“I know,” Mona agreed, “but Rose, don’t lose hope. Portals are there for one reason only—to give access to the supernatural dimension. Which means that if one exists, there’s a way to get it open, no matter how hard it may seem.”
I nodded. She was right, I supposed. I was losing perspective on this, and I couldn’t afford to let my emotions get in the way. I had to stay clear-headed if we were going to have a chance at finding the kids.
“What do you suggest?” Corrine asked.
“Well, I need to see it first, but usually we would need someone on the other side of the portal willing to break it, which is obviously going to be tricky if we don’t know where it leads or what species of supernatural resides within it.”
“So we won’t have enough power from just our side to break it?” I asked.
“I can’t say that for sure, but it seems doubtful if Corrine has already tried with no results. However, if we can get enough power on this side of the portal to work against it, we may find a way to break through.”
I looked around at the ten witches gathered, not including Mona and Corrine. How much more power than this would we possibly need?
“Perhaps witches aren’t our only answer,” Corrine mused. “What about asking the jinn to help as well?”
“That could work,” Mona agreed.
“Let me call my mom,” I interjected.
“Good idea.”
I picked up the phone and walked outside the pub. It was starting to rain, a gray sleet that was turning the sea more violent by the second.
“Mom?” I called out over the noise of the crashing waves. “Can you hear me?”
“Rose! Did you find anything?” Her voice came clearly through the line.
“We found a portal in the sea. We think it leads to the kids, but we can’t open it—it’s locked, or something. I’ve got Corrine and Mona here, but they think we need the help of a few jinn. Could you speak to Nuriya or Aisha? Their powers might be of help.”
“Of course,” she said. “I’m so glad you found something at least. I’ll get some jinn over right away—where am I sending them?”
“The Fair Isle off mainland Scotland…which is not very fair,” I remarked, eyeing the run-down pub.
“Okay, I’ll message you when they’re on their way.”
“Any news on Sherus’s omen?” I asked before she hung up.
“Absolutely nothing. We’re keeping our eyes open, but there’s nothing so far. Your father is becoming agitated—he worries that we’re in the eye of the storm, but neither of us can find anything that indicates something’s wrong…though I suppose that probably means we’re missing something.”
“Okay, well… I’ll talk to you later.”
We hung up, and I made my way back inside. Claudia was arguing with Corinne about going to visit the portal before the jinn arrived, but Corinne wasn’t having any of it.
“There’s no point, Claudia. Better that we wait and then have a concentrated dose of power to try to break the portal. It will be no use if we tire ourselves before the jinn get here.”
Claudia stormed off toward the bathrooms, and I smiled weakly at Corrine, who rolled her eyes. This situation wasn’t exactly bringing out the best in us, and Claudia was fiery on a normal day. But I understood her frustration.
“You okay?” Caleb asked, coming to stand next to me.
“I spoke to Mom. She’s going to message me when the jinn are on their way. All we have to do is wait—”
A buzz emanated from my phone. Good, Mom worked fast. It was a message from her saying that Nuriya, Aisha and Horatio were coming. I sighed with relief and put the phone away.
“They’re coming,” I announced to everyone in the room. Turning back to Caleb, I rested my head on his shoulder. “I just want them home. I want to wake up in our house, and get the kids breakfast, and yell at Benedict to get started on his homework, and tell Hazel to put her e-reader down while she’s at the dinner table.”
Caleb pressed his lips to my forehead. “I know.”
“How can we help?” Nuriya’s voice interrupted my daydreaming. Looking over toward the bar, I saw that the jinn had arrived.
“Thank you for coming,” Mona said to the jinn. “We need your help opening a portal—we think it’s locked or stuck.”
“Where?” Aisha asked, hands on her hips while her amethyst-colored eyes gazed around the pub. Her curly jet-black hair was swept above her head in a severe bun—it was her signature hairstyle for missions and made her look like she meant business.