Page 79 of The Heart of the Dragon

"So if the bastard is getting close, I guess it's time for us to go."

We all whirled around to find Rose standing in the doorway, barefoot and freshly showered, in clean clothes and her hair dripping down her back.

"What?" she asked, her gaze darting between the three of us. "I heard Kitra screaming and then heard half of what you said on my way down. You three are loud."

My left eyebrow climbed toward my hairline. How could she possibly have heard...?

"You two have to go now, or it's going to be too late. The bastard king has enlisted help. Whoever is helping him has enormous power, and if they find the portal before you go through I can't guarantee you ever will."

Isaac perked up, probably because of the confusion on our faces. "She's right. It's now or never.”

Rose and I looked at each other. I could feel the tension still coming from her and the hum of her arousal still buzzed under both our skin. "Now is not the best time."

"Of course it's not. Danger and evil don't work on reasonable time clocks. But there is never going to be a perfect time for this. Have you changed your mind about going then?"

"No," we both answered in unison.

Kitra smiled. "That's what I figured." She looked at Isaac. "Did you get them?"

He stepped forward with two backpacks in hand. "Of course."

"What's that?"

"I took the time to pack a few things you might need. You know, like food and water, some daggers. I know not much will have changed since we left, but you'll still have to travel through the dark forest, and it won't hurt to be prepared."

"I agree," Rose said taking one of the bags and placing it on her back. "And since I don't know as well as the rest of you what I'm walking into, I will take all the help I can get. Now, where is this magical portal anyways?"

"Out there." Kitra pointed to the edge of the property where the cliffs were the tallest, and the trees more dense than anywhere else on the island.

"Of course it is." I snatched the second pack from Isaac and settled it on my back without even looking at it. It might be practical to carry supplies, but I couldn't keep the snarl out of my tone anyways. It likely had nothing to do with Kitra's kindness or even Isaac's gloating smirk. My attitude came from pure worry.

Rose was not only not prepared to face the dangers of the fae, but also not ready to learn the truth about her family.

I should have told her sooner. Instead, I'd let the distractions prevent from telling her what she needed to know ahead of time.

As we trekked to the edge of the property, I remained silent while the three of them chatted away. Rose still had a lot of questions, and Kitra seemed eager to rush her through anything she might need to know.

By the time we got to the top of the cliff, I'd worked myself into quite a froth. It wasn't pretty, but I was prepared to walk through that portal and do whatever it took to stop my uncle once and for all.

"This is it," Kitra declared as we stepped to the edge.

I glanced around the area looking for something that looked like an entrance and nothing looked familiar from my arrival other than we were high on a cliff overlooking the ocean. There were no rock formations, no trees big enough to enter.

"Where?"

She pointed down from where we stood on the cliff. I peered over the edge still seeing nothing but rock formations far below us and the rough waves of the ocean beating those rocks mercilessly and consistently.

"What am I missing? Where's the cave we used last time?"

"That's an exit only. These portals are not as linear as you would expect. If you recall, it wasn't easy for us to open the portal from the fae realm to this one so it stands to reason that this will be the same.”

I took a deep breath, hoping to calm the dragon threatening to go into a rage. "You could have told us about this."

Kitra nodded. "I could have, but I didn't want to freak anyone out."

I knew she was talking about Rose, and for that I should be grateful, but I was still annoyed as hell.

"You don't have to sugarcoat anything for me. In fact, I think the best way for me to deal with all of this is head on, with all the facts."

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