Portals (35 page)

I took my shower and actually put on makeup for the party. Wearing makeup wasn’t something I did very often. However, meeting new people, I figured I’d at least make an effort to look nice. Since my skin was good, I only used a light brushing powder. I did take care to make up my eyes and lips, though.

While Thulu took his turn in the shower, I stood in the walk-in closet looking at my wardrobe and pulled out my nice black jeans and black boots that had a small heel. I looked over my blouses and shirts and finally settled on a lovely amethyst silk blouse. I hadn’t worn it very often and really liked how it felt against my skin.

I needed a light jacket and pulled out a black fitted Oriental style jacket. The thigh length brocaded satin was embroidered with gold dragons. I’d found it in Chinatown several years before and loved it.

I left my hair down and fluffed it out. I was still primping in front of the full length mirror when I heard a low whistle. Thulu stood in his towel at the bathroom door.

“Looks good, love,” he said.

“Thanks,” I grinned at him.

He went into the closet and emerged a few minutes later, dressed in blue jeans and a pale blue polo shirt. He wore his boots and carried his towel in one hand and his navy blue jacket in another.

The knocker at the front sounded and I smiled approvingly at Thulu. We headed downstairs and Thulu let his dad in the front door.

Earlier, I’d made sure there were plenty of snacks for Erik and Carter, as well as several films they might like.

Reo called to let us know he was popping in with Sloane and it wasn’t long before the four of us were in the SUV and on our way. Reo looked as sharp as always and Sloane had pulled his hair over his ears and donned dark glasses.

Thulu drove across town to Daria’s apartment. The buildings were older in her neighborhood and had more character than some of the more modern ones elsewhere in the city.

We found a parking place about two blocks away and walked companionably up hill. I felt muscles I’d neglected lately protesting slightly.

Daria’s building had a small lobby and we pushed the button to take the elevator up to the fourth floor, where we were warmly welcomed by Daria and Lilia.  We were introduced around to several other people. The apartment was comfortable, so Daria took mine and Thulu’s jackets and hung them in a closet near the front door.

Sharda was probably in her sixties. A psychic, her long grey hair fell in a curtain around her pleasant, round face. Kim was younger, perhaps mid-thirties, with golden brown hair and warm brown eyes. She was a healer and she and Sharda shared a small book store.

The two men were Martin and Zach and both were psychics, who tended to stay low key and didn’t use their gifts, except in rare cases.

Everyone was very polite, although we were all fawned over a little, especially Sloane who was watched from the corners of eyes.

“Two of the others are out of town, but Ken should be here soon,” Daria said as she handed around platters of cheese and crackers and pointed to salsa and chips on the coffee table. Bottles of beer and sodas rested in a tub of ice perched on a wooden chair. Bottles of wine stood on the counter next to glasses.

“So, we heard you actually went through a portal? What was that like?” asked Zach.

We spent the next ten minutes sitting comfortably in Daria’s living room, engaged in companionable chit chat. We discussed our various abilities and how they’d impacted our lives.

The pleasant interlude was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Daria looked through the peephole and told us it was Ken.

She opened the door and ushered her newest guest into the room, shutting the door behind him.

He took only a few steps into the room before uttering a low, guttural wail of denial. Ken froze where he was, staring at us in shock, his face contorted into an expression of deep anguish, fear and something else I couldn’t identify.

Reo immediately stood, as did Sloane. I felt their alarm, and Thulu and I joined them as I realized Ken matched the sketch we’d seen of Reo’s shooter.

No one moved for long moments. Ken’s eyes darted all over, looking for escape, but Daria had remained at the door, not knowing who Ken was to us. Reo and Sloane moved closer to Ken. When Ken realized he was outnumbered, his shoulders slumped in defeat and he hung his head.

The others looked at us in surprise as they realized that things were tense and their friend might be in trouble.

“What’s going on?” asked Daria.

“That’s an excellent question, Daria,” said Thulu mildly. “Hello, Ken. Care to tell us why you shot our friend?”

There were looks of shock and a gasp from Lilia, who had come in from the kitchen.

“You’re all in danger associating with the non-humans.” He looked up and straightened his shoulders, defiantly. He turned to Reo. “I’m sorry you got shot, I wasn’t aiming for you, but for that creature with you.”

Reo bristled at hearing his lover called a creature, but Sloane put a reassuring hand on his arm.

“Why do you assume we are a danger?” Sloane’s voice was calm and betrayed only curiosity.

“Don’t you all understand?” His voice became shrill as he looked at us, avoiding Sloane’s eyes. “I know others from off-world. They have nothing good in store for humanity. I’m doing my best to eliminate them as I find them. I’ve gotten a few of them, but not nearly enough.” He shook his head in despair. “Not nearly enough.”

“Who exactly are you talking about?” asked Reo, with a glance at me and Thulu.

“You know. The ones who kidnapped Daria. They are evil and they plan to take over Earth, but if we all band together, the off-worlders can’t do that. We must stand firm and work to get rid of them all.” His expression pleaded with us to understand.

Thulu shook his head. “Not all of the off-worlders pose a threat to us. In fact, the elves and others have helped us and protected us from those you speak of. They were from another world and the elves made it crystal clear that they would not be allowed to harm humans.”

“You can’t know that or believe anything they tell you.”

“I can believe it when I was there,” I said, impatiently. “We were all there when contact was made with them. You’re right. The others were planning on taking over Earth, but the elves, among others, stood with us and told them they wouldn’t be allowed to harm us. The elves closed their portals and are removing them from our world.”

Reo, Thulu and Sloane all nodded at what I was saying.

Ken shook his head, his stress level climbing by the second. “They can make you believe anything they want to. You might think you’re safe, but you aren’t.” In a movement that was too swift to catch, he backed up and suddenly held a gun in his hand and pointed at Sloane. “I’ll get you this time. You won’t hurt our kind anymore.” He pointed the gun squarely at Sloane.

The room froze, as we all watched in disbelief. None of us wanted to chance him hurting someone, so we all carefully and slowly backed away a few steps. I had my gun, but it was in my purse on the floor across the room.

“That’s really not a good idea,” said Thulu, as my phone sang and Nana Fae and Mama Deb popped in. Nana Fae probably picked up the slight panic and my increased heart rate.

 The other guests tried to tell Ken to put down the gun, but their attempts were quiet and it was obvious they were afraid.

“Who do you want me to get?” asked Nana Fae.

I looked at Thulu, then back at Ken. I didn’t want to alert Ken that I was communicating with Nana. “Jones and Lassiter,” I said under my breath and not moving my lips.

She popped out right away and my phone stopped for a moment, only to begin its ringtone once more. It cut off abruptly, so I guessed that Nana had gotten to Jones.

Ken’s hand was pretty steady, which I didn’t like at all. Several things happened at once. A portal began to form and Daria moved toward it. The attention on the portal took Ken’s eyes off Sloane for a few moments. Ken went flying backwards, fetching up against the door, feet dangling, while the gun went off with a deafening roar in that small room. Several people screamed as it did and something punched me in the chest knocking me backwards to the floor.

The apartment was in chaos as I tried to stand, but couldn’t. The lights faded and the sounds turned into a jumble that I couldn’t understand. Finally I stood, more gracefully than I would have thought. The room was still dark, but Nana Fae and Mama Deb were standing next to me, clearer than I had seen them since they died. They kept gesturing at me and pointing down, their voices overlapping and not making much sense.

“No, Fiona, go back!” Nana Fae’s voice was shrill, her mouth and face a taut mask of fear and horror.

Before I could ask her where I was supposed to go back to, the lights brightened again and I blinked up into Sloane’s face as he bent over me. I lay on the floor, my head cradled in Thulu’s lap. Jones was there, too. He must have come through the portal. Reo knelt beside me, holding a gun - Ken’s gun? He divided his attention between me and Ken, who seemed frozen in front of the door. Nana Fae and Mama Deb floated near the fringe of the group, identical expressions wrinkling their brows. The others in the room had grave looks of concern, which were quickly followed by relief as I tried to sit up.

“Stay down, La Fi,” said Sloane.

I felt an intense heat in my chest and something moving in it. There wasn’t any pain, but it was a very weird feeling and I didn’t much like it. I looked down to see my lovely blouse covered in blood and realized I must have taken the shot.

Sloane’s hand hovered and soon a bullet made its appearance. Thulu snatched it before it could roll off and fall to the floor. He stroked my hair and the worry on his face caught my attention. I don’t think I’d ever seen him so distraught.

The hole didn’t heal right away and maybe my lung was damaged, since my breath was coming in uneven hitches. I could feel the heat continue to move in my chest, as whatever damage had been done was healed by Sloane.

There was a knock at the door and a deep voice identifying himself as the police.

Everyone in the room looked at each other. Jones stood quickly and said he’d come over when we got home. He released Ken from the immobility spell and went through his portal, which winked out behind him. It only took seconds and Reo quietly set the gun on the coffee table, while Martin and Zach moved to prevent Ken from going anywhere, each taking an arm. Daria carefully looked to see that the room was sort of under control before she opened the door.

Two uniformed police, a man and woman, came in with guns drawn. The second they saw the gun, they yelled at us to clasp our hands behind our heads and get down on our knees. I tried to comply, but my position on the floor made raising hands a bit silly and getting to my knees was not possible yet.

A uniformed woman quickly spoke into her radio when she saw me covered with blood and called for an ambulance. Her partner quickly moved into the other rooms.

 “That won’t be necessary,” I protested, as the other cop returned to utter a terse, “Clear.”

Someone had gotten towels and had used them to mop most of the blood off my chest. Sloane had continued his work and the skin healed around the bullet wound, which looked like it had been very close to my heart. The woman and her partner looked on in disbelief and within moments there was nothing to show that I’d been shot, except for the blood.

Once the two realized that no one was moving or giving them any cause for concern, the cops relaxed a little. Not much, but their stances eased somewhat. They still kept their guns drawn, although pointed at the floor.

Reo looked at the cops and indicated Ken. “You’ll probably want to cuff him and make sure he doesn’t go anywhere.”

The two cops looked at each other and around the room, as the others nodded.

“Yes, it’s his gun,” said Martin.

The woman shrugged and efficiently cuffed Ken.

I took a deep breath, this time just a smooth intake of air.

“Thanks, Sloane,” I said with a smile. He sat back on his heels and raised his hands in the air and clasped them behind his head.

We stayed that way as more cops arrived. The first two kept them out of the crime scene and the new arrivals took turns peeking in the door.

It wasn’t long before the paramedics showed up. The tiny apartment was jammed with people and equipment. Someone I assumed was a crime scene tech took photos of everything. I heard the creak of leather belts, as the cops holstered their guns. The first cop donned gloves and picked up Ken’s gun from the table.