A Shade of Vampire 91: A Gate of Light - Bella Forrest Page 0,3

my face. It was a strange feeling—more of an illusion, really, since he was only concentrated spiritual energy that had taken a physical form. But he felt real. He felt… oh, so real. “Focus on nothing other than the shimmering portal. You can already feel one after it has closed, right?”

I nodded, my brain slowing down.

“I think you just… you just need to put everything else out of your mind,” Brandon added, his voice dropping an octave. I hadn’t noticed the raspy undertone before, but it made my breath falter. He was so close. His lips so inviting. We were both slipping away, I realized. The reality of our situation was dissipating like watercolors in a glass of water, until nothing but our souls remained.

“That’s going to be hard,” I mumbled.

“You… have to try,” he replied, his gaze dropping. It settled on my lips, and heat burst through me as if I’d just swallowed the sun itself. We were so close.

But I heard Hammer before I saw him. It only took a split second to understand where this moment would end. The Aesir came tearing out of the dark woods and pounced on Brandon, forcing us apart and making him laugh. My cheeks were flushed, and fires burned in my throat, but I giggled too. Ever since they’d been reunited, Hammer had had a hard time letting Brandon out of his sight.

The wolf had the energy of about fifty preschoolers on a sugar rush, and his Berserker was there for all of it. Despite the missed opportunity, I had to admit that seeing them together like this filled me with the kind of warmth I’d rarely felt since this whole clone nonsense had begun.

“I’m sorry about that,” Brandon said to me as he playfully tackled the dire wolf. They rolled over in the grass, dried leaves crunching beneath them, but Hammer didn’t give an inch. “He keeps butting in…”

At least he’d said it out loud. I would’ve felt bad to be the one to point out the pattern. Twice now, Hammer had come between us in what should’ve been private moments. Twice, the Aesir had interrupted something… important. I couldn’t fault the enthusiastic creature, but I did wonder if he was doing it on purpose or if it was just a coincidence.

There was a lot I didn’t fully understand about the relationship between a Berserker and his Aesir, so I couldn’t exclude anything just yet. I only knew that the Aesir were much brighter than their living equivalents. Either way, my lips tingled at the thought of Brandon’s, and I knew we’d take things further eventually. Everything was moving fast, but I didn’t know how it would end for us. So why not go at lightning speed now and maybe slow down once we survived?

Brandon’s laughter filled me with a muted joy, and I smiled as I watched them wrestle. Where were we going with this connection between us? What was our destination? Did either of us even know?

Astra

With Hammer padding around, his pink tongue out and his sapphire eyes scanning the darkness of the forest, I decided to give the shimmering portal another shot, further encouraged by Brandon. At some point, Thayen and Myst joined us as well, though I wasn’t sure exactly when. I only knew Thayen couldn’t sleep much either, and the Valkyrie had rarely left his side since the Flip.

There was something different between them. A muted warmth. An awareness of one another. Their movements and body language were surprisingly well synchronized. Whatever this was, I hoped it would only bear good things for the both of them. For all her efforts at distancing herself from the living, from us, Myst had become an integral part of our team. A friend, even.

No one said a word while I sank into a meditative state. It was the one part I’d gotten the hang of thus far. I could feel their eyes on me as I sat perfectly still, and I fed on their unspoken encouragement. My mind wandered away from the world around us, though I did feel Brandon’s hand close around mine. The touch of his skin was electrifying, and for a moment I jumped back to our almost-kiss. What would I have done if his lips had found mine? How would I have reacted if we’d actually kissed? I wanted it, there was no denying that, but…

Ah, the light. Much like in earlier attempts, the light came from the darkness of my closed eyes, enveloping