AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Zaide nodded, and Clawdia covered her ears and asked, “What is it?”
“It sounds like a portal, but not,” Zaide said and got out of bed.
A strange light appeared from the crack in the door—not portal blue, but like a dusty ash blue. We froze. “What is that?” Clawdia whispered, creeping behind Zaide.
“One way to find out,” I said, wishing I wasn’t naked but not having the time to dress. I threw the door open only to stop short at the sight of the strangest-looking portal I’d ever seen. I didn’t know a lot about portals, but this looked like a portal you’d buy on Wish for a few quid and free lube.
Rather than a swirl of blue and a strong hum, this one was blackened and huffing out ash. It buzzed and rattled like an old car going over fifty on a motorway.
“Gods alive. What is that?” Zaide gasped behind me.
Okay. Clearly not just another kind of portal I hadn’t seen yet.
It seemed to cough, and from the lump of ash gathering in the center, a figure emerged. A male figure. But he tumbled out of the portal like a sack of potatoes and hit the floor with a heavy thump.
I was pushed out of the way as Clawdia dashed toward the collapsed stranger.
“Clawdia,” Zaide growled, trying to stop her with an outstretched hand that she dodged.
“Clawdia, you don’t know if he’s dangerous!” I warned, following her.
She wasn’t cautious at all as she reached for the man, the weird portal disappearing behind her, and she managed to turn the man over. She gasped, and we all got a look at his face.
“Baelen.”
CHAPTER9
CLAWDIA
“Baelen. Oh my Lord.” My hands shook as I pressed my fingers to his neck, checking for his pulse. Relief flooded me when I felt the steady beat, and I combed his hair out of his face. “What happened to you?”
Zaide’s bare knees smacked into the wooden floor at Baelen’s side, and he stroked our soul mate’s cheek. “What is this?”
Black patches covered Baelen’s body, bruise-like spots that moved like ink under his skin when pressed. I blinked and allowed my thread power to become visible, but as I concentrated on Baelen, his threads were only orange. I pushed power into him, but the black spots did not move. Nor did he.
Charlie hovered above us. “Maybe some kind of symptom from the weird portal?”
“Or from a shadow,” Zaide whispered.
“You know what this is?” I asked.
“No.” He licked his lips but met my gaze. “But when I left him in the dreamscape, he thought we were under attack by shadows again.”
My chest grew tight. I saw what the shadows did to him last time they attacked in the dreamscape. They’d almost killed him. If I hadn’t given him blood … he would have died.
But I didn’t even know he was in trouble. I expected to see him in the dreamscape again last night so we could talk about everything happening. But he wasn’t there. He was suffering. Alone.
He could have died, and I wouldn’t have ever known.
“And you only just thought to mention that now?” I hissed at Zaide.
He flinched but hardened his jaw. “There was nothing either of us could do to help him if he was attacked.”
“It’s clear something terrible has happened to him.” I ground my teeth and took a breath, trying not to shout. “You should have told me.”
There was a firm knock at the door, and before we had a chance to stop the visitor, it swung open, and Laurence came in.
“There was a weird pulse from the wards. Are you—” He stopped, mouth agape, when he saw us all. “What’s going on? And why are you all naked?”
