“Stubborn,” she breathed in resignation.
His lips brushed softly against hers before Roke was abruptly pulling back, his gaze locked on the box that abruptly flared with light.
“Sally?”
“This is the place,” she muttered.
“Here?” He scowled. “It’s way too convenient that we’d stop at the precise place we need to be.”
Sally sympathized with his suspicion. It was way too convenient.
But she was beginning to understand that she wasn’t actually chasing her father, but rather finding a location that would allow his portal to align with this world.
It was fluid.
Holding Roke’s gaze, she waited until he muttered a low curse and slid out of the vehicle. Sally was quickly crawling out to stand beside him, no longer looking out of the box as she could feel the magic calling to her.
“This way,” she murmured, stumbling through the overgrown culvert that ran beside the road before making her way to the clump of oak trees at the edge of a field.
“I don’t like this.” Roke followed behind her, his disapproval crawling over her skin with a sharp chill.
Pretending she didn’t have a sulking six-foot-plus vampire on her heels, Sally walked between the trees, breathing deeply of the scent of moss and rich earth.
Was that the magic?
Her silent question was answered when an unmistakable tingle heated her blood.
“Here,” she said, stopping abruptly in the center of a small clearing.
Coming to a halt at her side, Roke continued to scan the shadows between the nearby trees, his muscles coiled to strike.
“Now what?”
“I’m not sure.” She leaned down to place the box at her feet, her heart leaping as a shimmering became visible in the air directly in front of her. “Oh.”
Unable to detect magic, Roke scowled in confusion. “What?”
“I see it.”
“See what?”
“The opening to the portal.”
She took a step forward only to be halted by a ruthless grip on her upper arm.
“What are you doing? You can’t just charge in there,” Roke snapped. “If your father is being held prisoner, then there must be guards.”
Tilting back her head, she met his seething gaze. “Waiting here isn’t going to change that.”
“Fine.” He reached to pull a gun from the holster at the small of his back. “Send me in and I’ll deal with the guards.”
“I can’t.”
He scowled. “Can’t or won’t?”
She waved an impatient hand. “I’m not entirely sure how it works, but we’ll need my magic to lead us to my father. Even if I could get you into the portal without me, you would be wandering around blind.”
He didn’t like it, but Roke grudgingly accepted she was right.
“Dammit.”
She stepped toward the iridescent opening. “Let’s go before I lose my nerve.”
“If I thought that was a possibility, I’d tie you to the nearest tree,” he muttered.
She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a . . . man.”
“Is that an insult?”
“Absolutely.”
Taking a deep breath, Sally waited for Roke to place a hand on her shoulder before she took the final step through the mist and entered the portal.
Instantaneously she was surrounded by a kaleidoscope of colors that swirled around her in a dizzying dance.
“Oh,” she breathed.
His fingers tightened on her shoulder. “Can you see something?”
“Strands of beauty,” she said, sensing they were moving through the portal.
“Are you screwing with me?”
“The magic is filled with the most beautiful colors,” she said, trying to explain her fascination. This magic was different from her human spells, or even the magic used by the traditional fey. This was richer, fuller . . . lethally addictive. “It’s hypnotizing.”
He kept his voice low as he muttered his own opinion of magic, his jacket brushing her spine as he pressed close behind her.
Leaning back, Sally allowed herself to briefly enjoy the cool power that wrapped around her.
It felt so natural.
Even vital.
As if she’d become so accustomed to the sense of this vampire being nestled deep inside her that she instinctively depended on his unwavering strength.
It was a dangerous realization, but she wasn’t in the mood to worry about it.
Not when there was a good chance she wasn’t going to survive the night.
On that cheery thought Roke suddenly stiffened, a growl rumbling in his chest.
“I smell wine.”
She caught the scent a mere second after Roke. “Father,” she breathed, straightening to try to peer through the swirls of magic.
“There’s something else,” Roke muttered.
She was distracted from his warning as her father’s voice filled her head.
“Sally.”
Turning, she watched as the strands of magic parted to reveal Sariel lying on what looked like a dirt floor.
The air was squeezed from her lungs as her gaze took in the sight of his motionless form drenched in a sickly green glow. He was as beautiful as he’d been in the meadow with his golden hair spilling over the ground and his pale features so perfect they might have been carved in marble.
But as she studied his elegant form she detected the white robe was now a grimy gray and so frayed it barely covered him while his silver headband had become tarnished.
“There he is.” She hurried forward, only to run headfirst into an invisible wall. “Damn.” She rubbed her abused nose. “There’s a barrier.”
“At last,” her father purred inside her head. “Come to me, my daughter.”
She ignored Roke’s frown, speaking out loud. “I can’t get past the barrier.”
“Release your powers,” Sariel urged. “They will join with mine.”
Her powers?
She grimaced, not overly enthusiastic at the thought of releasing the torrent of uncontrollable magic when she didn’t have a clue what would happen.
She could potentially crush the portal and kill them all.
Or lose control and hurt Roke.
Still, what choice did she have?
With a slow nod she held her hand toward the barrier, allowing herself to concentrate on the magic that had so recently proven to be lethal.
“Sally, what are you doing?” Roke rasped, grasping her wrist as she began to glow with a golden light.
“Joining my powers with my father,” she murmured, her gaze remaining trained on her father.