Page 35 of Guardian

Logan seemed to misinterpret her silence, because he said, “They have to be killed. You do understand that, don’t you?”

She quickly glanced at him. “Of course. They deserve to die. I’m not judging you for killing them. I’m grateful that men like you exist. Or I would be dead now.” Or worse, living in the Underworld, doing the demons’ bidding.

She shuddered at the thought.

“We’re almost there,” Logan suddenly said and pointed to a building.

Winter read the inscription over the double doors. “The library? The portal is in a library?”

“Come on. Once we pass those trash containers over there, I’ll make us visible. Then we’ll go in like ordinary citizens wanting to check out some books. Ready?”

She nodded.

They had no problems entering the library. It was late morning and not busy. Once in the stacks, Logan turned to her and lowered his voice. “We’re looking for a wall, either made of stone or wood with an ancient dagger carved into it. Keep your eyes open.”

Winter knew what a portal would look like. She’d seen several in her visions. “Let’s split up. I’ll walk around the second floor wall, you take the first floor.”

Chuckling, Logan shook his head. “Not a chance. Have you never seen a horror movie? When did let’s split up ever turn out well?”

She grimaced. “You’ve got a point.”

He took her hand and ushered her toward the outer wall of the old building. “This way.”

For several minutes, they searched for the telltale dagger that would reveal the entrance to the portal, but found nothing.

Back where they’d started, Winter met Logan’s eyes. “Maybe upstairs?”

He shook his head. “Extremely unlikely.” He pointed upwards. They were standing in a small atrium that allowed them to see the walls of the upper floor. “The walls are too new. Probably an add-on to the original building. They wouldn’t have used old stone or salvaged wood up there that could contain the portal’s entrance.”

“But where then? Are you sure this was the address?”

“Yes. I’m sure.”

Footsteps behind them made Winter spin around. Logan did the same. A woman in business attire and with a nametag that read Chief Librarian smiled at them.

“I’m sure you’re wondering where it is,” the woman said in a pleasant voice.

Winter felt Logan tense next to her, his hand already reaching inside his jacket.

“Uh, yeah, uh,” Winter stammered.

“You wouldn’t be the first,” the librarian continued and pointed to an area behind the history stacks. “The permanent exhibit is still in the history section. We thought of moving it, but it would have been too costly. Feel free to browse and come back to my desk if you have any questions.” Then she moved her hand toward them, and only now did Winter see the brochure she held out. “Here you go, you forgot to pick up a leaflet on your way in.”

Logan, still on alert next to her, didn’t move, but Winter forced a smile and reached for the leaflet. She glanced down at it quickly, not wanting to let the librarian out of her sight, just in case she was a demon. But one look at the photo displayed on the leaflet, and she jabbed Logan in the ribs.

“Thanks so much,” she said to the librarian, then looked at Logan, and in a much lower voice she said, “Look at this!”

Only when the librarian had walked back to her desk, did Logan finally look down at the leaflet.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” he murmured.

Winter nodded, her eyes scanning the text on the brochure. “They think it’s a stone the Vikings brought to North America during their explorations.”

Already walking toward the history section, Logan said, “It’s much older than that.”

Holding onto Logan’s hand, she rounded the corner just behind him. And there it was. A monolith with an engraving. It was hard to make out what the engraved symbol was if one didn’t know already. But she knew what it was, and therefore she recognized the dagger instantly.

“The portal,” she murmured full of reverence.

She exchanged a look with Logan.

“We’ve gotta be quick before she comes back,” Logan said and stepped over the cordon.

Winter followed him and watched as he put his palm flat over the dagger. A few seconds later, the monolith was gone and in its stead, an opening leading into darkness appeared.

Logan turned to her and must have seen her fearful look, because he said, “Trust me.”

She took a steadying breath and nodded. Then Logan walked into the darkness and pulled her inside. When she looked over her shoulder, she could still see the stacks of books, but a moment later, everything went dark.

“Hold on to me. Don’t let go,” Logan said.

Winter put both arms around his torso and held on for dear life.

Logan put one arm around her waist and brought his mouth to her ear. “It might get a little bumpy.”

“Okay.”

Then she lost the ground beneath her feet and gasped in shock.