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For a long feeling few minutes, the realization completely stumped Nick and Jordan both.

CHAPTER35

PORTAL

It was dark now.

Just about everyone had left the grass clearing at the base of the mountain.

Stars shone from a clear sky, along with a moon that lit up the snow on the mountain’s peak. Nick still saw a few clouds, here and there, but mostly it was quiet… so still, it felt unnatural again, but not in a scary, dread-filled way like it had before, when Nick had first been climbing up that hill.

It was strange to think how many of those emotions hadn’t even been his.

All of them had been busy for the last two hours.

All of them had been interrogated and questioned, and questioned again, and told they’d probably be brought back in for yet more questioning, either in the Northeastern Protected Area or back in New York City.

Nick had the cuffs removed from his wrists.

He’d talked to Acharya, to his I.S.F. liaison, to two more I.S.F. agents, to the head of policing in Long Island, to some army guy who never identified himself, even to the H.R.A. goons from Nick’s initial interrogation in New York City.

The last two, Nick noticed, never really stopped looking at him like they were trying to come up with some reason to arrest him.

Eventually, everyone had left.

It seemed to take forever for them to leave, but it was just them now.

Even Lara St. Maarten had walked back down the hill, taking the offer of a lift from one of the two soldier-types who eventually made their way up the hill in an armored vehicle. Those same two vehicles each dumped about a dozen fighters from a special inter-species unit. They climbed out the back of the armored trucks and disappeared into the forest to finish cleaning up the last of the newborn vampires and venomed soldiers.

But all of them were gone now, too.

They’d shot, tagged, and dumped the bodies in a third truck, covering them with a tarp to take them down and add to the overall investigation.

Nick also saw a group of military types standing with St. Maarten before they left, motioned expressively and talking amongst themselves as they studied the open portal warily.

Brick disappeared somewhere in that.

Nick never saw him go, but his sire vanished into the trees, going down the opposite side of the mountain as pretty much everyone else.

Nick strongly suspected that if he walked down the same side of the hill, he’d find that his and Morley’s police pool car would be gone, maybe with a pithy note tacked to a tree in its place. Brick was nothing if not predictable.

Nick sighed, leaning his head back to look up at the stars.

Funnily enough, none of them had talked about why they stayed.

They’d just stayed, as if by silent agreement, waiting for everyone else to leave.

The last to go were the soldiers, who looked at their small, motley group suspiciously, looking between them and the strange, swirling light of the portal like they were sure they were up to no good.

No one told them to leave, however, which was surprising, too.

Once everyone left, it was maybe twenty minutes before anyone spoke.

Nick looked around at their faces, noting who had stayed.

Noting who had not.

Those who sat with him on the grass were: Wynter, Tai, Mal, Jordan, Morley, Kit, and, funnily enough, Forrest Keanu Walker. His vampire girlfriend sat snuggled up against his side, along with one other vampire, a quiet male who sat on the grass alone, but who kept looking curiously over at Damon.