Page 64 of Outnumbered

“Welcome to the life of a royal,” he said and chuckled softly. “If it’s any consolation, I think you’ve adapted pretty well from being a hermit.”

Smiling, I said, “Thanks, Nico.”

“Recouped enough to try again?” he asked and climbed to his feet, a hand down to help me up.

Caleb called my name from the house as he walked through.

“Maybe not,” I said and flinched.

“Oh, no. This is perfect,” Nico said. “Jolie! Leona! Come here please.”

Caleb jogged over and kissed my cheek. “Hey, beautiful. What’s going on?”

“Practice,” I answered and smiled up at him.

“Oh? The mysterious practice you’ve been doing with Mom?”

I nodded.

“Okay, this time, you’re going to create five, got it?” Nico said. “This is the ultimate test, right?”

“Right,” I agreed. This is what I would need to do in the future.

“Jolie, go about twenty yards that way. Caleb, go ten yards in the other direction. Leona, stay where you are. I’m going to go over here.” Nico instructed everyone where to go, so that we were all spread out in various distances. Once in place, he gave me a thumbs up.

I smiled at Caleb and said, “Surprise!” Opening all the portals, I dropped us all through and out to the front yard.

Nico and I ended up falling almost on top of each other, but he reached out and steadied me. I dropped to my hands and knees, gasping for breath. Five portals was definitely my limit. It felt like my heart was going to explode.

Caleb looked up at the still open portal and lowered his gaze until he looked at me for a second before turning to his mother. “What the fuck, Mom?”

“Caleb,” Nico warned.

“You’re teaching her to send us away? To send us to safety!” He growled and turned to his dad. “And you’re helping them?”

“It’s always important to have an escape plan, Caleb. There are some battles that you cannot win,” Nico reminded him.

“This is why we didn’t tell you,” I said angrily. “Because we knew you would overreact.”

“Your heart is about to burst and you’re wondering why I wouldn’t want you to do this?”

Shooting up to my feet, I turned and glared at him. “I’m not going to let you die! I don’t care if you think it’s cowardly or if it drains me of magic at the end. If I can save you, I’m going to.”

“Save me or save us?” he asked. “Are you going to sacrifice yourself? Is that what you think you’re supposed to do?”

“I made five portals,” I reminded him. “I plan to use one on myself, too. I don’t want to die any more than you do.”

“Everyone, take a deep breath,” Leona ordered us and used her magic to relax us all a bit.

Caleb glared at her and stomped over to the SUV he’d come in where Ezio was leaned and watching us.

“Well, that went better than I expected,” Jolie said and slung her arm around my shoulders. “Don’t worry, he’ll get over it.”

“At least you are capable of five portals as your max, since that’s what you’ll need to escape,” Nico said. “Don’t worry, we’ll talk to him and calm him down.”

“Let’s head home,” Jolie said and tugged me towards the car. “You’ve done a lot of work today and deserve to rest.”

I felt like resting wasn’t going to be an option with Caleb so upset and likely to cause the others to get upset when he told them.

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