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I shook my head. “I don’t know, but it’s Fae in origin. There are several beings waiting down this path. Something dark and hungry—all scuttle and cunning. And the Hunter, I think. He’s old and crafty, waiting in the dark of the night. I want to shed my cloak and go running toward it.” I turned to Chase. “Show us the portal, please.”
Another five minutes of ever-increasing energy and we were standing in front of a shimmering blue field between two trees, off the sidewalk, to our left. Chase had been right—the thing looked just like a portal, only it had a distinctly different feel from the ones we were used to. Which meant it was either a different kind, or a mimic.
I motioned for Shade to join me. He was the most versed in magic now that Morio was laid up, and he’d have a better chance of helping me if some Big Bad came tumbling through.
He leaned down and whispered, “This portal stems from the ancient forests. Be cautious, Camille. Powerful beings inhabit the woodlands of Earth.”
Smoky cleared his throat, eyeing Shade as his lips neared my ear. I rolled my eyes. Dragons didn’t do all that well in the same territory; even a half dragon like Shade had territorial issues, but mix him with Smoky—whose full-blood dragon testosterone put most alpha males to shame—and we’d been breaking up sputtering matches for several weeks. As polite as Shade could be, he was still, beneath it all, part dragon, and that side had risen to the challenges Smoky had pushed forward.
I took a slow step away from him to calm Smoky down. Shade cracked a faint smile, and I realized he’d stirred the cauldron on purpose.
“A real jokester, huh?” I mumbled, then turned back to the others. “We can’t just walk through—we have no idea where it might lead. This has the energy of the Fae Queens written all over it, but I sincerely doubt they conjured it up. They’d summon it to their Sovereignty if they summoned it at all.”
“That makes sense.” Trillian stroked his chin. With his glistening obsidian skin, he was almost lost in the dim light. “But they might know what it is. What do you think about asking them?”
Delilah and I glanced at each other. The idea of asking the Triple Threat to come out here to help us wasn’t an easy decision. As much as I respected Aeval and Titania, I equally distrusted Morgaine. She might be our distant cousin, but she was out for pure power—her own—and I wouldn’t put anything past her in her attempts to claim what she could.
I slowly shook my head. “I don’t know, but—”
“Do you hear that?” Chase interrupted me, blanching as he turned toward the portal.
“Hear what?” I listened but couldn’t catch anything different from the energy I’d already been feeling. But Chase looked like he’d seen a ghost. He wavered, his eyes taking on a glassy look, then began to bolt toward the portal.
“She’s calling my name . . .”
I jumped to grab his arm, but he shook me off, like he might shake off a leaf. I knew damned well that Chase didn’t have the strength to do that.
I whirled to Smoky. “Catch him—don’t let him get through that portal!”
Both Smoky and Shade rushed past me, but Smoky suddenly stopped, bouncing back as if he’d hit an invisible barrier. Shade was struggling, his steps sluggish and forced.
“I can’t move.” Smoky’s hair lashed out at whatever the force field was, sparks flying every time the whips hit the invisible barrier.
“I can barely slog through it,” Shade said, his voice strained.
“Fuck! Come on!” I motioned to Delilah. We began to run. It felt like I was running through mud, but at least I could move. So could she.
Trillian was on our heels, and he passed us by, faster than we were. “Elder Fae energy—pure, crystal Elder Fae energy,” he shouted over his shoulder.
And then, the siren song enveloped me, a beckoning dance that promised to last forever if I’d just embrace the energy. I gasped, reeling from the desire to shed caution to the wind. The wave of passion rolled over me like the scent of peaches, ripe on the vine. Beside me, Delilah let out a choking sound and dropped in her tracks, grasping at her throat.
Chase was almost to the portal. I paused, torn between going after the detective and helping my sister. But Trillian was within arm shot of Chase, and Delilah was struggling for breath.
Making my decision, I grabbed her wrists and began to drag her away from the mist that now encompassed us like a sparkling fog. The siren song still lodged in my head, I did my best to block it out as I pulled her to safety. Shade loped in our direction, while Smoky was still trying to break through the barrier.
Delilah sat up, wheezing. “I couldn’t breathe—it felt like I was breathing water. Chase—what’s happening to Chase?”
Turning, I saw that Trillian was struggling to control the detective, but Chase broke away, pushing him back. With a wild, panicked look, the detective plunged into the portal, screaming. The gateway exploded with a brilliant light, and then—in the snow-filled night—it vanished, taking him with it.
Chapter 3
“Chase! Chase!” Delilah scrambled to her feet, still breathing heavily.
I let go of her, seeing that she was all right, and ran over to Trillian’s side. He was staring at the last sparkles of the portal as they faded slowly. Magic still reverberated through the air, but the pull—the siren song—was gone.
And so was Chase.
“Chase! Chase! Where the hell are you? Chase?” I called for him, not really expecting an answer. Finally, I turned back to stare bleakly at where the portal had been. “What happened?”
