His lips quirked. “You’re pretty good for my ego, kid.”
“You’re pretty good for mine, too.” I pushed myself to a standing position. “I just wanted to check on you. I should probably get back and referee your children.”
“Oh, they’re not in the parlor any longer.” He sounded sure of himself.
“Where are they?”
“Try the game room upstairs. They’ve turned the argument into a pool tournament.”
I was confused. “How can you possibly know that?”
“I know my children. They like to be able to control their environment. Mother’s death means everything is out of control and they’ll want to reassert themselves on their favorite playing field ... which is almost anything as long as it involves competing with each other.”
What he said made sense. “Do you want me to take Lily?”
“No.” He tightened his arms around the little girl. “I want to keep her. Tell Aisling I’ll put her to bed.”
There wasn’t even a question of Aisling and Griffin returning to their townhouse for the night. It was a given that the family would stick close together.
“I’ll tell them. Try to get some sleep. We’re going to have to start figuring this out in the morning.”
“We are. Thank you for checking on me. You should go and have some fun, though. My children need a chaperone and you’re the likeliest candidate.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. “Does that mean I can dole out punishments?”
“Absolutely.”
Oh, well, the evening was looking up.
BRADEN AND I TUMBLED INTO BED AFTER midnight. The pool tournament had indeed gone long into the night and the rowdy Grimlocks had a drink or two (or three in some cases) too many. All I knew was I was ready to put the day behind me when Braden finally suggested it was time to turn in.
I took a few minutes to wash my face, pull my hair back into a braid so it wouldn’t snarl during the night, and brush my teeth. Braden was practically unconscious when I crawled into bed next to him.
“Night,” he murmured, sliding his arm around my back and tugging so my head rested on his shoulder. “I love you.”
Even though I was exhausted, I was smiling when I slipped into sleep. Darkness surrounded me there for a long time, to the point where I felt like I was floating on an invisible cloud in a sea of black. I was so weary my brain didn’t want to work.
I wasn’t sure exactly when it happened, but I became aware of noises invading my muddled brain. I had to shake my head to clear the fuzziness, and when I looked around I found myself in the muted environment on the other side of the gate.
“What the ... ?” My heart hammered as panic motivated me to take an instinctive step back. Where the gate door should’ve been, there was nothing.
It’s a dream. The realization was slow but welcome. This wasn’t real. I hadn’t somehow ended up on the other side of the gate in the middle of the night.
I pressed my hand to the spot above my heart and struggled to calm myself. The murky world on the other side of the gate wasn’t necessarily dangerous. Of course, it wasn’t exactly safe either.
“What happened?” a voice asked, causing me to snap my head to the spot over my shoulder. My heart skipped a beat when I recognized Emmet. He looked dazed and confused ... and yet he was on his feet. “Where are we?”
It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me. “I ... you ... .”
“I ... you ... .” He made a face as he mocked me, rolling his eyes. “Pay attention. Something happened and we have to figure out what.”
Was this really happening? Even as I asked the question, I knew the answer. At best, this was a memory fragment. I’d dreamed of events on the other side of the gate before. Those dreams had turned out to be true. That could be what was happening this time ... although I hadn’t been a personal participant the first go-around.
This could also be nothing more than my mind attempting to sort through the ridiculous piles of crap that had been shoveled at my feet over recent weeks. Mary’s death could’ve triggered a subconscious reaction.
The former was more likely, though. This probably happened, although not in this exact manner. I obviously hadn’t traveled to the other side of the gate with him.
“How long have you been here?” I asked, jolting at the way my voice echoed across the flat plane.
Emmet shot me an incredulous look. “Are you serious? You’ve been here just as long as me. It might seem like forever but it’s only been a few minutes.” He moved to the spot where the gate should’ve stood. From this vantage point, there was nothing but an empty space. “Something happened to close off the gate.”
“Yes,” I agreed absently. “Something definitely happened.”
“I know it’s possible to walk between worlds,” he insisted, extending his hands so he could feel for controls that might’ve somehow turned invisible. “That witch my grandson dates moved between worlds to save my granddaughter and the vampire. They all crossed over and then returned. That means we can do the same thing.”
I watched him for what felt like a long time, and then his words truly sank in. That witch my grandson dates. He was talking about me. That meant he wasn’t talking to me.
I glanced over my shoulder to see if I’d missed another individual, but the space was empty. When I turned back to Emmet, I found him watching me with irritated impatience. “Are you trying to drive me crazy? Why aren’t you looking for a way out of here?”
I responded without thinking. “There is no way
