Pickup Styx by Liz Schulte

her father sparked in me. I understood now better than I ever had. Being left wasn’t something easily dealt with.
    “I wish Selene were here,” Jessica muttered, echoing my thoughts.
    “I need to see Adan,” I told Sebastian. “Can you take Katrina and Jessica back to the castle and try to figure out the next location.” I rattled off what was on my paper. “Look through my father’s things. Surely, he kept track of his women in some way. Maybe he gave them money?”
    Sebastian nodded, disappearing with the girls. I looked down at the bodies of my unknown siblings once more. The likelihood of having more relations out there seemed probable. A mixture of guilt and wariness filled me. Half of me wanted to meet them and half wanted to stay as far away from these people as possible. The happy, secure family I had known all of my life had somehow slipped between my fingertips over the years. My mother and sister were gone, my father had lost his mind, and even Selene was beyond reach. I was alone.
    “Excuse me,” a woman said behind me.
    I stepped out of the way. She looked down at the blue-haired girl, silent sea-water tears catching in her long eyelashes. She looked like her, but older. Her hair was a paler shade of the same blue-green, but it fell in soft curls down to her waist. Her eyes were glacier blue and heartbroken.
    “I’m sorry for your loss,” I told the woman.
    She looked at me for the first time. “Are you the guard?”
    Now was the moment of truth. I could officially meet one of my father’s lovers or sink into the shadows and avoid it for a moment longer.
    “Your daughter was very beautiful.”
    She looked back at her. “Does the Erlking know what happened?”
    “Yes. He is personally investigating. You have my word.”
    She nodded. “And his father, does he know?”
    My mouth went dry. “He’s heartbroken.”
    The tears fell faster now and she knelt beside the body. I swore if my father wasn’t affected over this girl’s death that I would make him so. No life was worth less because of what they were. His hate had destroyed too much and it couldn’t continue. I had to stop him.
     

 

     

     
    Blood streamed down my injured arm and I kept it clutched to my chest, pushing myself further and harder though my shoes sunk into the ground and bit into my feet. This forest had to end eventually. Barren branches grabbed at my dress, catching in the lace and tearing it to shreds. A root caught my foot, propelling me forward with all the momentum I had gained. I hit the ground, bounced, and slid. Smashing into a tree, I finally stopped.
    Groaning, I peeled my eyes open. Gray mist swirled around me. I kicked off my stupid, treacherous shoes, flattened my hands against the ground, gritted my teeth through the pain, and pushed myself back up. My vision waved and my knees wobbled. Blinking rapidly, my eyes began to refocus as I glanced around for the next threat, but all I saw were mirrors—three dimensional, human-shaped mirrors that were all my height and size for as far as I could see. I tried to step around the one in front of me and it matched my movement. I did it again and it blocked me again. I took a step back and all the mirrored people stepped in toward me.
    “Corbin. Simon,” I called out. My voice echoed back at me.
    Fantastic.
    I spun around, trying to figure something out, and they advanced again. As I stepped directly in front of the mirror closest to me, they all stopped. My dress was tatters, my legs were covered in scrapes, and bone and muscle were exposed on my arm. At least my face was relatively unharmed, just a little dirty. The small things.
    My own eyes were reflected back at me. Maybe magic would work. Squeezing my hands into fists, I collected energy until my hands vibrated.
    “Here goes nothing,” I muttered as I pushed out the energy. The attack reflected back at me, knocking me into the row of mirrored people behind me. One shattered and burst outward, impaling my