My hand drifted mindlessly to the small box tucked securely in my pocket—the one I never left without anymore. Inside was his ring. The one I hadn’t returned. The one he hadn’t asked back for. I knew with it, I could bypass any Layer of Protection, no clearance required, its power so grand. And yet, it remained in my possession, untouched and unmentioned.Why am I even thinking of this ring right now?
As I rose to my feet, a sudden rush of determination surged through me, steadying my limbs and clearing my thoughts. My brows drew together as my heart began to pound, caught in the strange rhythm of fear tangled with resolve.
I took a slow, cautious step toward the door—and that’s when it happened.
Without meaning to, without even realizing what I was doing, a portal flared to life in the center of the room.
I froze, blinking in disbelief, every muscle tensing.
Was someone coming through?
But the room remained silent. Empty.
And then, it hit me—I had opened it.
Somehow, without focus or intent, I had drawn a pathway into existence. The realization sent a jolt of shock through me, and I reached for my Nexus, fingers trembling around its familiar shape.
I had no idea where James had gone to. The uncertainty twisted in my gut, growing worse with every passing second.
How was I supposed to follow him if I didn’t even know where he’d gone?
I stared into the portal’s swirling current, its surface shifting like liquid light, wild and unknowable. Power hummed at my fingertips, but it did nothing to soothe the helplessness twisting inside me.
All translation comes from knowledge.How was this happening without me knowing where to go?
The energy in my veins surged again, stronger this time, like my body was trying to tell me something. What the hell was happening to me? I’d gone from struggling to translate to summoning portals out of thin air. The shift was dizzying, terrifying even, but it also stirred a flicker deep within me—a steady voice that had been buried beneath the fear.
Stop being afraid, Emma. You’ve got this power. Now fucking use it.
I closed my eyes, drew in a long breath, and tried to control my emotions as I’d done many times before.No weakness.
Fuck it, it didn’t matter I didn’t know where he’d gone. I didn’t need to know. I only had to trust myself—trust the charge thrumming beneath my skin.
Everyone always said magic came from knowledge, from precision, from knowing precisely what you were reaching for.
But knowledge isn’t solely about facts.
It’s intuition. It’s the quiet certainty in your gut when everything else is chaos.
It’s trusting yourself enough to leap, even when you can’t see where you’ll land.
I yanked James’s ring from my pocket and shoved it over my thumb, silently hoping it wouldn’t slip off mid-transport. Then, I homed in, focusing on the familiar hum of magic around me. “Replicate James’s last translation, and bring me to his location,” I whispered, still a little unsure this would work.
But the moment I spoke the words, the room shifted.
The gateway crackled to life, its energy sharper, more focused. Like it was pulling me toward him. My heart raced as I stepped through, the sensation of its energy wrapping around me like a tight grip.
When I stumbled out the other side, the cold mountain air hit me like a slap to the face, stealing the breath from my lungs.
Damn it, I should’ve brought a coat.
I now stood in white, deep snow, my feet sinking slightly into the frost-covered ground. The towering peaks of the mountains loomed around me, their shadows long and imposing.
And a few meters ahead, there was James. He was adjusting his jacket against the chill, completely unaware I had followed him. I quickly ducked into the shadows of a nearby tree, my heart hammering in my chest.
Why hadn’t I thought this through? What was I even doing? Was it wrong to follow him like this, to insert myself into whatever this was? More doubts than ever clawed at me, but I couldn’t turn back now. I was here. And I needed to understand.
I watched as James made his way down the narrow mountain path; his steps careful but determined. He was headed toward a beautiful, isolated house, nestled between the trees and snow-covered slopes. The place looked serene, almost peaceful, and yet, my stomach churned with anxiety.
