Page 186 of Volik

Dread keeps walking, and the floor-length robe flares out around him with each step, since he has no belt to secure it.

I’m about to ask if we should follow when his voice cuts through the silence. “Wait here.”

He lifts his arm, and then, five feet in front of him, a doorway appears.

A doorway large enough for Volik.

A doorway framed in a band of glowing gold magic.

A doorway whose center is as deeply dark as the interior of that cabin.

And then… Dread walks through it.

Disappearing.

Into nothing.

“Holy fuck.” My knees threaten to give out. “That’s a portal?”

Volik squeezes my hand. “Da.”

I swallow.

“Does it hurt?” I keep staring at the black rectangle.

When Volik doesn’t answer, I tear my eyes away from the terrifying portal and look up at him. Only to find him looking down at me.

“What?” I ask when he still doesn’t speak.

He exhales as he turns his body to face mine and places his free hand on my cheek. “Tu es Ma Fleur. Do you truly believe I would let you do something painful?”

My shoulders slump. “I’m sorry.”

“Nyet. That is not an answer to my question.”

“It is.” I reach up and curl my hand around his wrist. “Because no, when you say it like that, I know you wouldn’t. So I’m sorry for asking.”

He hums.

I go up on my toes, and Volik closes the rest of the distance, pressing his lips to mine.

My eyes close, and I shift closer.

Then Volik pulls away.

A whimper of protest bounces in my chest until I notice the man, the druid, standing a few feet away, in front of the magical doorway.

I hold Volik’s hand tighter, glad he’s a super-strong vampire and not a mere man, because I’d probably be breaking his fingers with my grip.

Calm down.

I can see more of him now that he’s facing us.

Dread’s robe is open, showing him in drawstring pants that are slung low on an otherwise naked body. No shirt. No shoes. Nowhere to look but at tattoo-covered skin.

As in all of his skin. Everything visible, up to his jaw, is covered in ink.

Not wanting to look at another man’s bare body, or his lower half, I finally lift my eyes to meet his.