Forever Entranced ~Book Two Of The Soul Bound Series

Chapter Twenty-Eight ~ Treachery

We walked in silence through the drafty tunnel. Illius wasn't much for conversation now that he had successfully given the crystal wall frostbite. How? Hell only knew. I decided to conclude that it had something to do with the energy that had coursed through our veins, pulling us into a catastrophic current of emotions. Now whether this theory was correct or not had yet to be proven.

I ran my dry tongue over my cracked lips, glancing sideways at the brooding demon. Something was happening to him, that was clear. The more I touched him, the more he had a reaction. The unexplainable pull between us was inevitable, it was only a matter of time before we broke out into another show of passion.

I had felt pulled to West initially, but the longer I went without Elizabeth's journal, the more I questioned my feelings for him. My heart was a traitor to me, pulling me in different directions, yanking me around until I didn't know which way was up or down. All I knew how to do was continue pressing forward. Somehow I felt that if I could just find Luis and my parents, everything would be the way it should be, but was that really realistic?

I could feel the Crystal Key pulsing in my jacket's pocket. It yearned for us to continue moving forward, to find what it was meant to truly unlock. This castle of crystal, though beautiful, was an icy trap, closing in on us and taking us further into its frozen depths, or at least that was how I felt as the tunnel opened up into a small, stone room. On the farthest wall stood a mirror that stretched from floor to ceiling.

I knew this room, but from where? Tentatively, I approached the mirror, "The final prize is where you can look into your own eyes," I whispered under my breath.

"What?" Illius stood behind me in the mirror's reflection, his blue eyes landing on my gray ones.

"The final prize, what we're looking for. What Elizabeth was trying to lead us to this entire time, it's where you can look into your own eyes," I scanned the mirror, it seemed to be molded into the stone itself, "It's behind the mirror." I concluded, my heart leaping with anticipation.

"Then stand back," He shoved me to the side and with one swift movement, kicked with all he had. A normal mirror would have shattered into millions of pieces, but this mirror only bounced back, sending a yellow energy pouring from its surface, throwing Illius across the room where he slammed into a stone wall. He grunted, moving to his feet, "What in the name of Hell?" He panted, moving to stand beside me once more.

"Wait," I pushed him back a little, "I-" I cut off, pausing. Hesitantly, I raised my hand up to the reflective looking glass and placed my palm flat against its freezing surface, "Come on, work." I begged.

The mirror suddenly rippled, growing warm beneath my palm. The heat grew into a pulsating warmth, rushing through my fingertips. Rippling again, the mirror dissolved. The silvery, reflective liquid sizzled like acid as it spilled onto the stone floor, leaving a gaping, black hole in its wake.

Illius stepped away from the liquid, eyeing it skeptically. My own gaze fell on a small, silver, chest sitting ominously in the center of the tiny room revealed behind where the mirror once stood. A large key hole sat on the front of it, jagged and matching the end of the Crystal Key.

I fished the key out of my pocket, my anxiety heightening as I drew nearer to the chest. This was it. What we had come all the way here for, the scroll. This was what was going to right the wrong, flip my world back around and hopefully, allow me to find the ones I loved. The key slipped in with ease and I took a deep breath, holding it in before turning the handle.

It clicked  and the lid of the chest popped up. I looked back at Illius who was kneeling beside me. He nodded, encouraging me to open it, his blue eyes eagerly trained on the silver chest. I released the breath I had been holding in and lifted the lid. My heart fell, that wasn't a scroll, it didn't even resemble a scroll.