Page 38 of Truth
“Switzerland?” I asked, the words nearly getting stuck in my throat.
He breathed heavily, and I knew I wasn’t about to like this. “Portal magic.”
I blinked a few times, “Excuse me?”
“Maggie and a few other people I know, some stronger than you could imagine, will hold a portal for five minutes. Sterling purchased an abandoned factor not too far from here. Maggie and her friends will go there, open a portal at the same time, which will be linked to the location I am in using this –“ He held up a cylinder shaped stone, with copper wire wrapped around the top, securing it to a chain, “All who can make it through the portal during that time will be safe.”
I swallowed hard. My stomach churning, “And if they don’t make it?”
He shook his head, “You have to know going into this Liberty, we can’t save everybody. The best we can do is hope what and who we can save is, well, enough.”
Chapter 18
ELLIS
Partingfrom Liberty was physically painful. The pain traveled through my limbs and bones, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I was the only one. Did everyone feel this way when they were away from our girl, or was it the link I had to her emotions that caused the discomfort?
“You will be fine.” Lenin informed me on the last leg of our journey. Me. I will be fine. But he said nothing of Liberty. Of Oak. Of Sterling.
“It’s not me I worry for.” I paused, “Can you feel it?”
He gave me a single nod. “Even knowing the fates will protect my mates, the worry for their safety is immense, I will admit.”
“Can you feel it?” I asked again, my curiosity finally getting the best of me.
“The pain in my very being? It is part of the mate bond. I suspect the only one who does not feel the discomfort are the vampires with Liberty.”
“What do you know about this portal?” What I really wanted to know was what did he know about the chances of them getting out.
“Portals are rare and hard to open. Though if they believe it can be done, I can only trust it to be true. I trust Liberty’s Oak in making wise decisions. It will be hard to maintain for the allotted time though, and I suspect the witches will struggle.”
Struggle. That can’t be good. Knowing Oak and Liberty, they would want to be the last ones through and if they missed the portal – shit. I couldn’t think about that. They had to make it through. We had bigger things to worry about than her slipping through the portal. Things like –
“Is it true? About the –“ Why couldn’t I say the words? Jealousy, maybe? Jealous about the fact that the fucking mutt gets all the things I’ve always dreamed of? All the things I wished for with Liberty?
The very corner of his lips tipped up with a smile that never fully formed, “She will rule with so much love and grace, with the strengths of her fathers and the stubbornness of her mother.”
Fathers. My soul, the restless, useless piece of me, instantly calmed. It wasn’t Liberty picking one over the others by the end of this; it was all of us. The future queens belonged to us all, and would live the life accordingly, with all the spoiling that comes with it. Because Liberty and the child, our child, would be spoiled. They deserved nothing less than everything we could possibly give them, and I knew that each of us would make that happen.
The calm I felt settled over me knowing that Lenin had seen it and knew she would fine. We would be fine. “Your visions, are there rules about what you share?”
The curiosity got to me. It was really my first time with Lenin, mostly he hung out with Justice or Oak. He didn’t seem like a bad guy, just – different. “I tell what needs to be told, when it needs to be told.”
I felt my brows pull together, “What does that even mean?”
He looked out the window as Ramsey drove down the country road on the way to the camp. I tried not to think about it, tried not to think about that terrible slice of time in history where people’s hate destroyed the lives of entire countries. With a big sigh that wracked his whole body he spoke, “Sometimes what I know will only cause worry. I keep that worry and sorrow for myself as it might make the fate's plans harder to play out. But if there are times where I can offer glimpses as to what’s to come that will bring hope, I will release what is needed. It is the fates’ wish.”
The pain re-tightened in my abdomen, “And I needed to know about our daughter to drive me forward?”
“It is true.”
But it’s what he wasn’t saying that scared me. What did he know, what worry did the ogre carry that he didn’t want to share? “You know something.”
He turned from the window, his eyes looking straight at mine for the first time since we’ve met, “Love is worth all sacrifice, and when the time comes, there will be no regrets.”
Who the hell is sacrificing? Whose regret is at stake? For a moment I almost let the instant fear and worry consume me, but then I realized he was right. If he gave me the information that he knew, it would distract me. Worry me. So he gave me the positive information that he could share. How heavy must it feel to carry around the knowledge and not speak of what you knew?
The car jolted to a stop in a cluster of trees before Ramsey looked over at us, “Are you ready to get this shit over with, brother?”