Page 24 of Beyond Fate

“I was summoned at night,” Casimir said. “I’d just taken my shirt off heading to the bathroom for a shower in my motel room. I’m just grateful I still had my shoes on, but I would really love a fresh pair of jeans. Thankfully, Jax has been laundering them for me every day.”

Something Damon should have been doing for his mate. When he got home, he was going to beat the squirrel to spending his money and order his mate a ton of clothes and everything else he needed.

“You’re telling me my brother has seen your underwear?” Damon was messing with his mate. He really appreciated Jax looking out for Casimir while Damon had been dealing with all his craziness.

“Did you see me put any underwear on?” Casimir ran his finger along the waistband of his jeans, like he was about to perform a striptease. “Commando.”

Sweet hell. That turned Damon on.

His mate’s grin widened as his gaze dropped to Damon’s groin. Shit, with no pants, he couldn’t hide the proof of his arousal. “Not a chance until we’ve both had a long, hot shower.” And Damon wasn’t ready to experience the anguish again. He glanced around. “I don’t have a clue how far we are from the house.”

“You don’t know where we are?” Casimir frowned.

“It’s a huge forest,” Damon argued. “It’s not like I know every inch of this place.” He threw his arm out. “We could be a mile away or twenty.”

“Damon!” Casimir shot forward and yanked him away from the portal that had suddenly appeared ten feet away. The same kind of black swirly portal Panahasi had used to yank Damon into the underworld.

Casimir pushed Damon behind his large body just as swords manifested in his hands. “I thought you said you didn’t have any magic,” Damon whispered, waiting to see who would exit the portal.

“They are a part of me and rest on my béskym mark when not needed,” Casimir whispered back.

“Your what?”

“The wings on my shoulder.” Still watching the portal, Casimir said, “I told you béskym means commander.”

“Now is not the time for the answers to a pop quiz.” Frowning, Damon looked at his mate’s fairy wings tattoo-looking mark. His brows shot up when he saw the wings were still there, but the swords were missing.

“Your weapons live on your body?” He would kill to have a tattoo of his cell phone, wallet, and keys, so he could summon them when he needed them instead of having to search for them all the time. Like he was doing now.

“I already told you they’re a part of me. Why has no one exited the portal?” Casimir asked.

“I was listening to you,” Damon argued. “It’s just hard for me to remember a language I’ve just been introduced to.” Why wasn’t anyone coming out? As far as Damon knew, only Panahasi had that power, and the demon leader was the last person he wanted to see. “No way!”

“What is it, nékah?” Casimir spun and scanned the area around them. “Do you see someone? I don’t feel another’s presence.”

No freaking way! Damon stepped from behind his mate—he’d felt ridiculous hiding there anyway since he was a formidable predator—and walked toward the portal.

“Damon,” Casimir growled. “What are you doing? You have no idea who could be on the other side of it.”

Scratching his beard, Damon turned to his mate. “I’m pretty sure I just did that.”

The swords in Casimir’s hands vanished. “Are you saying you made this appear? How?”

“It has to be another ability from him,” Damon replied, refusing to speak Panahasi’s name out loud.

“I kind of figured that,” Casimir replied. “I’m asking how you made it appear. I thought the keeper unlocked a manual in your head.”

Damon gestured to the portal. “I didn’t get knowledge for this. So either he doesn’t know I have it or it was a bad download of knowledge.” He frowned. “As a matter of fact, what ability did Ahm give me? Do you know what abilities shadow elves have?”

Casimir was staring warily at the portal. “When they did the spell, they said you would absorb their essences.”

Damon gagged. “That sounds so dirty.”

“That’s exactly what your twin said.” Casimir chuckled. “Ahm and I thought you could probably get our ears. You now have Unseelie blood, but since my magical abilities were stripped away, you won’t possess any magic.”

“So that means I created the portal,” Damon replied. “I was just bitching about not knowing where we were, and this thing appeared.” He chucked a thumb over his shoulder. “Wanna take it for a test drive?”

Casimir’s eyes bulged. “And you asked me if I was insane for diving off that cliff, yet you want to walk right into a portal that just appeared out of nowhere?” Casimir growled some words in his own language, but Damon understood the word for wolf.

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