Bloodfire (Blood Destiny 1) - Helen Harper Page 0,64
I had everything I might need. Time to rock and roll.
Chapter Sixteen
By the time I reached the beach, the sun was high in the sky and glinting off the glittering sea. There were some human shaped figures at the far end, closer to Trevathorn. I figured that Alex would have already set up some kind of warding spell to stop any innocent person on a morning stroll from haphazardly stepping into the portal to another dimension.
There were also a couple of Brethren shifters a few hundred metres away. I briefly debated whether to try to stay hidden or not but reckoned I wouldn’t really manage it for long. Julia’s lotion might mask my human stink but it didn’t mean that I was scentless, and the eddies of wind swirling around the beach would advertise my presence before long.
As I got closer, I recognised the shifter I’d taken for a werefox on the first day and another Brethren male. They were both standing on the sand, their backs to me. Ahead of them I could just make out the portal. It shimmered with light purple waves. Few pack members had ever stepped into one of the gateways to other planes. Shifters didn’t possess the ability to conjure portals, and, unless you were very sure that you knew where one was leading, it was pretty much advisable to leave it well alone. There wasn’t a Way Directive about them but there probably should be. There were plenty of nasties that wouldn’t take too kindly at all to a stranger, even a shifter stranger, stepping into their living room. By the time you’d worked out where you were and what was going on, you could easily find yourself lying in a puddle of your own entrails. It had happened before.
I had seen a few portals before – not usually out in the open like this – and they were pretty much the only way that otherworld creatures could travel from one demesnes to another. The friendly ones would usually give us warning that they were coming, and would establish their gateways out of the way. The unfriendly ones would materialise anywhere and start attacking anything that came near. There had even been one in Julia’s herb garden once when a particularly ugly gnome had decided that it would be far easier to nab some of her plants, rather than take the time to grow them himself. She had not been impressed and had dispatched him to the underworld before he could pick even one delicate primrose.
Mackenzie? How’s the pain?
I started and almost tripped over my own feet. It was Julia, at least, not Corrigan. His Voice wouldn’t work from great distances; no-one’s did. I relaxed minutely. It’s fine, I sent back silently. The green stuff worked a treat and I enjoyed seeing pixies and flying babies. Did Betsy tell you about Anton?
She did. He is on his way to talk to me.
I didn’t fancy being in Anton’s shoes right about now. Served him right. I’m almost at the portal, I thought at her. I’m going to stay here and see what happens.
Be careful dear. Mr Floride updated me with what you had found out. There may be more to all this than meets the eye.
There is. I flashed up an image for her of what I’d uncovered on the Othernet.
She was silent for a second, then spoke in my mind again. A demi-god will not be easy to defeat. I should inform the Brethren.
It won’t make any difference, I urged. If nothing happens for a day or two then maybe they’ll leave. You know that I’m strong. I can deal with her myself.
I don’t like this. I had a sudden vision of Julia pacing around the office.
Julia, trust me. I wasn’t trying to inflate my own skills. I had as much physical power as any of the pack shifters, and I didn’t doubt that I couldn’t match most of the Brethren either. If all this did have something to do with me – if it was my fault that John had died – then it was probably related somehow to my humanity. And that meant that the less the Brethren knew, the better.
She sighed mentally, then agreed. Fine. But be careful. Remember that we need you, Mackenzie. I don’t have any more trieswater to bring you back from the brink again.
I will.
I sensed her pulling back and moving away. I walked up behind the two Brethren.