~ ZEV ~
The gateway on the human end was an old mining tunnel. The opening was rimmed in bricks that were likely a hundred years old, or more. An old, stone staircase crawled up to his right to curl over the top of the cave and lead to the hilltop above. But the trail out of the cave led straight down. If he followed it, he'd hit a locked fence first, then eventually the parking lot near the highway.
But all of that passed through Zev's mind only vaguely, because the moment he stepped out of the gateway, that spot at the center of his chest, the place where Sasha lived inside him, bloomed to life. He almost wept with relief when he felt here there, warm and tightly held within him.
Thank you, he prayed, then immediately reached for Sasha's mind. Scratching at her consciousness like a dog at the door.
Sasha?