknowledgment and gestured to Adrian and Ginger, who were now closest to the door. Along with Indigo, they headed to fix the runes.

“Wait—” Mint began, but they were gone. He looked to me as though there was something I could do. “I’m here for your second test. Not for witty banter or silly anxieties about ghosts.”

I was already right in front of him. I grabbed his shirt and waited until his freckles disappeared.

“I need to talk to the Mint that cares about helping us,” I said. “Your name is Artie Lincoln. You were brought back to life by Oberon, who killed our friends and family to do it. And I know he’s back, and killing again.”

He pushed me away but couldn’t say anything.

I pushed a finger into his chest. “So what does he want now? I demanded. What does he want with us after ten years? Indigo’s sister thinks he wants to bring the kids back. I doubt it, considering he left them dead for ten years. You know him better than anyone else I can get in touch with. So what does he want with us? He needs my name, obviously for some kind of spell. Probably the same spell he used ten years ago. But he could kill another group of people. There are plenty of other lives. Why us? And why now?”

“I don’t—” he started. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lilac laughed at that. “You do realize that this is your fault, right? If you’d warned us about this or taught us magic instead of randomly testing us, Clementine wouldn’t have been strangled yesterday.”

Mint looked to me, concern knitting his brow at last.

“Strangled?” he echoed..

I pulled back the collar of the sweater I’d borrowed from Indigo. I couldn’t see my bruises without a mirror, but I’d glanced at them in the mirror earlier and I knew they looked bad.

He stared.

Silence settled over the three of us. Slowly but surely, the freckles came back. Mint’s hand twitched before he stuffed it in his pocket.

Ginger entered before Mint could come up with anything to say. Indigo and Adrian followed her closely, the latter tucking a pen back into his pocket.

“The entrances are sealed again,” Adrian told me. “You should check them at some point, just to make sure the runes look right.”

“Thank you.” I turned back to Mint. “Now, let me out of this goddamn house.”

“I’m sorry,” Mint said, but it clearly wasn’t an apology for his inaction. “But I can’t do that until the test is over. It’s sealed until then.”

“Let’s get this over with quickly, then,” I said.

His eyes still on my bruises, he led us to a huge ballroom I’d never seen before, which was built underground and lit by glowing vines that clogged the staircase on the way in.

“One day, we’re going to need to make a map of this place,” Indigo muttered to me.

We lined up in front of Mint, our shoulders square despite our nervousness. The ballroom was huge and smelled like anise—those glowing vines must have been growing some sort of flower, although they didn’t look as though they were. A chandelier hung above our heads, somewhat askew. Wax candles stood unlit on it.

I slid my foot across the perfectly smooth mahogany floor and felt my sock pick up a layer of dust.

“You’ve had about a week to get used to your abilities,” he said. “I hope you’ve been experimenting with them.”

He looked to me for confirmation and I shrugged.

“I’m not in charge of them,” I said.

“You’re not?” Ginger interjected.

“No, of course not.”

Mint shot me a confused frown and then gestured expansively to the rest of the group.

“Very well,” he said. “The administration at Robin College keeps track of the extent of certain abilities, including yours. I’ll ask you to demonstrate a certain aspect of your power. If you cannot, I’ll suggest another. You get three tries. If you can’t demonstrate any of the suggested options, you can pick a different one I haven’t listed and demonstrate that, or you can fail.”

There was a pregnant pause long enough to fit in a few waltz steps across the floor, if any of us wished to dance. We didn’t.

“I’ll go,” Indigo volunteered, stepping forward from my side.

“Show-off,” Ginger grumbled.

Indigo gave her a smile that was not entirely sincere and rolled up his sleeves. He held out his hands in front of him, palms parallel to the ground and fingers splayed.

“You look like an idiot,” Ginger told him, never one to mince words. I sent a chiding look in her direction and she added, “Good luck, I guess.”

I knew she was rooting for him, but consternation still flashed across Indigo’s face.

He glanced back at me, green eyes dancing in the golden light of the vines, and I nodded encouragement. He didn’t need that