Page 138 of Blood Curse

The woman looked at the open gate again. “I know. That’s why I haven’t made it yet.”

The release had worked. Relief caught under my ribs and hurt.

Bryony’s thumb moved against my sleeve. “Your turn.”

I looked at her.

“That isn’t an order,” she said. “It’s barely even a suggestion.”

“You want me to cross.”

“I want you to know if you can.”

“And if I keep walking?”

Her grip on my sleeve tightened before she released it. “I’ll be furious that you left without saying goodbye, but I won’t order you back.”

“I have no intention of leaving you.”

“Then stop making me emotional in front of your court and test the bloody gate.”

The Crown pulsed. Bryony showed me two fingers.

Still here.

“Go on,” she said. “Before I get soaked enough to become unpleasant.”

“Too late,” Mara said.

Bryony didn’t look away from me. “Walk onto the road, Stellan.”

Her voice held warmth, impatience and fear. Supernatural force didn’t touch it.

I released her arm only after Mara took my place.

One step carried me between the gateposts.

The next took me across the groove.

I stopped on the road.

Rain struck my face. Mud caught my boot. Harrowmere remained behind me, and my body felt exactly the same.

I waited for the old pressure. The rain ran into my collar. A branch scraped against the outer wall. Harrowmere remained a house at the end of a drive instead of the limit of my world.

“Well?” Bryony asked.

I took another step away from the gate. “Nothing’s pulling me back.”

“Then keep going.”

“Can you still feel the estate?” the woman on the road asked.

“Yes.” I looked back at the lit windows. “It simply isn’t holding me.”

The man with the case smiled. “You can keep walking.”

I could.