Portals (36 page)

The paramedics took in the blood on me, Thulu and the floor, but finding no wound they were perplexed.

Thulu explained that Sloane had already healed the wound. They quickly began an examination, flashed a light into my eyes, put a blood pressure cuff on my arm and took my pulse. They looked up at the cops and said I was surprisingly fine, although I might be weak for a little while from the blood loss.

I was made to fill out a form when I refused to be transported to the hospital. I gladly signed it. If Sloane said I was okay, that was good enough for me.

Lassiter showed up soon after the paramedics left, Kevin Brown right behind him. I sighed. His presence wasn’t good at all.

Lassiter gave me a worried look when he saw all the blood, but we quickly told him I was fine. He flashed me an apologetic smile and a slight shrug when he saw me frown at Brown’s presence. He also noted that Ken was being guarded and told the rest of us to sit down.

I was a bit woozy when I stood and Thulu quickly took my arm to steady me, with Sloane on the other side. We all found seats and scrunched together or sat on the floor.

“Not you,” Lassiter said, pointing at Ken, as he started to rise.

Lassiter looked at Thulu. “Tell me.” He then put up a hand and said, “Wait.” He looked into the kitchen area.

“May we use the kitchen?” he asked Daria. I wondered how he knew it was her apartment, before remembering he probably had been here during her kidnapping.

Daria nodded and Lassiter led Thulu into the kitchen, followed by Brown. Their voices were low as Lassiter and Brown listened to Thulu, only interrupting to ask a question now and then. Thulu handed Lassiter the bullet Sloane had pulled from my chest, glancing at me through the doorway as he did. That was the point I realized something was off with my husband. He gave me the oddest look, and I raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. He shook his head slightly, but Brown pounced with a question. Whatever answer Thulu gave, it was sharp and Brown immediately backed off.

At one other point Brown looked up from his note-taking. He asked a question and Thulu nodded toward Sloane. Brown had a triumphant gleam of excitement in his eyes as he looked at Sloane with interest.

Lassiter went to the door and opened it, calling for one of the officers who had been waiting. The two original cops came back in and pulled Ken to his feet. Ken seemed dazed and in shock. His skin was pasty under a deep tan and his eyes seemed almost glazed.

“Take this guy in and book him for two counts of attempted murder. Be sure to read him his rights,” Lassiter instructed.

I saw the frowning glances at Ken from his group as he was led away and felt bad for their betrayal. The Thulukans certainly knew what that was like.

Lassiter went back to the kitchen and Thulu returned to the living room. He settled himself next to me and took my hand. There were smears of blood on his hands and the front of my blouse was still sticky and clung uncomfortably.

Daria noticed me picking at it and called to Lassiter, “May La Fi please be allowed to go wash off and get a dry shirt?”

He looked at me and back to her before nodding. I was grateful when she motioned me to follow her to the bathroom. She got me a clean towel and cloth and turned the hot water on and pulled the door almost completely closed behind her as she left me to peel out of the sticky blouse and bra. I set them aside, wanting only to dump both in the trash, but assuming the police might want the blouse at least.

I quickly rinsed my now completely healed chest and dried off.

“I’m afraid your beautiful blouse is ruined, La Fi,” said Daria, as she returned, carrying what I was sure was one of her own best blouses. It was a beautiful embroidered pale blue blouse.

“Daria, this is far too nice to trust to me. Don’t you have something like an old T shirt? Something you won’t mind if I ruin it.”

She smiled. “I won’t mind.”

“Are you nuts? The embroidery on this is gorgeous. Please don’t make me walk out there half naked, because I’m afraid I’m not to be trusted in something this nice right now.”

She sighed and left, to return a few moments later with a dark T shirt that didn’t make me feel awful borrowing. I hugged her for her thoughtfulness and rinsed out the cloth and hung it on the rack to dry. Daria took another cloth and ran it under the water. She grabbed another small towel and we stepped back into the living room.

I settled in once more next to my husband, while Daria handed him the wet cloth and towel for his hands. He thanked her as he took them, leaned over and kissed the top of my head and stood up. He threw a look to the two in the kitchen, but didn’t bother asking before he headed toward the bathroom. He didn’t close the door, though and we could see him as he scrubbed his hands and nails before returning to my side.

Lassiter and Brown still conferred in the kitchen. It was no surprise that Sloane was called in a few minutes later.

Brown picked up on the fact that Sloane was already known to Lassiter and turned to the detective with a frown, but refrained from saying anything. He peered with curiosity up at Sloane’s decidedly non-human eyes. He must have asked about Sloane’s ears, too, because Sloane pulled his hair back to show very pointed ears. Brown seemed very pleased about something. That rather surprised me. I wondered if Sloane or Reo were doing anything empathic to him.

For his part, Sloane remained his usual unflappable self, answering questions and soon he too was released to return to the living room.

I was called in next and kept my statement brief and to the point. I told them how Reo and Sloane had recognized Ken from the night he shot Reo. And how we knew him from the sketch they’d drawn. When Ken had arrived and saw that we had identified him, he drew his gun and pointed it at Sloane. Somehow he went flying backward, hit the wall and the gun discharged.

“How did he go flying backward?” asked Brown.

“I don’t know,” I answered slowly. “It was very odd.” I wondered which of the supes in the room had done that. Certainly there was no shortage of candidates, with only Lilia not being likely to have done it.

“They said you were dead for a minute or so, before Sloane got you back. Did you see anything while you were dead?” asked Brown.

“I wasn’t dead,” I protested.

Brown and Lassiter exchanged a look.

“Well, La Fi, both Thulu and Sloane said you were. That the bullet went straight into your heart and that Sloane immediately began to heal you.” Lassiter’s voice was gentle.

“Oh?” I looked at Thulu over the breakfast counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. He was watching me closely and I looked deep into his eyes, but my brain wouldn’t connect with his. Suddenly, I was just too tired to put up with any more.

“Well,” I continued a bit sharply, “I don’t remember being dead, but then why would I?”

Which wasn’t quite true, was it? At least in retrospect? That would explain Nana Fae and Mama Deb’s frantic gestures and the statement to go back. Funny how I deal with the dead all the time and when I myself was dead, I didn’t even realize it. Of course, it was for barely a minute, so that could have something to do with it.

Brown looked at me closely and I returned his gaze defiantly. Looking him straight in the eye and silently daring him to ask me any more questions about supernatural stuff.

He sensed my impatience with the subject and only asked if I had anything to add. When I shook my head no, he released me to return to the living room while they called in Reo. It went on like that for over two hours, as they called us in one by one.

I felt awful for Daria. Trying to bring the group together only to have a trusted companion involved not only in Reo’s shooting, but I had a strong suspicion that Ken had been working with the mutated daemons, possibly against his will. I wondered what they had done to coerce him into helping them. The man had a powerful amount of hate that had to come from somewhere. Not that it mattered, but still it’s possible they had tampered with his mind, which also might have accounted for his going off the deep end.

Mostly though, Lilia and Daria and the others seemed shell shocked. Witnessing violence firsthand was never pleasant and to have it happen so unexpectedly and in the safety of one’s home was doubly horrific.

When the dinner was ready, Daria and Lilia gamely set out the dishes for us to eat. No one felt very festive, but no one wanted their hard work to go to waste either. Traditional Mexican dishes were delicious, and I particularly appreciated getting fed while we waited.

Lassiter and Brown turned down the offer, when Daria asked them if they’d like a bite.

Eventually, Lassiter and Brown finished their interviews and we were allowed to leave. I hugged Daria and Lilia and told them we would have another get-together soon, asking if they’d like to come to our place next time. Daria retrieved our jackets from the closet and I slipped into mine.

“Please call Thulu and me if you need anything. I mean that. Even if you just need to chat. You call us, okay?” I looked Daria straight in the eye as I held both her hands. She seemed grateful for the offer and gave my hands a squeeze.

“I will,” she promised.

“We supes need to stick together,” I whispered. That, at least, got a smile from her.

Reo and Sloan joined us at the door and also made a point of doing what they could to put the others at ease.

“Daria, I’d like you, Lilia, and the rest of your group to be my guests at one of my shows, if you’d be interested.” Reo looked around at the six of them. All four of the women perked right up and even Bill and Martin seemed interested. Of course, those tickets were hard to come by, which they all knew and appreciated. Reo got hugs, his back slapped and his hand shaken several times.

It was a sweet thing to do and I was glad he’d made the offer. Getting to see a Brandy Malone show was a real treat and hopefully would help them put the ugliness of the evening behind them.

It lightened the mood on our exit, but once the four of us were in the car, the silence descended and no one seemed inclined to talk on the drive home.

Once we were home, we all settled in the family room with a bottle of wine.

Carter and Treya were sound asleep in their beds when I went to check on them.

Returning to the family room, Erik seemed to sense the tension and asked if we wanted him to leave, but we said no. We filled him in quickly as we told him what had happened, leaving out the part where I died and only saying I’d been shot, but Sloane had healed me.

Even that made his face go grey, although he could see I was perfectly fine.

“Your business has become very dangerous, kids,” he said quietly, looking from Thulu to me. “Are you sure you want to continue? Maybe you should find something else to do?”

Thulu shook his head. “Dad, I’m not even sure that’s possible anymore. The world is changing and is going to keep on changing.” Thulu turned to me. “I think you’re right Fi, and it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. There was no way for us to predict tonight would happen. But if it hadn’t been for Sloane, we’d be having a very different conversation right now.” He looked his dad straight in the eye. “I’m sorry we are putting the family in danger, though. Perhaps we should stay away for a while.”

That cost him a lot to offer and my own heart sank. Our large family was my rock. Losing any one of them would pain me more than I wanted to think about.

Erik shook his head. “No son, I don’t want that. I can’t speak for the whole family, of course, and maybe some of the cousins may want a break for a while, but going by how they reacted yesterday, I’d say the Thulukan clan will stick it out no matter what.” He stood up and said good night to Reo and Sloane.

“Well, I will leave the four of you to work out whatever you need to. Please take care of yourselves.” Thulu and I followed him to the door, where he wrapped the two of us in a big hug, much like he’d done when we were kids.

“Thanks again for watching Carter,” I said into his chest.

“Any time, Fiona,” Erik said as he released us. If nothing else had clued me in, his use of my full name would have. Erik was far more worried than he was letting on. I wished there was something we could do to ease him, but none of the options were attractive. I didn’t want his emotions tampered with. He’d had enough pain the last month, but he needed to find his way without having his senses dulled. I did the only thing I could. I reached up and kissed his cheek, and Thulu and I watched him as he went down the walk.

“Please call us when you get home, okay?” I called after him.

He turned and nodded, giving a wave as he walked away.

Thulu and I returned to the family room.

Sipping a glass of wine, Thulu gave a very large sigh. I was concerned because it sounded horribly desolate.

I curled up next to him and asked what was wrong. He looked at me, then over at Reo and Sloane.

“I’d guess that Sloane already knows, but I owe you a big apology, my love.”

“For?”

“Getting you killed.”

Back to that again. “Hello, you guys, I’m right here. I’m alive.”

“Only because Sloane saved you.” Thulu’s breath hitched in his chest and he looked at me much as he had when I’d first come to after being shot. “I saw Ken start to pull the trigger, and all I could think was no, and I pushed him. Mentally, I mean.”

“That was you? You were able to shove him all the way across the room? Sweetie, that’s wonderful. What else can you do?”

Thulu sighed. “I think you’re missing the point. I caused the gun to go off and shoot you.”

I shook my head. “Nope, it’s a good thing that you did. Otherwise, Sloane would have been shot in the head.” I looked at Sloane. “Would you have survived that shot, Sloane?”

He was quiet for a few moments, “While it’s within the realm of possibilities, it’s highly likely I would have died immediately. Brain damage for any living being is catastrophic, and I would be no different.”

I turned back to Thulu. “See? You didn’t get me killed. You saved Sloane from being killed. And with him alive, he was able to save me when Ken shot me.” I still wasn’t ready to admit I’d actually been dead. “I think you did the right thing. I’m just glad Sloane was there.”

A change of subject seemed in order. “Did anyone else get the impression that he had been dealing with the mutated daemons?”

“Yeah, I wanted to tell Lassiter what to ask him, if he had a chance to do so and not be recorded, but with Brown there, I felt it was better to let it go. Hopefully, Lassiter has enough pieces to put them together.” Thulu’s tone said he wasn’t done discussing what he considered his blunder, but I knew he’d drop it for now.

“Well, I’m glad we know who shot Reo, anyway. That was really bugging me. At least all our little mysteries are solved. Well mostly. I do wonder how the mutated daemons found Satorah, but I guess we may never know that,” I said.

“Well, they’re solved for now, anyway,” said Reo. “But there’s a lot more on the way. We all know that things are going to be very bad for a long time. I think it’s going to happen a lot sooner than we might think, too.”

My phone interrupted anything else he’d been going to say.

“Hi, Jones,” I said as I answered.

“May I come over?”

“Yes, of course.” Actually I was surprised it had taken him that long.

We watched as the portal formed and Jones stepped through. I went to get another wine glass and another bottle of wine, while Thulu and the others filled him in on what had happened. I was sick of the whole thing by that point and just wanted to be done with it. I took my time getting the wine and opening it. By the time I returned to the family room, they were back to talking about the extra abilities we were getting and what to do to protect ourselves.

“Come on you guys, it’s not like this is an invasion or anything,” I said. “People will freak out for a little and things will settle down. They always do. It might take a while, but they will settle down.”

The four men looked at me as if I’d sprung tentacles from my forehead.

“La Fi, you cannot possibly think that. It’s a complete contradiction of what you said earlier.” Reo was shocked.

Blowing out a big sigh, I admitted, “Well maybe not, but I can pretend to think it until whatever is going to happen hits. Up until then, I just want my peaceful life back.”

There was silence for several long moments.

“La Fi, I doubt your life is ever going to be the same again. We can only wait and see, but we should prepare ourselves. What if you wake up tomorrow morning and see humans flying and doing all manner of magical activities?” Jones tilted his head, as he watched me. “Believe me, human nature will react with an uproar, depending on how many turn out to have abilities.”

“Okay, fine, Jones, but you already said you’d get our family protected. I simply don’t see what else we can do for now. And I’m sure you will do what you can to help others too, right?” I smiled sweetly at him. “Maybe it’s time to bring out the benevolence you were known for in ancient times?”

He looked at me seriously. “Perhaps. We can get your army of dead assigned to patrol regularly and keep us posted. However, as of now we can begin to think of ourselves as in a battle. Even if those who might be against us do no yet know they will be.” He continued to regard me over his wine glass. “But, of course, you are right. There is nothing else that can be done. I’ve seen to it that your entire family has been protected from those who might wish them harm. The elves are doing what they can to spread calmness again. In the meantime, we watch out for each other and get on with our lives.”

“When will the mutated daemons be removed?” Thulu asked.

“They already have been. Sweeps are ongoing to ensure we have not missed any, but no time was lost getting them off Earth.”

“So now our only enemies should be other humans, right?”

“That is the idea.”

“Lovely.” I rolled my eyes. “You do know that I have very good reasons for preferring the company of dead people, right?”

The men laughed as Thulu pulled me tight against him. His phone rang and he retrieved it from the coffee table.

It was Lassiter. Thulu put him on speaker.

“We questioned Ken Williams, but didn’t get much out of him. He seems almost drugged or sick or something.”

“Did you find out anything useful?”

“No, he only said that humanity was in danger from the off-worlders and we should be thanking him. The fact that he shot two humans instead of his intended target seems to have him pretty shaken. The popular thought at the precinct is that he’s insane. Yelling at us that they were among us and we had no idea who they were didn’t help his case much, unless he goes for an insanity plea.”

“Maybe a hospital is the best place for him,” said Reo. “He was partially right. The others were a danger to us.”

“You planning on telling that to the court when the time comes?” asked Lassiter.

Reo shook his head ruefully. “No, probably not.”

“Anyway, Brown is in hog heaven right now. Getting to meet Sloane apparently elevates him with his superiors. And me, of course. It was even mentioned that the FBI might like a man like me.” Lassiter seemed amused at the idea.

“Not something you care to pursue, Jeremy?” I asked.

“Not something I even want to think about right now. I’m tired and on my way home. I just wanted to let you guys know what happened and not to expect a lengthy jail sentence for Williams if he continues the way he is tonight. I’ll catch up to you guys tomorrow.” Thulu disconnected the call.

We looked around at each other. I heard a scratching from upstairs. I excused myself and went to get Treya and let her out. She’d already established a spot she liked and didn’t spend much time outside.

I picked her up and carried her back inside and into the family room. The others hadn’t yet seen her. I figured it was best to get all the poodle jokes out sooner rather than later.

Jones raised an eyebrow, Reo cooed over her, and Sloane asked to hold her when he saw her leg.

“May I?” he asked as he gestured to the crooked front leg.

“Sure.” She had settled right in to him and gave his hand a lick as he held it over her little leg. She gave a tiny whimper, but made no move to leave his lap.

Within moments, the leg straightened out. He ruffled her top knot and set her on the floor with a pat. She immediately started to run over to me. Her first few steps were a stumble as she no longer had to compensate as she had been. She stopped for a moment and looked at me, with her head cocked to one side.

“It’s okay, sweetie. You’re all better now.” She took a few more tentative steps then scampered up to me, without the least bit of trouble. She jumped up onto the sofa and settled in on my lap. I smiled as I petted her, looking at Sloane. “That was very kind of you. I appreciate it.”

“I never thought you’d let Ally talk you into a puppy, but I must say, she is a doll,” said Reo.

“Yeah, I love her already,” I said.

Jones asked, “So what are you going to do now?”

 I smiled. “We do what we always do, Jones. Take it as it comes and look out for each other.”

“You know, that sounds like a good toast to me,” said Reo as he raised his glass. The rest of us joined him.

“And wait for the next case to come our way.” Thulu grinned. I groaned, but raised my glass with the others.

For the moment, I was content. I had my husband beside me, my dog in my lap and my child upstairs safely sleeping. My best friends had our backs, as we had theirs. When it comes down to it, that’s all anyone can really ask. I leaned against Thulu and took a long sip of my wine, determined to enjoy the moment and my friends.

THE END