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Wehave a plan.
Not just me, but all four of us.
I drag my lower lip between my teeth, unable to contain my smile as Raven moves closer and nuzzles my neck.
“Deal,” I say.
CHAPTER22
As much as I’d love to spend several hours in bed napping, cuddling, or… doing other stuff, we don’t havethatmuch time, unfortunately.
We’ve pushed it about as far as we can, so after a few minutes, we all clamber out of bed and clean up quickly, then throw our clothes back on.
Once we’re all gathered back in the main part of the suite, we begin to open up another portal, to our farthest destination yet. I’m not sure I could open a portal that goes this far on my own, but that could just be my inexperience with magic.
“At first, we wanted to put the Key in our apartment,” Cain explains as we set up the portal. “That way it was close and we could keep a direct eye on it. But then we realized that having something like that in the city where others could possibly magically detect it was a bad idea.”
“We didn’t want assholes sniffing around,” North growls. “So we decided to put the key far away from any settlements.”
“Nobody could accidentally stumble on it,” Cain says. “Nobody could even think to try to detect for it. It would be in the middle of nowhere.”
“Makes it hard for us to get to it,” North adds. “But we don’t need to get to it quickly anyway. Or so we thought.”
I feel a flash of guilt, but there’s nothing accusatory or judging in North’s tone. He’s just stating facts.
The portal opens, and with it comes a blast of cold that’s entirely at odds with the heat of Vegas. I shiver, and Raven puts his hand on my shoulder comfortingly.
North leads the way through the portal, then Cain. I go in next, and then Raven follows. I put my hand up, shielding my face, squinting through the bitterly cold air and the snow as I step through the portal and onto the slope of a mountain, one in a long chain.
“Welcome to the Himalayas,” Cain says, shouting a little to be heard over the wind that whips around us, carrying flurries of snow with it.
I feel like the characters inLord of the Ringswhen they’re on that mountain. I’m going to be covered in snow and turned into a popsicle before long.
The portal closes behind us with a snap, and I shiver as the cold really hits me. I am definitely not dressed for this kind of thing. None of the guys are, either. Cain must be especially miserable. Demons like heat, they get cold easily. No prizes for guessing why.
But if Cain is unhappy, he isn’t complaining. “This way,” he says, waving his hand to indicate for me to follow him.
I do follow him, shivering all the way, as North looks around as if he thinks that someone might’ve actually followed us onto this godforsaken middle-of-nowhere spot.
Wings wrap around me, shielding me from the wind and snow, and I look behind me to see that Raven’s partially transformed. He’s not fully stone, but he’s looking less normal now, horns and claws and fangs out, his wings keeping me safe.
North and Cain lead the way, Raven shielding me. The snow is all the way up to my waist, and I have to step carefully. It’s clear that no human has been on this mountain range in ages, possibly ever. I feel the way with my feet, but I’m not sure that I’m actually even touching the ground. My feet could just be on more hard-packed snow for all that I can tell. The thought is chilling. Just one wrong step, or even a harsh wind, and I’ll go tumbling down the mountain into the air, into freefall.
Raven puts his hands on my shoulders. He might not talk much but he seems to know how I’m feeling. I shoot him a grateful look over my shoulder. I’ve been at the top of buildings before but this is nerve-wracking.
“Should be around here somewhere,” Cain says. Right as he does, only a few steps ahead of him, North drops into the snow.
Literally. He takes a step, and then he’s just gone.
My jaw falls open, and it’s only my training as a thief that keeps me from screaming. If something scares or startles you on a job and you scream, you’re a fucking goner. But what the fuck just happened?
Cain, to my shock, doesn’t react except to take a few steps forward after North and then he’s disappearing too. Just like that they’ve vanished as if they were never there.
“What the—North! Cain!” I yell. I can’t hold my shock in anymore. My heart is pounding. Where are they? What just happened?
“It’s all right,” Raven says. He scoops me up into his arms, and then he’s taking a few steps forward too, and to my embarrassment I scream as the world drops away and we fall.
Raven lands neatly on his feet, still holding me, and then sets me carefully on my feet. I look up and around, and I realize that we’re in a hidden ice cave.
