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Twenty-Three
“Roarke, what’s wrong? What did I say?” Panic gripped my chest as he grabbed my hand and raced us toward the gate.
Sparks flared high above the mountain’s opening, sputtering and spinning cosmic debris back into the sky.
“Come on! Someone is trying to access the gate, and I need to close it now!”
Oh, thank God. This had nothing to do with me. All my assumptions about tonight had been wrong, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Running beside Roarke as fast as I could, we neared the opening in the side of the mountain. A pedestal of some sort sat inside the vast cavern, but that was all I could see through the blinding light radiating from within.
He released my hand and ran inside, leaving me to wait at the mountain’s base.
Excruciating moments of not knowing what was going on pulled me closer to the opening until Roarke reappeared and the door to the gods’ portal slammed shut, sealing the gate completely. I looked up, relieved when the sky began to clear.
“Is everything okay? Did you close it in time?”
Roarke took my hand and waved his other in the air, transporting us to a new location. The familiar scent of roses and peonies bombarded my senses as he collapsed onto the nearest white metal bench inside the English greenhouse, pulling me down with him.
“Roarke, are you all right?” I scooted closer.
Slumped against the bench, he gasped for air, breathing heavily. I’d never seen him this stressed or exhausted.
“I’m fine. I just need to catch my breath.”
I slipped my hand from his and eased off the bench, moving to stand behind a nearby lilac bush, giving him the space I thought he needed.
“Milly, wait. Don’t go.”
I returned, standing slightly in front of him.
“What happened earlier wasn’t your fault.”
“I don’t think that,” I replied, not sure what he meant.
“Well, you said you thought the bad things going on might be connected to you, and I want to make sure you know that wasn’t the case. Someone else is trying to access the Weaver magic.”
I gasped. “What? How is that even possible?”
He dropped his head into his hands. “I don’t know. Nothing like this has ever happened before. But I’ve been fighting off an outside threat for the past week.”
I knelt in front of him, placing my hands on his legs. “I’m sorry. I had no idea. You should have told me, and I could have tried to help.”
“It’s okay, and I’m not sure there’s anything you can do. No one else can enter the gate but me. But I’ve been having to check on it more and more and wanted to show you so you understood.”
I took his hands in mine, pulling us both to our feet. “I do understand. And I’m sorry I wasn’t here the other night. It won’t happen again.”
Pulling from my grasp, he cupped both of my cheeks. “Thank you, Milly. We are definitely stronger together.”
His words struck like an arrow, sharp and penetrating and filling me with more guilt. All I’d done since becoming his queen was teeter back and forth, questioning everything, and in the process, weakening our link. A sound escaped my lips, a hollow, regretful cry from the deepest part of my soul.
I froze, listening as it started to rain. Light drops tinkled gently on the glass at first, transforming into an increased pounding like fate hammering its way inside. The sky turned dark, and my fears rolled back into place. Why was this happening again? Every time I entered the dreamscape, something always seemed to go wrong.
Ominous clouds continued to build, turning the usually vibrant greenhouse into a stark, eerie, vine-filled place.
“I think we should go,” I confessed, nervous that a literal dark cloud was somehow following me.
Roarke waved his hand, and we stepped out into his forest once more. Frigid air nipped at my hands and face, but it was a natural temperature for the location, nothing strange or out of place. We hurried down the path to his cabin, and once inside, I made him some tea.
