E R I K

I want to scratch at the flagstone floor until my fingertips bleed. There had to be a way to get the portal back. I wiped my palm over the scorch marks. The stone was still warm.

Behind me, Morgan was poking around the various crates and cupboards of the storage room.

"We should check these boxes. There might be something we could use in here," Morgan said.

I didn't move. I kept looking at the spot where the portal was, hoping it would somehow magically come back.

The hinges of one of the crates next to me creaked open. Poppy was helping Morgan search the room.

"There's nothing in here except useless gold plates and goblets," Poppy sighed and moved on to the next crate.

I couldn't believe it.

The portal was gone.

A hand squeezed my shoulder. It was Rupert.

"Staring at it won't bring it back," he said sagely.

I stared back at him, speechless. He was still a child, yet he tried to make me feel better. The poor fool had no idea of the danger.

Poppy let out a squeal of fright. My heart slammed into my chest. I leapt to my feet, palms at the ready. Poppy hopped from foot to foot and pointed at the crate.

"It's huge! I think it wants to eat me," she squealed.

I stepped closer to the crate and saw a small brown rat cowering in the shadow of the crate. The rodent was tiny, a dark reminder that nothing, not even the rats, grew fat up in the freezing cold mountains.

"Well done, Poppy," I said dryly. "You found dinner."

With a quick flick of the wrist, I hit the rat with a fireball.

Poppy wrinkled her nose. "That was so gross. Why didn't you capture and release it into the wild?"

I picked the roasted rodent off the floor and handed it to Rupert.

"This is dinner," I said to him. "This is all we have to eat."

Morgan shook her head in disagreement. "There has to be food somewhere in the castle. How else did Henry survive?"

She left the storage room before I could point out that Henry would have survived on blood. I ran after her, terrified that she might come face-to-face with one of Henry's servants.

"Morgan," I called after her.

She slowed down, but not because I called after her. A door at the end of the corridor had been left slightly ajar. A soft, inviting light poured out into the corridor.

Morgan drifted towards the door like a moth to a flame. Horrific imagery ran through my head of her opening the door and being greeted by a knife to the stomach.

I sprinted down the corridor and reached her as she opened the door. I raised my hand, ready to burn anyone on the other side of the door.

The door opened, revealing a scene of pure chaos. It was a bedroom that had been completely ransacked. The sheets were pulled off the bed, empty goblets of blood lay strewn across the floor, and piles and piles of papers everywhere.

"This is where Henry used to sleep," I said, stepping into the room.

"How do you know," Morgan asked.

"I recognise his smell - death, blood and bad cologne," I replied, wrinkling my nose.

I knelt down and picked up a note. It appeared to be a list of repairs that needed to be made to the castle wall. There was a small note in the margins that read:

'Need more money. Dante won't send funds!'

I picked up another paper. It was an invoice for a hundred gold goblets. There was another note written in the margins:

'Fuck Dante for rewarding me with this mess. I am the lord of a frozen shithole!'

"I don't think Dante enjoyed mountain life," I murmured, flicking to the next page.

Morgan also picked up the pages and started reading through them.

"Holy shit, look at all these unpaid invoices," Morgan said, handing me a stack of papers.

There were dozens of invoices that ranged from repairs to clothes to paintings. The King's assassin had a money-spending problem.

"Have you seen the notes on these invoices?" Morgan said, pointing to Henry's erratic scribblings.

"I'm guessing that now the war is over, Dante doesn't have much work for Henry," I said.

"The man is flat broke," Morgan said, grabbing another stack of papers.

"It would make sense. You would expect to see more servants for a castle this size," I mused.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a crude map drawing poking out from under a pile of papers.

"What's this," I murmured.

I took hold of the map and studied it closely. Someone had drawn the northlands mountain range and added a marker for each fort.

"This is where we are, and here are the five other forts that dragons once held," I explained to Morgan.

I flipped the map over and saw more of Henry's notes.

'Portal to the palace in Summer Fort dungeons. Portal to Thorsbury Woods in Frost Fort larder. Portal to Fox and Dragon pub in Windfall Castle turret.'

My heart stopped. Windfall Castle was my family home - and not only that, but it had a portal back to the Thorsbury Upon Wick.

Morgan pointed at the note about the portal to the Summer Fort.

"We need to go there - we have to speak to Ebony," she said.

Summer Fort was fifty miles southeast from here. It was the most southern castle and enjoyed a marginally warmer climate than the other castles and forts.

In contrast, Windfall was the most northern castle, two hundred miles northeast of here.

I swallowed hard. We had to make the journey to Windfall Castle. We needed to get back to Thorsbury. I couldn't risk Morgan being captured by Dante or Henry.

"We should make the journey to Summer Castle," I lied.

"Really," Morgan's eyes widened excitedly.

"It will be a long journey," I said, tucking the map into my jacket pocket. "But I know the way."

Morgan threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly. I felt sick to my stomach. I was lying to her, my mate. I rested my chin on her head and prayed that she would one day understand why I did what I did.

"Thank you," she smiled, rubbing her cheek against my shirt.

I folded my arms around her and tried to disguise my unease. There was something rotten about lying to the one you loved - even if it was in their best interests.

I forced myself to relax and enjoy this moment with my mate, safe in my arms.

"We need to leave soon. Henry might decide to return to the castle with backup," I warned Morgan.

"Okay, I'll round Poppy and Rupert up and see what supplies we can pull together," Morgan said into my chest.

I didn't want to let Morgan go just yet.

I imagine her distraught reaction when she realises I have taken her to Windfall Castle instead of Summer Fort.

"This is for the best," I mumble absently to myself.

"What is?" Morgan asks.

"Nothing," I reply absently, allowing my fingers to drift up and down Morgan's back.

"How easy is it to get to Summer Fort?" Morgan asked.

"We won't be able to use the main roads that crisscross the mountains. They will be swarming with goblin raiders and trolls now that the mountains are under vampire control. We'll need to keep to the mountain tracks that only us dragons know about," I explained.

"Are goblins and trolls real?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, and they are wretched greedy creatures," I explained. "They were never an issue when the dragons ruled the mountains. We always ensured the goblins and trolls kept to the uninhabitable marshlands northwest of the mountains. Naturally, when the vampires started a war with the dragons, the goblins and trolls became the vampire's greatest ally."

"Great. Well, if they get in our way, we can just burn them," Morgan said.

"We need to avoid using our flame. Henry doesn't know that we have returned through the portal. We don't want him putting out an order for our capture. Goblins and trolls love a good bounty reward," I explained.

"How long will it take to reach the Summer Fort," Morgan asked.

I hesitated. The Summer Fort would take a few days to reach, but Windfall Castle could take a week or two - especially this time of year.

"It may take a week or so, depending on the weather. Snow is bad this time of year in the mountains, and I don't want you straining your injured ankle," I said.

"You worry too much," Morgan replied.

I hugged her a little tighter. Perhaps this journey would bring us closer together. Maybe I could finally show her just how mad the vampire prince was and she would finally come to see reason.

"I love you," she sighed contentedly.

My heart clenched. This felt so right and yet so wrong at the same time.

"I love you too, my beloved flame," I replied.