Nancy scread, nearly jumping out of her skin when she caught the reflection in the floor-length mirror. It was the faces of the Cardinal Alphas awkwardly cramd together as if trying to fit into the fra at the sa ti.
"Oh, we don’t need any filter," Roman replied to Griffin. "I wouldn’t mind receiving a tip or two from our very experienced mother-in-law." He grinned shalessly.
"God, you’re so gross." Alaric grimaced, staring at Roman in open disgust.
While the chitchat continued, Nancy and Ezra stood frozen on the spot, staring at the scene with identical looks of bewildernt.
Then Violet’s voice floated in before her face appeared in the mirror, scolding one very obvious Alpha.
"There are so imaginations I do not need in my head, Roman Draven."
Roman pouted. "Don’t worry. I can learn it alone and demonstrate later if you know what I an."
"I don’t necessarily need you all talking to them," Asher started, his tone laced with threat.
Roman rolled his eyes.
Then he turned and finally noticed Ezra and Nancy still staring at them like they’d just witnessed a supernatural glitch in reality.
He waved casually. "Hello, Nancy. Ezra."
"Goddess above..." Nancy whispered, shell-shocked.
She tried to step forward, but Ezra imdiately grabbed her and shifted her behind him protectively, as if this could sohow be a trap.
Ezra was the one who finally moved. He walked toward the mirror, his face creased with cautious thought. Reaching out carefully, he tapped the surface, half-expecting sothing dramatic to happen.
Nothing did aside from a faint ripple, like disturbing the surface of water, but the mirror remained solid and still.
He stepped back slowly and stared at the serious face of Asher Nightshade, who seed to occupy the entire reflection now, patiently waiting for Ezra to recover from his shock.
"Alpha Asher?" Ezra asked carefully. "Is that really you?"
Asher lifted his chin slightly. "It’s really . And we don’t have ti for this. There are many things to discuss."
Nancy gasped at that.
She didn’t care about whatever serious conversation Asher was already planning — that boy was always straight to business. She brushed past Ezra.
"Violet, baby?" she called.
"I’m here, Mom!" Violet shouted, stepping forward until she filled the mirror entirely.
"Goddess, Violet..." Nancy lifted her hand, tracing her daughter’s features even though all she could touch was the cold, hard surface of the glass.
"What is going on? Where did you all go? Do you know how worried I was? I thought—" Her voice broke. She shut her eyes briefly, taking a steadying breath before opening them again. "I thought sothing had happened to you."
Nancy breathed shakily. "The only comfort I had was knowing you were with the alphas. But even then, what if that wasn’t enough? I’ve been anxious ever since."
"I’m so sorry, Nancy. I honestly didn’t an to scare you like that. Everything happened so quickly, and then there was so much going on here, there wasn’t—"
"Here?" Nancy cut her off imdiately.
Her eyes narrowed. "Where is ’here’? Where are you, Violet?"
Violet hesitated, glancing to the side as if silently consulting the others about how much she should reveal.
Nancy’s frown deepened.
"Don’t you dare lie to , Violet Purple," she warned, her voice turning firm. "Micah told you were hiding a secret, and I intend to hear it from your mouth right now."
Violet bit down on her lip nervously. "I really didn’t an to hide it from you. I just... didn’t know how."
"Out with it, Violet." Nancy wasn’t having any of it. Though there was a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her she wasn’t going to like whatever ca next.
Violet took a deep breath. "I’m in the Fae realm."
"The Fae realm?" Nancy blinked, confused. This was the first ti she had ever heard of such a place. "What are you doing in the—" she waved a hand vaguely, "—in there?"
Violet gulped. "The Queen of the Free Fae brought here because I’m the rightful princess."
The look on Nancy’s face was priceless, except this wasn’t funny.
"I don’t understand," she said slowly. "How are you the princess of the Fae... or whatever they call themselves? That doesn’t make sense." Her mind was racing now, trying to piece together sothing that refused to fit.
Violet could already tell this was going to wreck her. But she had no choice.
She laid it out.
"That’s because the Queen of the Free Fae is my mother. My biological mother."
Violet saw the exact mont it dawned on Nancy.
"Oh."
Her face fell.
And it felt like a thousand needles pierced Violet’s chest all at once.
"Nancy—"
But Nancy forced a bright smile onto her face.
"That’s a good thing, right?" she said quickly. "You finally found your real mother. Spending ti with her is important." She nodded to herself as if convincing her own heart.
She kept talking. "And you’re a princess. Dear Lord, I raised a princess of so Fae kingdom in the ghetto. Your mother must want my head." She let out a short laugh and lifted a hand to her mouth.
"Nancy, no — Mom, listen to ..." Violet tried again, but Nancy was already spiraling in her own thoughts.
"I think I need so air," Nancy said, drawing in a slow, steady breath.
She gave Violet a smile but it didn’t reach her eyes.
"Perhaps Ezra and Asher can have that talk now. And later... I don’t know how this mirror thing works, but we’ll talk later."
"Nancy, no — don’t go— fuck!" Violet swore when Nancy suddenly turned and rushed out of the room as if sothing was chasing her.
Ezra stood there, visibly torn. He wanted to go after his mate, but at the sa ti, there was sothing important happening here.
He ran a hand through his hair with a frustrated sigh. "I’m sorry, but you guys might have to do this again. I need to go after my mate."
His gaze shifted to Violet. She looked shattered.
"Don’t worry," he told her gently. "Everything will work out."
Then Ezra turned and strode out, following the path Nancy had taken.
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