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Wait, what? He had just passionately kissed me. Ah, it was, a ‘wow—you opened the portal’ kiss. A thank you kiss.
It was difficult to concentrate on anything, but I managed to get myself together and said, “Well, I’m not sure. A word came to me and I…just shouted it and then, well, here I am.” For a moment, only a moment, I was moving in a world of shock.
Shock that I had found the portal. Shock that I had not only been kissed by a vampire and survived, but shock because I wanted more kissing—more touching—more!
However, I am resilient. I shoved my confusion aside and assessed the situation. He had been thrilled and kissed me out of gratitude. That was all it was. So I said, “Okay, then, come on, let’s get into the portal and home!”
He turned and looked back toward the place I assumed he had come to think of as his home. “I need to say good-bye to m’friends. They have been here for me for a very long time. I cannae just leave and have them wonder what became of me.”
“Right, of course. You go…I’ll stay here, right at the spot…and do what I can to keep it open if it looks like it might close.” I waved him off as I tried to forget about his kiss still making my body tighten for more.
He nodded and vanished into the lush growth.
I paced as the minutes ticked by and turned into twenty, then thirty, and then one hour. Suddenly, I felt a wave of relief as he returned, grinning like a boy. He took my hands into his and whispered, “Bobbie, did ye miss me?”
That was all he said, but it swept through me like a caress.
I looked away from him to the silver sliver of a portal still shimmering with life and said, “Ready?”
He nodded. I took a step to the narrow portal, squeezed his hand, and started through. As I entered however, I felt our connection break. I was no longer holding his hand as I fell with a loud thump into the library.
Devin—where was Devin? I looked back and saw him standing up against the divider between our worlds. He stood with his fists pounding the invisible wall that was still somehow keeping us apart. His forehead was bent onto the wall.
Why was he still on the other side?
* * * * *
Needless to say, I told him I wouldn’t give up and I marched on down to the library.
I was at a loss to understand, so I did the only thing I could—I started ravaging the ancient manuscripts I found there. I was frustrated and feeling damned inadequate when Jeremy stormed into the library, rubbing his hands and asking if we could take some lunch before we headed outside to do the wards.
“Mrs. Tunny left us something. I’ll go heat it up in a minute,” I said, and watched him stride across to the bar and pour himself a vodka on the rocks.
“Would you like me to pour you one?”
I pointed to my white wine. “Ahead of you.”
He sat and sipped and when I returned with two chicken pot pies, I dove into what had occurred earlier with Devin. He rubbed his forehead and said, “Poor bastard. He must have had his hopes up…?” He stared at the shield. “Where is he now?”
“Not sure. I haven’t seen him all morning,” I said, looking out the window wistfully, wishing he was here on this side. “Jeremy, have you heard any more on Allora?”
“No, nothing. I haven’t heard from my men, but I don’t expect to until tomorrow morning. Which is a good sign. It means Allora has stayed put for the moment.”
“I think we need to…” I started and his phone rang.
He picked it up and nodded, grunted, and said he understood before he clicked off and looked at me. “Allora has called for a meeting with her old vampire clan in London. My men aren’t sure what this means. They are trying to find someone who will talk for money.”
“Will a vampire do that?” I was surprised.
“One of the vampire underlings would,” he said.
I was surprised and frowned over this new development. “This clan wouldn’t have an interest in Devin—why would they?” I asked, worried.
“No, I wouldn’t think so. It must be something larger than our problem here at MacLeod. All the ancients have humans working for them during daylight hours. My men were able to tap into one of them and get hold of an invitation. At any rate, the invitations were for her clan yes, of which there are only four left. However, the invites also went out to six of the ancients who are not part of her clan.”
“Oh, that doesn’t sound good,” I said, really concerned.
“My men will keep us posted,” he said.
