Free The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber Page A

did I close the portal last night?”
    “I…believe you…cast your arm out,” he replied, his hand a vise upon her.
    Percy reached up and closed her hand in a firm fist. With a popping sound, the door began to shrink. Aodhan waved good-bye, receded from view and the door was no more. Alleyes fell upon her. She stared at her hand, and again at her body, whose light had faded, and shrugged with a nervous smile. “Well…it seems I do have control over the portals, though I’ve no idea how I opened it in the first place.”
    “You were angry,” Michael stated. “You were feeling threatened.”
    “Who was that man?” Rebecca barked. “Jane, he kept looking at you.”
    The Irishwoman’s face was a mixture of confusion and fear, so Percy cut in swiftly. “His name is Aodhan, a member of The Guard long ago, and he pledges his help.” Jane offered Percy a furtive, grateful glance. There would be a discussion sometime soon, but a moan from Van Courtland recalled them all to their task.
    Briefly, Percy caught Alexi’s attention. His sculpted lips thinned, and the crease upon his brow deepened. His grip upon her arm did not relent, even when she shifted slightly and said, “It’s all right, Alexi. For the moment, all is well.”
    “I certainly hope so,” he said. Percy frowned as he released her, smoothing his dark clothes. He moved to examine the stains upon the floor left from the supernatural melee. Glancing up, he waved a hand and the dim room was suddenly well lit by tall gas flame.
    With Jane’s aid, Van Courtland again resembled a human being, if not much of one. Josephine tried to keep his gaze on her visual benediction, but his eyes would not stay open. His pulse was faint. He would not rouse. His breaths were shallow. When Elijah came over and examined him, they all shook their heads.
    “It may take him a while to recover,” Jane said sheepishly.
    “If he shall,” Rebecca remarked. “It’s all right, Jane, it’s not your fault. You did everything right. We all did.”
    Percy eyed Alexi in alarm. His stoic face betrayed nothing, yet Percy, who had spent so much time taking in his most minute details, saw sadness in his eyes. He addressedher evident concern. “We cannot save them all. But we…usually do, Percy. We usually do.” When she nodded and took his hand, the pinched look around his eyes eased slightly.
    Michael went to each member of the group and placed a thumb upon the centre of their back, imparting a frisson of comfort, offering a smile to rally them from the hopelessness they felt when such a vulgar and oppressive session ended thus. Elijah wandered off to soothe a few screaming maids who had somehow eluded his spell; after a wave of his fingers they would bob away, cleansed of all intrusion.
    Michael and Alexi lifted Van Courtland and disappeared with him into the master bedroom. To his staff and family it would appear that he’d merely fallen ill, comatose, a mysterious ailment from which he would hopefully someday awake.
    Rebecca, having catalogued the particulars of the room the moment of their arrival, rearranged its contents to their exact prior placement, save the broken decanter and glasses, which she gathered into a small leather bag that she cinched and hung at her side. She caught Percy staring and explained, “The less evidence of destruction of his property, the better hope for recovery.”
    Alexi and Michael returned, and without another word the entire group made its way through the dark and now-slumbering house. “I’ll bring the carriage to you, Percy, wait here,” Alexi commanded.
    As he disappeared around the corner, Percy worried at his cool tone and the way he’d reacted to the portal. Things simply happened around her. It wasn’t that she was trying to be trouble, but that spirit had been provoked by her, perhaps was more malevolent because of her. She heartily prayed for Van Courtland.
    “Nicely done with the doors, Miss Parker, I think you’re a quick