As Gramps and I left the room, I overheard Donovan telling his mom that he should help me more often.
Things could’ve ended a lot worse today. I was grateful for my cousin’s help.
Chapter Eleven
Reyna showedup with the antidote for the magic-canceling powder less than an hour later. She helped my grandfather change into swim shorts, and we all headed to the spirit pool room where I lifted him into the steaming pool before scurrying off to change.
For the next several hours, Grandpa walked me through creating a real portal. He said that the spirit pool would help boost his energy to keep him awake for the lesson. I started small, a portal from the spirit pools to the kitchen where Donovan was eating a yummy cupcake. Then to Grandpa’s room. Then the study. Rather than having my body walk through the portal to join my spirit on the other side, I had my spirit jump back into my body before it closed. I could open them easily enough, but keeping them open was the hard part. Gramps barely used any magic helping me, but it still tired him. A lot. By lunchtime, I was ravenous, and Gramps was exhausted.
“You should practice a few more times before you go to Shifter Island for the rest of the day,” Grandpa said, followed by a yawn. “It will be easier if you’re touching Honor when you have him accompany your body through a portal somewhere. Eventually, you won’t need to do that, but until you’ve had a lot of practice, it’s less strenuous.” He yawned again.
“Like the one to Montana?” I asked, drying off behind the screened area.
“Yes. And the library one from Shifter Island to High Mage Island,” he said, his voice trembling. “The key is always something permanent that ties the two realms together, like a set of stones carved from the same rock…” He paused to catch his breath and then gave me a rueful smile. “I’m sorry. I need to stop for the day. Maybe tomorrow, we can discuss creating permanent portals, and you could visit your mom or Than for more help. I’m sorry I’m not as much of a teacher as I wanted to be.” He yawned and my heart pinched.
“No worries, Grandpa. You’ve been great,” I said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before Reyna helped him shuffle out of the room. Damn! He was getting so much weaker. It made me wonder how much time we had left together. Days?
We parted in the hallway, and then I ducked into the kitchen, followed by Honor, who’d waited outside the spirit pool room to keep guard. Between the two of us, we ate all of the rest of the Danish pastries as well as a couple of burgers Annette made for lunch and three cupcakes.
With Honor at my side, we practiced portals within Grandpa’s house. Finally, I decided to open a portal to Shifter Island and forgo the library. I wanted to be fully ready in the event the high mages tried to lock me out.
Honor looked up at me, his hazel eyes wide.‘You sure you wanna do this?’
I grinned.‘Scared I’ll slice us in half?’I asked, running my fingers through his hair. Gramps had said it was important to touch him as we went through.At least, until I got used to creating portals and holding them open.
‘Sort of,’he responded.‘Well, yeah.’
I just chuckled and allowed my mind to relax. I was in my bedroom in Spirit Castle, but I envisioned the dark wood and black bedding of Rage’s four-poster bed. The silky sheets we’d made love on and the way he smelled. My soul slipped free of my body easily. I flew across my room and toward my wall, envisioning my mate’s room, and the moment my soul passed through the wall, I stood in Rage’s bedroom, listening to the shower run in the bathroom.
Yes!
Step one complete.
Controlling my breathing, I looked down at my hands in my human form back at High Mage Island.Here goes nothing. Opening my hands slowly, I thought of the space between my spirit-self and my physical-self. It was wide and yet not so. I felt the air around me charge with energy and then … a basketball-sized hole appeared before me. Spirit-me peeked through at physical-me, and both of me grinned.
Gotcha.
Pulling my arms farther apart increased the size of the hole until it was at least seven feet in diameter. I looked down at Honor, who looked up at me.
‘You sure this is safe?’ he asked
‘Totally,’I assured him.Well, maybe 87.4% sure. I mean it had to be safe, right? I’d been practicing here all day, no problem. But this would be the first time we went into another realm through a portal I’d created.
I dug my fingers into his fur with one hand and kept the portal open with my other. Nervousness clenched in my belly as we stepped forward, and as soon as my physical body joined my soul, the portal snapped shut behind me with a hiss,my stomach flipped, and I glanced down at Honor.
‘Still in one piece?’I asked.
Honor let his tongue loll out of his mouth as he grinned up at me.
“Not everyone can say their mate opens a portal into their bedroom at night,” Rage called from the doorway, his voice low and husky. “I like it, Crescent.”
I spun with a Cheshire-Cat-sized grin.
“Well, it’s faster than the library portal, and it gives us control—instead of the high mages. So you’d better get used to it,” I told him as my gaze dipped to the towel around his waist.
He nodded, and his gaze heated. “I’m sure I will.”
He strode over and wrapped his arms around me.
