Questions for another day.
Quale muttered a few words and the barrier dropped. Wind howled. The real world appeared to be having a snowstorm of the ass-kicking variety. Awesome. The sanctuary was like being in another realm, one completely controlled by magic, right down to the weather. The seven of us stepped free, leaving the mystic behind. I noticed the brothers exchange a glance before the yellow shield was back up, blocking Quale from view.
I hugged my arms to my body, and shimmied closer to Braxton. The warmth of his body was like stepping into a hot bath. Without saying anything he wrapped his arms around me.
“Come on.” Louis had to shout to be heard over the temperamental weather, even with supernatural senses. Peering around Braxton’s bulk – although not removing myself from his arms because I wasn’t an idiot – I could see that Louis had the step-through already open.
I took an extra second to hug myself very tightly to Braxton. This might be the last moment of happiness I had for a while and I was going to milk the hell out of it.
He lifted me closer to his face and said, “It will be okay, I will keep you safe.”
Snow coated our faces and I raised mine to meet him in another kiss. Now might not be the best time for a make out session, but really … who gives a shit.
Eventually, though, we had no choice but to rejoin reality. I was back on my feet, and with our hands tightly linked Braxton and I made our way to the rest of the group, standing in front of Louis’ doorway. I met the sorcerer’s purple eyes and knowledge of what the next few hours was all about flooded back in. It was time. We were going to Krakov.
Chapter 17
The step-through took us from a snowstormed mountain range down into a valley of sorts. Concealed within this valley was a medium sized town. I was going to guess this was the gateway community which protected Krakov. Which thankfully meant that there’d only be supernaturals here. We wouldn’t have to hide our otherness.
It appeared to be laid out similarly to Stratford, but with the more snow friendly style of chalet dwellings. These homes surrounded a few large square “meeting hall” structures.
It was still freezing, but the area was protected from the worst of the storm. The scenery looked familiar, so I assumed we were still in the same region of Romania – in the Carpathian Mountains. From what I could see from our higher vantage point, the area was probably around ten miles in diameter, nestled down in what looked like the crater of a volcano. Mountain ranges encased the quaint little town.
“This is Bruvnest,” said Louis. “Their securities are breachable because I’ve been here before, but there is no easy way into Krakov.” His regal features shifted to the bitch twins … yeah, I’d upgraded them from fruit. “It’s your party now, ladies. Whatever plan you have set in motion, you’d better move your asses. The townsfolk are starting to catch on that we are here.”
He wasn’t even kidding. Members of the community were emerging from wherever they had been. Rugged, they had the distinct size and appearance of our familiar supernatural races. I wasn’t surprised to see they had a lot of trolls here. They were always around mountains and rocky areas.
I heard the townsfolk murmuring amongst themselves. No one spoke English. It sounded Eastern European … Romanian. Which would make sense, you know, since that’s where we were. As they closed in, I could hear them more clearly.
“Ce naiba?” was a popular phrase.
Louis was keeping an eye on them, his gaze unwavering, streams of power emanating from him.
“Do you know what they are saying?” I asked him, since he looked to be following their conversations.
He chuckled. “Something along the lines of ‘what the hell?’ I don’t think they’re impressed to see us appear inside their securities.”
Couldn’t blame them for that. Their one job was to protect the barriers and the prison, and we’d just strolled right in. The twins were acting pretty indifferent toward the townsfolk drawing closer to us. They joined hands, and while there was nothing obvious about what they were doing, I could see the energy bleeding off them. Then they started to sing. It was a low, haunting melody, which seeped through my skin and settled into my blood. I could feel the notes wanting to twirl their way into my mind, but I was strong enough to hold them at bay.
The conversations from the townsfolk trickled off and silence descended over the snowcapped community. Then they started to retreat back into their hut-style homes and other buildings – seemingly without thought – away from where they had clearly been coming to confront the intruders.