Page 67 of Shrine of Fire

I sat down and crossed my legs.

“What are you doing?” Aki hissed. He put himself between me and the spirit.

“Finding the place where the land kisses the sky.”

Aki grumbled. It took everything inside me not to flinch when the spirit wailed again, dipping down to almost touch the ground.

Not a chance in hell, I thought, and the spirit recoiled.

I pictured the Silver Lakes, the silky gray water smoothing out to meet the sky. If I stared long enough at the horizon line, I could see where the sky and the lake touched.

That was the place between the spirit world and the mortal realm.

That was where Hella Mora had to go. Even if I couldn’t see it, that place existed everywhere in the world, the place where the two realms touched.

Using the electric zip racing around me from Aki’s touch, I pushed magic out. It was as simple as dipping my hand into the water and splashing out.

The spirit shrieked, sending dread and sorrow out to press against me. This was just another rainstorm to weather.

Nova cried out behind me. I had to protect my mate, had to get Hella Mora away from her.

I pushed harder, and the spirit recoiled away. Kalahar darted behind her, blasting her.

“How dare you,” the spirit mocked. “I bested the most powerful shaman of their time. You’re but an echo.”

“It’s been a while for you, too,” I said, pushing harder.

She gained ground, shooting a bolt of white-blue energy at Kalahar.

Don’t force it. Like a lover’s touch. Coax the energy around me, open up the world with slow, sure caresses. I blocked out the world, digging into the warm soft place inside my heart where Nova stayed. The scent of her, her soft smile, her bright-eyed interest in my cabling technique on my tunics.

The world shifted around me, like a sigh. The rolling hills of red exhaled and I felt the space between worlds.

“No,” Hella Mora shrieked. Energy slammed into me, pulling me up off the ground. Cold light filled me until everything went blank. Nova’s warmth left me, Aki’s electricity, Kalahar’s flames, the comfort of Hashir and Stefan, blotted out in the wake of the spirit’s undying sorrow.

Bright fire broke through the cold white.

I crashed to the ground, landing awkwardly on someone—Aki from the sound of the grunt in my ear—and groaned.

Nova stood up in the wagon, fire racing from her hands. “Get away from them,” she shouted. “They’re mine.”

Fire wrapped around us, circling us on the road, creating a dome over Kalahar and Hella Mora. Stefan and Hashir stood behind her, hands on her shoulders as she covered the land in fire.

Bright jubilation filled me. I’d never been happier, never more in love with her.

“Yes,” I shouted, lifting my arm in the air. This was the warmth of our first kiss, of my body cradling hers, of her bright laughter. “Nova, fight her with life.”

“Push her back into the spirit world.” Aki hit my shoulder.

My arms and limbs felt heavy, like I’d had a whole body of whiskey and I reeled. “Can’t feel my face, handsome.”

Aki rolled his eyes and pushed me into a sitting position. “Nova will hold her off, but do your part, yeah?”

“I can do anything for her.” The drunk-on-joy feeling coursed through me, and I blew Nova a kiss. “I’ll send her back to the spirit world for you, shall I darling?”

Nova’s lips were curled into a snarl, and she was bent over with concentration.

“For the love of peanuts, yes,” Hashir said.

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