I scooped her up in my arms before she could finish the sentence. Held her tight against my chest as I stepped toward the portal.
“Malachar, what the hell are you doing?!” She struggled in my grip. “Put me down! I’m not-”
But I was already stepping into the light. Already feeling the pull of the portal dragging us through.
“I am sorry, little mate,” I murmured against her hair. “But I cannot risk losing you. Hold on to me.”
The world dissolved into chaos.
We were falling and floating simultaneously. There was no up or down. No sense of direction. The light was everywhere, blinding and disorienting. My stomach revolted. My strength was draining away.
But it was not as bad as the first crossing. Not as painful. I was not injured this time. Not bleeding and broken.
Wen was clinging to me desperately, her face buried in my chest. I could feel her terror through the bond. Her confusion. Her anger.
I held her tighter. Shielded her as best I could as we tumbled through the space between worlds.
An eternity later (or perhaps only seconds) we crashed into solid ground.
I took the impact with my back, grunting as pain shot through my still-healing ribs. Wen landed on top of me, gasping for air.
Then she was scrambling off me and onto her knees, retching violently. I tried to stand, to help her, but my own stomach was rolling and the world was spinning.
I focused on breathing. On grounding myself. On not joining her in vomiting.
After a few minutes, the worst of the nausea passed. I stood on shaking legs and went to her. She was leaning against the stonewall of the passage we had landed in, one hand pressed to her stomach, the other braced on the cold stone.
She looked up at me.
Oh. She was furious. Absolutely livid.
“You-” Her voice shook. “You KIDNAPPED me through a PORTAL!”
“I brought you with me-”
“WITHOUT ASKING! Without even TELLING me what you were planning!” She pushed off the wall and advanced on me. “What the hell is wrong with you?! I’m not some damsel you can just scoop up and carry off whenever you feel like it!”
“I know. I am sorry. But I could not risk-”
“Risk what? Risk me saying no? Risk me having a CHOICE in whether I wanted to be dragged to another dimension?!”
“Risk being separated from you.” My voice came out rougher than intended. “If the portal closed. If time moved differently and days here were weeks there. If I could not find my way back. I refuse to take that chance. I refuse to be parted from you.”
“So you just grabbed me and jumped?!”
“Yes.”
“That’s insane! That’s-” She pressed her hands to her face. “I can’t believe you. I can’t believe I let you bite me. I can’t believe I almost bit you back before we got interrupted!”
Guilt twisted in my chest. “I know you are angry. You have every right to be. But Wen-”
“This is fascinating,” Aurion interrupted, “but we should move. We need to reach Mother’s quarters and strategize how to handle your return. Better to control how you enter the castle than to be discovered wandering the halls.”
Wen glared at him. Then at me. “We’re talking about this later. We’re talking about a LOT of things later.”
“Agreed.”
“And you’re sleeping on the floor tonight.”
