“Hey, man” Zane Wells said happily, shaking Dan’s hand and pulling him into a short hug once the two men saw each other.

“Yeah,” Dan laughed. “It’s been a while.”

Carmin watched her husband talking to the man. She’d never met Zane in person before, only hearing about him from both Amneris and her husband. From what she’d heard, this man was quite gifted with the darker side of magic, something very uncommon to Lyriumians who had no relations to anyone in Kiloqua. She knew Dan and Zane were close friends. They’d been hanging out and doing, as Nikki would put it, ‘guy things’ for over two thousand years.

Dan brought the man over, making introductions and going as far as to call her his ‘incredible wife’. Carmin thought it made him sound like a stuck-up. She said as much, getting laughs from both men.

She shook Zane’s hand, quickly releasing it as an image appeared in her mind. Fire and brimstone rushing toward the three as they ran. Carmin took a subtle step toward her husband, pushing her hand into his. He understood the motion, giving her a hand a comforting squeeze.

Carmin hated her gift at times. She could see visions of the future and, yet, she hadn’t known that Amneris and her new friend, Colt, would vanish. Hadn’t seen anything that even suggested the events which took place would happen. She couldn’t see where they were despite having tried for what felt like forever. No amount of Amneris’ or Colt’s personal items brought on the right kinds of visions. Only strange ones that seemed to be of the past or a future that would never happen. At least, not any time soon.

As Zane led them to wherever it was they were going, Dan leaned down to whisper, “Why aren’t you wearing your gloves?”

“I forgot,” she murmured, wings flaring before folding them back behind her.

When she wasn’t around her family, Carmin always wore gloves of some sort. All she had to do was touch someone to see visions of the future. The same thing would happen if she touched an object of great personal value. The latter would happen less than the former, but still often enough to become annoying. As it only happened with bare skin, Carmin had gotten into the habit of wearing gloves and had been doing so since before gaining immortality.

Dan swung an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. “You’re a horrible liar, Car. I know you did it to see more.”

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“All right! Yes!” She spread her arms helplessly. “I was hoping it would help us.”

Carmin felt her husband sigh against her. “You know we’re doing everything we can. We also have to do our jobs and, right now, our job is to get the items Tara doesn’t have then get the ones she does have.” His hand squeezed her waist. “You need to be focused for this, babe.”

“I know. I know.”

“And I’m still against you coming.” He blinked. “Fuck. I said that out loud.”

She whacked his arm. “You’re an overbearing, overprotective husband. Why did I marry you?”

“Because you love me.”

“I hate when you’re right,” she huffed.

“Are you guys coming or not?” Zane called from ahead, his arms crossed impatiently. He made a show of tapping his wrist as though he were wearing a watch. “We are on a time limit. The gate only opens at certain times of day.”

“Gate?” Dan asked.

He and Carmin exchanged confused looked before running toward the Lyriumian.

Carmin glanced behind Zane. There were two white-stone obelisks covered with carvings in a language she did not recognise. The tips were polished gold. Did that mean there were people around who took care of them?

She approached the obelisks and placed her hands on the old stone, closing her eyes. A vision flashed through her mind. Light appearing between the stones. The three looking on in wonder before running through the white light to whatever was waiting for them on the other side.

Dan took her hand from the stone. She gave him a subtle nod. Things would be all right. Well, at least until they reached the other side of the light. Then they would have to run from a stream of fire in brimstone, though she doubted it would happen immediately.

Carmin turned to Zane. “When does the gate open?”

He pointed to the gilded tips of the obelisks. Looking closer, Carmin realised there was a small diamond at the very top of the peak she had not noticed before.

“When the sunlight of this world hits the diamonds, the gate opens,” Zane explains. “Some doohickie makes everything happen.”

“I presume that was the day you missed class at the Academy?” Dan asked teasingly. Ge and Zane laughed.

Carmin couldn’t help her smile. “What are we doing until then?”

Zane shrugged. “Sunrise should be in another minute or two so it shouldn’t be long until it opens.”

As if on cue, a flash of light atop the obelisks caught them all off guard. Lightning zapped between the two as a portal opened. Carmin glanced toward the two men she was with, the both of them having looks of wonder of their faces. The same looks of wonder that she’d seen in her vision.

She suddenly felt queasy at the thought of the first vision coming true. The one filled with fire and brimstone she had seen upon shaking Zane’s hand. Hopefully, it would turn out to be nothing so dramatic.

Carmin took a step toward the portal as her husband and his friend dashed past like excited five-year-olds. With a roll of her eyes, Carmin ran after them. She leaped into the light, not knowing what was waiting on the other side. Not until what she had seen.