Exactly how much time had passed, Brandon wasn’t sure, but it seemed liked they’d been trapped in this hellish black cave for hours. Dax was still pacing back and forth, crying, Jamie and Alex had ventured a few steps away, down the tunnel, and even though Brandon could still see them, if they took a few more steps, their silhouettes would disappear into the darkness. Brandon was usually the one pacing in situations like this, but Dax was freaking out enough for both of them, and Brandon was trying to come up with some explanation for what had happened.“It just doesn’t make any sense...” Dax was muttering. “Why are we here? Why?”“Dax....” Brandon didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence, probably because he had no idea what to say.“I shouldn’t have followed you....”“I know.” They’d been over this. He wished his friend hadn’t jumped down the rabbit h

Cadence drew in a deep breath before she even began to formulate a sentence. Christian sat across from her, someone else’s cluttered desk between them. He was no longer bleeding, but the signs of Cassidy’s attack were still there. Besides the blood all down the front of him, the Healer hadn’t been that talented. Christian’s face would scar if Jamie didn’t get back in time to fix it correctly. She thought it served him right to a degree but didn’t bother to voice that now. Instead, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Tell me what you know.”He ran a hand through his hair and looked away. “Not much,” he finally said. “Only that there is a book in the archives that mentions a Blood Moon Portal. I don’t really read ancient Scottish Gaelic, but I thought it said it had been sealed. Maybe that’s not what it said. Maybe it only said they don’t use it anymore.”“Who d

“Son of a bitch! My ax!” A short, blonde figure came running out of the shadows in the direction the cat was headed. Elliott pulled himself up, grabbing his shoulder, and Aaron took a few rushed steps in his direction as they both watched the girl disappear after the cat.“Should we....”Sounds of a scuffle, followed by the screech of a panther in pain, and then several sharp thunks filled their ears, and a few moments later, the figure reemerged from the darkness, wiping her ax on her pant leg, muttering to herself about “damn fools and idiots.”When she realized she was back in front of them, she slid her ax into a belt loop “Don’t be firin’ no damn guns in here right now,” she said with a thick, country twang that made Elliott’s accent seem mild. “You’re liable to shoot clean through the walls and hit one of yer friends.”Once again, the two Guardians exchanged glances.

Somehow, the sun had managed to climb the sky the same way it always did. Cadence stepped out into the parking lot to make a few of the hardest phone calls she’d ever made, and part of her was startled to see that big, orange globe hanging there like nothing unusual had happened the night before, like it was just an ordinary Thursday afternoon.She pulled Cassidy’s phone out of her pocket first, deciding it would be easier to call Amanda than her own parents. She had missed IAC messages from at least a half dozen people who deserved to know what was going on, too, but she’d been trying to defer all of the telling to Hannah. The temporary-Guardian Leader was also swamped, Cadence imagined, even though she was on a plane headed back to Kansas City right now, with Christian, so there may be a few people Cadence would actually have to speak to herself. Which sucked. She wasn’t even sure the words could make it out of her mouth. At least Hannah confirmed sh

The whooshing sound the portal made when it opened was unmistakable. Brandon had been walking alongside Heather when it opened, and she took off running in the direction where it came from so quickly, he could hardly keep up even though something told him if they’d been on level ground, out in the open, where he could see more than five inches in front of his face, he’d be a lot faster than her. She seemed to know what to look out for, though, whereas he was just thankful by the time he reached her, he hadn’t collided with any of the cave walls.“Damn it all to hell!” she shouted as a hole in the wall closed up. “Stupid ocean!”He lurched forward and tried to get a glimpse of what she was seeing. Just before the anomaly was gone, he spied a bit of water, but it looked like they were still far away from the actual exit itself. It was hard to describe. It appeared to be a tunnel through the wall and then a small opening at the ot