“Hear me out, Helen. If you had not held that appointment, she would have passed away in her sleep peacefully three days later. Either way, she would begone.”
“Did shesuffer?”
Portia shook her head. “The shade you raised siphoned her energy. She likely didn’t feel athing.”
“That still isn’t great. The shade was dispelled,correct?”
At this, Portia hesitated. “Yes and no. Anthony is back behind the veil, but he has left remnants here. Remnants the others are attracted to. There is a rift in the veil right now. A small one, but lower level entities areescaping.”
“What does thatmean?”
“It means mischief is afoot, my dear. And that I will need your help in the upcomingmonths.”
“What about the door and the people who are trying to take myproperty?”
Portia’s face went positively mutinous at that. “You let me worry about them. No one is taking anything. But we do need to talk about the door.” She smiled atme.
“It’s not just a door, is it?” Iasked.
Hank had finally sat down on the opposite end of the couch. The anger had been replaced with an expression that looked almost...thoughtful.
Portia shook her head. “Not quite. It’s an entrance to my agency.” She hesitated. “But the door is important because my agency doesn’t exist here on thisplane.”
I blinked. “What does thatmean?”
“The door is an entrance toHeaven.”
Hank and I both let out a choked laugh. “No way,” Isaid.
“Your magic is directly in contradiction to mine, Helen. But I still feel like you’re a good choice as Guardian. We will be spending time together very soon to figure out how to moveforward.”
“You’re an angel?” Ibreathed.
“Partly,” Portia answered. “I apologize for leaving you with such a cryptic comment, but in the months ahead, you will form friendships that will save Midnight Cove. You and your friends will be powerful and as the rift grows, so will our need for all ofyou.”
Portia stood and straightened her black slacks. She reached down and patted Margo/Argos on the head. “I will show myself out. You will receive a packet in the mail soon containing the terms of our agreement. Do not worry about Midnight Cove Realty. That, in fact, is my nextstop.”
With a sprinkle of golden dust, Portia disappeared from my livingroom.
“Well,” I said, “if she drove here, that’s going to make her exit kind ofawkward.”
Hank was lost in contemplativesilence.
“Hank?”
He jerked. “Oh, sorry.” He abruptly stood. “I texted Pepper a few minutes ago. She will be over to stay the night withyou.”
“Oh.” Disappointment leadened my limbs. “Okay. You don’t want tostay?”
He shook his head. “No. I have some things I have to take care of. I’ll be back on Monday with the crew to startwork.”
Hank cleared off the dishes and did his best to avoid me until Pepper arrived. With a quick goodbye, he grabbed his jacket and wasgone.
Pepper gave me a weird look. “Everythingokay?”
“It hasn’t been okay since that damn agency started meddling in mylife.”
Margo barkedtwice.
