The gears in my mate’s head had begun to turn—I could tell by the crease on his forehead and the twist of his mouth as he bit the inside of his cheek. He was a clever little thing, so I was hardly surprised when, less than a minute later, he said, “What about a portal?”

Of course.

Not long after our discovery of the restricted section, Luca had found a dust-covered grimoire hidden away on one of the many neglected shelves in the back. It was pages upon pages of handwritten data, detailing the intricacies of portal conjuring and temporary tears. There were even instructions, as if it were a recipe book intended to be handed down the family tree. Luca had studied it for days, hunched over his desk, barely eating or drinking unless I encouraged him to do so, and eventually—when he’d felt confident enough in his knowledge—he’d taught me all he’d learned, eager to test it out.

The tome had stated that only beings with magic in their blood could accomplish the spell. As a Fae, and a prince at that, I had a degree of magic running through my veins, though I was rarely given the chance to nurture the art. Father had wanted to keep that power to himself, and while he was no mage, he could perform certain spells that Luca hoped I could emulate with practice. I had less faith, but for him—for that sweet, sunshine smile and those gentle blue eyes—I would do anything, so I gave it a shot.

For weeks, it was a failure. There were moments when we believed we were close, only for me to lose all progress whenever I practiced alone. It was infuriating, but just as we had resigned ourselves to giving up, I’d managed to open a small tear that connected the library to our rooms in the palace. It was a short distance, but after breaking that seal, the distance kept stretching until one day, I’d sent us to the human realm—the living room at my penthouse, to be exact.

Knowing we had the spell in our arsenal, we’d agreed to use it sparingly, only in emergencies or when there were no other options, and only when we were certain no one was around to witness it. To pass through the Veil was to be directly on my father’s radar, but with this, we did not have to divulge our reason for crossing to the human realm, and that was often for the best. I was under no illusions that my father knew nothing of what happened within his walls, and since we had spent many weeks practicing with magic, he would have sensed the shift. However, he had not yet broached the subject with me, and I did not wish to tempt fate.

Especially as it could be useful if we ever found ourselves in need of escape.