Page 72 of Their World

“You better hurry back before the portal closes!” I urged them, grabbed their shoulders, and spun them back towards it. “We know these are very random and the timelines for their staying open are even more random.”

“How can I contact you again if I need to?”

I smiled and said, “I’ll see you at the battle in one week, right?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” fake Talrinir replied. “Hopefully, the Grand Advisor will accept your offer.”

“Can you do me one more favor?” I asked. I had no idea if he would do this or not.

“Anything for you, Princess.”

“Tell Jol, King Jolmach, that I intend to keep my promise.”

“Promise?” fake Talrinir asked, ears flopping to the side as her head tilted.

I nodded. “He’ll know what it means. Now, hurry, go!” I shoved their shoulders hard, making them stumble towards the portal.

“Stay safe, Princess!” they called back as they stepped through, the bull-headed demons on their heels.

The portal closed and I spun around to face the six scowling shifters behind me. “That wasn’t Talrinir. That was the Grand Advisor.”

“What?” Kayden snapped. “Why didn’t you tell us? We could have grabbed him and …”

“I realized it after I stupidly allowed him to find out I can break his curse. Plus, we don’t know if we can withstand his magic. It’s better if we play along with his ruse, so we can get my parents back.”

“Do you think he’s really going to trade your parents for breaking the curse?” Trey asked.

“I think he wants this curse gone more than anything else. Plus, once the curse is gone, he’ll be able to use his powers fully again.”

“Then we don’t want to break the curse, right?” Piper asked.

“If I can get my parents back, I’ll do anything, including breaking the curse on him, even if does make him more powerful.”

“He’s already extremely powerful,” Mason reminded me. “Wouldn’t it be better to try to defeat him first?”

“I have a plan,” I said with a wicked smile. “It involves one of my powers I haven’t told anyone about.”

“How many of those do you have?” Kayden asked with a scowl.

“About six?” I said and shrugged. “They started showing up randomly while I was at college.”

“Speaking of college, you said something happened while you were there, but haven’t told us what it was.”

“It’s in the past, it doesn’t matter,” I grumbled.

“We need to know. We need to know everything about your past and your powers,” Trey countered.

Taking a deep breath I admitted, “I almost killed someone.”

Chapter

Nineteen

“What happened?” Mason asked, worried.

“He attacked me and I couldn’t control my anger,” I admitted. “The only reason he’s not dead is because Mom sent me a text and the sound of her message tone snapped me out of it. Not even my parents know.”

“Was that when you disappeared for a week?” Kayden asked.

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