Chapter 11

I was slowly getting the hang out of this portal traveling. In fact, I felt like a natural, just walking through with not even a need to blink any more. After saying goodbye to Patricia and letting her hug me tight with what I swear were tears in her eyes, I returned to Rio de Janeiro. I wasn't sure where Madame Estevaz was, but apparently people knew her well. After half an hour waiting on a park bench, Thrain returned to let Cass and me know he had found her. So Cass opened yet another portal. An instant later, I found myself standing in front of the old house with the clean front yard and the peeling plaster. Thrain signaled us to stay behind him as he knocked. When no one answered, he shot us a glance over his shoulder and tried the door. It opened with a long creak.

"Anyone home?" Cass called out. I held my breath to listen for any sounds, but nothing stirred. Not even the chicken and pigs, I heard the last time I visited, made any sound.

"Something's wrong," Thrain whispered, pushing me behind him. I pressed my palm against the low of his back, feeling his muscles tensing beneath the thin material of his shirt.

Cass scoffed. "How did you figure that one out, Sherlock Holmes?"

As I followed them in, my gaze wandered to the mess that hadn't been here before. Dried herbs and broken ornament had been strewn all over the place. The papers, which had covered the wall above the heart to hide the chipped paint, had been torn to shreds. The mirror near the door had been smashed into hundreds of pieces. There was a plate with food on the table, as if someone got up quickly and didn't get the chance to finish a meal. The dismantled head of a ragdoll stared at me from the floor, its dark eyes were wide open, filled with accusation. That freaked me out because I knew it was just a doll.

I frowned in horror as I tried to make sense of what could possibly have happened. And then I noticed there was something in the air. A dark presence. Waves of—

"Chaos," Thrain said, taking a deep breath. His eyes glazed over, his mouth stood slightly open. I peered at Cass only to see her expression was similar.

"Pain," she whispered.

My hand still pressed against Thrain's back, I could feel his excitement washing over me, making me feel something I had never experienced before. An ecstasy that reminded me of a reunion with a long lost friend or lover, leaving behind a strong need for more. And yet I knew this woman hadn't experienced a happy reunion. She was dead. I could feel it in my bones, as if she had been a kindred spirit and magic connected us.

I pulled my hand back quickly and bolted out the door and around the house, stopping only to throw up into a nearby bush. The nausea together with the relentless heat of the sun made me dizzy, but emptying my stomach felt surprisingly good, as though it would cleanse me from that sick sensation of enjoyment stemming from someone else's suffering.

"Are you okay?" Thrain said, rubbing my back.

I held up a hand as I leaned forward, my mind begging him to go away. I had no reason to be surprised. I mean, he had told me he was a demon and demons thrived on other people's pain. Even though I didn't like what I had just experienced, the initial shock was already starting to wear off. I wiped a hand over my mouth and turned to face him.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," he said softly. His gaze searched mine, his eyes probing to find out what I was thinking of him. I let him squirm and wonder as I took a minute to think about it. The knowledge of what caused him pleasure didn't lessen my attraction to him. He was still someone I hoped to get to know to see where it might take us. Maybe he sensed my thoughts and emotional undercurrents because his lips stretched into a smile and he held out his hand. I grabbed it, albeit reluctantly, but didn't budge from the spot when he tried to pull me away.

"No," I said. "I want to know what happened to her."

He hesitated. "Trust me, you don't. It's not a pretty sight." I caught his glimpse behind me and followed his line of vision, past a fence leading into an overgrown garden. I started in that direction with him behind me, my breath coming in short, ragged heaps. If he tried to stop me, I didn't hear it. My heart began to hammer loud and hard a moment before I stepped through the gate into the garden with herbs and wild flowers and heavy branches hanging from a weeping willow. Right under them was a paved space, a perfect circle with stones building a border about ten inches in height. A ritual place—I knew it because I had seen something like this in my reoccurring dreams and visions ever since I was born.

My hands shook as I kneeled down to touch the puddle of blood that had stained the stones a deep red, my gaze wandering past the pair of worn slippers to the old woman lying on her back in the middle of the circle. Her eyes were wide open, the expression on her aged face showed horror and fear. Her hands were tied and pressed against her chest as though she had tried to protect herself. Right under her chin was a thin cut crusted with dried blood. Bile rose in my throat. For once I was thankful I had skipped a lot of meals lately.

"Shush, it's okay. She didn't suffer." Thrain's hands drew slow circles on my back. I knew he was lying. He small incisions all over her body indicated whoever had killed her had ensured a long and painful death.

I got up and wiped my hands on the back of my jeans. "Get me out of here." My voice came low and hoarse, choked with emotion. I could feel something wet and cold on my face. Thrain leaned in to wipe a hand over my cheeks, then lifted me in his arms and carried me over to the front yard where Cass waited. From her expression I knew she could at least guess what we had just discovered.

"Seems like someone found her before us," she said.

Thrain smirked. "Maybe he knew where to find her all along."

"What are you saying?" Cass asked.

He peered at me and raised his brows meaningfully. "Still think Aidan's mansion isn't the most secure place right now?"

Cass hesitated. "What about Hell?"

Hell? Did she really say that? I opened my mouth to protest but Thrain beat me to it. "Dallas's attack should've taught you that's one of the most obvious places our enemies would come looking."

I pressed my cheek against his strong chest, inhaling his manly scent. "I'd love to spend some more time in Scotland, if you come too."

Thrain's hot breath left a tingling sensation on my temple where his lips barely touched my skin. I thought he whispered something that sounded like, "I'd love to." But I wasn't sure because a moment later darkness enveloped me and I lost consciousness yet again.