“You’ll get better with practice, and remember it’s not real.”
My head jerked to the side, and I screamed. A freaky-looking Nai, with one eye and a droopy vacant expression, was watching me like a zombie.
“Now, have her scoot off to the rock so you can create the portal,” my mom coaxed.
One-eyed Zombie Nai just blinked at the wall and then walked over to it before disappearing inside.
I wastotallygoing to need therapy after this.
Focusing on the task at hand, I imagined that I was in one world and zombie Nai was in another. Breathing in and out, I clapped my palms together like my mom did.
“Good. Now, as you pull your hands apart, imagine you are teasing open the space between the worlds. Hold awareness of both this place and inside the rock in your mind.”
I thought of the inside of the rock and how I needed to open it in order to get to Zombie Nai; then I slowly pulled my hands apart.
There was a cracking noise and my mom yelped. I looked at the rock to see a big chunk had fallen off and lay on the ground. Zombie Nai peeked out of the rock, looking at me vacantly.
“Oops.” I shrugged.
My mom chuckled. “It’s okay. Now, clear it and try again,” she told me.
I shook off my hands and cleared my mind. Just like that, Zombie Nai disappeared, and the rock mended before my eyes.
Whoa.
I tried again over the next several hours and came very close on the last try to opening a perfectpretendportal to Zombie Nai like my mom had done. But the most I managed was to reveal her head and upper body. Hopefully, with practice in the real world, I could do it better than that.
When it was time to go back so that I could meet Rage, I stood there a little awkwardly, not ready to say goodbye.
“Thanks for the lesson.” I shuffled my feet.
She smoothed her hair, tucking pieces back into the braid lying over her shoulder. “Nai, I want you to know you don’t need a lesson to visit me, and if you want—”
I grinned. “I’d love that.”
She pulled me in for a hug then, and I squeezed her tightly. “Tell Bonus Dad I said bye.”
She giggled. “You got it, sweetie.”
As I floated away from the Realm of the Dead, I felt lighter than I had in years, and not because I was ghost Nai. Something about seeing my mom and bonus dad had healed something broken inside of me.
Plus, portals for the win.
Chapter Nine
I gotout of the pool and dried off before getting dressed as fast as possible. Between finding my soul stone, seeing my mom, and learning how to make a portal, I had so much to tell Rage, but I was legit starving.
Stopping in the kitchen for a quick snack, I found Sariah, Reyna, and Grandpa at the table, a chocolate cake set between them.
Yum.
I glanced at the clock and saw that it would be twenty minutes before Rage was in the library, which meant there was plenty of time for a slice of cake.
“Nai,” my aunt called out, pushing her chair back. “Come join us.”
She grabbed an extra place setting while I settled in a chair and pulled the cake to me.
“How did it go?” Grandpa asked, his voice warbling slightly with weakness. “Did you learn to make portals?”
