DEMON DOOR (#2 GHOST PORTAL series)

NINETEEN

As Ada flurried about pointing out necessary ingredients—that was what she called the items she ordered Jamie to fetch for her—varied shades of blue globs started to gather around. Guides of all ranks and sizes and colors, come to witness whatever Ada was up to.

They all looked like Ada, in the sense that they had facial features and human-like silhouettes, though they were in fact mists made of a smoke-like material. And as they clustered about the rubble, abandoning their reconstruction of the house to contain the ghost portal, they whispered amongst themselves, and Avery eavesdropped.

"Is she doing what I think she's doing?" one of them asked, using its energy to levitate a few planks of wood in front of it.

"Communicating with other Guides," said the one next to it, having set down a few bricks atop a fresh layer of thick white brick molding.

"She's never done this before," muttered a third Guide, slithering between them, smiling. "This is so exciting."

Ada was unfazed by her fellow Guides admiring her, whispering about her. She continued to order Jamie around, having him move broken furniture out of the way, gather boxes of ashes, clear passages she claimed she'd need for her spell.

Avery had been told not to participate, but to watch. He fidgeted, unsure how to feel about his friend being so deeply involved in Ada's ritual, when he'd wanted nothing more than for said friend to leave. To go home, be safely away from all this mess.

Jamie doesn't need to do this, and Ada knows it.

Ada had plenty of energy to spare, he could tell. Earlier, she'd been weak, her coloring barely noticeable. Now she was a bright, perfect shade of sky blue, bubbly and scintillating with vigor. Why would she want to, need to use Jamie's stamina for this?

Was communicating with other Guides even a thing? Could she do it? Would it work? And why would Ada want to test something like this on someone like Jamie?

Avery clenched his fists and hid them behind his back, hoping no one would notice his tension. It should have been him helping Ada, only him. He was responsible for this mess, so he should have helped fix it. Why did Jamie have to be so adamant on being there? Did he not trust Avery to put his all into this? He was putting in everything he had, risking his goddamn life to save the world. Why couldn't Jamie trust Avery to do this alone?

Stars sprinkled over the navy night sky, and a chill swept through the clearance. Avery shuddered, hugging himself for warmth. Usually the temperatures in this region didn't drop too much after sundown. But in this area, everything seemed to function differently, as if he were in another country, farther from the equator.

In truth, he was somewhat in another world, if he thought about it. This was a place filled with supernatural elements, inhabited by blue beings with powers and haunted by ghosts awaiting their turn to move on. And the basement contained a portal to a different dimension, and was clogged with malevolent beings who thirsted for power.

The cold might have been part of preserving the magic of this place.

Magic.

He snorted; was this magic? Or sorcery? Or aliens? He'd always believed in ghosts, in angels, and demons to an extent. But all this was on another level. Dimensions and chaos and creatures that pre-dated humans and were sealed into realms for protection... what next?

Spinning away from the proceedings—Ada was speaking in hushed tones to Jamie, likely giving him some sort of instructions that she didn't want anyone else to hear, especially Avery—Avery took note of the forest. Sprinkles of white orbs popped up at the edges, like curious animals pushing through bushes. They kept their distance, never passing the limit of trees and shrubs, but appeared to glance at Ada and Jamie's preparations with intrigue.