Page 84 of The Inheritance

He nodded.

“I’ll remember,” I promised.

Jovo grinned, let go of my hands, bowed to me, and dove into the portal. It snapped closed behind him, vanishing into thin air.

The tunnel lay dark and silent.

I took a deep breath and pulled my phone out of the pocket of my coveralls. I had carried it with me all this time, in a military grade shatterproof and water-tight case. I had turned it off when I entered the breach and hadn’t fired it back up even once. Even when turned off, phones still lost charge, and I needed it to power on now. My life literally depended on it.

I pushed the power button.

Elias surveyed the nine-member assault team in full battle gear. The best Cold Chaos had to offer. They looked ready. Everyone was rested. The sun was up. It was time.

He turned back to the black hole of the gate. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

The electric glow of the phone screen lit up the tunnel. Only two percent of the charge left, but it was enough. Just enough.

The camera wouldn’t work and I couldn’t waste any charge on it. I couldn’t see myself. I didn’t know what I looked like now or if I had enough humanity left in me to exit. My hands shook from the pressure.

I scrolled through my contacts, found the right name, and tugged the sleeve of my coveralls over my sword bracelet. Here is hoping I won’t need it.

I was still me. I was Ada Moore. It had to let me out.

There was only one way to find out.

“Come, Bear.”

My dog wagged her tail, and we strode into the gate.

I half-expected an impenetrable barrier to stop me, or a flash of pain, but there was none. I sank into the gate, pushing my way through the invisible Jello. The familiar pressure squeezed me. I pushed through it.

The heaviness vanished.

I smelled Earth’s air.

The sky spread before me, gorgeous and blue, backlit with the first rays of sunrise, and I had never seen anything more beautiful.

We were out. We were home. I’d been trapped in the damn breach for so long, this didn’t feel real. It felt like a wishful dream.

Now I had to stay alive.

In front of me, an assault team was walking to the gate, their gear dyed in Cold Chaos indigo. They saw me and froze, their faces shocked. A large man in the front, enormous in his adamant armor, stared at me as if he’d seen a ghost.

I pushed the contact on my phone and put the call on speaker.

“You have reached the Chicago DDC office,” a female voice said into the phone.

“Assessor Adaline Moore,” I spoke into the phone. “Personal code 3725. I’m out of the Elmwood gate. I’m alive and uninjured.”

The voice on the other end vibrated with urgency. “Do you require immediate assistance?”

“Not at this time.”

I hung up. My phone died.

It was done. I had reported in. Cold Chaos couldn’t disappear me now.

To the left, behind the large man, a familiar face swung into view, bleached white. London.