Chapter 17
“You’re doing it wrong,” said Ronin, lounging on my couch, a beer between his legs. “You need more conviction. More swagger. If you’re going to rip a hole through reality, you gotta commit. You’re standing there looking like you’re trying to return a sweater without a receipt.”
“Ignore him,” said Iris, standing next to me in my living room, giving Ronin a look before turning back to me. “You’re doing fine. Keep going.”
“I’m here to help,” said Ronin. “Giving out pointers. That’s what I do.” He took a sip of beer. “I think I’m being underappreciated as a magical consultant.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead. “Isn’t it too early to drink beer?”
Ronin gave a laugh. “It’s never too early to drink beer. Besides, it’s half past noon.” He glanced toward the kitchen clock. “Actually, depending on what dimension you’re measuring from, it might be evening somewhere. I choose to respect all time zones.”
I sighed and tried to focus on my portal mojo again.
I’d been at it for over an hour now. And so far, all I had to show for it, was sweat.
I didn’t know what I was doing wrong, but it seemed a lot harder to call up my Nexari portal.
The first one appeared while I was panicking inside a supernatural prison. The second was accidentally winging it.
Now that I actually wanted one, my magic had apparently decided to become difficult.
Thankfully, Marcus wasn’t here to see my humiliation.
He’d gone out after my father left. He told me that he was putting a “special” unit on Addison to track her down and then, well, make her talk.
Darian might look okay now, but I knew better.
She’d done something to my kid, and I was going to find out what.
Speaking of my new ten-ish boy, Beverly had stormed in about an hour and a half ago, demanding she take Darian shopping.
“Look at him,” she’d said waving a manicured finger at Darian.
“He looks like he crawled out of a swamp. He’s a Davenport, and Davenports walk around in style.
” She’d placed a hand against her chest and looked offended by Marcus’s oversized T-shirt.
“That poor child is wearing rolled-up sweatpants. Rolled-up sweatpants, Tessa. What if he meets a nice girl? First impressions matter.”
Ronin had glanced at Darian. “Pretty sure he’s ten.”
“Exactly,” Beverly shot back. “Do you know how important presentation is at ten? That’s when future heartbreak begins.”
Ronin blinked. “That feels made up.”
Beverly gave him a look. “It’s not made up.
It’s experience.” She turned her attention back to Darian.
“The boy needs jeans. Shirts. Proper shoes. Maybe a little jacket.” She’d narrowed her eyes thoughtfully at Darian.
“And perhaps a haircut. Not much. Just enough to leave a trail of broken hearts and concerned parents.”
Darian had looked absolutely delighted by this. Which, unfortunately, meant Beverly had already won.
After they’d gone, I was determined to find Addison again—warm up these new portal abilities and find that wereape.
Not that I didn’t believe Marcus and his team weren’t doing the same thing, but I just had a feeling they wouldn’t find her.
They hadn’t yet, so I was going to look for her my own way.
“Keep going,” encouraged Iris. “You’re doing great.” Her voice stayed confident and steady, which was impressive considering she’d just spent the last hour watching me fail repeatedly at opening magical doorways.
“Right.”
I disagreed. It seems like I was losing my portal mojo, or I was just too distracted with what was happening to Darian to put all my focus on portal magic.
Every time I tried to concentrate, my brain wandered back to my son.
Was he okay? Was Addison really finished?
Was he going to wake up tomorrow another five years older?
I was not exactly in the ideal mental state for learning advanced reality-bending abilities.
I clenched my jaw, drew on my magic, and pushed. Harder this time. If stubbornness counted as a magical resource, I should have been the most powerful witch in North America.
I pictured Addison. Her smile. The way every instinct I had started screaming the moment we met. The way she talked about Darian like he was a puzzle instead of a little boy. My irritation found fresh fuel.
Anger flared—fast, hot, sharp.
Power surged through me, stronger this time.
Wind swept through the cottage. Papers fluttered across the counter.
The lights flickered. A cookbook slid halfway off the island before stopping.
Somewhere in the cottage something crashed.
I decided not to investigate. If portal magic wanted to redecorate, future Tessa could deal with it.
“I think it’s working,” said Ronin. He leaned forward on the couch, suddenly invested in my success despite spending most of the afternoon making fun of me.
“Shhh!” hissed Iris. “Let her concentrate.”
The magic kept building. My chest ached, but I held on. It felt like trying to grab on to a river with my bare hands—slippery, powerful, alive.
Pressure filled the room. My ears popped.
The air twisted and warped in front of me as crimson light spilled outward, threaded with shadows that moved like living things.
The temperature jumped. My hair lifted around my face.
The energy seemed to pulse once, twice, like it was deciding whether to cooperate.
Then a circular tear opened in the air.
And through it wasn’t Addison.
It was Martha.
Our town gossip and beauty queen. The last person on earth I wanted to accidentally portal into.
Unfortunately, Martha was in her bathtub.
Very, very naked.
“Oh, crap.” Of all the people in Hollow Cove. Thousands of possible locations. Infinite magical destinations. Apparently my portal had selected maximum embarrassment.
“Ahhhh!” howled Martha, hiding herself with her hands, water splashing and dripping to the floor. A cloud of pink bubbles floated around her while bottles rattled on the edge of the tub.
“Fuck me, is that Martha?” Ronin stood up with a huge smile. “Okay. That’s not Addison.”
Iris smacked him on the arm. “Don’t look!”
Ronin laughed. “Okay, okay,” he said, turning around. “For the record, I wasn’t looking. I was observing. Totally different.”
“Tessa! Get out of my bathroom!” howled Martha, her face turning red. Her voice was so loud it distorted slightly through the portal.
“I’m sorry,” I told her, doing my best not to laugh. “I’m practicing my new abilities. I never meant for this to happen.” In fact, I had no freaking clue why it had happened. Apparently my portal mojo had worse focus than me.
“Get out! Get out!” screamed Martha as she grabbed a towel and attempted to wrap herself in it while simultaneously glaring at me.
“Okay! Okay!” I shook my head, my arms, trying to get my magic juices flowing.
Then I gripped my power and emptied my mind.
I just had to close it. This was exactly why people needed magical training.
One minute you’re trying to find a criminal mastermind.
The next you’re accidentally conducting bathroom inspections.
Close.
“Tessa! I will be telling Dolores about this!” howled Martha. “Spying on someone while in the bathroom is illegal!” Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “And weird!”
Ronin shrugged. “I wouldn’t say illegal.” He paused. “Probably frowned upon, though.”
I barely heard them anymore. I pulled on my Nexari power. The energy of the portal twisted violently. Red. Black. The edges rippled like liquid glass.
Sweat dripped into my eyes, and heat rose up around my face. But I didn’t let go. My muscles trembled from the effort. The portal fought me for a second, like it wasn’t entirely convinced it wanted to close.
Close.
Wind exploded outward. The force rattled the windows and sent several cushions flying off the couch.
With a pop of displaced air, the portal folded inward, and then it was gone.
Or, thankfully, Martha’s naked body was gone.
Ronin whistled. “That was intense.” He leaned back into the couch cushions like he’d just watched the finale of his favorite television show instead of witnessing me accidentally invading Martha’s bathroom. “If this portal thing doesn’t work out, you could probably charge admission.”
“You okay?” Iris gently patted my arm. “You look pale.” Her eyes swept over me carefully, checking for magical exhaustion, portal poisoning, or whatever else could happen when someone repeatedly punched holes through reality.
I let out a long breath. “I’m fine. It’s Martha I’m worried about.
She’s going to tell everyone that I spy on people bathing.
” That would work wonders for my reputation in Hollow Cove.
As if my life wasn’t complicated enough already, by tomorrow morning there would probably be three versions of the story.
By lunch, I’d somehow be running an illegal portal peeping ring.
“Well,” said my half-vampire friend as he sat back down on the couch. “At least you were able to close your portal this time.” He took another sip of beer and nodded thoughtfully. “That’s actually the important part. The accidental nudity was more of a bonus feature.”
“Yes,” said Iris, beaming. “See? One out of two.” She sounded genuinely encouraged, which was nice. Somebody in this room should be optimistic because I was currently running on caffeine, anxiety, and spite.
I laughed. “More like zero out of two. I was trying to get the portal over to Addison’s lab. But instead…” I threw my hands into the air. “My portal apparently decided Martha’s bubble bath was more important.” The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became.
“We got front row seats to Martha’s alone time,” snickered Ronin. He looked entirely too pleased with himself. “Which, for the record, was not on my bingo card today.”