Blood, Smoke and Mirrors (2010) Read Online Free PDF Page A

stunning display of actual obedience, both cats hopped down from the bed and hightailed it from the room.
    After shutting the door to my closet and to my bedroom, I crossed to the antique mirror. The old dressing mirror stretched taller than me and just slightly wider, and my reflection stared back at me, resigned to our fate. Taking a deep breath, I drew the dagger from my belt and sliced a long, shallow cut across my right palm. The blood welled red, bright and painful against my pale skin, and I placed the palm against the center of the mirror.
    "Between the worlds, I make this door,
    Safe passage through, as time before.
    The lock undone, with blood as key,
    As I will, so mote it be."
    The image shimmered and a ripple spread out from my hand like rings on the surface of a pond. A glow formed and lit the room, suffusing the entire reflection until it was a blank sea of light. I inched my hand away and the light brightened even further, almost to the point of blinding until it suddenly faded. My room was no longer reflected in the mirror, but instead an image of a grassy hill appeared. Fluffy white clouds wandered across the landscape's sky, and the long grass waved in the breeze.
    I glanced at the two photos atop my dresser--one of me and my mother on my fourth birthday, and one of me and Maureen at my high school graduation. "Wish me luck, ladies," I said softly.
    Squaring my shoulders, I stepped through the mirror.
    I've lived in the city all my life, so it's no surprise that the sensation of breathing fresh air is strange and foreign to me. I'm used to exhaust, smoke and other general pollution, and the absence of it makes me wary. To me, it's the ultimate reminder of not being in Kansas anymore, Toto. Aside from the cleanliness, Faerie isn't so different from our world as far as looks go. The grass is green, the sky is blue and the sun shines during the day and the stars at night, though admittedly the constellations are different. I'm not sure why that is, I'm no astronomer, and I haven't had the time or inclination to find out.
    With one hand secure on the hilt of my sword, I walked forward toward the hill. The portal closed behind me with a muffled pop, but I paid it no mind. I knew how to get home without it, even though I had no idea where I was. Despite the fact that I've used the same mirror in the same spot for seven years in a row now, it's never opened to the same place twice. I knew the hill was a faerie mound, and if this was where the door had brought me then this was where I needed to be.
    "Portia?" I called out as I walked. It was slow going, or at least in comparison to a brisk walk down the concrete sidewalks of home. Like I said, I'm a city girl. I like my roads paved, my messages instant and my coffee to go.
    "Kitty! This is so exciting!"
    I turned to see the faerie fly over to join me. A cool shower of faerie dust rained down as Portia fluttered above me, and I couldn't help but sneeze.
    "Yeah, it's gonna be a real barrel of laughs," I muttered. My fingers itched to light up a cigarette, so I balled my hands into fists and stuffed them into my pockets. No point in being rude to the locals. Yet. "So I take it we're going in the mound. Whose is it?"
    "The Underhill clan. They're good people. I have cousins here on my mother's side." She smiled at me, and then plopped down to walk at my side. I'd heard of them--despite the terribly unoriginal name, they had a good reputation for fairness, and more importantly, did not have a reputation for causing trouble in the human world. Some faeries, mostly the clanless ones, just can't seem to resist mischief making. A common activity is breaking human gadgets. Ever wonder why your car battery died for no apparent reason? Find your keys in places you know you did not leave them? You're not crazy, you just had the misfortune of being targeted by a faerie with nothing better to do with eternity.
    "Am I the only candidate who's going to be at this meeting?"
    "One