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I hoped a bunch of online photos and cringe updates counted as something personal to an ancient spell. I mean, it was probably more personal than a clump of hair from a comb or a fork or some shit.
Not literal shit, but you know, general shit.
Ram stood and faced me. “You’re ditching your boyfriends,” he said, dropping his voice to a whisper.
My heart wilted like an ignored flower. “For their safety.”
He tilted his head. “But not mine or yours.”
I tilted my head in the same way. “We can handle ourselves. Plus, it’s our spell; we should be the ones to test it and face the horrible dismembering death it might bring.”
“If I’m dismembered, my last thought will be of you,” Ram said.
I rolled my eyes. “I think your last thought will be ‘oh, god, it hurts,’ but sure.”
He smiled, that amused light in his eyes that I had once loved—not the amused mockery he was known for but the sincere one. “You never let me get away with anything, huh?”
“Never,” I said, unable to keep the smile from my face. “Let’s do this before they get back.”
Without waiting for Ram to agree, I placed my hands on the magical circle and unleashed my magic. This time, it ran free and fast along the lines of the spell. The incantation came to my lips easily without thought.
Ram placed a hand on the phone and raised his other one, chanting the part of the spell meant to target our missing person.
The air above the magical circle swirled and yawned open. The edges were rainbow-tinged rather than a sickly green. Even better, nothing shot out of the portal to grab us.
But holding it open was so much harder. I felt like my brain was trying to bench two hundred pounds and my magic was pulled taut, overstretching every muscle in a very bad yoga class.
“I can’t hold it for long.”
Ram didn’t hesitate but jumped onto the table and through the portal. My heartbeat sputtered as he vanished. If the spell was bad, he was hurt—or dead or lost in the endless multiverse.
“Hey, the portal is open already,” Moe said as he, Elliot, and Jag ran up to me. Moe clambered onto the table.
“Wait, don’t—” I shouted, but he had already jumped through.
Jag’s eyes widened in horror as he realized why I had been telling Moe to stop. “Moe!” he screamed and threw himself through the portal after his friend. Elliot didn’t hesitate to follow.
Chapter 29
Mymindwasstretchedalmost to breaking from holding the portal open. But still, I jumped onto the table to follow my men into whatever doom awaited.
As I started to step through the portal, someone stumbled into me. The world tilted around me, and my stomach lurched into my throat as I fell backward. I reached out, grabbing onto the nearest thing to stop my fall.
It was solid and warm. I yanked myself upright to find that I had grabbed a strange man’s shoulders and was now staring into his startled brown eyes.
It was Tanner, the missing cat shifter. I recognized him from the photos on his profile. I was nearly close enough to dry hump him, but I didn’t care because if he was alive, that meant the portal worked. Jag, Elliot, Moe, and Ram must be safe too!
Tanner jerked as though pushed from behind.
“Is the portal broken now?” Moe called.
I laughed in relief and jumped off the table, gesturing for Tanner to do the same. He climbed down on shaky legs and leaned against a bookshelf for support. “That… let’s never do that again, okay?”
Moe skipped through the portal and hopped to the floor. Jag, Elliot, and Ram followed. With everyone back in the library, I pulled my magic into my body and the portal vanished.
“We fucking did it!” I shouted, throwing my arms around Ram as a smile split my face.
He hugged me back, tightly as though clinging for dear life.
