Portal: A Nina Decker Novel Part 1

Portal (Nina Decker).

by Vivi Anna.

Chapter 1.

From the small pool of water in my garden, mud squished between my toes and I thought about the pixie I'd killed a couple of weeks before. It had made a similar sound when I'd crushed in in my fist. If I could kill the little b.u.g.g.e.r again, I would gladly. Those from Nightfall had caused me nothing but grief.

Even now, I sat here shoeless in a pair of shorts and tank top in the dirt at two in the morning waiting for the portal to Nightfall to open. I'd thought of little else in the past two weeks than about opening the portal to the fae realm and finding my father. She'd taken him there. And I planned on bringing him back. Even if I had to break every single one of my mother's fingers to do it.

I kneaded the mud with my toes again, reveling in the feel of the earth on my skin. Touching the ground with my bare skin energized me. It had been this way since I was little. Often I would play in the flowers and plants of the family garden, never fully understanding why it called to me. Why I'd always felt safe and alive among the greenery.

The fae had an affinity to nature. And I was one of them. Well, half really. But the wings protruding from between my shoulder blades didn't really care about that. They had burst through my skin to declare me more fae than human despite my genetics. Now, they were a daily reminder of my dark heritage. A heritage I would gladly dispose of if I could.

A rustling in the nearby bushes drew my attention. But I didn't move. I had little fear of what could possibly come out of the shrubs. I'd seen more than anyone could imagine in my lifetime. Nothing shocked me anymore. Besides that, I was probably more dangerous than anything that could come wondering into my yard.

Well, maybe not compared to the exquisite man who emerged from the bushes and strolled naked across the lawn to where I sat playing in the dirt.

Moonbeams played across his sublime form as he moved. Lean and sculpted muscles bunched and relaxed as he walked. If I were to live a hundred years, which was indeed likely, I would never see a male specimen as s.e.xy and attractive as Severin Saint Morgan, the alpha werewolf of the Vancouver wolf pack.

He was my confidant and my lover. And he was helping me open the portal to Nightfall.

"How was your run?" I asked him, as he settled in beside me on the ground.

"Needed. I've been feeling extra tense lately."

"Join the club."

He ran a hand over my head, then gripping the strands of hair pulled me to his mouth. He kissed me hard and thoroughly until I was nearly light-headed with the taste of him in my mouth. "s.e.x is a good tension reliever."

"Yes, I know. We just f.u.c.ked before you went for your run."

Chuckling, he nibbled on my chin, then relinquished his hold on me. "Any progress?" He nodded toward the small pool of water at my feet.

I shook my head. "It's still too shallow."

"It'll work, Nina. Don't worry. We'll get your father back."

"It's taking too long. Last time, the pond appeared in three days, it's been two weeks since I buried that piece of the faery globe. It should've developed by now."

"You have to be patient. It will open. And then you and I will raise h.e.l.l in the fae realm."

"To get my father back."

"Yes, of course." He gave me one of his charming smiles. Those he usually reserved for the media.

I studied him for a long moment. I knew he was helping me because he had feelings for me, but he also had ulterior motives, that I knew. He'd never confessed them openly to me, but I knew they were there. His hate of the fae preceded mine. As far as I could discern, he'd had close to one hundred years to cultivate that hatred of a people that had persecuted werewolves. From the reading I'd been doing, unknown to Severin, the fae and the werewolves had been at war for a millennia, or longer. They'd forged some kind of peace in the past few decades, but that accord was fading. War was brewing again.

And from what both he and my mother had told me, I was at the center of that conflict. In the near future, I was going to be forced to pick a side. Weeks ago I would've gladly jumped to the werewolf side, my hatred of my mother still real and raw inside, but now, I wasn't as sure. My dealings with the werewolves and their leader gave me pause. The fae weren't the only ones with dark dealings and nefarious pasts.

Severin had his secrets and the more I felt for him, the more those secrets frightened me.

"I'm going to go in. I have an early s.h.i.+ft tomorrow at the hospital." I stood, brus.h.i.+ng at the dirt clinging to skin.

He stood with me. "Care for company?"

"No, why don't you go home."

I didn't mean it to sound snappy but by his raised eyebrow it must've sounded harsh. Sometimes it was hard to keep my apprehension of him from my voice and my actions.

"No worries. I'll just fetch my clothes, and I'll be gone."

He turned to head to the deck to go inside. I reached for his hand. "Severin."

He stopped and looked at me. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be a b.i.t.c.h."

"You're not being a b.i.t.c.h, darling. I understand." He lifted his hand and brushed the hair from my brow. "But you don't have anything to fear from me. We are not enemies in this battle. I'm on your side."

"I know. " I sighed. "It's just I'm so tired of this, of waiting. And these d.a.m.n wings are killing me tonight." I flexed the monstrosities protruding from my back. Even after weeks of having them, it still surprised me every morning when I woke up and saw them rising up from my shoulders, glimmering in the light. If I didn't think it would kill me, I would've sawed them off.

He reached over my shoulder and ran a finger over the tip of one wing. It sent a rush of heat down my spine. "I love your wings. So s.e.xy."

"You think everything is s.e.xy. s.e.x is all you ever think about."

Grinning, he trailed his finger over my shoulder and down to the swell of my breast. "I also think about food. Which reminds me, I'm starving. Do you have any of that pie you made the other day?"

"I thought you were going home?"

"After pie." He took my hand, and led me into the house.

After pie turned into Severin carrying me up the stairs to my bedroom and slamming against the wall.

Growling, he moved in, and crushed his mouth to mine. The kiss left me dizzy. Severin trailed his hands down my back and molded my a.s.s cheeks, to keep me there pinned to the wall. Instinctively, I opened my legs and wrapped them around him. He nibbled on my bottom lip and made his way over my chin to my neck.

My whole body trembled with desire, a ferocious insatiable hunger. I needed him to be inside me now. I'd perish if I had to wait much longer.

The smell of his desire enveloped me. It was an exotic spice in my nose. "f.u.c.k me now."

He nipped at my chin. "Right now?"

"Yes, G.o.d d.a.m.n it."

Severin rocked his hips, grinding his shaft into my groin. I felt his arms quake with strain and repressed need. I knew he couldn't hold back for much longer.

With one hand he shucked my shorts down my legs and tossed them to the side. I was hot and wet and ready. Unable to wait any longer, he guided himself in between my legs. With one swift thrust, he buried his entire length inside.

Every nerve ending in my body sparked to life as he moved, slowly at first, then picked up his pace before finding a delicious rhythm that sent s.h.i.+vers from my toes to my scalp.

I'd had lovers before, but I'd never felt so alive with them. With Severin, it was if the world had exploded with color, texture, taste, and smell. I could discern everything around in a kaleidoscope of brilliance.

The skin on the bottom of my feet tingled, as did the backs of my knees. Places I never knew could react with such hot intensity to s.e.x flared to life. My whole body became one multi-faceted erogenous zone.

Digging my fingers into his shoulders, I returned his kisses with eagerness, nibbling and teasing his tongue. A growl rumbled out of him as he buried a hand in my hair and countered, biting at my lips. He pounded between my legs as we kissed. With each hard thrust, I thought I'd go mad with pleasure. It didn't just ripple over my skin but surged through every inch of my body.

Streaking my hands over his back, I searched for something to hang onto as he took me up, pus.h.i.+ng me close to the edge of o.r.g.a.s.m. He s.h.i.+fted his stance, gripped my b.u.t.t cheek tight, and pushed me hard against the wall and buried himself deep.

Gasping from the a.s.sault I dug her nails in and raked them across his flesh. Severin returned my fervor by clamping down on my shoulder with his teeth. Pain and pleasure washed over me and clashed together into a delicious torment. Moaning, I urged him on as I bucked and writhed against his body.

He grunted then drove into me repeatedly. Sweat slicked our bodies and by the time we came together in a symphony of cries and growls, I could barely remember what I had been worried about earlier.

Back at the hospital the next day, I spent most of it distracted and befuddled. I couldn't keep my mind off of Severin and the portal. I also couldn't concentrate on much of anything without getting distracted by the rippling between my shoulder blades. My wings were itching something fierce. And I constantly worried that people would wonder why I was so twitchy.

There was certainly no one I could trust with my secret. Diana would definitely not understand the wings flapping on my back. I suspect she'd want to dissect me like an experiment, a b.u.t.terfly pinned to a piece of board. Definitely not a pretty picture in my mind.

A raucous commotion in the examination room in front of me drew my attention. One nurse came out; eyes wide almost in tears, and Kevin went in at a run.

I set aside the file I'd been looking at and approached the room. I could hear several anxious voices inside all talking at once. I pulled the curtain aside and went in.

Nothing could prepare me for what I saw on the gurney.

A grinning, disheveled man sat rocking back and forth on the bed. That wasn't the disturbing part. I'd seen whacked out people every day. It was what was poking out of the man that had me gaping like a fish out of water.

Kevin had the man's s.h.i.+rt collar pulled down. "He's got a d.a.m.n plant growing out of his neck."

And that was exactly what it looked like. A rich green leafy vine coiled out of his top thoracic vertebrae and dangled down his back. There were several unfurled leaves on it. It reminded me of the spider plants that grew in my garden.

"Did you call the doctor?" I asked.

He nodded. "I called in everyone I could think of, even a dermatologist."

The other nurse in the room, Heather, looked at me all wide-eyed and freaked out. "Are they going to quarantine us?"

"Maybe," I said as I got closer to the patient. "Do we have a name?"

Heather picked up the man's wallet and showed it to me. "Ralph Donnelly. Age forty five. He was unresponsive when he came in and he's still that way. Hasn't said anything to anyone."

"He's a walk in?"

Kevin nodded.

I leaned in and really looked at the man's neck. I could plainly see that the vine had split through his skin. There was a little dried blood on the collar of his s.h.i.+rt.

"That must've hurt like a son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h," Kevin said.

I nodded; yes it must have indeed hurt. I flinched and my hand instinctively moved up to touch the tip of one wing. Digging deep in my psyche, I could still feel the pain. I winced as if still feeling it. Kevin and Heather both looked at me and I quickly dropped my hand to my side again.

A rush of dread rolled over me. The plant reminded me of something. Something I didn't want to face. I knew of only one species that had a true affinity to nature. And it wasn't humans or werewolves.

As he rocked, Ralph started to mumble under his breath. Leaning closer, I could barely make out any coherent words.

"What's he saying?" Heather asked.

Kevin answered, "Sounds like gibberish. All I can make out is moonlight, and the fall of night or something along those lines."

My heart nearly gave out right there and then.

As his head twitched suddenly, the vine unwound another inch down his back. I had to swallow down the bile rising in my throat. It was grotesque to watch. But I felt like I had to as a testament to what the poor man was going through.

I moved over a little to stand in the man's line sight. "Ralph, my name is Nina Decker and I'm a nurse here at St. Paul's. I wanted to ask you some questions, if that's okay?"

He didn't respond, just kept rocking and mumbling.

I leaned forward and tapped him on the knee. "Can you hear me, Ralph?"

Slowly his head turned and he looked at me. "I see you."

"That's good Ralph. That's good."

"I am the vulture upon the rocks," he then mumbled.

"Do you know why," I pointed to his back where the plant continued to coil out of his neck. "This is happening to you? Did you touch something strange, like a fungus or mold?"

"I am the beam of the sun."

There was something familiar about the words he was saying. I'd heard them before somewhere. From my past.

"I am the fairest of plants."

"What's he talking about?" Kevin asked.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure." But deep down, I knew. I recognized the verse. "Where are the doctors? How long ago did you call?"

Heather answered, "About ten minutes ago."

"Page them again, with a code red."

"But this guy's not dying," Kevin said.

"We don't know that," I said.

That got Heather in gear and she made the calls.