Getting elderly Mrs. Vaughn through the mansion’s long hallways and down the cellar steps had taken time too. But once they’d reached the gate, Mrs. Vaughn and her apprentice Magda had been as fascinated as the rest of them. They’d used three expensive boxes of film getting sets of Polaroids of the gate runes.
Magda set the camera carefully on the floor and turned toward Silas. “I’ve never seen a spell like that. In small ways, it resembles a petition spell for a familiar here, and here.” Her dark eyes shone with interest and her slight accent had thickened.
Silas nodded. “And in some ways, it resembles gating into the Veil. Or a summons for a demon. Elements of all of those, but unique.”
Mrs. Vaughn straightened, clutching the handle of her cane. “I still don’t know what’s powering it. There are spells we leave running, of course, like the wards on our homes, but those are powered through us. If you look at a set of wards carefully, you can always find a magical tether to the sorcerer sustaining them. If we die, they fail. And I’m quite certain Coldwell and Norlington are dead.”
Darien asked, “Could one of them have faked their death?”
She shook her head, white curls bouncing. “I saw the bodies at their visitations, before they were cremated. Perhaps the power’s coming through the portal from the other side.”
Silas wasn’t crazy about the idea that something strong enough to keep this spell up and running was lurking on the other end of it. But another minor demon had appeared on the map that morning. He’d fobbed it off on Spry, but whatever was going on was clearly escalating. They had a hell of a clue here, and the impulse to brick the looming portal back up and stay home was cowardice.
Magda turned to Mrs. Vaughn. “I’m worried about how much power this thing has. And all the demons. Are you sure you don’t want someone else here to keep watch with you?”
“I have Troy.” The elderly sorcerer raised a hand to the macaw riding on her shoulder and the blue-and-gold bird ran his hooked beak along her finger. “If I run into trouble, he can get help here quickly.”
“And she’ll have you,” Silas pointed out. “I was very impressed with your skills on our Seattle trip.”
“That’s good,” Magda said. “Because I’m coming with you.”
“You’re what?” Silas took a breath and cut off the “It’s dangerous” and “It’s no place for a woman” rebuttals that came leaping to mind. Maybe I did get more of Coldwell’s personality than I realized. He’d always advocated for female equality, but his instinctive reaction was to say no. Instead, he said cautiously, “We only prepared for the three of us.”
“Then one of you can stay behind.” She eyed him calmly. “Remember that you owe me a favor? Well, I’m calling it in. On this.”
Silas exchanged trapped looks with Jasper and Darien. None of them wanted to volunteer to switch places with Magda, but they couldn’t deny her claim.
When the silence had become heavy, Magda said, “Or you can recognize that this bag over my shoulder isn’t just a purse and that I came prepared. You told us plenty over the phone for me to think ahead.” She held out a foot. “Sensible boots. Heavy slacks.” She slapped the side of the bag lightly. “Food, water canteen, wine flask and a small bowl in case you need a scrying.” Her laugh came higher, with a hint of excitement. “Chalk, socks, clean underwear.”
“Ah.” Silas looked at the very large bag she was wearing. “What does Mrs. Vaughn think about this?” He turned to his old friend, hoping she might restrain her apprentice.
Mrs. Vaughn gave him a cool look. “I think this is the adventure of a lifetime. I wish the damned rheumatism would let me join you too. But since I can’t, I look forward to hearing all about it when you get back.”
Well, that was a pretty clear statement of I’m not going to stop her. Silas bowed to the inevitable. “Right. The four of us then, and Grim, Pip, and Kii.” He bent and hefted his full pack, sliding the straps over his shoulders. “Are we ready?”
Jasper grinned boyishly. “Any time.”
“Forward, then. Darien, maybe take rear guard?” Silas led the way to the very edge of the portal mist, pausing to sweep his gaze around the rune frame one last time. The instant photos sat safely in his shirt pocket, but he still had to steady his breathing.
“Let’s go!” Kii swooped over his head into the dimness.
I’m not going to be outdone by a bird. Silas strode forward.
Stepping inside the portal felt a lot like traveling to the Veil, except a glance over his shoulder showed no frozen bodies, just his folk behind him and Mrs. Vaughn in the empty room. He turned forward and strode out, one step, two, three, four. There was a sense of infinite space, a long path ahead, and yet the eye could only see a brief distance before fog closed in. Silas paused to look at the others behind him and Jasper’s face was clear, Magda’s less so, and Darien was a dark form in the gloom. Silas lit a mage light in his palm, and an instant later Darien did the same. The gold glow brightened Darien’s face and Silas’s worry eased. Still… “Let’s stick close together.”
Kii glided up out of the fog and Jasper hardened his shield on his shoulder for her to perch. She said, “The opening’s not too far ahead. Come on, let’s go.”
Silas turned, not quite sure which way “ahead” was, but there was an intangible lightness that didn’t seem to be visual, but more something he could feel, off… that way. He strode out again with Grim at his side and the others close behind. The end of the portal loomed up suddenly, a pinpoint bright spot that grew impossibly large in a few strides, becoming a man-sized opening. Silas stopped on the threshold and the others crowded up behind him, peering out at a lush, golden-green grassland.
A new world. Silas stared, blinking as his eyes adapted to the sunshine, trying to take it all in. In some ways, the landscape looked a lot like a meadow somewhere in America, or maybe Australia because it was clearly summer. In other ways— what is that thing? A plant the size of a tree stood a hundred yards off, long curling fronds the color of milk reaching almost to the ground around a pale green central stem.
Jasper said, “That’s amazing,” and pushed past Silas onto the dirt of another world. As Silas held his breath, Jasper inhaled deeply and nodded. “Oxygen seems good enough, at least. Smells… interesting.”
Silas could hardly let Jasper take all the risks. He lifted a foot and set it down, crushing a few stems of some kind of golden-green flora. Took another step.
Magda bumped him from behind. “You’re walking slower than Mrs. Vaughn.”
Grim trotted forward, whiskers working. “Lots of new scents but no people, no magic except the gate.” He pivoted to look past Silas. “Portal’s still visible.”
Silas whirled and held up a hand to keep Darien in the opening. “Let’s make sure we can get back in before the last of us comes out.”
Pip, who’d scampered ahead of Magda, whirled and dashed back past Darien’s feet into the fog. “I got in,” he called. “I could get home. Maybe…” He reappeared, eyeing Silas from behind Darien’s leg. “Anyway, I bet you could lead us back.”