It took hours to unpack everything from the truck and more time to get Professor Digby to leave. Night fell while Gemma and Becky focused back on the items hidden within Gemma’s bag.
“I’ve not been able to get my mind off the mirror. You really hit it hard on the railing. I hope it’s not broken further.”
“I’m glad I have heard no scrapping of glass. So, I don’t think it dislodged the glass.” Sitting at the kitchen table in the old servants’ cottage, they carefully opened her bag and pulled the items out.
Laying them down, the mirror looked no worse for wear and both women sighed in relief at that. The book, however. Its lock appeared to have taken the brunt of the damage. A scratched dent crossed the whole lock.
“Wow, okay, I think the lock’s broken permanently.”
“Maybe we can try forcing it open? See what’s inside. I think it a grimoire and the mirror was for scrying.”
“Okay, nerd. What is scrying?”
“Lots of magic users use scrying to spy or talk to people far away. It’s in lots of fantasy stories. Even Merlin scried in the Arthurian legends. Nostradamus got all his predictions from candlelight and a bowl of water.”
“Okay, enough, I believe you. A point to it being a witch’s recipe book. Let’s see what’s in this.” Gemma took the heavy leather strap in a firm grasp and pulled on it. A moment later it gave under her pulling.
They looked at the book for a moment in almost stunned silence. “Are you going to open it?”
“Oh, yeah.” Gemma carefully opened the book with a dishtowel. The book’s yellowed pages made crinkling noises, the ink gray rather than black. “It’s old, that’s for sure. But why wasn’t this kept in the library?”
“Maybe it’s kept hidden because it’s private family business?” Becky didn’t look up from the pages as she said this. “I can’t make out any of this. Maybe I’m just too tired? Or we need better light?”
“I don’t know, maybe. I keep thinking I can read something and then… nothing comes of it. You might be correct. Or we’re just too tired right now. You know I’ll take these up to my room. We can try again tomorrow. But I’m tired. I want to unpack the bathroom before bed.”
“I’ll unpack the kitchen stuff. At least, they were nice and stocked the staples for us. We didn’t need to shop for food in the morning. I don’t think I can take that road again so soon.”
“Yeah, I need to get a notebook so I can make a list of things to do by priority. I saw the garden, and it’s a nightmare. I think the grounds are our job to fix up. Some of it will need professional care to fix up. But I think we’ll be able to deal with the plants.”
“Great, I’ll get our computer systems set up in the little room off the kitchen tomorrow and start researching local plants. I know there’s an app that if you take a picture of a plant, it can tell us about it.”
“That will be good, because it wouldn’t surprise me if we found some endangered plants in the gardens. They’re extensive. So, I feel our days for the near future will be full of things that need to be done.”
“We are so far out of our element. I’ll say good night now.” Becky headed out of the kitchen for some unknown reason, but Gemma was too tired to care. She slipped the mirror and book back into her bag and left the kitchen by the back stairs, while Becky returned with a box.
Upstairs in her new bedroom, Gemma rested the black mirror against the wall on the low dresser across from the bed. Once Gemma unpacked the bathroom and she readied herself for bed. She picked up the journal and went to sit on the window seat. She wanted to relax and let her brain catch up to how tired her body was. “Now what do we have?”
Gemma shifted through the dry pages using a tissue to prevent damage. Focused on the book, Gemma jumped when she heard a man’s voice say, “Hello gorgeous. That’s moon ink. Hold the pages up to the moonlight.”
She let out a startled cry and looked over the book while holding it to her chest protectively. Her eyes widened when she realized there was the image of a half-naked man in the mirror. She was speechless, with her mouth hanging open.
He stood inside the mirror, chuckling in a self-satisfied way. He plastered a sexy smirk across his face as he crossed his arms and stared her directly in the eyes.
“Who are you, my beauty, hmm? Are you my next charge as the guardian?”
“What… What are you talking about? Who… who are you?”
“No, no. I asked first little one. Answer and then I’ll answer. Come now, what is your name?”
It took her a moment to open her mouth. “Gemma. Gemma Conlin.”
“That’s good. Well, met my sweet Gemma.” His voice was deep and mesmerizing as it vibrated through the room toward her. “I am known as Larin Vanis. I am one protector of the Guardians of the Helencia Mirrors and Portals.”
Gemma shook her head. “Helencia Mirrors? What portals? What are you talking about?” That’s when she realized the man’s face was the adult version of the boy from her memories. “Where’s your bear?”
“My bear is here with me, as always. If you don’t know about the mirrors or the portals. How do you know about my bear?” He shifted his stance, intrigued by the information she revealed.
“I remember seeing you in this mirror years ago.” Gemma swallowed and relaxed her death grip on the book. “You were asleep. Your hair was to your shoulders then, and you were sleeping with a bear cub. I dropped the mirror when I realized it wasn’t a fur rug, but a real bear.”
This elicited a bark of a laugh from him. “That was Hugo Vanis. My cousin. I see you don’t understand. We are duel-natured. We have two natural forms. This one and that of a bear.”
“Okay, this is too much to take in. Where are you? How are you doing this?”
“I have the mate to your mirror here in my apartments. There’s magic in the mirror that allows Guardian and Protector to communicate. My father passed it down to me hoping the next Guardian would do their duty.”
“Wait. My Great Aunt Esme had the mirror put away in the attic. I found it years ago.”
“Even then, she was too old to protect the mirror. There was another who forsook the responsibility. We’ve been struggling since then.”
“Do you know the name of the Guardian?” Gemma couldn’t believe this. She knew she had to have fallen asleep on the window seat and this was all a dream.
“David. Do you know him? The Guardians usually come from one family as do the Protectors.”
“My father. I don’t know what happened. He died when I was in high school. My Aunt Rosa was our guardian until recently.”
“He never took up after Ester’s sister. The portal is open, and we’re having a devil of a time keeping the Greyback mages from sending their forces through.”
“Forces? I’ve seen no soldiers here.”
“They aren’t soldiers. They start by sending shadow creatures to strike fear and injury into those on the other side who don’t expect them.”
This grabbed Gemma’s attention. “How do I find the portal? If it is open, nothing's come through yet that I know of. How do I close it?”
“The moon's almost gone. I will try to get through the portal as soon as the moon is again on the right stage. Until then, we’ll talk through the mirror. Look for the seal, you can’t miss it. It’s round and the diameter of the height of a man. Made of stone with symbols of power carved into it. If you don’t have the Helencia tome of rituals, find it. The ritual should be within that book.”
“This isn’t it?”
“That’s my journal explaining everything. Read it my lovely as quickly as possible. It will teach you everything you need to know. But you can only read it when moonlight falls on the pages. It’s all part of the magic. Goodnight, until tomorrow.” He stepped away from the mirror and into the darkness of the mirror. Again, she couldn’t see her own reflection in the mirror again and he left. Dang, if she dreamed, she needed to date again. But she couldn’t figure out how her brain aged the boy like that. She needed to sleep in the bed, or she’d be sore in the morning. Genna just didn’t remember waking up. Confused, she stumbled to the bed and climbed under the covers with thoughts of a well-muscled man named Larin Vanis with his sexy leer.
First thing the next morning, Gemma thought of the gorgeous slab of a man from her dreams. Her first thought was to find him in the mirror. But that failed. It was as black as ever. However, to her surprise, the glass was whole. The crack disappeared from the glass, like it’d never been there. This sent Gemma into a tailspin of panic. Something definitely happened last, and she didn’t know what it was. She needed to talk to Becky right away. Becky needed to see this. “Becky! Becky wake up! You won’t believe this!” Gemma yelled as she sprinted down the hallway to Becky’s room. She stopped long enough to knock on the door before she entered, a little out of breath. “What’s going on? Are we being invaded or something?” “That’s what I’m trying
Larin knocked an empty tankard from the table beside him in irritation. It’d been hours since he spoke to her, Gemma. The more he thought of her and her fragile beauty, the more imperative it felt to him is that he must be by her side. Her ignorance was not the bliss, many claimed it to be. It endangered her life. Part of the problem started when Ester passed. The illness took forever to kill the sweet old woman. The magic and medicine they possessed couldn’t save her from the magical disease, combined with her age. Magic was in short supply, and a war waged on. Now the other guardian Esmeralda died, and her replacement failed to take her place. That guardian died, too. Gemma now stood in the position of becoming one of the two guardians. Mirror guardians were always twins. One must exist on either side of the portal.
Gemma and Becky followed Professor Digby, who pointed out various things as they returned to the main house. He kindly pointed out where the arbour was near the lake. Becky couldn’t keep her excitement in when he disclosed this information to them. Gemma, on the other hand, was more concerned about what happened to the restoration crewmen. Nothing would get done if they couldn’t keep staff. Also, what Larin said in the dream or whatever that was. He may not be real, but they could still prove the information. The verification of that appeared to be frighteningly true. The only confirmation that would be indisputable would be to see one of these creatures or meet Larin. “Once we deal with this interruption, we can continue with the rest of the tour. That way you can comprehend the scope of this restoration and how i
“This setback or failure is on your head when push comes to shove.” “Professor Digby, I understand you’re highly trained in your field. Which is all fine and dandy. But I am the one responsible if those craftspeople get injured on my property. You, sir, are not. The incidents could also cause damage to the estate. Of which would also cause your precious schedule to fall behind and the costs to go up. So technically, I may have just saved us from several lawsuits, expenses due to schedule delays, and staff safety. Now please show us around and then you can go home for the day.” “Fine, but I will contact Mr. Winters and file my complaint.” “Sir, you can do as you like. I won’t stop you. You are a grown man.” Gemma had enough of this man. She would see Mr. Winters long before this man would call him, and she’d fill Mr. Winte
“Gemma? I think you’re right. He’s preserved nothing; in fact, this could cause damage to these clothes. But he was searching for something. Okay, I admit my mind went from zero to sixty a long time ago. Normally, I’d put it down to listening to too many conspiracy theories and messing with too many roleplaying games. But I think it’s right this time. I’m just not sure what he could search for. Well, other than what we’ve been searching for.” Becky gingerly returned a small rag doll to a box. Neither woman truly knew where each item came from. All they could hope for was to remove the items from the dust and potential bugs that could damage them. “But how would he even know anything about it? I mean, I should have been told, but I think my parents put a stop to that. How did he
Larin closed his pack and again looked at his best friend and cousin. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Keep an eye on the mirror for one of us to explain the situation better.” “I still believe it’s a bad idea to go behind the elders and worse going alone. What if you get in trouble? Who will pull you to safety from certain death?” Hugo wasn’t happy about any of this. Not only was he inheriting all the responsibilities of being a leader, but Larin never bother to ask him if he wanted it. That, and he felt like he’d be missing out on a wonderful adventure full of mystery and danger. “I need you here, and again I don’t plan to be gone long. We can’t let Greyback get a foothold in that realm. They have no protections from him or his ilk.” “I still don’t understand why we have to care a
“We aren’t getting anywhere here, and I can’t find anything more here. Maybe there’s something at the arbour. Or maybe they have a place they’ve stored their discoveries from their investigation, excavation, or whatever they did.” “That we’ll look into that after Mr. Winters gets here.” Becky’s phone dinged. “Oh, cool. The order will be here by four this afternoon. Not bad, if I say so myself.” “We can start looking into the rooms he didn’t show us. Even the outer buildings might have something. However, those will need to wait until Mr. Winters’ gone.”&nb
“I’ll attempt to remember the past incidents I learned about through my predecessor. I can have my assistant copy the notes and send them to you. But for now, well… as you know, twins run in your family. This estate has been here from before the founding of the town. One of the strangest things is one twin always leaves, never to return. In the beginning, with communication being spotty, no one knew they were missing. The family would never speak of them again. Now, as the generations passed and communications got better, your family couldn’t say they’d moved away. People could investigate and find they’d never made it to their location. A few people investigated the last time this happened. Your Great Aunt Ester was never found, but they found no evidence of murder or death by accident. She just… disappeared. There are at least three or four incidents like this since the town’s records started.”