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“Is this about the reincarnation thing?”
Her face lights up. “Oh good, you know about that. I was worried I’d have to find a delicate way to tell you you’re definitely going to die if we don’t get to the bottom of this curse.”
A nervous laugh escapes my lips at her blunt assessment. “Yeah, I know about it, but I figured humans die anyway, so…”
She raises an eyebrow. “So you want to just let it happen?” She sounds so incredulous I feel a little ridiculous for not worrying more about my mortality.
“Well, no, I definitely prefer to live, but – ”
“Good.” She takes hold of my arm and drags me toward the wall, waving her arm at it. “We need to go.”
“Wait… holy mother of…” A whirling ball of light ignites in the palm of her hand before exploding into a rotating black pit with a glowing green circle around it. “Do you seriously expect me to get in there with you?”
“Of course! Teleportation is the only way of reaching the Shadow Realm. C’mon, it’s easy.”
“Wait! I need to tell Keenan.” I try to yank my arm from her grip, but she’s stronger than she looks.
“There’s no time, we have to go.” She steps closer to the portal, the green glow giving her an eerie look. “Your life depends on it.”
I snatch my cell phone off the counter as she drags me past it. “I’ll text him, it’ll just take a sec – ” She yanks me through the black hole in my kitchen wall before I can finish the sentence.
A blast of cold air hits me and the sensation of being squeezed through a tube has me gasping, but I can’t breathe because there’s no air so my gasp turns into a squeak. Before panic can set in, my feet land on solid ground and I’m able to fill my lungs with air.
“See, easy!” Mags says.
I pull my arm from her grip and rub it. “You could have at least let me text Keenan. He’s going to be frantic.”
“There was no time.”
“It takes five seconds to type out ‘Mags kidnapping me to Shadow Realm, won’t be home for supper.’ Now he’s going to freak out when he finds out I’ve gone missing.” I pace away from her, holding my phone up. No cell service.
I try to reach out to Keenan through our bond, but there’s nothing there. Not sensing him feels like a gut punch and I glare at my witch of a sister-in-law.
“He’ll be fine,” she assures me. “I left him a message. Besides, time works different here. If I want, I can have you back before he even notices.” Grinning, she waves her arm. “Welcome to the Citadel, Vanessa Bedalia. You’re one of only a handful of humans to come here.”
Turning in a circle, I take in the Shadow Realm’s Citadel. When Keenan mentioned where his sister-in-law was staying, I pictured a grey world filled with shadows and smoke, but this is something else, something wondrous.
“Wow,” I breathe.
We’re standing on a bridge of sorts, but the entire place is filled with bridges and walkways linking the buildings… or what looks like buildings. Some are skyscrapers, but others are shaped like mountains and towers.
The realm is dark, but not dark, a golden haze illuminating everything, but subtly. Each bridge, each building shimmers as if it’s a light source unto itself, but with stretching arms joining each other in a welcoming embrace.
Overhead, the sky is filled with stars, but they’re not regular stars like on Earth. Under my astonished gaze, they move and realign in different constellations.
I walk to the edge of the bridge and look over the railing, sucking in a breath when I realize there’s no ground. Only endless smoke.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Mags comments as she joins me. “If I didn’t have Rush to go home to, I could live here forever.”
I look at her. “I’ve met your husband a few times, but you were always here in the Shadow Realm.”
She nods, her expression growing subdued. “It’s uncomfortable to be separated.” She rubs her chest over her heart. “It feels like missing half of yourself and you won’t be whole again until you’re together.”
It’s comforting to hear Mags talk about the mating bond in a way I can relate to. Keenan and I aren’t separated often, but when we are, the sensation is uncomfortable.
Her words remind me of the reason she was forced to separate from her husband. “I was told you came here to try to find a cure to my reincarnation problem. I’ve been wanting to thank you for months, but of course, you were here.”
“If there’s anything I can do to help, I have to try. It was my ancestor who put you in this position.” Her expression grows serious. “Unfortunately, despite all the research I’ve conducted, I haven’t found much. If we want to make any progress, we need you.”
