Sweep of the Heart (Innkeeper Chronicles #5)(121)

They even let Prysen Ol keep Tomato with him. The assassin and the green bear had a blood brother pact. There was probably an interesting story behind it, but I didn’t have time to listen to it.

I passed through the last hallway and walked into the arrival chamber. Sean and Tony stood in front of the portal. Sean wore an enviro-hazard combat suit. Dark gray, it covered him head to toe, leaving only his face bare. His favorite green knife was in a sheath on his waist. He’d strapped a gun to his back, and another to his right thigh.

“… Got this. Don’t worry, nothing will happen to the inn,” Tony was saying.

The two of them turned toward me.

“Are you sure about this?” Sean asked me.

“Very sure.” I took off my robe.

I wore the same suit. My energy whip rested in its holder on my thigh. Sean had insisted that I bring a backup weapon. I held out my hand. My broom landed in it, flashed with blue, and turned into a spear.

The suits came with respirators and full-face plates which could be extended on a moment’s notice, turning the suits fully airtight. Light and flexible, this gear was designed for planetary combat in hazardous environments.

“I would rather you stay,” Sean said.

We had been over this. If whatever took Wilmos had targeted Sean, it could have sent his corrupted ad-hals after him any time he had left the inn. Of the two of us, he spent more time away from Gertrude Hunt. It didn’t want him. It wanted me, and I had to figure out why.

Tony agreed to stay behind to see our guests off. Most of them had left anyway. The oomboles had taken off before the final ceremony was even over, relieved after Resven assured them that their minor ask would be granted.

Cookie departed right after the oomboles. He’d been giddy about winning the Dominion from Clan Sai. Unfortunately, Clan Sai would retaliate, and soon, so Cookie and his entourage were needed back at the Merchant house to prepare their defense.

Dagorkun had left too, after thanking Sean and me for our hospitality. He had a lot of things to discuss with his parents. Gaston and Karat were still at the inn. Gaston had the stamina of a camel, but his body finally gave out and he went to bed and likely wouldn’t get up until tomorrow. Orro’s kitchen helpers would leave after the party, the First Scholar and his assistants were already gone, and Kosandion, Lady Wexyn, and Resven would depart in the next hour or so. Tony would handle that.

We had to rescue Wilmos. I looked at the portal. No reason to delay any further.

“Ready?” Sean asked.

I held out my hand. “Hold my hand?”

Sean reached out and took my hand in his. We walked into the portal together.





28





A door opens…





The final portal gate was a rounded arch of pale blue metal. In random places, the smooth metal shell had broken away, exposing the complex tangle of electronics underneath. A small symbol had been etched into the center of the arch at the highest point of the curve—a stylized explosion.

“Of course,” Sean said.

It was a Tuhl portal. Because why not?

“What are the chances of us exploding, do you think?” I asked him.

“Zero if we don’t enter.”

Not entering wasn’t an option. Wilmos was somewhere on the other side.

For some reason, I’d thought that the Dominion’s capital would have a direct portal to Karron. It didn’t. It had taken three portals and an hour-long flight via small military shuttle to reach this point atop a remote mountain range on Shurb, the Dominion’s least populated planet. The Dominion provided the craft, the instructions, and the coordinates, but no pilot. Fortunately, we had our own.

Sean had landed the shuttle on a wide platform cut into the side of the mountain, on the ancient stones worn by weather and time to near glass smoothness. The gate sat in the center of it. At the southern end, a huge door led inside the mountain.

We stared at the gate some more. It seemed completely inert. No mechanism to activate it. Approaching it didn’t do anything either.

“Is someone supposed to meet us?” I wondered.

“That was the plan. Miralitt’s brief said, ‘wait for the operator.’”

We waited. Despite the dorky name, Shurb was a pretty planet. It was fall, and the woods below the platform were awash with golds and reds. The air smelled fresh and crisp.

The giant door swung open with a loud clang and a throng of creatures emerged, followed by something very large and covered with an enormous tarp. The keepers of the gate stood about four feet tall on slender legs that ended in hooves. They wore quilted tunics over their slim humanoid bodies. Their heads were slightly goat-like with long narrow muzzles and very dark elongated eyes. Their ears were long and pointed and they poked through their manes of coarse hair.

“Oh no.” Our luck couldn’t possibly have gotten worse.

“What are they?” Sean asked.

“Barsas. Our translator implants won’t work, and I’m very rusty.”

“Wow, a language you’re not fluent in.” He cracked a smile.

“Nobody knows every language in the galaxy, and they almost never come to Earth.”

“There is no need to get defensive.”

The Barsas stopped in front of us. Their leader, an old white-haired male, stepped forward and raised his arms.