Page 13 of Trick Of Light

“We have no choice.” Jael sighed. “Deidre, we need to message the council for others to guard the city.”

“I’ll do that now.” She smiled at him, reaching up, hand on his face, before she placed a gentle kiss there. “It will be fine. We should also ask the council for others to accompany Raph and Jackson on their hunt for Moira.”

“What?” Malic barked at her. “Marcus and I are going with Jackson.”

“Exactly right,” Marcus agreed.

“No,” Jael told them. “I need at least two of the warders who know the city to be here and stand guard. I have to stay and monitor the portal Raph opens to take everyone across the planes. If the portal closes on either end, they won’t be able to get back. Humans aren’t made to cross planes in a corporeal state, only in a disembodied one upon death, so it’s crucial the portal remains open.”

“You won’t be able to leave your home?” Malic was stunned.

Jael shook his head. “I’m to be a gatekeeper until the task is concluded.”

Raphael shook his head. “No. That’s not necessary. My portal won’t close, Jael, not until we cross back or either Jackson or I die.”

It was up to Jael to inspire and be stalwart, so the first words out of his mouth were, “No one’s going to die.”

“Of course not,” Raphael agreed for his sake. “But again, it won’t close. It’s not a vortex or a wormhole or a pocket dimension; it’s a true gateway from your dimension to Ibos. I promise you, the portal will not close.”

“You’re certain?”

Raphael nodded.

“It won’t collapse without me holding it open?”

“No.”

Jael’s brows furrowed. “Raph, my understanding is that a kyrie doesn’t have that kind of power. How are you—”

“If I was going to one of the planes of hell, or deeper into a hell dimension, like where Leith and Simon were lost, I couldn’t hold a portal there for long. Hell is shrouded to all but demons. But in Limbo, and in all the in-between spaces of the world, I can keep a gateway open like I did when I was looking for Marcus.”

“How?” Deidre asked him.

“I don’t know. It’s what makes me better than most,” he said dismissively. “But that’s not the point. The important part is that you, Jael, can patrol the city, as nothing else can use my gateway without me.”

“How do you know?” Malic asked.

“I know,” Raphael stated, and the certainty in his voice reassured everyone. He wasn’t prone to exaggeration or making promises he couldn’t keep. If he said the portal was secure, it was. No one had any reason to doubt him.

“So I can help with patrolling of the city,” Jael said, sounding relieved. “And I’ll be in charge of the revolving warders coming to help.”

“Yes,” Raphael agreed.

“Thank you,” Jael husked, putting his hand on Raphael’s shoulder and squeezing gently.

“So who will go hunting with Jackson and Raph?” Malic wanted to know.

“The Labarum council will send us men.”

“It should be us,” Malic growled. “Fuck the city. Leave it to other warders.”

“You don’t mean that,” Leith said. “You’ve spent your life protecting this city and the people here. You would never abandon it.”

“But I have to go with you,” Malic ground out, like it was painful. “I can’t abandon my brothers either.”

“We’re not abandoning them,” Marcus insisted. “And are you suggesting we leave Joe and Dylan here alone?”

“No, they’d come with us.”