Queen Ascending (Ace of Queens #2)

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Exton landed on the stairs with a loud thump.

He looked around frantically for Gemma but there was no trace of her. From behind he heard the loud voices of Rye, Xavier and Caspian.

"What were you thinking?" Rye shrieked as she ran down the stairs to him. "What were you thinking?"

Exton didn't pay any attention to her, his eyes were on Caspian.

"Send me back! Open the portal!" He demanded.

Rye grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "What the fuck?" she screamed.

Exton stepped back from his mother's grip and ran up to Caspian.

"I found her! Open the portal!"

"No!" Xavier ordered Caspian as he marched down the stairs.

"Please!" Exton begged frantically. "I found her!"

"It's too dangerous," Xavier shook his head. "It's a miracle you even made it back!"

"I will be fine!" Exton yelled. "I was fine! I found Gemma!"

"No, Exton," Rye pleaded. "You can't go back."

"Caspian open that portal!" Exton hollered.

"Exton!" Rye stomped her feet.

From the top of the stairs, Toby watched the commotion quietly.

He sighed as he watched the desperation in Exton's face. Slowly, he began to walk down the stairs.

"Rye," Toby said. "Let him go."

Rye turned to look at Toby as if he had lost his mind.

"He's not going to stop," Toby explained. "If it had been you or Xavier, not going back would be out of the question."

Toby waited a second for the truth to sink into everyone's mind. He then turned to Exton.

"If you're going to travel into the veil, you need to do it correctly."

Everyone looked at Toby with wide eyes.

"Eli used to take me into the veil with him," He explained quietly. "He would go there to meet Lafayette...at the time, I didn't know. He would leave me in his cabin and go do this business."

Exton watched the look of heartbreak on Toby's face. He knew the pain of losing a mate was immense.

Toby exhaled, "I'll teach you how to find her again and how to keep the gatekeeper pleased. You made it out of the veil, so that means you didn't fall for her tricks."

"Her tricks?" Exton asked confused.

"The gatekeeper collects souls," Toby said. "Did you see all the tea cups around her?"

Exton nodded.

"Eating or drinking with the gatekeeper binds you to the veil forever."

Rye gasped.

"Don't worry," Exton said gently. "I didn't consume anything."

"Good," Toby nodded. He turned to Xavier, "Exton will need pixie gold and an iron dagger."

Xavier hesitated. His eyes landed on his son and then on his wife.

"Okay," he finally said. "If he's going to do this then he needs to do this safely."

Within a few hours, Xavier presented Exton with a ring made of pixie gold and an iron dagger.

"The pixie gold will help you open a portal back from wherever you are," Toby explained. "Turn the ring to the left and think about the place you want to travel to. Keep turning the ring until the portal opened."