Chapter 38
Gabriel and Johnny flew down the stairs. Johnny looked as if he’d seen a ghost.
Gabriel furrowed his brow. “Seal us in.”
Dylan raised an eyebrow, but did as Gabriel asked.
As soon as the stones glowed blue, Carina turned to Johnny. “What is the matter, my love?”
Johnny opened his mouth, but no words came out. His body trembled. Dylan considered getting his attention, but Gabriel spoke up. “We were coming out of the gun store and a man stopped us. He called Johnny Salagan scum, looked at me funny, and then said something under his breath.”
Johnny cleared his throat, his eyes darting between Carina and Dylan. “He must not have recognized that I’m half Vurdalan, because I could hear him plain as day. Either that or he didn’t want Gabe to hear.”
Carina nodded for him to continue.
Johnny gulped. “He said that he should kill me like he did those two Coates bastards.”
Dylan’s eyes flew open. He thought the cellar was soundproof when active but didn’t want to risk his mother hearing anything. He growled through gritted teeth. “What?”
Gabriel looked at Johnny. “Is that why he looked at me like that? He thought I was a Coates?”
Johnny nodded slowly. “I think so. That’s why we came straight back.”
“You saw the man who killed my father?” His voice was getting dangerously loud, and he realized he was burning up.
Johnny shook his head. “I don’t know for sure. But it sounds like it.”
Carina spoke with a tension in her voice Dylan had never heard before. “Dylan. You need to calm down.”
Gabriel’s expression had morphed into a twisted thing, and he wasn’t sure if it was fear or sorrow, or some combination of the two. “Listen to her, babe. Please.”
Dylan looked toward him, certain now his expression was one of fear, but not for himself. The wind whipped the hair across his face, and Dylan wondered where such a strong wind had come from.
Johnny grabbed Carina and ducked into one of the side rooms. Dylan heard him calling for Gabriel, but the roar of a waterfall muffled his voice to a whisper.
Gabriel flashed a soft smile, and a tear ran down his cheek. “Dylan. Please. Listen to me. Just breathe. I know you’re pissed and want to track this guy down. We will. But you’re scaring them. I know you wouldn’t hurt me. You won’t let me burn.”
He reached a hand out. Dylan reached for him and saw it.
Flames swirled and danced around his hand and up his arm. The wind slowed.
“That’s it Dylan. Come back to me. We’ll get him, I promise. I need you.”
Dylan closed his eyes, and he felt a tear slide down his cheek. The room was quiet, and he felt strong arms wrap around him.
“I meant every word of that,” Gabriel whispered. “Every fucking word.”
Carina cleared her throat. “That is what I have been trying to get you to tap into. Whatever that was, I doubt it was a display of your full power, but it was more than you had shown before. I believe if we were outside, you likely would have harnessed the other elements as well.”
Dylan blinked. “What?”
Gabriel chuckled and sobbed. “It was like you were inside a tornado of fire. I was terrified you were going to burn at first.”
Dylan looked at Johnny, who still looked shell-shocked. “Where are your weapons? Didn’t you have something when you crossed through the gate?”
Johnny’s eyes widened. “I had my sword, but it was gone when I crossed over to this side. I never really thought about it before, and I have no idea why.”
“Carina, do you know what could have happened?”
She cocked her head. “Perhaps it is some old magic from the gate preventing weapons from crossing to this side. That would explain why he paid no attention to the missing sword before.”
Gabriel arched an eyebrow. “If weapons can’t cross to this plane, would our guns be able to go across to your side?”
Carina shrugged. “There is no way to know without trying. It also bears mentioning that the rifts operate separately from the gates. So just because weapons cannot cross the gates does not mean they cannot cross through a rift.”
Dylan gulped. “This means before we sink everything into buying guns and ammo and pulling people across to train, we need to test it.”
Gabriel chuckled. “Do you think we’re at that point, Carina?”
She nodded. “I do. We’ll need to test it both ways.”
Gabriel arched an eyebrow. “Do you have anything at your home that we could test with?”
She grinned. “Yes. But remember, time here moves faster.” She closed her eyes. “If you let me cross now, reopen the rift in two days. That will allow me time over there. You should be able to see me the way you did before. Your people have an innate ability to parse that time differential, so you should be able to determine if I need more time at that point.”
Gabriel nodded and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small revolver. “Here. This isn’t anything important, so if it just vanishes, it’s no big deal. Just leave it in the holster and it won’t go off.”
She took the gun, her eyes wide. “And this could kill a man?”
Gabriel nodded. “Yeah. Each bullet can kill, and that one holds five.”
She gulped. “This is exactly what we need in this war.”
Johnny said. “Don’t get any ideas, love. If I’ve learned anything in my time here, it’s that there are better options than that one. That’s more like carrying a rock to defend yourself with.”
Dylan nodded. “He’s right. This is just to test if it works. When you come back, we will know whether or not we need to do anything else. I have an idea if it doesn’t, but until we know for sure, we’ll just grab what Gabe already has while you’re gone.”
Before she could respond, Gabriel was shaking, his eyes closed. A rift opened behind Carina, and she smiled. “Very good. You still need to work on doing that with less effort.” She turned and stepped through the rift.