It seemed so very real. Almost tangible.
So real, in fact, that it took a moment of listening to the strange knocking on the door behind her before panic actually set in.
“Levet?”
“What?”
“Is there supposed to be someone knocking on the door?”
There was a flurry of French curses as Levet’s fingers tightened on her face. “Concentrate, ma petite. Do not let them in.” Without warning Levet’s hands fell from her face and he was sucking in a sharp breath. “Oops.”
“Oops?” Anna kept her eyes scrunched shut, her head throbbing as she frantically pictured the steel door. “The door is shut tight. What’s oops?”
“That.”
Not at all sure it was a good idea, Anna slowly opened her eyes, her head turning to follow Levet’s wide gaze.
Oh no. It most certainly wasn’t a good idea.
What the hell was that strange shimmer floating in the air near the window? It looked almost like a mirror that wasn’t entirely formed. Or maybe it was a wavering tunnel of light.
“Holy crap,” she breathed, her heart lodged in her throat. “What is it?”
Levet hopped off the bed, his tail twitching in agitation. “A portal.”
“Portal?”
“A door between time and space.”
Oh, of course.
Shaking her head, Anna forced herself to simply accept Levet’s explanation. She’d seen too much over the past few days to be shocked by a bit of warp-speed travel.
“Why is it here?”
“Obviously your visitor decided if they couldn’t reach your mind they would call in person.”
She slid off the bed, her body knotted with tension. There was only one person who would be trying to force their way into her mind.
“This isn’t good.”
“It’s rude, is what it is. You do not just make a portal in the middle of someone’s bedroom without permission. What if we were…you know.” Levet lifted his brows at Anna’s sharp, disbelieving glare. “Don’t look me like that, it’s entirely possible.”
She blew out a sigh. “Levet, let’s just concentrate on what’s coming.”
His tail twitched, his hand reaching up to grab hers. “I think we both know what’s coming.”
True enough.
Already the scent of pomegranates was filling the air, the fruity scent making Anna’s skin crawl with fear.
“We have to get out of here,” she whispered, but her feet seemed frozen to the ground. “Levet…”
The gargoyle grunted, his expression dark. “I can’t move either.”
Anna strained against the invisible bonds as the portal widened to reveal a tall, red-haired woman dressed in a long gossamer gown, a stunning emerald necklace around her neck.
The image was fuzzy, but there was no mistaking those perfect features or pure emerald eyes.
The woman from her dreams.
No, not dreams. Nightmares.
“Damn,” she breathed, her fingers tightening on Levet’s fingers. The woman wasn’t actually in the room, but she was a hell of a lot closer than Anna wanted her to be.
“Danteeeeeeee!” Levet screeched, his voice bouncing through the room with an eerie echo.
The woman gave a throaty laugh, but to Anna’s horrified gaze it appeared that the pale, perfect face held a hint of strain. As if holding the portal was not as easy a task as she wanted them to believe.
“The vampire can’t hear you, gargoyle. Nor can the Phoenix. You are all alone.”
“Morgana.” Anna wasn’t even aware she spoke the name aloud until the emerald gaze swung in her direction and widened in shock.
“You.” Morgana shook her head, her expression one of utter disbelief. It might have been funny if Anna wasn’t scared out of her mind. “Anna Randal. No. It cannot be. I killed you.”
Chapter 14
So. This was the woman who had been responsible for the fire that had killed her aunt and nearly brought an end to her own life.
The…bitch.
Anna tilted her chin, her body trembling with something more than fear.
“Yeah, well, you missed,” she said, knowing it was lame, but it was the best she could do under the circumstances. What she wanted to do was get her hands around that perfect neck.
The emerald eyes narrowed in fury. “How did you survive the fire? The spell I used should have killed you.”
“I have a few powers of my own.” And a healthy dose of blind luck.
Morgana hissed, the fruity scent so powerful that it was making Anna’s stomach queasy. Or maybe that was just the terror.
“I should have killed you the moment I suspected who you were.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Morgana’s image became sharper, clearer. As if the portal’s reception was being fine-tuned.
“I had to be sure. I had to know that you were the one with the powers I had sensed before I risked exposing my presence.”
“Exposing your presence?” Anna shivered with the age-old pain. “You mean burning a townhouse to the ground and killing an innocent woman in the process? Tell me, was Aunt Jane even related to me?”
“Of course not,” Morgana scoffed. “She was just a foolish old woman with a mind that was pathetically easy to control.”
God. How had she ever lived beneath the same roof with this woman and not sensed the evil that marred her soul?
“And what of my real parents?” she gritted, her hands squeezing poor Levet’s fingers until he gave a small squeak. “Did you kill them?”
Morgana laughed, her slender fingers lifting to stroke through the fiery curls.
“I killed a vast number of your relatives. I can only suppose that among them were your parents.”
“Ummm…Anna,” Levet whispered.
Ignoring the gargoyle, Anna glared at the woman who was determined to see her dead.
“Why? Why are you trying to kill me?”
“Anna. Sacrebleu, woman,” Levet snapped, jerking on her arm until she could no longer ignore him. “We are about to be pulled into the portal.”
Too late, Anna realized that the shimmering glow was indeed growing, the outer tentacles reaching across the room to where she stood.
“Crap.” She vainly struggled against the power that held her motionless. “How do I stop it?”
Morgana held out a slender hand, a smug smile curving her lips. “You cannot, my sweet. Soon we will be done with this tedious game.”
“Levet?” Anna rasped.