Page 43 of Their Promise

There were plenty of other mice in the pantry, as Mom liked to say.

Liam was handsome, kind, and more likely to stay close to me. I didn’t know enough about him yet or know if there was a connection between us, but there was plenty of time for that.

“What is your goal?” I asked once I’d finished my food.

“I am very unlikely to become king, so I would like to move across the ocean and open a small business there to live a quiet life. Although I may be spoiled currently, I prefer a simplistic life.”

“So, this restaurant was because you thought it was something I would prefer?” I asked.

He laughed softly. “Yes, and a way to impress you.”

The cheesecake I had ordered to take back to Mom arrived. I stood and said, “It was nice talking to you tonight, Liam. Would you like to do something a bit more interactive next time?”

His eyes widened a moment, but he quickly smiled. “That sounds lovely.” He picked my hand up, kissed my knuckles, and said, “I look forward to seeing you again, Lily.”

The necklace warmed against my chest and I put a hand up to it, worry causing me to grab the cheesecake box and hurry out past Kayden and out to the street, following the feeling.

“Where are you going? What’s wrong? Did he do something?” Kayden fired off the questions so fast I couldn’t have even answer if I had wanted to.

Clenching the necklace in my hand, I turned down the next alley, and froze as I saw a black portal.

Kayden cursed and pulled out his phone. “How did you know it was here?”

I felt a pull towards the portal and started to walk towards it.

Kayden pulled me back. “What are you doing? Don’t get close to it.”

“Have you ever tried to peek through?” I asked curiously, tilting my head as I inspected it.

The black portal was a swirling vortex of smoke.

“Of course not,” Kayden growled.

“What if I shift into my snake form and just peek my head through?” I asked, turning to face him. “I can leave ninety percent of my body on this side and you can hold me and pull me back if something happens. I could wrap around your body to help you pull me better.”

“Absolutely not! Do you want to die?”

“We don’t know that I’d die,” I countered and canted my head as I continued to look at the portal. “The demons go back through it.”

“What if they don’t have oxygen there?” he asked.

“They don’t suffocate when they’re here, so their atmosphere must be similar.”

“There could be one of the bull-men standing on the other side, ready to chop your head off with one of their axes,” he snarled.

“Why hasn’t anything come through yet?” I asked and peered closer at it.

“Sometimes they open and nothing comes out,” he answered.

“Nothing, or something so small you miss it?” I asked him. “How often do you find portals just … open?”

“Very rarely.”

“Is there an average amount of time that it stays open? Do demons get cut in half if they’re partially through the portal when it closes?”

“Lily! You are not going through the fucking portal!” he shouted at me, his voice echoing in the alleyway.

The portal closed and the draw disappeared.

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