Midnight Truth (Shifter Island #4) - Leia Stone Page 0,61
it was a mage that created it,” I said, thinking of Jakko.
“Yeah, but there are selkies selling it in Dark Row now,” she replied. “The selkie king needs to put a stop to that or we’ll continue to have problems.”
Rage growled low in his throat. “I’ll have a chat with Ozark when I get back to the island. We’ll stop the sale of that powder before Nai gets home tonight. Reyna, if you come with me, I can send you back with a remedy flower for Nai.”
She nodded.
“Well, that’s settled, then,” Gramps said, patting my hand.
Rage, Justice, and Noble all left with Reyna, and Honor stayed with me, Gramps, and Donovan.
‘I’m not allowed to leave your side until we get back to Alpha Castle,’ he said. ‘So please don’t ask me—’
‘I get it,’ I told him, threading my fingers into his fur. ‘I’m glad you’re here.’
I turned then, trying to make eye contact with Donovan, but he was staring at something in the corner of the room. “Donovan? I want to thank you for getting Rage. I know that must’ve been scary.”
He tapped his fingers in a quick rhythm on the pads of his thumbs. “They hurt Nai,” he mumbled. “Nai is family. Rage is good king.”
My throat pinched, and I tried to swallow down my emotions. I don’t think Donovan understood that he’d saved my life. “That’s right, buddy, and I appreciate you so much. Maybe you should get a couple chocolate cupcakes as a thank you.”
His eyes snapped to mine then, and he grinned wickedly. “Chocolate is a good idea!”
I looked to Sariah, who was smiling. “Is that okay?” I asked her, and she nodded.
“I’ll have Annette start on them while you have a lesson with your grandfather,” my aunt replied. “I’m off to work.”
As Gramps and I left the room, I overheard Donovan telling his mom that he should help me more often.
Things could’ve ended a lot worse today. I was grateful for my cousin’s help.
Chapter Eleven
Reyna showed up with the antidote for the magic-canceling powder less than an hour later. She helped my grandfather change into swim shorts, and we all headed to the spirit pool room where I lifted him into the steaming pool before scurrying off to change.
For the next several hours, Grandpa walked me through creating a real portal. He said that the spirit pool would help boost his energy to keep him awake for the lesson. I started small, a portal from the spirit pools to the kitchen where Donovan was eating a yummy cupcake. Then to Grandpa’s room. Then the study. Rather than having my body walk through the portal to join my spirit on the other side, I had my spirit jump back into my body before it closed. I could open them easily enough, but keeping them open was the hard part. Gramps barely used any magic helping me, but it still tired him. A lot. By lunchtime, I was ravenous, and Gramps was exhausted.
“You should practice a few more times before you go to Shifter Island for the rest of the day,” Grandpa said, followed by a yawn. “It will be easier if you’re touching Honor when you have him accompany your body through a portal somewhere. Eventually, you won’t need to do that, but until you’ve had a lot of practice, it’s less strenuous.” He yawned again.
“Like the one to Montana?” I asked, drying off behind the screened area.
“Yes. And the library one from Shifter Island to High Mage Island,” he said, his voice trembling. “The key is always something permanent that ties the two realms together, like a set of stones carved from the same rock…” He paused to catch his breath and then gave me a rueful smile. “I’m sorry. I need to stop for the day. Maybe tomorrow, we can discuss creating permanent portals, and you could visit your mom or Than for more help. I’m sorry I’m not as much of a teacher as I wanted to be.” He yawned and my heart pinched.
“No worries, Grandpa. You’ve been great,” I said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before Reyna helped him shuffle out of the room. Damn! He was getting so much weaker. It made me wonder how much time we had left together. Days?
We parted in the hallway, and then I ducked into the kitchen, followed by Honor, who’d waited outside the spirit pool room to keep guard. Between the two of us, we ate all of the rest of