Chapter 30: She Walks In Death

"I can see that." I walked around him, searching for any visible wounds, but I couldn't find any. And yet, he lay in a pool of blood.

"What happened?"

He scratched his chin.

"I wish I could tell you. One minute I was in my kitchen digging for something to eat. The next, I was on the floor with more blood around me than I'd ever seen."

He snorted.

"It was the damnedest thing. I was alone. No one came in or out. I'm not sure how it happened, but I felt the injury. It was like the hottest knife I'd ever felt stabbing me over and over again."

"Black magic," I volunteered.

Cane rocked back on his heels and stared up at the Gate. I'd seen it in my dreams several times but never realized this was what it actually looked like. Disturbed, I carefully traced the edges of it with my mind, astounded the dreams had been correct.

"Should I walk through?" he asked.

"Depends. Do you want to die?"

His lips curled into a small, rueful smile.