I Married A Dragon (Prime Mating Agency)(21)
“Yes?” I answered, my voice frigid.
“My mate and I need to go to the Rodova Mountains. Would you be so kind as to—”
“Surely, you jest?” I interrupted, anger surging through me.
The male shifted on his feet, visibly intimidated by my anger. And yet, he lifted his chin defiantly, standing his ground. “Using the gate can be fickle when going to the Storm Lands. Reliable stones there are rare and their cost prohibitive. If you can open a free gate to the stable Kairns of Alja for wealthy nobles, surely you can extend a similar courtesy to poor commoners traveling a much longer and perilous journey?”
Kaida rolled her eyes and turned around, walking back towards the kiosk. I suspected it was to keep herself from commenting in a way that might be deemed offensive.
This was specifically why we didn’t offer free portals. By the way others were eyeing us intently, if I complied with his request—valid though his arguments were—many more would come ask for a free ride. I needed to take my Ejaya away from the market.
She’d only walked a few meters away from me, but already the familiar nauseous feeling was coming back, settling in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to tell the commoner to piss off and pretend he hadn’t run into a Shadow Lord today. However, this could devolve into a lengthy argument, and I didn’t want to give the impression that I gave preferred treatment to nobles. I should have told Chegan to get lost.
Annoyed to no end, I summoned the portal to get rid of them, intent on picking up my Kaida immediately thereafter and flying away from here. However, the moment the shadowy doorway formed before me, a cold shiver ran down my spine. The roots of my scales tingled as I felt an unstable rift forming a short distance to my right.
A sense of dread crashed over me as my head jerked in its direction… in Kaida’s direction. Staring absentmindedly at the goods on the stalls, she kept walking right, seconds before she vanished from view, swallowed by the invisible rift.
Chapter 6
Kaida
No words could express the extent of my annoyance. The minute Cedros had opened that first gate, I’d known some other mooches would come asking for a free ride. As an Enforcer, I’d too often been in a similar position where civilians thought to use me to take care of their personal vendettas or issues. I couldn’t open portals, but they figured since I could shoot stuff, I could rid them of an annoying neighbor or the giant worm rats infesting their basement.
Did I look like a freaking assassin or exterminator?
The argument that male had so thickly laid on on Cedros to guilt trip him into doing his bidding had pissed me off beyond words. If I’d stuck around a moment longer, my sharp tongue would have likely gotten me in trouble. This was my first day on Dramnac. I didn’t know the local culture and couldn’t afford to alienate the population so soon after my arrival.
I went back to browsing the goods on display, secretly hoping Cedros would tell them to take a hike. I needed to find out more about that Ejaya business. If I was here to take care of him, did that include the right—if not the duty—to tell people taking advantage of him to fuck off? I sure hoped that was written somewhere in the fine print. I’d have no problem doing it. While I was usually sweet, I could be a ruthless bitch any day of the week.
A sudden cold draft took me by surprise. It wasn’t so much a draft as it didn’t flow by. It felt more like a column of cold had appeared out of nowhere near me. An odd, almost nauseous feeling settled low in my belly, and the urgent need to move away overwhelmed me.
Wanting to walk past whatever this was, I took a couple of steps forward. A powerful tingling spread all over my skin, and my stomach flip-flopped like in a much-too-fast elevator ride. In a flash of understanding, I realized too late what was happening. My vision blurred, and so did the world around me. For a split second, I felt faint, then my vision cleared only for me to find myself standing in the middle of a dark space.
The oscillating smokiness of what I could only call walls told me I’d somehow crossed the veil and was now standing in the void between worlds. The total panic I expected to rob me of any rational thought never came. I was transfixed, fascinated by the strange environment. I could only credit my Enforcer training for keeping my head in this stressful situation.
I didn’t understand how I could see in this complete absence of light. And yet, I could clearly make out the small circular space—approximately a three-meter radius—in which I stood. Eight corridors branched off of it, headed in every direction. But even as I contemplated which one to follow, two of them collapsed. The others shifted, making way for the formation of a different, larger pathway.
I almost headed down that way, but remembering the abominations we’d faced off against in the Veladeem research lab cooled my ardors. Without weapons or a clear map out of here, going on an exploratory tour without a guide sounded unhealthy.
I took a couple of steps backwards, hoping it would take me out of the anomaly I’d stepped into and back to the open market.
Nothing happened.
This time, a sliver of fear entered my heart. What if I got permanently lost in this void? What if something came at me from one of the dark corridors that led to who the fuck knew where? What if…?
But I immediately squashed those thoughts before they could fester and lead me to panic. Cedros would find me. Not only was that his job, but I was his Ejaya. He’d move Heaven and Earth—in this case, all of freaking Dramnac—to get me back.