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I gasped like I couldn’t breathe, and a million sets of strong arms caught me as I fell to the ground.
Blood gurgled from my mouth. My back and stomach were bloody, and the tank I wore was destroyed, left in tatters that hung from my shoulders. My hand was soaked with my life force when I pressed it to the wound, and I hissed as the salt from my palm stung the injury.
“Shit, sweetheart! Kota!” Axel bellowed, his panic rising.
“On it.” Kota’s hands were already glowing blue as my blood flowed to the ground, and I gasped from the tingle of his healing magick as much as I did from the rumble that shook the earth.
It became easier to breathe as Kota’s magick poured into me, knitting me back together piece by piece, but I couldn’t focus on anything except for the glowing lines that began to snake along the ground, traveling in increasing fissures through the center of town.
“What the hell?” Dason murmured.
I laughed. I fucking laughed.
“Okay, now I know she’s broken. She’s not even fully healed yet and she’s losing her shit.” Axel drove a shaky hand through his hair while Chayton helped me up from the ground. Syler smoothed his hand over my newly healed skin before Jolon pulled me into a hug.
“You scared the fuck out of us,” he chastised.
My giggles had died down, and I hugged him back, burying my head into his neck and breathing in the leather and musk scent of him.
“I was scared too.”
“We’ve got you, little mate.” Dase stroked a hand down my back.
“Trust me, I love a good love fest, but can you explain what the fuck just happened and what’s up with the Zelda-esque glowing runes covering the ground?” Axel questioned, pure confusion written in the lines marring his forehead. If anyone was losing their shit, it was Axel. Too much had happened, and his head was spinning as he tried to decide what to focus on first.
I drew away from Jolon, shucked the remains of my shirt, and pulled on the new one that Chayton held out for me.
“It’s the gate.” I grinned and took off down the glowing path. “And it’s a two for one special,” I called, practically giddy, “because the grimoire is inside it.”
Twenty-Seven
Lorn
“We are not seriously going in there,” Axel groused, staring wide-eyed at the crumbling mausoleum sitting in the center of a desecrated cemetery. Leaning heavily to one side, it looked like a shade had knocked it off its foundation when the town was ransacked. The same runes that covered the ground crawled up the stone structure, making it glow like colorful Christmas lights in the deepening night.
“You’re right,” Jolon agreed, and I sent a confused look in his direction. “You’re not going in there, but we are.”
I sighed in relief, glad I didn’t have to fight him on this.
“What? No! I was just… making a point. It’s kind of creepy.” Axel scrubbed a hand down his face. “There are probably dead people in there.” He waved the same hand toward the mausoleum to punctuate his statement.
“Yeah, idiot. It’s the gate to the shadow realm. Of course there are dead people in there,” Kota taunted.
“Fucker, you know that’s not what I meant. This is agrave,” Axel stressed.
“It’s okay if you’re uncomfortable. It’s not exactly the Plaza Hotel. I wish I didn’t have to go in there either, but I need to. Can you be okay with that?” I asked, walking into Axel’s arms and wrapping myself around him. I rested my chin on his chest, staring up into his chocolate eyes.
Axel blew out a breath and shook his head. “This is a bad idea, Lorn. You don’t know what you’re going to have to face when you walk through that gate.”
“I have to do this. We need the grimoire, Axel. What other choice do we have? I can’t let this guy, whoever the fuck he is, win, and I can’t defeat him and seal the gate without the book,” I pleaded, trying to get him to see my side. “Besides, it’s also the only way to help my father.” Rationally, he knew we didn’t have a choice, but his heart was telling him differently.
So was mine. I didn’t want my mates in the veil or the shadow realm any more than I wanted to go in there. Every experience I’d had in there had been terrifying in one way or another, and Axel was right. We didn’t know what dangers waited on the other side.
But none of that changed the necessity of walking through that door.
Axel tipped his head to the sky and closed his eyes, looking for peace or patience or praying for us to change our minds. He appeared forlorn when he faced me again. “What about the darkness Jolon senses in your aura or whatever? That grows every time you go into the veil. Not to mention what the elders stressed—the importance of maintaining balance between good and dark forces.”
“He has a point,” Chayton agreed, concern coloring his tone. “You’re not tethered, Lorn. I don’t know if we should risk it without a solid plan in place.”
