Page 70 of A Beastly Court

With a huff, I yanked the empty amazonite pendant and the Celtic shield from my neck, opened the bag just a crack, and made sure I didn’t reveal Sawyer to the rest of the world as I fed the necklaces inside between his paws. He gave me a startled glance and shook his head vehemently. Thistle thorns, him too?

“Trust me,” I mouthed.

He gulped, then hunkered down.

Though Ossian held out his hand, I placed the bag on the ground and stepped through the strap, effectively slinging it around my ankle without actually touching it.

“Meadow,” he began.

“For once in your life, leave me alone about the bag! It’s off, I’m not touching it, and we’re not arguing about it.” My hands perched on my hips like two ornery crows spoiling for a fight. “Now, the portal?”

Ossian clenched his jaw for a beat, then rolled his broad shoulders. “Of course.” He stepped forward, taking hold of my elbow. The warmth of the golden haze bloomed against my mind. “Let us be calm, love, and focused to the task.”

I nodded, letting the irritation drain away. Thistle thorns, was it the severity of the task I was about to perform that had me always spoiling for a fight with him nowadays?

He crooked his finger under my chin. His eyes deepened, his voice lowering, and once again, I was dumbstruck by his beauty. “Do you love me, Meadow?”

“You’ve stolen my heart,” I whispered.

He smiled before planting a surprisingly soft kiss against my lips. “Then you’re ready.” His feet crunched on the frosted clover as he stepped behind me, his hands guiding my arms upwards as if to beseech the sky. “It’s an incantation in Faerish, so listen closely and repeat after me.”

It was so similar to Gaelic that I didn’t have much trouble, and after my third repetition, Ossian nodded in approval, his cheek rubbing against mine. “Now simply infuse the incantation with your magic and don’t stop until the portal is anchored to the ground. You’ll know it when an archway of white light appears. If it helps you to focus on something, pick a star in the sky and imagine yourself pulling it down to the earth. It will be like that.”

Ossian tilted his head to kiss my cheek, touching my elbows once more to ensure my arms were reaching for the sky in a narrow Y, then backed away. “Do it, love. Let me go home.”

Green light glowed from my hands as I chose a star in the sky. There were so many, now that they could shine without interference from the moon, and mine was from the constellation we witches called Brigid: Teallach, the brightest star, known as the hearth ember. The irony of my choice wasn’t lost on me, and I embraced it fully. Drawing Teallach to me would herald a homecoming of sorts, a new life and a new hearth in a new home.

Magic infused my voice as I began to chant the Faerish words.

The effect was immediate. I felt a pull, like a fish on a line, and this one not wanting to be caught. I’d been informed the fae portal was like oil and my mortal realm like water, but its resistance seemed more visceral than instinctual. It did not want Ossian home.

Too bad.

A wind rose around my ankles as I spoke the incantation again. I ignored its cold sting and focused on my star, drawing it ever closer. On the third, the power in my hands morphed from its deep emerald green to a pale mint as I hooked the portal.

“You’re doing it, Meadow!”

I barely heard him.

The portal wasn’t corporeal yet, but I had its essence now, and the true drain on my magic began. It resisted every inch, and I sank into a crouch as I reeled it towards this mortal plane. But it wasn’t like a fish as I’d originally thought. It was an electric eel.

Power shot down the connection, burying into me and rooting like crabgrass. I shuddered but didn’t stumble over the Faerish words. If anything, I said them even louder, stronger, for I realized now why this portal hadn’t been successfully summoned in all the years Ossian had walked this earth. This was a feat of stamina and endurance that would claim my life if I failed. There would be no second chance. The power of the portal was not the forgiving type. Once caught, it had to be anchored.

There was no time to fear. There was only time to do.

Indomitable will manifested as a ferocious roar that ripped through my throat, and thick ropes like green-white lightning burst from my hands. Between one blink and the next, they’d seized around a ball of crackling white light. A sweet, floral scent suddenly saturated the air.

Elfame. We were halfway there.

“Anchor it, Meadow! Anchor it so the portal can open!”

The portal jerked at his words.

Infest me like crabgrass? I snarled at it, loathing the way the fae portal sucked and pulled at my magic, intent on draining me first before it could touch the mortal earth. It was no better than that demon’s half-heart tentacle-esophagus that had plagued my coven.

The green-white lightning crackled and snapped as I dragged the portal closer to the ground, lashing out with vines of light. They’re like silver mallaithe roots seeking water, I mused darkly. Best not deny them.

The portal thrashed violently as those roots plunged into the frosty clover, burrowing deeper and deeper until the hundreds of little strands had sent out hundreds more of even tinier feeder roots. Then they thickened, braiding and weaving together until only one stump remained. A pedestal. The fae magic governing the portal didn’t like its mortal prison one bit and tightened the crabgrass infesting my core, squeezing me like a constricting hand on my heart.