If you could call it a hand. Currently, it was a mass of raw skin that itched and burned as Kaylor worked on it. The closing of the portal cut my right hand off cleanly. It was my fighting hand, what little fighting I did nowadays, but I didn’t have time to sit around while Kaylor tried to grow it back with her impossible magic. My woman was gone, and I could hardly breathe.
I’d always had eyes on Camilla. Even when we weren’t talking, I knew where she was. It brought me a strange sense of comfort. With her in another realm, I’d lost that connection. Even the limited magic of our scent marking wouldn’t allow me to know where she was in a different realm. She was alone somewherewith a monster, and I didn’t know how to protect her. I quelled the rising panic in my chest as I thought of what he could be doing to her or how long it could take to find her. I couldn’t have her gone for years like her father. I would die in the realms looking for her before I stayed here and just hoped and prayed for her safe retrieval.
“Where’s her father?” I barked to Paulo, who entered the living room, phone to his ear.
He pulled it away before speaking. “We’re getting him now. Do you want me to bring in Marcus and Daria?”
I wasn’t fond of the idea. I’d made a deal with Daria to help me when they reached out for help to stop a demon gang from coming after them a year ago. She was a powerful necromancer, and we were down several people now after the attack. I wasn’t sure what we were walking into as far as numbers, and Daria could raise a grave of the dead to fight for us. Still, I didn’t like calling Marcus or Daria since making that deal. Both my brothers were in danger at the time; I didn’t need a deal to save them. In retrospect, making it was more of a cover for showing I cared and a way to have control over my brothers. As I always had. Since reconnecting with Camilla, I was more ashamed of my past behavior than before. I had been acting just like my father. I knew Daria and Marcus would help without me having to call it a favor. However, I didn’t want to bother them. At least not now. They wouldn’t become my go-to whenever I faced trouble.
I shook my head. Sam, whom I had told because he’d been calling and checking in on me since the start of this vacation, walked toward us from the island in the kitchen. He inspected his semi-automatic he was holding as if trying to figure it out. While that didn’t instill much confidence in me, I knew he could fight. Despite the babying he’d gotten growing up comparedto Marcus and me, he still received the basic training of our lifestyle. “Is this gun going to do the trick against these things?”
Paulo nodded, stuffing his phone in his pocket. “Yeah, the bullets are magic fire-laced. They worked earlier. We were just outnumbered.”
I narrowed my eyes at my brother. “Do you know what the fuck you’re doing? I can’t have you fucking up over there or worry about you getting killed…again.”
Sam gave me a wide, toothy smile. “Aww, you’d worry about me? That’s a first, but I’ll take it.”
“I’m serious, you little shit. I will fucking leave you behind if it’s between you and Camilla.”
He gave me uncharacteristically serious blue eyes. “I get it. I want to be offended, but I get it. I’ve been in battle with the demons and made it out. I won’t let anyone get the drop on me this time. But do we really think this shadow thing has a whole army?”
Paulo shook his head. “It doesn’t matter if he has no one else. When we find the realm, you have to understand it’s enemy territory. It wasn’t easy the last time we got into the shadow realm to get Camilla’s father. Remember, for the most part, they can’t get out, so they are always on alert when someone comes in. And they aren’t happy about intruders.”
I snuck a look down at my hand, antsy to get going. It now looked like the shape of a hand, but still without skin. It still burned like hell, but I could push through. That would have to be enough. “I can put a glove over it and go, right?”
Kaylor frowned. “I can finish this. The father isn’t even here yet, so you can’t go anywhere.”
I waved my hand for her to finish, ignoring the look of annoyance in her eyes. I would try to be better about how I communicated with people when Camilla was found safe. Quick footsteps brought my attention to the entrance, and soonan older man and woman in their sixties appeared. Camilla’s parents. Her mother, dressed in jeans and a black sweater, her pointed ears peeking through the strands of her short, graying bob, pressed a hand to her chest when she looked to me. Her father, dressed in black kakis and a dark gray sweater, walked forward, his bright light brown eyes wild with worry. I moved to stand up to greet them, but Kaylor held my wrist down, glaring up at me.
I sighed and remained seated. “I’m sorry I failed to protect your daughter, but I am going to get her back or die trying. You have my word.”
Her father, Sampson, shook his head. “This is not your fault. It’s mine. I brought that thing back when you got me out of there.”
“What do you mean, sir?”
And then he proceeded to explain how this being named Argo had befriended him while in the shadow realm at his weakest moment. He told us how the creature had come back through the portal and become infatuated with Camilla. Wringing his hands out in front of him, he shook his head as he spoke. “I don’t think he’d hurt her, or rather, I don’t think he would intend to. But I don’t know what his boundaries are. He was a very lonely being, but a powerful one. And he has done things that got him imprisoned in servitude. He completed his sentence during my time there, but he often talked about his desire to see my realm.”
“Did he ever try to take energy from you?”
He looked at me with haunted eyes. “I wouldn’t remember if he did. Nor would I put it past him to want to do that to her. It’s in his nature; he won’t be able to help it. There are times that I think that my mind was worsened because of him and that my healing was slowed when I returned for the same reason. It’s why I didn’t remember him when you first asked about shadowcreatures. But he wouldn’t go through this trouble just to kill her. He’s fascinated with her.”
I held in a growl, my face fixed in a silent snarl. I already had a strong guess what that fucker wanted, and if I found he laid a finger on her, I would tear him to pieces. “We don’t have time.”
Sampson turned to his wife. “You’re staying here.”
She shook her head slowly, her eyes watering. “I can’t sit back while my daughter and my husband are in that awful place.”
He clasped her hands patiently. “You need to stay for our other children and grandchildren. I promise we will come back.”
I looked down at my hand. It still wasn’t fully back, more red than green, the skin tender and thin. But I had no more time to waste.
Kaylor, sensing my urgency, placed a black glove over my hand. I gritted my teeth against the discomfort of having something over the healing skin. “This will hopefully keep it protected from infection.”
“Thank you,” I said before turning to Sampson. “Let’s go.”
***
Thankfully, Sampson was able to portal us to the shadow realm on the first try, having spent so much time there. We entered into what appeared to be the night there in a small town surrounded by domed-shaped homes. We then immediately went into action, quiet at first until we were met with the locals who, as expected, did not appreciate our presence. We split, with me taking a small group to find Camilla while the others battled our new company.
