Your Dimension Or Mine? (16 page)

“Even if he found you here, he couldn’t do anything about it. Delete his emails and move on to the one you want to read.”
The amusement in his voice just made her more annoyed. How did he know she was looking forward to Terrian’s email?
“And by the way, Arwen, Terrian of the Delania Dimension is a great catch. Females throughout the dimensions have been trying to catch him for centuries. Well done.”

“Wait…but…” she spluttered, embarrassed. “I haven’t caught him. We’re just talking.”

“Of course you are. Say yes to what he asks.”

Shaking her head and electing to not say anything else—he would probably just tease her more—she quickly deleted Orion’s messages, once again hit with pain in her chest as she did so. Rubbing it, she opened Terrian’s message.

Arwen,

It sounds like you are under a tremendous amount of stress right now. Finding out you are not from your own planet, that other dimensions exist, and that someone from a different dimension is after you. That is a century worth of stress, or at least it sounds that way to me.

Can you give me the name, or at least the username, of the individual who is after you? My security force is in contact with IDS and have complete freedom to jump to any dimension they want to, though not the realms, unfortunately. They are too dangerous for even our security forces to enter.

I do wish to help you, if you would let me,

Terrian

As her ankle tingled and a nice warm feeling seemed to invade her, completely dissolving the tightness in her chest, Ari sat back. He sounded so wonderful, but then again, she hadn’t met him yet. “You know Terrian?” she asked.

“I met him once and know his parents quite well.” His voice from directly behind her no longer startled her. She was too used to him popping up unexpectedly.

“He is asking for Orion’s name. Says he wants to help. But Orion is from one of the realms, so I doubt it would make a difference.”

“It would make a great difference,” he disagreed. “Arwen, what have you learned about magic so far?” Instead of commanding, for the first time he actually sounded interested in her answer. As such, she wasn’t as flippant as she would normally be.

“It’s there and I can’t control the magic itself. Just the end result. And even that I can’t control against a more formidable opponent,” she sighed, thinking of the fly swatter incident as she turned in her chair to face him.

“Do you know why you have been unable to fight my guards?”

“Because they have been doing this longer than I have and are better at it.”

Smiling, he shook his head. “Not really. The reason you have been unable to succeed is because you try and strike before protecting yourself.” Confused, she cocked her head. “Arwen, when you first entered my stronghold, what was your reaction to my guards?”

Taking a deep breath, she thought back to that day. “I wondered why people who could fight with magic needed weapons.”

He nodded. “Have you come to any conclusions?”

Frowning, she thought about it. “Because their magic could blow everything up within a hundred miles?” At nights she had thought about it, imagining the damage two magical individuals could do to one another.

“Well, they could do that, true, but the answer is so simple, you are overlooking it. Remember, Arwen, magic is simple. Why would magical beings need weapons?”

Frowning, she imagined two of his guards doing battle. Each one’s magic would bounce off the other’s, neither one making headway. Slowly she sat up straight, looking him in the eye, “Because they can protect themselves against the other’s magic.”

“Exactly! When someone has practiced magic for a long time, it takes less energy than it does now. Once they get to that point, they can protect themselves magically from any but the most powerful magical beings. Which is why Grear was amused when you tried to hit him. I have the feeling your magic was supposed to be more than that flimsy object. What was missing?”

Grimacing, she explained.

His eyes twinkled. “If he wasn’t protected, he would have been dead, because the power emitting from you was intense. I actually strengthened his protection a bit with mine to make sure you did not do something you would have regretted and not understood.”

“Wait…you helped him?” Ari asked, her brain beginning to put pieces together.

“Yes.”

“So, two people with magical abilities are stronger than one, if one is the conductor of the energy and the other shares their power?”

“Yes!”

“So, you want me to accept Terrian’s help because…”

“Terrian’s family are gifted protectors, Arwen. They aren’t magical, per se, but nobody is able to get through their defenses. And I tried,” he chuckled. “His eldest brother Lenorlin asked me to test them, and I besieged their family for three years. Only once was I able to get through and that was when their younger brother died and I found a fissure in their energy field. If he was on your side, it would give you added protection, protection you need to be able to fight off Orion.” Squatting down, he stared right at her. “Arwen, you have an incredible energy field. Once trained, you will end up as powerful as I am. But you have a long way to go before you can build up that kind of ability. And quite honestly, you need Terrian’s protection.”

Shivering as the truth of his words hit her, she took a shuddering breath. “I don’t want him to feel as though I am using him though. I-I like him.”

“Of course you do, and anyone with a strong energy signature would be able to tell if you were honest or not. Tell him the truth. Invite him to Zeta. And before you quibble with me,” he said holding up a hand to forestall her response, “tell him I told you to invite him. Be up front and honest. Tell him you cannot say the individual’s name as he is able to track you in some way, but that Mayir would like him to come to Zeta for a meeting.” Standing up, he nodded and in the next moment disappeared.

Huffing, she shook her head. This was happening so fast. Was she ready to meet Terrian yet? And if anything could destroy their budding relationship, this would surely do it.
Hey! Can you be my protection against a red-eyed demon who wants to own me?

Whimpering, she turned back to the computer. Fine. The most important part of this was that she needed to fight off the bastard otherwise known as Orion. Even if Terrian wanted nothing to do with her after this was over, she needed to think of now. If Mayir was right, she was really strong magically and she could not even imagine that much power under Orion’s control.

Hitting the reply button, she pushed back her worries and insecurities and began to type.

Terrian,

I cannot say much as the individual who is after me seems to be able to find me too easily. The man who is training me would like me to ask you to come to Zeta to meet with him. His name is Mayir. If you can’t, I understand. I don’t want to interrupt your life or anything.

And I feel stupid even asking, but if Mayir is right, and I have the annoyed feeling he tends to be right, it would be bad if this person got ahold of me, not just for me, but for everyone else.

Anyway, if you are too busy, I understand, but if you could come, I would appreciate it. And…we could meet face-to-face, which might be kind of nice. I hope.

Okay, signing off before I say something really stupid.

Arwen

Before she could regret and delete her words, she clicked submit and closed down the laptop. Since when did life become so complicated?

Oh, that’s right. Ever since her sister, Jane, convinced her to go online. What she wouldn’t give to be walking around Reid Park Zoo right now looking at Denise’s warty pig.

Chapter Twelve -
Breakthrough

“Try again.”

Ari glared at Mayir as she once again hung from the ceiling by her feet due to the magical attack by two of his guards who were at the moment chuckling to themselves down on the floor. “I’m trying!” she hissed even as she tried to fight the sick feeling that hit her every time blood rushed to her head.

“It has been four days with no response by Terrian. We must assume he chose not to come,” he said firmly. “As such, you have to get to the point where you can defend yourself. Now. Again!”

Grunting, she closed her eyes and imagined herself safe on the ground, right side up. Imagining wasn’t hard, but she was in a bad mood and so when it came to feeling it, it just wasn’t happening. “I can’t do it!” A scream left her lips as the floor suddenly rushed toward her, but before she could ram her head into the hard stone flooring, she was standing upright, fighting the head rush.

“Stop that,” she moaned, her hands holding her head which felt like the world was swimming around it.

When her head stopped pounding and she looked up, the two guards were gone and her dinner table had appeared with all sorts of wonderful delicacies on it. “Eat up, Arwen. We will begin again when you have restored your energy.”

Slumping into her chair, she ate. Physically she knew the food tasted just as good as anything he had created for her, but mentally it tasted like nothing. Four days and no response from Terrian. She figured that meant he did not want to get involved and quite honestly, she didn’t blame him. That didn’t stop the disappointment she felt. A part of her had grown quite fond of him.

Unlike him, Orion kept messaging her. Each time she saw one of his messages, that pain in her chest grew a little more until it was with her even when she wasn’t in front of her computer. Her body, her DNA, desired to go to him. It was sick, really. How dare her body betray her by desiring the sicko?

“Can the DNA he controls be removed?” she asked as she ate.

“No. There is no way to cancel the contract. Orion knew what he was doing when he captured Celie Agastion. He has enjoyed owning and torturing a woman of your lineage for almost five thousand years. It is what he knows. What he does. But you…you he wants for more than just that reason.”

“You’ve mentioned that before. My energy signature makes me important. Could he really use me to do something horribly bad?” She had already figured out he could, but she wanted Mayir’s input.

“Together, you two could destroy Zeta,” he said in a clipped tone.

Turning her head, she stared at him as he stared out his one window. “But you refused to allow him back.”

His eyes slowly moved toward hers. “Yes. But remember, Arwen, your magical ability rivals mine. When you reach your full ability, you will be my equal. If you belonged to him, with the combined force of your magical signatures, you could shut dimensions, stop shifts, take over worlds if you wanted. You would be unstoppable.”

Moving her eyes back to her plate, she continued to eat. It was worse than she thought. “So, he wants to take over things?”

He barked out a laugh as he turned to look outside again. “He is a being who does not like to be denied. Anyone who says no to him becomes his enemy. Orion is intrinsically evil, but then all beings from his realm are. The difference between them and him is that he learned to control magic and they did not.

“Arwen, I know this is a lot of pressure on you, but you must learn to protect yourself or you can never leave Zeta. I cannot allow such power to slip into his hands.” Before she could respond, he disappeared. Obviously, their conversation was over.

For two days, he worked her from sunup until sundown, only taking tiny breaks to allow her to eat and use the restroom. Her body ached constantly, and her head was not in the game. A continual throbbing made it hard to think and almost impossible to concentrate. Finally, he shook his head. “You need a break. Go to your room and rest. I will devise something new for tomorrow.”

Nodding, she turned and walked up to her room rather than trying to magic herself there. She dreaded to think what might happen. If someone was not in the right frame of mind could they get stuck part way between here and there? Or could something even worse happen like getting stuck in between transport in the middle of nothing? Hating the hideous nature of her thoughts, she quickly stripped out of the horrible outfit he had her dress in and sat down in front of her computer.

She booted it up as she closed her eyes, hoping the headache away. When the computer binged to let her know her messages arrived, she blinked her eyes open, having to blink them again as she was so tired everything was a bit blurry.

Two messages. Knowing they were both from Orion, she clicked on the folder, preparing to delete them. One was from him, but the other was from—“Terrian,” she whispered, feeling hope for the first time that day. In a rush, she double clicked to open the message, not realizing until the message came up that she opened the wrong one. Staring in horror as Orion’s face filled the screen, her eyes fell on the message at the bottom.

Now I have you. If you won’t come to me, then I will come to you. Until you are mine, your pain will never go away.

Quickly deleting it, she fought to quell her rushing heartbeat. She hadn’t meant to open up his email and now she wondered if he could have indeed figured out where she was because she did. If so, she should tell Mayir immediately. Unable to vocalize the intense amount of negative thoughts filling her brain, all she could focus on was the burning pain in her chest. How could he do that?

Taking quick, gasping breaths, she opened the message from Terrian. Whether it was good or bad news, she needed to read it.

Arwen,

I apologize. We had an emergency here, and I did not receive your message until today. Let Mayir know I will be there just after the sun reaches its zenith. I will bring with me three of our special forces.

Stay well.

Terrian

Well, the letter wasn’t as sweet as his others, but then again if he was busy and planning on coming here tomorrow, then he probably had no time to waste.

“Mayir?”

“Yes?”

“I accidentally opened up a message from Orion and now I am in pain. Plus,” she rushed on before he could reply, “Terrian wrote and he will be here tomorrow just after the sun reaches its highest point.”

“What did Orion’s message stay?” he asked, his voice right behind her.