Silver Moon (Colors of the Moon #3)

Chapter 19

The moment I set my foot back inside my house, I regretted telling Skylar to open a portal in the middle of the living room. Five pairs of accusing eyes made me want to spin around and flee back through the portal. But it was already too late. My only escape route vanished, and I was forced to face the consequences of my unexpected departure.

Not only did Kasey and Zara find out about my disappearance, but so did Theo. He had apparently returned from the werewolf castle and was now glaring at me with shining silver eyes.

"Of all the stupid things you've done since I met you, this by far the stupidest one!" Kasey was the first one to unleash what I knew would be a string of litanies.

"Do you have any idea how close I was to shifting and tearing this place down?!" Theo shouted.

"Where did you go?" Zara's voice came from behind them.

While Theo and Kasey were looming barely a step away from me, filling my entire vision, Zara, Rob, and Vivian were hanging closer to the door.

"No," Kasey said. "First tell us how you left the house. Do you have another portal stone we don't know about?"

Before I even had a chance to decide which question to answer first, Theo diminished the distance between us.

"I am this close to marking you right now." He created the smallest possible space between his thumb and index finger, while almost shoving them into my face. "So, you better have a damn good reason as to why you left without any of them accompanying you."

While a part of me knew that they deserved all of their questions to be answered, the bigger part was still spinning with the new-found information. I never expected the one name I had been searching for so long to be one I knew.

"I... I'm sorry."

One word from me about Skylar would suffice for me to walk blame-free. After all, I hadn't left on my own free will. However, I also knew I owed Skylar. Without him, I would still be blindly searching for the last name.

"Where were you?" Theo's eyes sparkled with silver.

At the same time, Kasey shouldered her way closer to me. "How did you create the portal?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get anyone into trouble or to worry anyone. But I can take care of myself. I did it for five years and I can continue to do so even now."

"I don't care if you can take care of yourself." Theo grabbed my chin, holding me immobile. "You're my mate and I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"It's not just about you anymore." Theo was forced to let go of me as Kasey wiggled closer to me. "You're the High Priestess now. You're dooming our entire race with your reckless behavior. We all know you're powerful, but that doesn't make you invincible."

With both of them ganging up on me, I had no idea who to focus on.

"Why don't we give her some space to—" Vivian cut in, but a dark glare from both Theo and Kasey had her snapping her mouth shut and sinking back further against the wall.

"No one moves until Gabriela tells us where she was, how she got out of the house, and what the hell she was thinking while doing all of that." Kasey turned her icy eyes back to me.

I shook my head to clear my mind. "I can't deal with this right now."

Later I could answer all of their questions, however, right now I needed to face someone else. I needed to face Darlene.

Despite the conviction in Skylar's words, I wasn't going to blindly trust him. I needed to find out on my own if what he was claiming was the truth. At the same time, I couldn't understand where Darlene's delusion of being the rightful High Priestess fitted in all of this. It didn't make any sense.