Chapter 77
Nix
Our speed slows, and I look down.
Then I panic.
Volik tightens his hold on me, even though I’m already plastered to his front. “We are almost there.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “Okay.”
He bumps his forehead against mine. “Why are you doing that?”
The sun has nearly set. The sky is mostly dark. But it’s not so dark that I can’t see the lake below us. “I… I can’t swim.” I admit part of the truth.
“Do not be embarrassed. I cannot either.”
I squeeze my legs around him as my panic increases, even though my heart rate doesn’t.
“Nix, we are flying. I can jump us out of any depth of water. I do not need to swim.”
“Oh.” I keep my eyes closed. “Right.”
“Dread is on the other side of this lake. We will be there soon.”
“Okay.” I tuck my face into Volik’s neck, breathing in his minty scent.
“Nix.” He slides a hand up and down my back.
“I’ll tell you later, okay?”
I can feel his desire to argue, but he doesn’t. “Da. Later.”
“Will you purr? Just for a moment?”
He answers me with the calming vibrations. And I melt into him.
I’ll tell Volik everything about my family. My childhood. But now is not the time.
Later.
A moment later, we change direction and lower toward the ground.
Trusting him, I keep my eyes closed until I feel his feet connect with the earth.
Volik flexes his arms around me, kisses my head, then lowers me.
I can hear the soft lapping of waves not too far off to the side, but since I’m no longer over the water, it doesn’t bring me stress.
“This way.” Volik grabs my hand, then leads me away from the water toward, surprise, more trees.
The sliver of sunset disappears as we step into the forest. But with my new night vision, I can see everything perfectly. Meaning I can see the tiny cabin we’re headed toward.
“Dread lives here?” Referring to the druid by name feels weird, but calling him the druid feels slightly weirder.
“I doubt he lives here. But it is one of his homes.”
I lift a brow. That’s cryptic.
We walk up to the front door of the seemingly abandoned one-room cabin.
There are no lights. No sign that anyone is here.
“Druids do not shake hands. If one you do not know holds their palm toward you, prepare for an attack.” Volik says casually, then lifts his fist and knocks on the door.
I open my mouth but choke on my follow-up questions as tiny gold sparks jump off the door with each rap.
What the hells?
Something shifts in the air. I can’t describe it, but the cabin no longer feels empty.
I try to step back, but Volik’s grip on my hand holds me in place.
“Vampire.” A gritty, deep voice sounds from the other side of the door. “Why are you here?”
“Druid,” Volik replies. “I need passage.”
“And who is with you?”
“Mea Unica.”
There’s a beat. “Truly?”
“Da. Open the door and see.” The teasing tone he used with the shifter pups is nowhere to be found here.
I squeeze Volik’s hand tightly.
The door swings open.
And the darkness inside the cabin is all-consuming.
Scary.
Because even if I couldn’t see that there are windows on every wall of the cabin, the depth of the blackness inside the doorway is unnatural.
“Hmm… Surprising,” the voice says from within the dark.
“You have not been watching the news” is Volik’s super polite response.
The voice grunts. “What is your destination?”
“Tennessee.” Volik recites the coordinates of May’s rental house.
There’s another grunt. Then silence.
Like total silence.
Like he’s no longer there.
We wait.
And after a full minute goes by, I open my mouth to ask Volik what the fuck is happening, but then the presence is back.
Presumably feeling the same thing, Volik steps to the side, bringing me with him. And then, with no word of warning, a druid steps out of the pitch-black cabin.
He doesn’t look in our direction.
Just walks straight out the door, no pause.
He’s big. Not as tall as Volik, but he’s wide. Burly.
And he’s moving too quickly for me to make out his features as he passes us, but I see long hair tied back in a bun before he lifts the hood on his dark robe, covering his head.
Dread keeps walking, and the floor-length robe flares out around him with each step, since he has no belt to secure it.
I’m about to ask if we should follow when his voice cuts through the silence. “Wait here.”
He lifts his arm, and then, five feet in front of him, a doorway appears.
A doorway large enough for Volik.
A doorway framed in a band of glowing gold magic.
A doorway whose center is as deeply dark as the interior of that cabin.
And then… Dread walks through it.
Disappearing.
Into nothing.
“Holy fuck.” My knees threaten to give out. “That’s a portal?”
Volik squeezes my hand. “Da.”
I swallow.
“Does it hurt?” I keep staring at the black rectangle.
When Volik doesn’t answer, I tear my eyes away from the terrifying portal and look up at him. Only to find him looking down at me.
“What?” I ask when he still doesn’t speak.
He exhales as he turns his body to face mine and places his free hand on my cheek. “Tu es Ma Fleur. Do you truly believe I would let you do something painful?”
My shoulders slump. “I’m sorry.”
“Nyet. That is not an answer to my question.”
“It is.” I reach up and curl my hand around his wrist. “Because no, when you say it like that, I know you wouldn’t. So I’m sorry for asking.”
He hums.
I go up on my toes, and Volik closes the rest of the distance, pressing his lips to mine.
My eyes close, and I shift closer.
Then Volik pulls away.
A whimper of protest bounces in my chest until I notice the man, the druid, standing a few feet away, in front of the magical doorway.
I hold Volik’s hand tighter, glad he’s a super-strong vampire and not a mere man, because I’d probably be breaking his fingers with my grip.
Calm down.
I can see more of him now that he’s facing us.
Dread’s robe is open, showing him in drawstring pants that are slung low on an otherwise naked body. No shirt. No shoes. Nowhere to look but at tattoo-covered skin.
As in all of his skin. Everything visible, up to his jaw, is covered in ink.
Not wanting to look at another man’s bare body, or his lower half, I finally lift my eyes to meet his.
And Volik controlling our heart rate is the only thing that stops me from gasping.
The druid’s eyes are glowing with the same gold that’s outlining the portal.
The same gold from the sparks that flew off the door when Volik knocked.
Earlier, Volik told me. I just didn’t understand.
They look human when they aren’t using their powers.
The glow of his eyes is too bright against the night for me to see his face well. And it’s practically impossible to guess the real age of an Alt. But I can make out the fact that he looks decidedly unhappy.
“Volik’s Mate.” His voice is just as intense as before. “Since you have never traveled by portal—”
“How do you know that?” I lift my fingers to my mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
The bright glow of the druid’s eyes is interrupted as he blinks. Slowly.
Volik flexes his grip on my fingers. “If you had traveled by portal recently, he would sense the magic on you.”
My brows go up. “Wow. But…” I can’t help myself. “Couldn’t I have done it longer ago than recently?”
“Nyet. Dread has somehow missed the news of our mating, but he cannot have been out of touch for too long. And humans do not use portals. So, you could not have done it before you became my mate.”
I hum, considering his answer. “What do you mean when you say humans don’t use portals? Like they don’t use them because they don’t know about them? Or because they can’t use them?”
“Da.”
I make sure Volik can see how unamused I am.
“The answer is both.” Dread answers. “Portals are a well-kept secret, so very few humans know about them. As for the humans who have gone through a portal…” He tips his hand side to side. “Mixed results.”
I blink at the half-naked glowing man. “Could you be slightly more specific about what you mean by mixed results?”
The druid shrugs his wide shoulders. “Some made it. Some did not.”
I turn to Volik. “Some did not.”
He shrugs. “I do not know them by name.”
I shake my head, unable to break that comment down right now. “I’m human. I mean…” I gesture at my face. “You know what I mean.”
“Da, your pretty face.”
“Volik.” My tone is serious.
He sighs. “Nixy, even if you did not have your beautiful eyes. And perfect fangs.” He presses his hand to my chest. “You must feel the energy inside you. Mate bond. Power. Magic. Whatever it is, it connects you to this world. It glows inside you.”
I look over at the man who is literally glowing.
Dread dips his chin. “He’s correct.”
Focusing on the weight of the mate bond in my chest, I heave out a breath. “Okay, fine. But if I end up in pieces after walking through that thing…” I eye Volik as I point at the doorway of death. “I’m haunting you.”
Volik growls. “Do not speak of dying, Mate.”
“Yeah, well, prove me wrong, I guess. Let’s go.”
The druid holds up his hand. “Since you have never traveled by portal—” He pauses, reminding me that I cut him off earlier. “There are some rules. Step straight through. Jump straight through. Fall straight through. Whatever you fucking do, do it straight through. And do not touch the sides.”
I nod. “Super straight, hands to myself.”
Dread steps to the side. “This will remain open until your return.”
My heart squeezes in my chest, trying to go faster.
I don’t know how Volik is in such good control of our heartbeat. But it’s like he anticipates when my pulse is going to spike, and he locks it down.
It’s impressive.
And a little weird. Because my brain is trying to freak out, but my body won’t cooperate.
Volik squeezes my hand. “I will go first.” Then he lets go.
I’m a big girl. I can walk through this portal on my own.
After one step, Volik pauses and looks back at me. “Walk with me. I will go first, but enter immediately after I do.”
“Okay.” I move so I’m right behind him.
Then he walks forward. Through the portal.