Portal Combat (11 page)

Sela smiled and looked away from the street. "Okay, we did it."

Cal's body vibrated with energy. "That was amazing, Sela!"

He pulled his hands from the staff and wrapped his arms around his sister. She felt lucky to have a second chance with her family. Sharing her power made it feel like an infinitely more impressive accomplishment.

"You did great, brother." Sela looked down to see the street dwellers who hadn't run in terror attempting to look down into the portal. "Now comes the fun part."

A growling noise from the other side of the gateway was loud enough to reach them all the way at the top of the tower. It sent most of the people below running for their lives. When the snarling noise stopped, the car that had gone through the portal shot into the air much higher than the adjacent buildings and came crashing down on the sidewalk. The driver and passenger were gone. In their place was a trail of broken glass and a streak of dark red. The good Samaritans who tried to rescue the car were nowhere to be seen, either.

After a moment or two of stunned silence, three hairy beasts emerged from the portal. As tall as the Draconfolk but twice as intimidating, the wolf-like creatures looked like they were all fur and teeth, though the latter part was what did most of the scaring. The blood from their afternoon snack trickled from their mouths. The three monsters surveyed their surroundings and let out a street-shaking howl in unison.

"Wow!" Cal's mouth was wide open. "I've never seen a Lychos up close."

Sela tapped her brother on the chest. "I wouldn't recommend it. I still have a scar from the last time I did."

As the siblings spoke far above the ground, the Lychos had done enough howling. All three dashed in different directions. For creatures of such size, their speed was impressive. One Lychos snatched up a short-skirted sorority girl from a pack of her friends. Another took an older man who couldn't get away fast enough. The third one took the father of the family the Fortbrights had watched earlier. The girl screamed the loudest of the three, though it was difficult to hear through the rest of the havoc. Once the Lychos had their prey, they ran off together toward the wooded side of the street and dashed into the forest.

"They make quick work." Cal put his hand back on the staff. "Should we let out any more?"

Sela shook her head and reached toward the portal. The gateway made the sound of electricity running through a circuit as it closed in on itself. It only took a couple of seconds for the car-sized hole to disappear, leaving a pristine street beneath it.

"That's all he wants," Sela said. "Enough to make the news, but not enough to destroy a town."

She tapped the staff into the church one more time. Sela concentrated on the air beneath them and a portal big enough for two opened by their feet.

"Was it worth it?" Cal's eyes were fixed on the blue hole below. "Learning how to do this? To create portals between worlds?"

Sela looked down to see the mother holding her toddler, both of them sobbing.

"It's been a gift and a curse." She took her brother's hand. "But now that we're back together – now that we're a family again – I think it was a good tradeoff."

Her brother grinned. "Race you to the hole."

Before Sela could react, her brother had already leapt inside.

She shook her head. "Little brothers."

Sela placed her staff back into place and let herself fall inside the portal. High above the terrorized streets, the blue gateway closed into nothingness.

Chapter 19

Erica watched as Ted scribbled notes feverishly during the last half of English class. It wasn't that the teacher's lecture was all that interesting. The period had been typical first-day stuff with a reading list, what activities made up the final grade and general getting-to-know-each-other activities. Ted pushed his pencil so hard against his notebook that Erica wondered if it would leave a mark on the desk below. Part of her wanted to reach over and stop him. She didn't like the look in his eyes of half anger and half fear. It couldn't be healthy, but she needed to let him have this. She'd been to school several times over in her lifetimes. Unless he took a similar path as her, he'd only get to do this once.

Ted continued to scribble down notes when the bell rang. By the time all the students had packed up their bags and left, Ted put the final period on the lecture. He looked around and squinted his eyes.

"Where did everybody go?"

Erica put her hand on his shoulder. "Even Ms. Adler left, Ted. It's time to move on."

He threw his pencil onto the ground and rubbed at his cheeks. "I'm not ready." He looked up at her. "Why'd the light souls have to pick me?"

Erica had gone through the same phase when she was a living soul. It just surprised her how long it took Ted to ask the same question she had.

Erica pulled up a chair next to him. "Because you're strong on the inside. Because you're a good person. I mean, look at what you've done already."

Erica could tell her words weren't reaching him. She opted to let him talk it out instead.

Ted scrunched up his face before relaxing his features. "I could've run away, you know. I had a chance to fake my death in Florida. Maybe I could've gone somewhere where nobody would know me."

Erica ignored the anger that bubbled up. Confronting him about this new piece of information wouldn't make the situation any better. She rubbed his back. "I'm glad you didn't."

Ted's voice broke. "I could make everyone forget. Just change everybody's brain so they don't know I'm a hero."

Erica felt a knot in her stomach. She leaned over and kissed Ted on the cheek. "I don't think that'd be a good idea."

Ted forced a smile and kissed Erica back. "I know." He took a deep breath and let it out. "I won't. It just all seems too unbearable sometimes."

Erica turned Ted's head toward her. "You can handle all of this, Ted. There'll be moments when it's too much, but if you can deal with it 90 percent of the time, you'll be better than any living soul there ever was."

Erica felt Ted's fingers brush against hers. She was divided right down the middle between wanting him to go and wanting him to curl up next to her in his bed.

Ted looked up as if he heard something through the silence. "Duty calls."

Erica narrowed her eyes as the loudspeaker interrupted her thoughts. "Ted Finley to the principal's office. Ted Finley to the principal's office."

Erica wondered how often Ted was using his new mind reading abilities on her. "They're here?"

Ted nodded. He offered his hand to her, and she took it. They walked down the hallway for what could be the last time in a long while. A few students, assuming Ted was in trouble, let out a few accusatory howls. Erica figured this wasn't the part of school he'd miss the most. Everything they had to convey to each other was done through the pressure of their joined hands. By the time they reached the office, Erica was squeezing Ted as hard as she could.

Agents Vott and Harding were sitting in the office when they arrived. Harding turned his head to the side, as if he didn't expect Erica to be there. She gave him an evil eye in response.

"Enough, you two." Vott took out a folder and passed it to Ted. "There's been another attack. This time in North Carolina. We're moving things–"

"I know." Ted squeezed Erica's hand back. "It's time to go."

"We'll give you two a minute." Vott nodded to Harding. "No flipped tables this time, okay?"

Erica wasn't sure if her eye could get much more evil. After the agents left, Erica wrapped her arms around Ted and pressed herself into him. He did the same and they stayed like that for over a minute.

She pulled back to look him in the eyes. "Call me when you get there."

He took a deep breath and smiled. "Yes, ma'am. I wish you could come."

"Don't worry." She kissed his neck. "You'll be back soon."

Erica wished she knew that statement was a certainty. Ted walked through the office doors, and before long he was gone.

The rest of the day was a blur. Erica didn't retain any information that was sent her way by teachers explaining the next eight months. She barely recalled a single word of the high-pitched yammering of Winny and Beth after school. Erica put off a group meeting with Dhiraj and the gang until the following day. She needed time for some mental recovery. Later that evening, Ted's call to let her know he'd arrived was brief. She recognized the description of the Lychos immediately and gave what pointers she could for their apprehension.

She lay awake in bed well past midnight. The cushy mattress pad beneath her might as well have been concrete. There was only one person in her bed that would soften things, and he was several hundred miles away. As she considered going downstairs for a snack, she heard a noise in her bathroom. The instinctual fear and readiness that came with the chance for battle made her smile.

Home invader, you picked the wrong chick to cross
. 

She rolled out of bed slowly and crouched down low. The door to her bathroom began to creek open. When the dim figure crept into view, she waited until just the right moment to strike. With a swift kick through the legs, the man toppled to the ground. Erica tried to jump on top of him, but the intruder rolled away at the last second and kicked up to his feet. She popped up off the ground and rapidly punched at him. He blocked two blows before a third one knocked him on the jaw. When he tried to swing back, Erica ducked his arm and leapt onto his back. As she began to squeeze, the man turned on the bathroom light.

Erica could see in the mirror that she was choking the life out of Yoshi.  She growled, hopped off and pushed him into the sink. "Damn it, Yoshi."

Yoshi wore a sheepish grin as he rubbed at his throat. "Sorry, Kikuchiyo. I didn't mean to startle you."

Erica ran her hands through her hair and walked into other room. Yoshi followed. They sat on the edge of her bed.

"It's Erica." She shook her head. "What are you even doing here?"

Yoshi brought his hands together and sat up straight. "I think you need to see this." He removed a photograph from his pocket.

Erica snatched it out of his hand. "You could've called." She looked at the picture in the light.

She'd seen the image shared all over social media. It was Senator Kable and Sophie Kent.

"Yoshi. In the modern world, when you want to share a picture with someone, you post it on their page. You don't break into their house in the middle of the night."

Yoshi grinned. "Facebook isn't allowed in the Academy, but evidence is."

Erica looked at the picture more closely. "Why is this evidence?"

Yoshi took the photo back and tucked it away. "There were over 100 pictures taken of the senator in the hospital. The picture with the girl was the only one without multiple patients."

Erica felt her heartbeat start to decrease after her fight or flight response dissipated. "You think the senator had something to do with her disappearance? It's not a lot to go on."

Yoshi nodded. "I'm going to Florida to investigate. Leave school. Come with me."

Erica's instinct was to tell Yoshi he was crazy. If she kicked him out now, there was still a chance she could get an hour or two of shuteye. Once that feeling passed, she let herself ponder the thought. With Ted off working for the government, potentially for the rest of senior year, did she even need her high school cover any longer? Besides, the government knew who she really was anyway and there was no telling how they'd treat her going forward if the war were to escalate.

"I don't know, Yoshi. I've got a life here."

Yoshi probed her with his eyes. "One that wasn't even yours to begin with."

He has a point.

Yoshi stood up and shook out the leg she'd kicked. "I want to leave as soon as possible. Let me know your decision." He walked to the window and turned back. "You can't protect him right now, so please, protect me."

With that, Yoshi opened the window and leapt out.

Erica lay back down on the bed. Now her chances of getting a few winks before school were even less likely. Yoshi's offer to investigate the Florida incident was tempting. She knew that if she did so, there was no way she'd put her former inhabitant's parents through the same hell again. Erica couldn't run away. If she planned to go she'd have to tell them the truth.

Chapter 20

On the second day of school, Natalie felt a major energy dip in the Treasure High hallways. She could've attributed it to the other students realizing that they weren't just back to see friends but to do work. In reality, she knew it was because resident superhero Ted Finley had left with no definite return date in sight. Aside from their brief encounter in the hall, she hadn't seen much of her ex-boyfriend since he returned to town. Natalie didn't know how to feel when Ted so willingly accepted Travis as her boyfriend. Did she want to see jealousy in his eyes? Maybe. She guessed that since she didn't have many lingering romantic feelings for him, it was fair of him not to throw a hissy fit.

During fifth period study hall, she received a note that had made its way around the room. It didn't survive without a little doodling graffiti of an eagle wearing Viking horns and a separate picture of what may have been a bare butt. Natalie opened the note. It was typed, so she couldn't tell who it was from, though she imagined Travis wouldn't have gone to the trouble. With Ted out of the picture, there was only one likely candidate, and that person wanted to meet her in the audio/video room after last period.

"Great. Just what I wanted after my last period lecture. Another lecture."

Natalie considered blowing off the requested meeting, but sure enough, she found herself outside the audio/video room a few minutes after the final bell. Jennifer leaned on the wall beside the door. She was completely oblivious until Natalie tapped her on the shoulder. Jennifer's eyes sprung open as if she'd been in a deep trance.

"Oh, hey."

Natalie leaned beside her. "You alright?"