Chapter 34

Chapter

Thirty-Four

Blade

E ven though we've just been on a trip to Arizona together, I feel like I haven't spoken to Ana in a very long time—that we haven't had a chance to really talk or have alone time together for too long—but I don't object as Flame holds her on his lap as we listen to Ember.

Ember gives the others an overview of our situation, leaving out many details. So, I go through a list in my mind. Ana and Phil need to cross through some kind of portal into another realm. Once over there, Ana needs to stab Phil through the liver, and she needs to use a specific weapon, one we may or may not even have. And then, that action may not even kill the demon.

Just now, I realize that the magic keepers didn't say anything about crossing back through the portal, but I assume that's something they told Ember. Perhaps she will cross over with us and guide us all back.

Discomfort is crawling inside me. I hate having so many open questions and was truly hoping for more solid answers from the magic keepers—a list of concrete tasks to complete.

"Assuming this works," I interject as Ember pauses for a moment. "Assuming that Ana successfully kills the demon, how do we get back?"

"We?" Ember tips her head to the side.

"Yeah." I gesture around the room.

Ember shakes her head. "Only Ana and Phil can cross through the portal."

"No fucking way." Crusher leans onto the back of an armchair. His muscles threaten to burst through his sleeves, and the bones of the chair creak. "I swore an oath," he says gruffly. "I will not leave Ana alone with Phil. Not ever. Not until we're certain this nightmare is over."

"The crossing will be very dangerous." Ember looks down as if trying to figure out how to react to Crusher. "It's foolish to risk more lives than absolutely necessary."

Crusher pushes off the chair and it rocks forward and back on the floor. "If Ana goes, I go. It's not a question."

Ember sighs, as if this is a battle she doesn't want to fight. "Let me think about that."

Ana shifts on Flame's lap, but she's looking the other direction, and I can't see her face. I'm not sure how she feels about Crusher's declaration, especially since she hasn't forgiven him for killing Timur. I place my hand softly on her back, and she turns to offer me the hint of a smile.

"Where is this portal thing?" Flame asks. "And how soon can we get there?" His hands trace over Ana's hip and onto her torso. His thick fingers span her ribs in a way that seems both protective and threatening.

Like all of us, Flame could crush Ana's ribs with one hand, and the size difference between them, between Ana and every one of us, stirs both my desire and every protective instinct inside me. Ana's so tiny, so fragile in many ways, and yet she's so strong, and certainly capable of taking on all of us—in every imaginable way.

"I can't reveal the location of the portal," Ember replies after a pause. "Not to everyone."

Glaring, Crusher crosses his arms over his chest. "That's not acceptable."

Axe leaps up to confront Crusher, and the bear-man seems to get bigger and hairier as he gets close to Crusher's personal space. Will he shift?

In reaction, Ryker protectively pulls Ember onto his lap, and her thigh grazes his cock. The moment is obvious—written all over Ryker's face.

Clearly these men are as hot and ready for their mate as we always are for Ana.

Instead of backing down, Crusher takes a step toward Axe, like he means to start a fight, but I doubt he will unless Ana is threatened. And while I don't know Axe that well, he must not have liked how Crusher spoke to Ember.

Passing Ana onto my lap, Flame jumps up, and plants himself between the two irate and mountainous men, one hand on each of their shoulders to keep them apart.

"Hey, guys," Flame says. "Tearing each other apart sounds like fun, but not exactly productive right now. How about you two save the wrestling rematch until later?"

"Rematch?" Ana shifts in my lap. "You two wrestled? I wish you wouldn't fight."

"It was in good fun, Princess," Ryker says, stroking Ember's thigh. "While you ladies were away, we menfolk staged a tournament of sorts, that's all." He pauses. "I won."

Axe spins around. "You most fucking did not."

At least Ryker has drawn Axe's attention away from Crusher.

Ana pushes herself off my lap and stands strongly, raising her chin. "Stop it. All of you. Right now." Ana's a foot and a half shorter than any of the males in this room, but standing in the firelight, dressed in her simple long gown that covers nearly every inch of her body, and with her long hair reaching down to her rounded ass, it's clear to me who is the most powerful vampire in the room. The most commanding. And it's not Crusher. It's Ana. The most powerful vampire here is my love.

"Sit," she says firmly, addressing Crusher, Axe and Flame. "Let Ember finish telling us everything she can. We need to make plans to complete this quest, and I am certain she will not withhold any information we require."

Flame grins, clearly turned on by Ana's commanding tone too—and how she took control of the situation. His hand brushes hers as he returns to sit on the sofa next to me. Then sheepishly, like little boys scolded by their teacher, Axe and Crusher drop back down into chairs, sitting quietly and waiting for Ember to continue.

"The portal is in Paris," Ember says. "I can tell you that much. The council explained how to open and close it. Once we are there, I will tell Ember how to pass through…" She doesn't look or sound quite as confident as I'd like her to be.

"Explained it to you?" I frown. "Are you confident you can deal with this portal? Are there any books or documents we can study to be sure we have all the information?"

She draws a long breath. "I'm as confident as I can be, without having done it. There is no written documentation, and the portal hasn't been opened for a very, very long time."

I don't love that answer, but I suppose it's all I can expect in the circumstances. "Did they tell you any more about the special sword?"

"The council agreed we should bring the dagger," she says, but her expression reveals a level of uncertainty I really don't love. "It's possible that the records mistranslated the words sword and dagger."

"When do we leave for Paris?" Flame asks.

"There is no we," Ember says. "Only those crossing should go." Ember's eyes flick toward Crusher, who shifts in his chair.

"I'm going to Paris," I say firmly. "I might have relevant information you need."

"You've held something back?" Zuben asks me.

"Not intentionally." But the thought of being on the other side of an ocean from Ana… Especially if she's putting herself in danger…

"Okay, okay." Sighing in resignation, Ember looks around the room. "I can't take you all to the portal , "but I suppose…" She looks toward Ana, who nods and smiles.

"I suppose all of us can travel to Paris."

"I love that idea." Ana turns toward Flame and me on the sofa. "I'll contact the palace. They'll help to arrange a jet and lodging suitable to accommodate us all. And once this is all over, I hear Paris is a lovely city for a celebration."

Her hopefulness tempers some of the fear and uncertainty inside me. If anyone can do this, it's Ana.