She leaned in close, her lips brushing the shell of my ear.
“Survival instinct,” she whispered. When she pulled back, her smile was menacing, cutting through all pretense of professionalism like a hot knife. “Enjoy the rest of your stay in Raven’s Cape, Detective. Good night.”
Twenty-Eight
Gray
“It’s here,” I said, my heartbeat quickening as the pool’s stone perimeter came into view. “I can feel it. It’s like it’s calling to me, and my magic is calling back.”
Darius, Liam, and I had been hiking for hours, and we’d just crested a hill, giving us a glimpse of the Pool of Unknowing and the dark green valley that stretched out below. We’d left the snows behind at the cabin, and now the air was balmy and sweet, buzzing with insects. Just beyond the pool, a forest of ponderosa pines stood tall and stately, calmly keeping watch.
“I don’t see anything that looks like a rune gate,” Darius said.
“It’s beneath the water,” I said. “And it will be there when I need it. I know it will.”
“It’s highly possible,” Liam told Darius. “This realm is always shifting and rearranging. Gray’s own magical realm could be in any location at any time. It’s not fixed. Given that, her intuition and magic are our best—and really only—guides. If she says it will appear, I trust that it will.”
“In that case…” Darius slipped his hand around the back of my neck and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Lead the way, little brawler.”
We headed down the hill in the direction of the pool, sticking close together, keeping watch in all directions. But everything about this place felt so calm, so peaceful. There were no monsters here. No ghosts. No traps.
Only the way home.
“Once we locate the rune gate,” Liam said, “I’ll go in first. We don’t know how long it will take to travel through, and I want to be there when you arrive on the other side, just in case. Once we’re together in your realm, we’ll reconnect with the material plane like we’ve done in the past, and hopefully, return with your bodyandyour soul.”
“I’m coming with you,” Darius said. “I don’t like words like ‘hopefully.’”
“I’m afraid you and Ronan can’t access Gray’s realm. You must return through the hell portal.”
“I don’t want to leave her,” he said.
“I’m afraid you must. You can’t go through her rune gate, and she can’t go through the hell portal. To do so would—”
“Yes, I’m well aware of the risks.” Darius let out a low growl of frustration. “Alright. Ronan will open the hell portal. Liam, you’ll go through the rune gate. Then we’ll send Gray through, and Ronan and I will follow through the portal.”
“That’s our best shot,” I said. “And we’ll all meet up on the other side. Right?”
Liam nodded. “Hopeful—”
“Shh!” I pressed my finger to his lips, laughing. “Don’t say the H-word.”
He grinned behind my fingers, then grabbed my hand, kissing my fingers. “As you wish.”
Darius rolled his eyes. “You twoarerather nauseating, aren’t you? Are you going to carry on like this the entire way home?”
“Jealous, vampire?” I teased, elbowing him in the ribs.
“I am most certainlynot. I’m merely stating—”
“He’s here!” I shouted, spotting Ronan up ahead. He’d just exited the ponderosa forest and was heading toward the pool. I left Darius and Liam and broke into a run, my heart soaring, my magic swirling into a frenzy inside.
Ronan had seen me too, and now bolted toward me, the two of us on a collision course across the valley. I laughed, thinking of all the airport reunion scenes I’d seen in Sophie’s rom-coms. All I needed was a cheesy soundtrack, and the moment would be complete.
We crashed into each other full force, toppling to the ground. Ronan wrapped me up in his arms, rolling me on top of him, holding me so tight I almost couldn’t breathe. Tears streaked my cheeks, falling onto his face.
He took my face into his hands, staring up at me as if he couldn’t believe I was real.
I knew the feeling.
