Page 66 of The Blood Widow

Brian grabbed her and hugged her tightly. If I could, I’d find them a place to stay together. It would be good for both of them.

“Yes. Just stay here. I’m going to make a call and get some snacks,” I told them and went to grab my phone.

This time they answered on the first ring. It didn’t take long to persuade the couple to help. They had a natural ability to hide magic and people, so no one could trace them. Brian and the little girl would stay with them as I figured shit out. I wasn’t comfortable with handing them over to Bell without her doing a magical oath to protect them. Her last move abandoning Brian almost didn’t work.

I called on my pocket portal when the little girl was loaded with as many snacks as she could carry. The yellow magic appeared next to the little girl on the bed. The damn thing only wanted to work when it saw fit, but at least it came through then.

I sat next to them and spoke in the softest tone that I possessed. “All you have to do is go through that yellow circle. A woman is waiting for you on the other side. I’ll check up on you in a couple of days, but I promise you’ll be safe.”

Brian nodded and was ready to jump into my magic instantly. His trust in me made me smile. The girl, however, gave me a squinty-eyed glare while she assessed me. Her face aged five years as I watched her. Her eyes full of knowledge no three-or-four-year-old should have. Good. Maybe she’d survive this world after all.

She squeezed Brian’s hand. “Otay, you come for me?”

I smiled. “Promise.”

Her body shook as she scooted into the hole. I had to keep the image of my friend Holly’s bedroom in my mind the whole time to absolutely sure there ended up in the right place. Once they disappeared, I poked my head through. The damn portal was onthe ceiling over the bed, so the kids had fallen from the ceiling. It must have been fun because their little laughter echoed up to me. It was good to hear.

Holly’s plump body was already comforting fussing over them, saying she had food ready. She had a few stuffed animals and clean clothes for them as well. Our eyes met, and I mouthed my thanks before lifting my head out of the hole. I pulled back my magic and closed the portal.

Now that was finished, it was time to make some changes.

Chapter

Thirty-Four

Igot to work on getting my dresser to a secure place on the other side of the world. It was time to hand out a little revenge, and I couldn’t do that with my valuables so easily accessible. To both the men and Bell. My friends were too important to me to put them at risk.

My portal opened on the ceiling again as if to say, fuck you.

Thank goodness for my telekinesis. I hummed as I tapped into my vampire power. It felt different from my demon blood power. Almost like electricity zapping through my veins.

I didn’t have to say anything for this power to work. All I needed was my hand. I pointed and my power made objects move. There was a weight limit, but it was extreme, like a truck. I couldn’t lift those things.

My dresser rose into the air. Once at the yellow circle, the portal accommodated for the size, letting the dresser through.

The place no one knew about was in a cave on a deserted island I found about fifty years ago. A pocket portaler got stranded there when they shipwrecked.

I made it my business to know all the pocket portaler supernaturals because there were so few of us. He made it homebecause of his magic. Years later, he was on his death bed and needed a favor, so he offered his island’s location.

He wanted me to save his daughter from sex traffickers. I would have done it for free, but his kids didn’t have the gift. The island would have been lost again. After saving her and killing everyone who was involved, he used his last breath to portal me there. I appreciated his gift to this day.

I crawled my way out of the hole that was thankfully on the ground. I hated it when it appeared on the roof of both locations. I got so turned around. It was like spinning in water, never knowing which way was up.

The sandy dirt was always cold here. I had closed off the entrance to the cave just in case another ship happened to wreck nearby, so no warmth coming in from the sun or warm breezes. It had some kind of natural heating system though, so it was never freezing.

All my priceless items and best weapons were kept here. There were some paintings given to me by friends that had a lot of value because the artist became famous. I had a list of my secrets written on magical paper spelled so no one could read it.

There were spellbooks like my demonic grimoire and even a vampire magic book people didn’t even know existed anymore. But the magic that came out of the undead was wild and dangerous, so I didn’t mess with it. Last time I tried, I took out a whole forest by accident when I did a spell to cut down a tree. A town resides there now, so I guess it wasn’t all bad.

I moved the dresser to the back next to my weapons and desks. The small bed I left there was dirty, so I cleaned it off.

One day, I’d end up living on this island. If I could ever kill enough of the bad people to feel okay about leaving. This place would be my safe haven.

Most of my magic ingredients were here too, so I mixed ginger, mint, thyme, and bok choy for protection andbanishment if anyone tried to follow my magic signature here. Bok choy had a ruthless effect, so I didn’t use it unless I wanted to really protect my area. Now that I knew a demon could track the caster if they were stronger than the magic user, I’d never cast any spells here.

With all of that done, I jumped back into the yellow portal. Good thing that magic didn’t have a time limit while using it. The bigger the hole made, and the longer it was open, the more it took out of me, but feeding earlier helped. It was called pocket portaling for a reason. I’d need time to recover, but I wouldn’t need to worry about my portal closing.

I landed on the ground in a crouch, closing the hole with a satisfying sizzle. I smirked at the now clear ceiling. My friends were safe. The satisfaction of finishing an important job was squashed under a massive metaphorical shoe when the message crystal came into view on my bed. The same one Bell sent me all the time, but this one had extra magic connected to it. Whatever message she needed to give me, she didn’t want anyone getting their hands on it.

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