“So why open a portal?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. That part doesn’t matter. I only need to be able to stop the portal from opening. That’s what we’ll focus on. If they recreate the circle, there are three days coming up in which the stars will be in perfect alignment for a portal to be opened. One happens next month.”
“And the other two?”
“The other two aren’t important right now.”
“What about the other two locations for the portals?”
“One is the Bermuda Triangle. But it’s too risky and unstable. The cosmic activity there could interfere, since it’s not as balanced or in a controlled atmosphere like this one.”
“And the other?”
“A spot deep in the Atlantic Ocean. Again, it would be difficult to use that one, though for different reasons. You’d have to keep several boats out there perfectly still, in order to form the proper circle.”
“So Pine Shore,” I say on a sigh.
“Pine Shore,” he echoes, his eyes studying the old, magic-infused pages as he flips another.
“We need help,” I tell him softly, expecting him to snarl at me.
A growl rumbles in his chest, and I flinch while taking a step back.
“Not this again,” he says with an eerie, deadly tone lining his words.
Two people scare me. Slade is one of them. Even though I trust him with my life, I don’t trust him not to be the one who ends it if I cross a line.
“They have so much power in their circle,” I go on, steeling myself for the inevitable fury.
He doesn’t tolerate anger or any emotion... Unless it’s his own anger.
“So much power,” he repeats, then his lips twitch. “The incubus?” he muses, sounding alarmingly calm. Usually he bites my head off—figuratively—for bringing this up. Then he dismisses it immediately.
“The incubus is more of a mascot, I believe. Perhaps their comic relief? He’s not who I was referring to.”
“Is it the two lycans? Or maybe the two night stalkers?” he goes on, undermining the true power in their circle.
“The two lycans... No. But one—Amy—does come from an insanely powerful bloodline. They’re both good fighters.”
“But they’re just lycans,” he adds, arching an eyebrow.
I ignore him and move on.
“The one night stalker... Deke? He’s not anything powerful, but you saw what Zee is capable of. There are actually three. The third’s name is lost on me, but he’s not really too powerful.”
“The night stalker who can’t control the magic he shouldn’t have. Yeah, he was real useful when I was saving everyone without his help.”
My lips tighten, because he’s intentionally making me feel like a fool, belittling them as though they’re of no consequence, when we both know the power is amazing and untapped within that circle.
“Or maybe it’s the visionless visionary,” he goes on, still smirking.
“She’s also a gatekeeper,” I growl.
“And if we were dealing with gates, I’d be impressed. Too bad we’re talking about portals.”
“She can use portals to travel between planes—”
“Between planes,” he says, cutting me off again. “Not dimensions. Not even the same playing field, Kya.”