My hand was in Braxton’s now, his thumb rubbing up and down the pad, the motion soothing. It reminded me of the millions of times he had calmed away my worries and hurts. I tilted my head up to him and he knew without any words what I wanted. He dropped the briefest of kisses onto my lips. Soft, with just the flick of tongue, it had me groaning very low under my breath. He would be the death of me, but shit, what a way to go.
His grin was perfect as he pulled away, all dimples and flashing white teeth. He looked happy, which I was coming to realize made me pretty happy too. Yeah, I was a sap.
In no time we reached the end of the path, the yellow barrier sparkling in the dimness. It felt like a thousand years ago that I ran out of the car and threw myself into this mountain. So much had happened, and yet it was really no time at all.
Quale stepped closer to the exit. “Are you all ready? You must move through quickly so I can return the protections. The Four are out there, and should they make it inside, they’ll be too strong for us to battle.”
The fruit twins scowled simultaneously at the mention of the hunter quads. If they’d all been born the same year, then no doubt they’d crossed paths with them many times, especially since they were marked, and those damn hunters were good at their jobs. I wondered who had hunted the marked before they were born, and how the twins had remained free, unlike so many other marked.
Questions for another day.
Quale muttered a few words and the barrier dropped. Wind howled. The real world appeared to be having a snowstorm of the ass-kicking variety. Awesome. The sanctuary was like being in another realm, one completely controlled by magic, right down to the weather. The seven of us stepped free, leaving the mystic behind. I noticed the brothers exchange a glance before the yellow shield was back up, blocking Quale from view.
I hugged my arms to my body, and shimmied closer to Braxton. The warmth of his body was like stepping into a hot bath. Without saying anything he wrapped his arms around me.
“Come on.” Louis had to shout to be heard over the temperamental weather, even with supernatural senses. Peering around Braxton’s bulk – although not removing myself from his arms because I wasn’t an idiot – I could see that Louis had the step-through already open.
I took an extra second to hug myself very tightly to Braxton. This might be the last moment of happiness I had for a while and I was going to milk the hell out of it.
He lifted me closer to his face and said, “It will be okay, I will keep you safe.”
Snow coated our faces and I raised mine to meet him in another kiss. Now might not be the best time for a make out session, but really … who gives a shit.
Eventually, though, we had no choice but to rejoin reality. I was back on my feet, and with our hands tightly linked Braxton and I made our way to the rest of the group, standing in front of Louis’ doorway. I met the sorcerer’s purple eyes and knowledge of what the next few hours was all about flooded back in. It was time. We were going to Krakov.
Chapter 17
The step-through took us from a snowstormed mountain range down into a valley of sorts. Concealed within this valley was a medium sized town. I was going to guess this was the gateway community which protected Krakov. Which thankfully meant that there’d only be supernaturals here. We wouldn’t have to hide our otherness.
It appeared to be laid out similarly to Stratford, but with the more snow friendly style of chalet dwellings. These homes surrounded a few large square “meeting hall” structures.
It was still freezing, but the area was protected from the worst of the storm. The scenery looked familiar, so I assumed we were still in the same region of Romania – in the Carpathian Mountains. From what I could see from our higher vantage point, the area was probably around ten miles in diameter, nestled down in what looked like the crater of a volcano. Mountain ranges encased the quaint little town.
“This is Bruvnest,” said Louis. “Their securities are breachable because I’ve been here before, but there is no easy way into Krakov.” His regal features shifted to the bitch twins … yeah, I’d upgraded them from fruit. “It’s your party now, ladies. Whatever plan you have set in motion, you’d better move your asses. The townsfolk are starting to catch on that we are here.”
He wasn’t even kidding. Members of the community were emerging from wherever they had been. Rugged, they had the distinct size and appearance of our familiar supernatural races. I wasn’t surprised to see they had a lot of trolls here. They were always around mountains and rocky areas.
I heard the townsfolk murmuring amongst themselves. No one spoke English. It sounded Eastern European … Romanian. Which would make sense, you know, since that’s where we were. As they closed in, I could hear them more clearly.
“Ce naiba?” was a popular phrase.
Louis was keeping an eye on them, his gaze unwavering, streams of power emanating from him.
“Do you know what they are saying?” I asked him, since he looked to be following their conversations.