A Shade of Vampire 91: A Gate of Light - Bella Forrest Page 0,4

me in a buzzing warmth as if the sun itself had reached out to take me in its golden arms. “Focus on my voice,” Brandon said. “I know you can do it, Astra.”

“You really don’t know what you’re doing, do you?” Thayen muttered. I heard Myst thwacking him on the shoulder.

“Shut up. Let him do his thing,” Myst reprimanded.

“What is his thing, exactly?” Thayen replied, sounding amused.

Brandon chuckled. “Nah, you’re right, I have no idea what I’m doing here. I’m just going with the flow—hopefully something sticks.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, though I kept my eyes closed, clinging to the sunshine on my skin like a blanket. Basking in it, I exhaled deeply as I tried to block out their voices and the sounds of the forest around me. My mind paced farther away from reality and closer to the memory of a shimmering portal. I needed that memory as the basis for my own passageway. Brandon squeezed my hand.

He was right about one thing. I required focus more than anything. Something to stick to while I built up the energy and the technique to open a shimmering portal. The ability was absolutely and undeniably somewhere deep inside me. I only had to tap into the stream.

“I can, however, surmise that Hrista and Astra’s shimmering portal methods differ. Hrista had physical accoutrements,” Brandon said. “Specifically, a perfectly round crystal imbued with some kind of energy which she used to open a portal. Also, a clone dies whenever a portal is opened, and I assume it’s because a portal consumes an entire clone’s life energy. I’m fuzzy on the particulars, but I’ll assume Hrista has more clones than there are Shadian originals just for this purpose. Astra obviously doesn’t require these exterior elements, since the specific type of energy required is inside her. I feel it now. Hers is the easier way, believe it or not.”

“Plus, she always knew when to open them,” Thayen said. “Like when we were chasing Richard’s clone back in The Shade.”

“Ah, Hrista always had comms open with the clones she sent out into The Shade,” Brandon explained. “The magic was set up to respond accordingly.”

Looking back now, it made sense. But I didn’t have another second to dwell on it. The shimmering portal I had last seen emerged before me, like a mouth wide open and filled with diamonds. Its power emanated outward, the air rippling toward me with a peculiar mixture of hot and cold. I reached for it, my spirit desperate to touch it.

“Do you see it yet?” Brandon asked.

“Yes.”

“Can you reach it?”

I’d done this before a couple of times, and I’d told him all about the experience from beginning to end. Having the details, he was able to guide me. He was no expert, but he was the closest thing I had to a mentor in this; he’d gone through more shimmering portals than the entire island’s inhabitants put together. “I can try,” I mumbled.

“Do it.”

As if unchained from my own body, I felt my spirit stretching. I lunged at the portal with a vigorous thrust, the light intensifying into a blinding white before I could feel the shimmer’s curious touch. Exhaustion crept up, almost unseen, and I found myself falling, unable to scream. Brandon caught me in his arms, and I was back in the real world, panting. To my surprise, my body had lunged with me, and my feet had briefly left the ground—I’d gotten up and jumped.

Sweat dripped down my temples, tickling my cheeks.

“Are you okay?” Myst asked, watching me with genuine concern.

I nodded slowly. “Yeah. It’s not a straight path, I’m afraid. I’ll try again.”

“Is that wise?” Thayen replied, his brow furrowed. “You must be tired.”

“I am. But what other choice do I have? Time keeps marching forward, and Hrista has taken over our island. The sooner I can get us out of here, the better,” I said, positioning myself back into a meditative frame: legs crossed, back straight, and palms resting upward on my knees.

Closing my eyes, I took several deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. Brandon’s hands found both of mine this time, holding tightly. “Let me try something,” he whispered, and I smiled.

“Okay.”

As minutes went by, I experienced a new sensation. A rush of chills burst through me, beginning with my hands. It spread through until every atom in my body was suddenly invigorated, newfound energy pulsating and beckoning me closer to that memory of a shimmering portal. Brandon was giving me some of his spiritual