Guardian of the Gate Read Online Free PDF Page B

know they are true, but she speaks anyway, looking right into
     my soul as only she has ever been able to do.
    “I see you,” she says. “I see you, Lia. And I know you’re there.”

    I take my time dressing as I ponder my strange trip to Birchwood. Daylight has done nothing to clarify the experience. Reason
     tells me that I must not have been traveling at all, that it must have been a simple dream, for between the two dimensions
     of the astral Plane and the physical world is a veil that cannot be lifted. One can only see what is happening on the Plane
     by occupying it, and clearly Alice was in the physical world while I was on the Plane.
    Yet I am certain that I
was
traveling. That Alice
did
know I was there. She said so herself. I am wondering what to do with this newfound knowledge when a knock sounds from the
     door.
    I am not surprised, even in my state of half-undress, when Sonia steps into the room without waiting for me to answer. We
     stopped standing on ceremony long ago.
    “Good morning,” she says. “Did you sleep well?”
    I reach past the elaborate velvet gowns hanging in my wardrobe, opting instead for something simple in apricot silk. “Not
     exactly.”
    Her brow furrows. “What do you mean? What’s wrong?”
    Sighing, I clutch the gown to my bosom and drop onto the bed next to Sonia. I feel unexpectedly guilty. I have not been honest
     with Sonia lately. I did not tell her of my terrifying travel to the river the night I saw Samael and awoke with a cut on
     my cheek. I did not tell her of my vision of Alice the night I saw her on the stairs here at Milthorpe Manor.
    And ours is not an alliance that will tolerate secrets.
    “I traveled to Birchwood last night.” I say it quickly before I can change my mind.
    I do not expect the anger that flushes her cheeks. “You are not supposed to travel the Plane without me, Lia. You know this!
     It’s dangerous.” Her words are a hiss.
    She is right, of course. It has been our habit to travel the Plane together and only when necessary for Sonia to teach me
     how to use the gifts that are mine. It is for my own protection, for there is always the danger that the Souls might detain
     me long enough to sever the astral cord that binds my soul to my body. Should that happen, my greatest fear would be realized
     and I would be stranded in the icy Void for all eternity. Still, Sonia’s agitation surprises me, and I feel renewed affection
     for her in the face of her concern.
    I place a hand on her arm. “I didn’t go intentionally. I felt… summoned.”
    She raises her eyebrows, worry creasing her forehead. “By Alice?”
    “Yes… Maybe… I don’t know! But I saw her at Birchwood, and I think she saw me.”
    There is no mistaking the shock on Sonia’s face. “What do you mean she saw you? She cannot see you when she is in this world
     and you are on the Plane! She would be in violation!” She hesitates, looking at me with an expression I cannot fathom. “Unless
     you were the one using forbidden power.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous! Of course I wasn’t. I may be a Spellcaster, but I don’t have any idea how to conjure such power, nor
     do I want to know.” I stand, pulling the gown over my head and feeling it fall over my petticoat and slide over my stockings.
     When I emerge from the yards of pale silk, I meet Sonia’s eyes. “And I don’t think Alice is very concerned about the Grigori
     right now, though I suppose I should have expected as much.”
    “What do you mean?”
    I sigh. “I believe I saw her. Here, at Milthorpe Manor. I woke up in the middle of the night and saw someone on the stairs.
     I thought it was Ruth or one of the other maids, but when I called out, the figure turned and it… it looked like Alice.”
    “What do you mean ‘it looked like Alice’?”
    “The figure was faint. That’s how I knew it wasn’t a physical being. But it was her.” I nod, surer by the moment. “I’m certain
     of it.”
    Sonia stands,