She gestured to Marlow, who came forward and handed each of us a small cell phone, letting us know they were untraceable and that Drea’s number was already programmed into them. If anything came up, we were supposed to portal right back to the Lumen Compound. If for whatever reason we couldn’t, we were to call Drea immediately. The phones all had GPS trackers active in them.
Next, Dash handed Indigo and me several small, capped syringes that we could fit in the crossbody purses we were both told to bring. I caught Gage’s eye as I slipped the tranquilizers into my purse, and he just nodded at me. His one stipulation for going with us was that there was a way to neutralize him if he lost control again.
Ready to stab my boyfriend in the neck with sleepy juice. Hashtag: relationship goals.
Jacob handed weapons to Indigo, Dash, and me, and after storing as many as possible on our bodies, it was time to get Gage out of that cell.
Taking a deep breath, I started to collect my magic. This portal wasn’t so much about the destination, but rather getting the placement exact. I needed to make it directly over the bars so Gage could just walk straight through it to us.
I lifted my hands, which were now covered in dark purple magic, and pointed them toward the cell. With a flick of a thought, I released my power, willing it to connect with the metal bars and then expand. I watched as the bars slowly vanished from view and the portal grew quickly. Once it was large enough, Gage walked through. When I pulled my magic back, the portal shrank and then disappeared, leaving the bars intact. I grinned, pleased that I’d been able to do exactly what I’d planned.
“Note to self,” Jacob said loudly. “Find a girlfriend who can bust you out of jail.”
We all chuckled and then Gage pulled me into a hug. Leaning down, he nuzzled the side of my neck and whispered in my ear. “You’re getting better at that.” Planting a kiss on my temple, he let me go.
“He’s right, you are getting better,” Drea said, obviously eavesdropping. “It took my mother years to be able to do that.”
They weren’t wrong. My powerwasgrowing, and that excited and scared me at the same time.
Jacob stepped forward and offered Gage a dagger. Gage’s preferred weapon of choice was a sword, but he didn’t have weapon storage marks on his body to hide a sword in a tattoo, and there’s no way he could walk around Shade City with that large of a blade. But Gage didn’t truly need any steel becausehewas a weapon now.
Gage glared at Jacob a second before accepting the dagger and Jacob just grinned, still pleased he managed to get under Gage’s skin so easily.
Bending down, Gage sheathed the blade at his ankle as Dash handed me a picture. “This is where I want you to open a portal. Do you think you can?”
It looked like the photo had been printed off the internet, but I supposed it didn’t matter as long as it was a real place. There were trees, grass, and a cityscape in the distance.
“Yeah, this should be all right. Where is it?” I asked.
“Elysian Park. Pretty close to downtown. It’s still early in LA, so with any luck we’ll be able to portal in without anyone noticing. We’ll be within walking distance to Shade City.”
I nodded and then took a moment to capture the image in the photo in my mind before stoking my magic. I did the same thing I’d done just a few minutes before and brought my magic forward, commanding it to move throughout my body and grow in intensity. When I felt I’d gathered enough power, I channeled it toward my hands. Purple flames of magic ran up my wrist, over my palms, and licked my fingers. I smiled, relishing the feeling of my power surging through me.
Pointing my hands away from my group of friends, I unleashed the flow of magic. A portal the size of a baseball appeared, and then widened until the edges brushed against the ceiling, floor, and walls. Through it I could see a grove of trees and feel the warm California breeze. The tops of a few skyscrapers peeked through the branches, the only visual reminder that I’d opened a portal into the middle of a busy metropolis.
Dash pulled a neck gaiter up and over the lower half of his face, and slipped his hood over his head, covering everything but his eyes. There was a design of a skull on the fabric, so with his hood on he looked like an urban Grim Reaper.
Dash and Indigo bolted through the portal first and waited on the other side. Gage glanced at me before joining them. With my focus on keeping the portal stabilized, I walked through as well, feeling a twinge of relief when I was on the other side.
Before closing the portal, I glanced back at Drea, Jacob, and Marlow. They offered me small waves and smiles of encouragement, but I could see the worry in Drea’s eyes. I was sad they weren’t coming with us. I agreed with Drea that we were more effective as a unit, but I couldn’t be sorry they’d be safer back at the Lumen Compound. The four of us were about to walk into the lion’s den, and I’d be lying if I said that didn’t scare me.
Watching the faces of my Lumen friends I was leaving behind, I collapsed the portal, refusing to give into the fear that if things went poorly in Shade City, it might be the last time I saw them.
CHAPTERFIVE
The early morning nip in the air was quickly burned off as we walked through Elysian Park and onto the city streets. I couldn’t see Dash’s eyes under his hood, but his head turned back and forth as he scanned the area, and his movements seemed stiff. This was the first time Dash had been back to his childhood home city since he ran away to become a Lumen. I know he hadn’t planned on ever coming back, and I would never forget this risk he was taking for me. We might not share blood, but he was my brother, and if there was one thing that was true of me, it was that I would do anything for family.
We reached the edge of the park and headed northwest, walking through the city on high alert. When we got to the corner of Vestal Avenue and Cerro Gordo Street, I looked around. It wasn’t the swanky high-rise area of downtown I expected. We were in some little neighborhood with the bigger, recognizable skyscrapers off in the distance.
Dash stopped and waved us between two nearby houses. They were both painted the same shade of canary yellow. Reaching into one of his pockets, he pulled out a thick gold metal bracelet and shoved it on his wrist, his shoulders going stiff the moment the magical object was on.
Indigo slipped a matching bracelet off her wrist and handed it to me. I hesitated before putting mine on. I knew the relic wouldn’t suppress my magic, merely make it undetectable, but I was still reluctant to wear it. According to Dash, if I tried to pass through the wards without it I’d likely die, so I didn’t really have a choice.
With a deep breath, I slid the bracelet over my hand and let it settle around my wrist. It felt like someone had covered me with an invisible blanket. It was an oppressive feeling that I immediately disliked.
“You’ll get used to it,” Indigo said.
I frowned at her. I hadn’t realized how stifling it felt to wear the magical object, and yet she endured this every day and never complained. My mom and Gage too, for that matter. There had to be something else that could be done for them, because this was not a long-term solution.
