Back in her chambers, she paced the living room, too rattled to be still. A goddamn true mate. A few hours ago, she’d been tormenting herself about Tomas running off, about Týr meeting his destined in her lifetime. Now, she was trapped in another realm, with a possible mate she didn’t want. Before she started hyperventilating again, she pivoted to Riley, but he was instructing a guard who’d entered to set a food tray on the coffee table in the living room. She rubbed her achy temples.
“Why don’t you eat something and then rest?” Riley suggested. She looked up to find that they were alone. “You’ll probably feel better after. Before I forget, there’s a dagger in your nightstand. If it makes you feel any safer. Doubtful you’ll need it with the guards about, but my mate likes having a weapon close at hand…” A faint smile ghosted his lips. “I’ll see you in the morning and escort you to breakfast. If you need me, send one of the guards.”
“Wait.” Kira stopped him before he could leave. “My mother? Do you know anything about her?”
Riley frowned. “No. Like you, I didn’t know mine either, except she was a demoness. And your mother was human. I suppose Wrath will tell you more. But don’t hold your breath. He’s not a fount of information regarding anything. At least not things he reveals.”
She plucked at the beaded bracelet on her wrist. “There’s something else I wanted to ask… You live on Earth most times, right?”
“Yes, in New Orleans. Why?”
“Did you hear anything about a sect of demons abducting human children and bringing them into this world?”
His green eyes narrowed. “No. But then I’m seldom here. What happened?”
As she told him about the missing children and Tomas, his brow furrowed. “Okay, I will find out. And, Kira?”
At his serious tone, her tummy cramped in fear. Now what?
“Just be careful with that blond Guardian, okay?” He gave her a little nod and walked out.
* * *
Týr hunkered down and touched the snow-covered asphalt where the portal had opened, and Kira had disappeared. Nothing. Any lingering vibes from the gateway had long faded.
He rubbed a hand over his scruffy jaw, fear flogging him, making it hard to think—to take another step, terrified at what could be happening to her in that damn place.Hang in there, elska, I will find you.
Kira was a fighter. He had to believe that she was okay, or he’d lose his mind.
An old woman in an oversized black coat, hunched with age, trudged toward him, pushing her trap-covered trolley. Her white hair was pulled in a scraggy tail. Lines mapped her dusky skin. She slowed near him and held out her hand.
Týr rose to his feet, retrieved a couple of dollars from his pocket, and handed it to her. “You should seek sanctuary down at The Shelter.”
She didn’t take the money. Instead, her cold fingers closed around his hand, her rheumy eyes holding his gaze. Týr pulled free. “Look—”
“You search for the one who lives in here?” she croaked, gnarled hand touching her chest.
A rough laugh escaped him. Týr stuck his fists into his pockets, said nothing.
“And wonder if you should open another window?”
His gaze cut back to her, his heart jumping to his throat. “What?” he rasped.
“The winds talk,” she whispered and waved her bent fingers. A churning, black portal opened on the asphalt. “Go. Find what you seek.”
Thunderstruck, Týr narrowed his eyes, trying toseebeyond her cryptic comment to what the hell she was. But he sensed nothing. “Who are you?”
She merely patted his leather-clad arm. “It will close in a few seconds.”
Týr glanced at the roiling gateway. One minute, he was on land. The next, he went tumbling through the vortex.What the fuck?He glared at the crone, but the swirling darkness around him distorted the old woman’s image into one with lighter brown skin and pale hair. The aperture snapped shut.
Týr landed with a spine-jarring thump on a rocky surface and grunted—then cursed—the stench of sulfur knocking his lungs straight into his stomach in protest.
He was back in the Dark-fucking-Realm. He detested this damn place. But Kira mattered more than his distaste. He would check out this shithole if there were even a chance she could be here.
Straightening, he did a quick assessment of his surroundings and found himself in a narrow pathway squeezed between squat, darkened dwellings, and opposite some kind of tavern if the drunken commotion coming from inside was a clue.
Not wanting to draw notice, Týr bolted down his powers, hunched his shoulders, and tottered inside the pub like a bumbling drunk. If Kira were in the vicinity, he didn’t want to tip off the bastards who had her…
