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Khala
"What the hells?" I gaped.
This—what did Tavian call it—a portal? This was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Like nothing I'd read about.
"Not hells, home." There wasn't a hint of mockery in Tavian's voice, just excitement. He wanted to go home.
"It's dry there," Ryze said wryly. "If you'd hurry up, this takes a lot of energy to keep open." If that was the case, he hid it well. He didn't look like he was exerting any more energy than he would if he was holding up a feather.
"You can't be serious?" Zared shook his head and stepped back from the portal. The scent of him was bitter with fear. Bordering on sour.
I wrinkled my nose, but it was a good question. Was Ryze serious?
"It would take weeks to travel on foot," Vayne said. "Stay here if you want, I'm going." He walked towards the portal without hesitation and stepped straight inside. He stomped along the white corridor for a metre or two before he disappeared out of sight.
"Come on." Tavian grabbed my hand and tugged me towards the portal.
Zared lunged to grab my other hand. "She's not going. You fucking Fae are out of your minds if you think you can take her with you. Especially through that… Whatever the hells, godsforsaken thing that is."
"It's just a doorway," Ryze said easily. "You might have encountered them before. I hear even human buildings have them." He smirked at Zared.
Zared looked torn between dragging me away from the portal and letting me go so he could punch Ryze in the face.
Before he could decide, I pulled him towards me.
"I'm going," I said firmly. I locked my eyes on his pretty hazel ones, so he knew I was serious. "I told you before, you don't have to come with me. It's my choice to go with them. It doesn't have to be your choice."
His expression changed from furious to pleading in a blink.
"Kay, listen to me. They're Fae. When have they ever been friends to humans? You have no idea where they want to take you or why. If you step through that thing, you may never come out the other side. And if you do, they may never let you come back. You could be stuck there forever. Please, stay here with me. We'll find somewhere safe. We can be together, just you and me. You know that's what we want, what weneed." He looked at me like a poor, lost puppy who wanted the last bite of food on my plate.
I pulled my hands away from both guys so I could sign to Zared.
"I know it's what you want." I kept my eyes on his face, hoping to make him understand. "I care about you, but I need to get away from here." I closed my eyes for a moment. "I don't want to be a part of a temple who does what they do to women." I nodded down towards my hands before I lowered them to my sides. I had to stop letting them influence me, and use the voice the gods gave me.
"I didn't ask to be chosen, to be kept silent. If I stay, I'm only going to end up back at the Temple and keep doing what they tell me to do. I’ll be helping them do the same to other girls. You can’t want that for me."
His expression wavered. "So instead, you're going to go with them and do whattheytell you to do?" he said bitterly. "You don't even know what that is."
"I'm not going to stay here and wait for Dalyth to find me." I remembered the way she looked at me. "She'd kill you if she saw you with me. Come with us. You’ll be safer than you will be on your own."
He didn't try to hide how conflicted he was. "You trust these Fae?" He clearly didn't.
"Yes, I do," I said firmly. "They saved our lives, remember? They saved your life. The answer to everything is through that portal and I'm going because I need to know. I think, deep down, you need to know too."
I lifted my chin challengingly.
He sighed. "Fine, I'll go, but only to keep you safe from them. And so I'll be there when you realise we belong together."
"Did I mention hurry up?" Ryze seemed less amused than usual. He raised an eyebrow at us and jerked his head towards the portal.
"It won't hurt," Tavian assured us, his words clearly meant for us both.
I turned to him and frowned. I hadn't thought of it hurting until he said that. "It's ice. Won't we freeze in there?" I eyed the portal doubtfully.
"Only if you don't hurry the fuck up." Ryze was obviously at the end of his patience.
Tavian grinned. "It's warm in there. I promise. As warm as your—” He signed the word, “Pussy."
