Chapter 10
Oz
The bodies of the bear shifters and vampires who”d dared to stand in my way lay strewn beneath my feet, a macabre carpet that marked my passage. Each step I took was a declaration of the savage lengths I would go to fulfill my mission. Luckily for those on my tail, my mission was now in my arms.
As the heavy doors slammed shut behind us, a shift in the atmosphere greeted me. The sky, once a clear canvas of fading light, now roiled with ominous clouds, swirling into a vortex that appeared to devour light itself. The air, charged with anticipation and fear, crackled with the raw energy of magic unbound. People, mere shadows against the backdrop of impending doom, scattered in every direction, their screams piercing the growing tumult.
The ground beneath me vibrated, a sinister prelude to the catastrophe that was about to unfold. The portal, a gaping maw in the very fabric of reality, pulsated with a menacing glow, its edges blurred as if painted with the brushstrokes of madness. The magic that seeped through was tangible, a thick, intoxicating aroma that cloyed at my throat.
The weight of the woman in my arms was the only anchor I had to the physical world. Her rapid breathing was a counterpoint to the drumming of my heart. I felt the pulse of the portal”s magic brushing against my skin. It was a siren”s call that beckoned with the promise of power and the threat of oblivion.
The world tilted on its axis. The ground beneath my feet quaked, a violent quake of earth that threatened to upend everything I”d ever known. Having a portal open up in a new realm was legions worse than traveling between two portals. Portal travel was going to be my escape from the Crossroads, but with this crack in the world opening, all magic—including short-range portaling—would be too dangerous. I had to get us as far away as possible from this doorway.
The sky roared like a herd of wild beasts. Winds howled like the cries of a thousand lost souls, each one vying for attention in this apocalyptic nightmare. People scattered, their screams piercing the air as they fled the unseen terror of the portal. Their fear was a tangible thing, a thick, choking cloud that seeped into every pore, every crevice of this broken city.
The world around us might be descending into anarchy, but my focus remained laser-sharp. My gaze lowered to the woman in my arms. I didn”t even know her name yet.
Liar, my panther called me. She”s mine.
The feral creature inside me roared loud. Louder than the people scrambling in the streets. Louder than the crack that rent the ground. She shuddered in my arms.
Had she heard the panther?
Was she about to run away from me?
Neither man nor beast would let that happen.
But she wasn”t running. She clung to me. Her pink-tipped nails dug into my shirt. That lush body of hers pressed into mine. Her face tilted up, looking at me for answers.
I would give her the world. If it wasn”t crumbling around us.
”I want to live,” she said. ”I can”t die now, not when I just found you. That would be some serious bull?—”
The ground quaked again. I brought her hard against my chest, enough so that her feet came up off the ground. She looked down at them dangling a few inches and then back up at me.
”Oh my gosh, you just swept me off my feet. No man”s ever done that to me before.”
Her voice was breathless. I could listen to her talk all day. I”d only barely heard her voice back inside the club. Now it rang just for me. And in that moment, everything else faded away.
The chaos, the noise, the fear—it all receded into a distant blur, leaving only her in a husky voice, the feel of her fingertips brushing the hairs at the nape of my neck, that golden gaze looking at me like I was ten feet tall.
The beast within me stirred again. It stopped pawing at my gut to get out, to have its own introduction to her. Instead, it sat down on its haunches, its tongue lolling out of its mouth.
Standing in a storm as the world fell apart around us, basking in the brilliance of her gaze was a calmness that I”ve never known. The beast wanted to lie on its belly, to flatten its ears in submission and devotion. An itch tickled at the base of my spine, an odd sensation that I soon realized was the wagging of an ethereal tail—a manifestation of the beast”s contentment.
It was ludicrous, absurd even, to think that this princess, this goddess, could be my mate. She was meant for the king, meant to be queen. The only thing a scarred warrior like me could do was lay down his life for her.
My loyalty to the king was unwavering, a bond forged in the fires of gratitude and indebtedness. Dion had saved me, given me purpose when I had none. To even entertain the thought of claiming his destined mate was madness, a betrayal of everything I stood for.
The ground continued to shudder, a relentless reminder of the world falling apart around us. The air was heavy with the scent of danger and desperation. Behind us, a familiar shout sliced through the chaos.
”You fucker. Like hell you”ll get away with stealing my meal ticket.”
The words hit me like a physical blow because of how they impacted her. Her response was visceral. Her body went slack in my hold. Her chest caved in. That proud forehead dropped. She reminded me of prey being cornered. Didn”t she know she was being held by a vicious predator?
I could already taste that blond-haired excuse for a man”s blood on my tongue. I was already spitting out the rancid taste of him. Every fiber of my being wanted to turn and confront the rat who dared threaten the goddess in my arms. My claws ached to show him the true wrath of a panther shifter defending what”s his.
On my own, I would have done it. But the feel of fear in my future queen”s body, the sight of her despair, reminded me of the stakes. I couldn”t risk her safety, not for my pride or my anger.
And, as much as I hated to admit it, looking over my shoulder, I saw that I was out-manned. Only in numbers. That teething excuse of a baby vamp didn”t know how lucky he was.
Putting my precious cargo on the ground, I pulled her along as I took off at a breakneck pace. I was acutely aware of her struggles to keep pace. She was no warrior. Her steps were hurried and clumsy. Frustration was a burning thing inside me, an anger at our helplessness, at her vulnerability, and at my inability to simply fight our way out of this.
When she stumbled again, I felt the weight of the witch”s potion in my pocket. It was a dangerous gamble, but it seemed like our only chance. My fingers closed around the vial, its surface slick with the sweat of my apprehension.
I pulled it out, the potion that would open a portal back to Portland. A flicker of doubt crossed my mind—portals were unpredictable, risky in the best of times. The sound of footsteps growing closer banished any hesitation. I hurled the glass to the ground. It shattered with a sound that was quickly swallowed by the night.
A cloud of purple smoke erupted from the broken vial, swirling and coalescing into a shimmering gateway. It was now or never. I pulled her toward the portal, and it was just in time.
The blond vamp”s hand reached out, grasping just inches from her back. A sense of impending doom clenched my gut, but we were already stepping into the cloud. The world around us blurred, reality bending and twisting in ways that defied comprehension.
There was a sensation of being stretched and compressed all at once, a disorienting tug that made my head spin. Sounds and smells warped around us, the stench of the city”s decay giving way to something fresher, cleaner. The chaotic noise of our pursuers faded into a distant echo, replaced by the quieter, more mundane sounds of Portland.
And then, just like that, we were through. The portal closed behind us with a soft whoosh, cutting off the baby vamp”s enraged howl mid-crescendo. It was a howl of rage loud enough to follow us through the portal.
When I looked up, it wasn”t the House of Blood and Beryl I saw. I could still see the jagged skyline of the Crossroads. I could still see the clouds of the opening portal. We”d gotten away, but we hadn”t gotten far. Maybe a few miles out of the city at best.
It wasn”t far enough. They could be on us in no time, and I was all out of quick travel magic. We were going to have to run.
”Shift!”