She snatched her cell from the table and called Týr, but it went to voicemail. Dammit. “Týr’s not answering. I’ll call him once I’m at the cabin. I have to go.” She slipped her phone into her jacket pocket.
“Maybe Hedori will teleport you there?” Echo said.
“No, he’ll only try to stop me until Týr gives his okay”—Kira rolled her eyes—“like all the men here do. This sounded urgent.”
“Can’t argue there,” Echo muttered.
“Besides, Hedori doesn’t have to transport me…” Kira grimaced, realizing that there was one more thing she hadn’t told her friend. “I can dematerialize now, thanks to my mother.”
Echo’s jaw nearly hit the floor, but with no time to lose, Kira closed her eyes and willed herself to the cabin and… Nothing. “God, not now! Why can’t I summon my ability?”
“You’re probably too agitated. Come on.”
Kira swiped her dagger off the floor and sprinted after Echo. Downstairs, they cut through the small living room where Echo stopped at several framed pictures on the wall and pointed to a photo taken in spring of a familiar cabin and lake. “This place, right?”
Kira nodded. “Yes. It’s somewhere in the Adirondacks.”
“Okay.” Echo hurried out into the chilly night, stopping a short distance away from the castle. She held out her palm with the rune imprint. “Let’s hope Lore’s lessons paid off, and I can do this without using any items to guide me.”
“You know where the cabin is?”
“I have an image in my mind, so it should be fine…” The runes on her palm glowed, and the night air split apart with a hiss. Flickering colors whirled at the edges of the portal, revealing complete darkness on the other side.
Kira grabbed her arm in awe. “It worked.”
“Yes. Hopefully, this really is the gateway to the cabin and not Timbuktu.”
Kira would have smiled if her stomach weren’t knotting itself at what could be happening at the cabin. She hurried for the cavernous opening, Echo following on her heels.
“Oh, no—” Kira spun back, shaking her head forcefully. “You can’t come with me.”
“You came to Hell for me.” Echo lifted a brow, her bi-colored eyes sporting the same gimlet stare Kira was fond of using, daring her to deny it. “Do you honestly think I’ll let my best friend go off alone?”
“But, Aethan—”
“Yup, mad as a wasp with a missing wing when he finds out,” Echo agreed helpfully. “But we’ll be done with whatever Gran wants us to do by then, right? Besides, she wouldn’t send you into danger, and we aren’t exactly helpless either, yeah?”
“Echo—”
“Stop worrying. As the Healer of the Veils, traversing to dangerous places is going to happen for me anyway. Besides, I don’t think the Celestial angels would let me die, not when they’ve waited eons for a new Healer. And I’m damn tired of being stuck in the castle.” She grabbed Kira’s hand and pulled her through the portal. “Might as well get in some real practice for whenmywork calls.”
Yes, Echo was the long-awaited Healer. Only she could heal and strengthen the rifts formed in the mystical veils that protected the world from supernatural evil.
“Okay-okay, fine. Truth is, I’m really glad you’re with me.”
Kira glanced around as the gateway whooshed shut behind them, the unmarred, frozen surface crackling beneath their feet. The moon cast a ghostly light over the iced lake, the snow-covered ground, and the thick, dark forest edging the property. Yep, they were at the cabin.
Kira pushed her jambiya into her jacket pocket and trudged closer to the cottage, searching the vista beyond the building. Everything appeared quiet. “I can’t detect anything. You?”
“No…” Echo shook her head.
“Let’s go check the other side of the cabin.” Kira fished out her cell from her jacket pocket and called Týr again and got voicemail once more. Trying not to worry—he was probably busy—she put her phone away.
“This place’s so remote and serene,” Echo murmured. “And really beautiful.”
“You and Aethan should come here. I’m sure Týr would agree. Wait, don’t the guys use properties from each other for getaways?”
“You’d think.” Echo snorted. “But why do things the easy way? They’d rather bet on it over some silly game and then cling to their win like ivy just to annoy the tar off the other. Butaskto use it like normal people? Are you crazy?”
