Equilibrium

Text copyright © 2010 by Imogen Rose

Website: imogenrose.com

Cover photograph and design by Imogen Rose

Cover photo copyright © 2009 by Imogen Rose

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

First eBook Edition: July 2010

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0-615-37681-3

Acknowledgements

First, I would like to thank my younger daughter, Lauren, for her relentless enthusiasm and encouragement, which started me off on this journey and keeps me on it. To Lauren, who keeps asking, “What happens next?” I offer this book in response. I’m also grateful to my teen, Georgia, for helping me make sure that all the ice-hockey descriptions were current and accurate.

I am indebted to my friend, Sue Bernstein, for editing this novel and for her patience with me. She continues to be generous, upbeat and always encouraging. I am extremely grateful to Andee Larkin and Keith Robinson for copy editing my work so carefully and to Angela Laskoff, Jessica Cheng, Susan Janowski, Sarah Weiler and Deanna Figueroa for beta-reading EQUILIBRIUM, and for their valuable criticisms and suggestions. I am indebted to Ted Risk for his help with the eBook conversions.

Thank you to all those who purchased and enjoyed PORTAL, the first book in this series. I am blown away by the enthusiastic support from all of you.

-Imogen Rose

A dreamer must dream

A storyteller must tell

I dream to tell

A STORY FOR LAUREN

PROLOGUE

E
rica Sen concentrated her attention on the group in the corner. It was not the happy, animated voices that drew her in. It was not their striking looks that fascinated her. These, in fact, were merely distractions. Erica closed her eyes and covered her ears to drown out the plethora of noises from the restaurant. Now she could
feel
it. She could feel the intense love radiating from the table in the corner. It was so powerful that she could feel her body glow. Her mind felt like it was floating on a cloud. She felt a total sense of calm. She was at equilibrium.

“Erica, we should go. The Elders are expecting us.”

She looked up into the grey, serene eyes of Grayson Weeks and furrowed her brow. She could feel a sense of foreboding.

“Erica, share,” Grayson whispered gently. He extended his right arm slowly across the table and held out his thumb. Erica reached over and touched it gently with her own and closed her eyes again. She let her thoughts flow to Grayson. It felt good releasing them and sharing them with her best friend.

Erica’s
first consideration was her daughter, Simla. She had to be protected at all costs. Erica accepted that it had been a big mistake on her part to have fallen in love with a non-Wanderer. Her husband Raj’s ambitions had played havoc with their lives, turning their existence from love and calm to turmoil. However, the union had produced Simla. Erica loved her daughter unconditionally even though she was a challenge. Erica
had to find a way to insulate Simla from all this negative energy or it would destroy her, it would destroy them both.

No one understood this better than Grayson. He had also married a non-Wanderer and produced a son, Justin. His wife had unfortunately died and left Justin with a sense of abandonment he’d never been able to cope with, especially when forced to wander with his father. Erica and Grayson had been close friends for a very long time.

Erica’s latest project was Olivia who
had surprised her when she had successfully built the portal–a means for Olivia to traverse time and dimensions. This had meant that Erica had to uproot her family from Princeton and move them here to Mountain View, closer to Olivia. It had played havoc with Simla’s life. She had been transported back and forth for years so Erica could fully observe Olivia’s changes.

It was time to deal with the consequences.

“Grayson, let’s go.”

I
looked down at the puck, willing it to be my mom’s head. So wrong, I know, but I was beyond furious. I clenched the stick firmly and raised it, jamming the puck into the goal with one swift, hard slam. I stood, staring at the ice, waiting for the next puck to appear, which it did almost immediately. With the same unflinching precision as before, I slammed it home. The next puck came sliding to me and I slammed it in, repeating this again and again until I could almost not feel my shoulders any more. Tears were trickling down my face. I wasn’t sure if it was from the pain in my arms and shoulders or from what had occurred earlier this evening. I looked over to Kellan. He was waiting patiently, passing the pucks over to me. I raised my hand to indicate to him to keep them coming. My physical pain was not yet intense enough to mask the emotional turmoil that was burning up my insides. I kept going and going.

Hours later, Kellan and I lay watching the stars at our very favorite spot by the lake. It was clear and dark with very little moonlight, perfect for stargazing. It was a bit chilly, so we had brought blankets and picked up hot chocolate on the way. I lay back on Kellan’s outstretched arm and cuddled with him under the warm, blue flannel blanket, thinking back on our day.

It had certainly been an eventful day and I was still trying to decide whether I’d made the right decision. It was hard to believe that I hadn’t when I felt so at home where I was–lying here in Kellan’s arms. I looked over at him. He was so perfect. His gorgeous hazel eyes played off his sun-kissed complexion. I had found his lips hard to read at first, mistakenly interpreting his smile as a smirk. I knew better now. I slid my fingers through his thick dark-brown hair and smiled, admiring his lean, hard body. My
boyfriend
–who’d have ever have thought it! Arizona with a boyfriend. I’d never been the type who fawned over boys, that was more Ella’s thing. My little sister was always going on about the Jonas Brothers.
I was way too busy for the boys, besides what boy wanted to date a girl who was smelly from hockey most of the time? For most of my sixteen years, I never thought of myself as pretty–I had straight brown hair, wide lips and hazel eyes–I was fairly ordinary, perhaps even a bit plain. That had all changed, though. When I had unexpectedly arrived here in Mountain View, I had been transformed, physically, into a blond Barbie. I had felt trapped at times, trapped inside a doll. It wasn’t all bad. On the up side, I now had this sweet, amazing boyfriend, whose eyes matched mine. He made me feel so happy.

I thought back to the meeting at Ames with my mother. It all seemed so surreal–even the setting. A
portal
. That’s what Mom had offered as an explanation for this madness: A portal, which had transported me from one dimension to another. How totally insane!

“Kellan, what do you think about the whole
portal
thing?”

“Enough material for a book!” he mused.

No kidding, I thought to myself. A couple of weeks ago, I had woken up in my mom’s car and found out that I’d somehow time traveled, not just into the past, but also through dimensions. It was mind boggling. I had in a moment gone from being a hockey player in New Jersey to being a cheerleader, here in California. I’d gone from being Arizona Stevens to Arizona Darley, a blond Barbie-kind-of creature. I’d acquired a new dad–Rupert. My real dad, Dillard… well, I had no idea what he was up to. Looking for me, I’d expect. And to top it all, I had a new older brother, Harry, my blue-eyed, blond, six-foot-tall brother. Oh, I almost forgot, my dead Grandma was alive again.

My mother, a physicist at Ames, was behind this madness. When I’d finally confronted her–after overcoming my fear that she would cart me off to a psych ward–her explanation was that she and her team had designed and constructed a portal! A portal that–wait for it–I could have gone through tonight,
or not again for another year
,
if
I wanted my old life back. I did want my life back…but I needed time to think! I’d chosen not to make a rash decision, mainly because of Kellan. I wasn’t ready to give him up. I doubted that I’d ever be. I nudged him. “So, the portal?”

“Shrimp, I don’t know…. I guess it’s possible. In fact, it is. Our parents seem to have managed to construct
one!”

He moved to face me, with a somber expression coming over his perfect face. “Are you happy with the decision you made?”

“Yes, I am. There are so many unanswered questions and uncertainties, but I’m sure of one thing,” I said nuzzling into his warm chest. “I know for certain that I want to be with you.” I kissed him gently. “I just don’t get it. I know I should have asked more questions, but it was all such a shock and muddle. Now, I’m more confused than ever,” I groaned.

“Me, too,” Kellan agreed.

“So, I was somehow transported through a portal. That doesn’t explain how everyone here knows me, or Harry, Grandma or anything else,” I continued, getting more and more exasperated. “We need to go back and demand some more answers!” I turned toward Kellan and looked at him as he took a deep breath and sighed.

“You’re right, of course. Another ten minutes?” he asked, putting his arms around me.

I nodded as I brushed my nose softly against his cheek, breathing him in. He turned and kissed my neck, biting it ever so gently and moving up to my lips. I could feel my body tremble. I unbuttoned his shirt and felt the smoothness of his chest as he enveloped my body with his.

That’s the last thing I remembered before everything went blank.

~

 “Kellan, where are you?” It was pitch dark and my head pounded. Although I couldn’t see a thing, I could smell, and I winced at the musty stench working its way up my nostrils. I couldn’t feel my arms as I tried to stretch to feel for Kellan. I tried moving my legs with no success. Then I heard a moan from my left side.

“Kellan, is that you?” I asked terrified.

“Shrimp, where are you?” he whispered hoarsely.

“Kellan, can you move? I think I’m over to your right. I can’t move.” I could hear shuffling. I hoped that it was him trying to get closer to me. I tried moving, unsuccessfully, and hoped that he would find a way to get to me in the dark.

“Kellan, I’m scared,” I whispered tearfully; I was more than scared, I was petrified.

“Hold on, Shrimp. I’m on my way, nearly there.”

I felt his hand on my face, pulling it close to his. I collapsed into him, my tears probably drowning him.

“Kellan, I can’t feel my arms or legs,” I sobbed uncontrollably.

“Shrimp, I woke like that, too. The feeling will come back very soon. Get prepared for unbearable pain, though. My arms and legs are throbbing.”

I closed my eyes and pushed my face as far into Kellan’s neck as I could as he cradled me in his arms. I waited for the pain to begin. It started way too soon. I had, for whatever reason, expected it to start in my toes, maybe because they were
the furthest away? I was wrong. As I felt the first stabs in my left knee, I cried out. It was excruciating. It felt like a knife was being jammed into it, again and again. I could feel Kellan gripping me tighter as I started to cry and shake violently. It only got worse. Both my legs and arms felt like they were being repeatedly attacked by angry, hungry sharks. I wanted, I needed, Kellan to cut them off, I needed release.