“Jumps?”
“Portals. I live in a city on the far end of the realm. Since I’ve got a passenger, I’d rather not risk botching a jump by trying to be showy.”
“You mean we’re not flying?”
The corner of Callum’s lip quirks, and his wings flare behind him.
Magnificent wings. Black as midnight, leathery, with small stripes of scars criss-crossing them at various points over their smooth surface.
The wings of a demon who’s gotten himself into a few scuff-ups over the years.
“I’ll take you flying some other time, if you’d like.”
Inexplicably, the hint of a blush climbs my cheeks.
I should be immune to this demon.
I shouldn’t be noticing his wings or his horns or his tail or any other part of him.
I almost freakingdiedtoday. There shouldn’t be any part of me still capable of admiringanythingabout him.
Yet here we are.
“Yeah, yeah,” I say, ducking my head so he doesn’t see the pink staining my skin. “We’ll see about that.”
“I certainly hope we will.”
With nothing to say to that, I take his hand when he offers it again.
His arms would be better.
But I’ve got no business thinking that, either. Even if I’m still not entirely steady on my feet after everything that’s happened today, I’m not about to ask if he can swing me up into his big beefy demon arms and carry me.
Besides, there’s no timetoask as he opens a portal and steps us both through.
It’s not as disorienting as going through the Veil, but it’s a close second.
And by the time he opens one, two, three portals, hopping us closer to wherever we’re going each time, I think I’d choose another trip through the Veil over the world-warping sensation of traveling what’s probably hundreds or thousands of miles in seconds.
“Just one more,” he tells me when we step out into another unfamiliar landscape.
This one looks like coastal scrubland. The air is tinged faintly with salt, and flat land filled with sparse, low-lying vegetation spreads out for miles in all directions.
“There’s a drop-zone in the city not too far from my apartment,” Callum continues.
He could tell me we’re about to drop down on a mountain peak or a lake of lava for all I care. I’m so damn wobbly and dead on my feet I’d follow him just about anywhere if it meant a place to sit down.
“Great,” I say, drawing in a deep, trembling breath.
Just as he’s about to open another portal, Callum freezes.
He looks hard at my face, eyes searching, evaluating, and he must not be satisfied with what he finds because he curses low under his breath and reaches for me.
“What are you—”
I don’t get to finish my sentence before I’m hefted up into those arms I was admiring. Before I can protest, he steps us through the final portal.
When we stumble out the other side, we’re in the middle of a bustling city.
