“Yes,” she says.
“No,” Garrett grumbles at the same time.
I can’t blame him. I wouldn’t be happy holding my hand, either, if I were him.
I join them and hold hands with them. “Now what?”
“Say whatever you’re supposed to say. Are we standing in the right place?”
I glance around and try to remember exactly how I was standing when Eilidh sent us through. Then again, she sent me back and shoved me, hard, so maybe how I’m standing isn’t so important.
“Lazgo mandem tanneh cahl. Fozun rostray sephiahl.”
Nothing.
I try again, and again.
And again.
We stand there trying for over an hour when I’m ready to take a break. I’m more exhausted than I thought I would be. I release their hands. “Maybe I need to listen for her. Maybe they’ll send a message.
“No. Don’t stop,” Amber says. “We’ll chant with you.”
“You sure, babe?” Garrett asks.
“Yes. You won’t catch vampire cooties, Garrett. Hold his hand again.”
He snorts but doesn’t argue with his mate. He extends his hand to me and I take it, then we shift our little circle around and try again.
* * *
Eilidh
I stand inside the stones,holding hands with Dad and Zuzu as we chant. They have me wear the ring. If we can send the three of us across, we’ll have the good ring to use. If we can’t get this to work, we’ll try signaling, but I suspect Dexter is standing right here, somewhere.
Ifeelit. Along with the increasingly sharp pain in my chest that I know is from missing him.
He wouldn’tnotbe here, not unless something stopped him. I know he survived the first night because we saw him last night.
When the tingling sensation starts, I fight the urge to scream in triumph because I don’t want to interrupt the process. “Lazgo mandem tanneh cahl. Fozun rostray sephiahl!”
Except I jump back, releasing both Dad and Zuzu’s hands, when a very solid and wolf-scented man appears directly in front of me, his back to me.
And we’re still…here. We didn’t cross.
He wheels around, biting off a growl rumbling from him. “Eilidh?”
“Garrett!” I throw my arms around him, just to hear a very vampiric growl from behind him.
“You, my lovely girl, have just added an infinite number of strokes to your spanking.”
I peek around him to see Dexter standing there, and now I scream again.
A good scream.
I also throw myself at him. He catches me as I wrap arms and legs around him and hug him tightly.
“I love you so much,” I tell him, over and over again. The pain in my chest is blissfully gone.
