Free Runaway Renegade (Ultimate Passage Book 4) by Elle Thorne Page B

Kormia, and now they were doing the same on Earth.
    Ali stormed into the bathroom. Hoisting herself up to the counter, she sat, her feet in the sink, her body angled so she could see her wings.
    Taking the knife, she wrapped her arm around herself and plunged it into the base of her wings, at the lowest crease in the middle of her back.

18
    T hane took wing to the north, finding a mountain that was isolated. He alit on a dirt road that led to an abandoned cabin. This spot had long been the place he traveled to in order to create a portal that led to Kormia.
    He could do it elsewhere, like in the city, but he always stood the chance that someone would see the portal. Or even worse, that someone on the other side—in Kormia—would seek to travel to Earth. That was not permitted. Not only was it not permitted, it could create complete chaos and piss off the Brethren. Here, on this isolated mountain, if anyone did decide to come over, he could pursue avenues to convince them by word or deed to go back to Kormia. Luckily, he’d never had anyone try to come to Earth.
    He crossed his arms, closed his eyes and concentrated. A moment later the force of the portal’s energy pulled at his being. He opened his eyes. He’d created the portal to Kormia, a shimmering mirage that looked more like the heat that rose off of a hot road than a doorway. He couldn’t cross through it. No Brethren could enter their own portal. But he could wait for the Kormic Elders. It never was a long wait. They’d always sensed his portals before long and arrived.
    True to this, within thirty minutes, several scarlet-robed figures appeared. Their hoods covered their faces, but he knew it was the Kormic Elders. The ones who kept track of Saraz and all pertinent events on Kormia.
    In unison, they stood shoulder-to-shoulder facing him, raised their hands and pushed back the hoods. Their eyes, all white, as if they had cataracts, used to spook him and send chills all over his body.
    As many times as he’d seen these beings over the span of time, he had never become accustomed to their exotic look. Though at least now, they didn’t repel him as they had in the beginning, with their half-human, half-alien features. He could think of no word that suited them better than alien.
    The lower half of their faces were human, with human jaws, but they had pale, raised striations that traveled from their bottom lips and converged to a point in the middle of their chins, exactly where a cleft would be, if they’d had one.
    The part that garnered the most attention was above their eyes. A brow ridge that was composed of lizard-like skin traveled upward to a forehead that had two bony vertical ridges, stopping where a hairline would be. Instead of hair, the Kormic had purple-and-orange-tipped spikes.
    He found himself holding his breath, as he always did when they were in front of him. They were able to walk through the portal. That would not be a good thing, and Thane was glad they didn’t. He’d never tested their skills, and he was unsure if he was a match for them, death-dealing expertise or not.
    “Brethren Thane.” Their voice was a collective, as though they were of one mind.
    He knew they could communicate silently.
    “Elders.” Thane nodded respectfully. He’d come to have a high regard for these beings.
    “We have been trying to reach you for a long time now. Why have you been blocking our attempts?”
    Thane frowned. “Blocking? I wouldn’t do that.” Worry washed over him. “Why? Why were you trying to reach me?”
    “Asazi have made a home on Earth. In the last few months, a human traveled to Kormia then returned to Earth. With a hybrid Asazi and human child. And her Asazi mate.”
    Thane’s hands clenched into fists. “What the—”
    The Elder raised his hand—Thane didn’t even know his name. Did they have individual names?—then he continued, “And the one that Saraz seeks to fulfill his prophecy has left for Earth. An Asazi Elite,