Page 106 of Bite of Passage
Cade caught him by the arm.“Something happened.”
“What?”He went absolutely still.Everything in him froze.For a moment, he couldn’t think or move, his mind screaming its denial.This was what his intuition had been screeching about for the past ten hours or so.
“We can see a strange witch through the portal in Gemma’s home.”
“A witch?”He could barely breathe.Not possible.“Why would they be after her?”
“Do you think someone found out she’s a medicinal?”Cade asked.
Skarde pushed him out of the way.Serina sat with her hands clasped at the small kitchen table, staring at the mirror.
“I’m going across,” he said.
“You can’t.We have to wait,” Serina said.
“Can the witch see us?”
Serina shook her head.“The spell only allows Gemma to see or move through the portal.It won’t let you go to her.”
Skarde sank into a chair, his legs giving out.“I shouldn’t have pushed her away,” he repeated over and over, rubbing his hands down his face.“The portal let me through before.Modify the spell so it can happen again.”
“What?”Serina straightened.“I never did any such thing.It’s a one-way portal to allow her to get to you.”
“I went over there when that guy planned to carve her into little pieces.”
“Somebody tried to kill her?I really am a shit guardian.”She waved as if to erase that thought.“It’s not possible for you to cross.Unless…” She reached for his hand.“Fontaine, get over here.”
Skarde yanked his hand away from her.“What are you doing?”
“Everyone here is on your side, Skarde.We need to see something.”Serina met Fontaine’s gaze.
The dwarf walked to stand next to him, rolled over Skarde’s wrist, and ran his finger along the inside.A variety of interwoven patterns lit up.Fontaine put his hand over the patterns.A glow emanated from the connection of their skin.
“Fascinating.”Fontaine released him and stepped away.“What has Serish been doing to you?”
“Aside from poisoning me with juice cleanses?”He shrugged.“He feeds me teas that taste nasty.It’s herbal stuff he says will clear my mind and feed my soul or some such garbage.We haven’t been doing magic rituals or anything.I’m not into that shit.”
“Uh-huh.”The dwarf shook his head.“Sneaky bastard.Smart.But sneaky.”
“I warned him, if he double crossed me, I’d kill him.What did he do?”
“He’s been giving you absorptive potions along with who knows what else.”Fontaine put a hand on Skarde’s shoulder and gripped hard.“Don’t get angry, my friend.Serish hasn’t betrayed you.He’s made you stronger than you can ever imagine.He granted you the ability to absorb some of the powers of the creatures you kill.”
Fuck, could he be part demon now?Did that make him evil?“We discussed the possibility as a theoretical concept, although it would explain why I seem to understand more about the crazy creatures as time goes on.”
Fontaine said, “A mage might use this trick once or twice if he thinks he’ll be facing off with someone he’ll end up killing, but you… Well, you take down something nasty every week.I would never have thought to do anything like this.That crazy old bastard is a genius.”
“What do the patterns mean?”
“Most people have one pattern.It’s who they are.Gemma has a medicinal mark.Serina has a witch mark.You… they’reallthere.”
Great.More magical weirdness about himself to figure out.
“Can I go across the portal or not?”
“I’m impressed by that nutty old mage.He gave you the magic to be able to survive what you do.In theory, you could realm walk, but this particular portal is tied to Gemma.”He nodded toward the mirror.“She has to want you over there.You handle many things well, but love and a relationship?”Fontaine shook his head.“No spell can fix it.”
He jumped up, patted his side to find he’d forgotten his weapons in the bedroom.“Cade, I need weapons.”
