Portals (2 page)

Why he had singled Thulu and me out for actual friendship, I still wasn’t sure. But he had. That didn’t mean I trusted him completely. I didn’t even like him all the time. But he had saved Earth from the Light Ones’ invasion, led by his arch-enemy, Gabriel. I was grateful for that. He was an enigma, and while my personal feelings might be erratic regarding him, I had to admit he was fascinating. Very dangerous, but definitely intriguing.

And irritating at times. Most people were instantly charmed by him, which was just annoying, but I was immune to that charm for some reason.

“Maybe, one of the elves has that ability?” I asked hopefully. Then again, maybe asking Jones was not the best idea. He might decide to just eliminate the problem another way.

Sloane shook his head. “Elves would not be inclined to harm another person.”

“Not harm. Help them. Him. He shot Reo. He must be unbalanced at the least. This would help him be a healthier person.” I smiled sweetly. Judging by the others’ reactions, they didn’t buy it.

Sloane looked at me steadily. “I’m not sure how that’s helping exactly, and I’m sure there are arguments against it. However, just taking your suggestion at face value, I can say that it’s possible. I would need to discuss it with Belus or Aurelia.” Belus was an elf prince, who had taken the lead interacting with human authorities. Aurelia was his mate and also very active here.

It was going on three in the morning and we seemed to be talked out at that point.

“Okay, well we can figure this out in the morning. Or later anyway. I’m going back to bed. Carter will be up early no matter what, so I need sleep,” I said ruefully, as I smothered a yawn. My days of sleeping in late were mostly memories now that Thulu and I had adopted Carter.

“You guys could just stay. No sense trying to get across town at this hour. Or accidentally teleporting into a wall or something.”

Sloane rolled his eyes in a very human way, but he and Reo looked beat.

“I don’t usually teleport into walls, La Fi,” Sloane said. “We’ll be on our way and let you get back to sleep.”

We said our goodnights and they popped out, while Thulu and I headed back to bed. I gave Parker a smile as I passed him, catching a whiff of peanut butter, one of his scents that meant he had calmed down.

Normally, my head would be full of the night’s events, but I went to sleep the moment my head hit the pillow. I suspect either Reo or Sloane had something to do with that before they’d left. Whoever it was, I was grateful.

“Yesterday marked Day Eight without a riot. Rescue efforts to save those trapped by fires and in collapsed buildings in Los Angeles, Rome, Beijing and Moscow continue. Fire officials, local police and other first responders are still on high alert in most cities around the globe. Military forces have joined them in helping to keep the peace. Here in the U.S., the National Guard continues to assist other military forces.

“Elven delegates and other off-world races are still working with human authorities to mitigate the effects of the portal openings five weeks ago.”

I found the remote and turned the blaring volume of the TV down. I’d finally started to make a dent in the laundry in between yawns. Besides, it was old news and I knew more of what was going on than any TV journalist. I simply wasn't in the mood for global chaos.

Our own chaos reigned inside the Thulukan household that day. Water rained outside the house, which meant the kids were trapped indoors. It was unusual to get rain in August in San Francisco, but somehow it just fit in with all the other weirdness that had been going on.

The kids, one living and one dead, along with their ghost dog, were playing some sort of game that involved singing (and barking) at the top of their lungs, as they ran up and down the stairs. It almost made me envy my husband's inability to hear the dead. One little voice was loud enough.

Thulu was up on the third floor in the studio, going through his karate exercises. Carter could be very loud for such a small child. I wondered if Thulu could hear him up there through the soundproofing. I doubted it, but of course, Thulu probably blocked it out since he was a master of calm and focus. It was one of his more annoying traits.

Like me, Carter could see and hear the dead. That fact had driven Lynda-Jean, his birth mother and a family friend for over fifteen years, to do things that had eventually resulted in her death the month before.

The paperwork on our adoption had been rushed through so fast that I was sure magic had been used. Or something. I didn't care. I'd always adored Carter, with his soft brown hair, big brown eyes and little boy charm. I hadn’t wished Lynda-Jean ill, but I wasn’t sorry that her death resulted in our getting her son, either. We had quickly adapted to each other, the three of us.

Jenna, the non-living child, had been four when she was killed, caught up in the events surrounding the portal openings. An angelic looking child with a mass of blonde curls and bright blue eyes, Jenna was very close to appearing solid.

Only Parker was missing that morning. I wasn’t sure where he had gone after our early morning excitement. The dead sometimes entered a zone that kept them from having a complete understanding of time and the corporeal world.

Parker had it easier than many of them. He was more solid and could even handle things like the TV, which he and Jenna would watch while the live members of our family slept.

I finally finished folding laundry and looked around the family room. It was a comfortable room, done in earth tones, with very modern, super comfy sofa and chairs. Carter had been playing in the room earlier and several of his toys were scattered around the room.

It looks like a small child lives here
. I smiled at the thought.

I picked up the laundry basket and moved to the bottom of the stairs waiting for Carter to make it safely to the ground floor. It seemed there was three times the laundry from when it was just me and Thulu. Not that I was complaining, mind you, but it amazed me that one small boy could go through so many clothes in one day.

There were a few moments of silence as Carter took a breath, and I heard the brass knocker of the front door across the entryway from where I stood. It had a deliberate sound and I got the impression this wasn't the first knock.

I set my laundry basket down with a sigh and moved to the front door, peeking out through the peep hole. I really didn't like it when people came over without calling first. Since family and friends already knew that, I knew this had to be someone we didn't know or at least not well.

Two men in dripping raincoats stood on the front porch. One I recognized as Jeremy Lassiter, a cop friend of Thulu's. I didn't know who the other man was, but I got a weird feeling when I saw him. Of course, I didn't like the authorities even on a good day. While Lassiter seemed nice enough, that childhood fear of being taken away and studied kept me from getting too close to him. Those with supernatural abilities did well to keep them secret, and I stuck by that rigorously.

Jenna could travel to the third floor faster than Carter. I debated running up myself and had taken a few steps back from the door when I heard the knocker once more.

I sighed. “Jenna, please get Thulu to come downstairs.” Hopefully, he wasn't meditating and would see her. She was very rarely able to impact the physical world.

I reluctantly unlocked the dead bolts and opened the door.

“Detective Lassiter,” I tried to put a pleasant expression on my face, but my formal tone probably contradicted that. He gave a rather strained smile in return. Well, hell, he was Thulu's friend, not mine, after all.

The three of us stood at the door awkwardly for a few moments before my grandmother's training took over and I opened the door wider.

“Won't you please come in?” I invited, a sick feeling starting in the pit of my stomach.

They carefully wiped their feet on the mat and took off their lightweight raincoats, shaking the drops off before coming in. I gave them points for that as I took their coats and hung them on the coat rack in the foyer. The thick rug underneath the rack would catch any remaining drops.

My hands were shaking as I shut the door behind them. That was weird even for me. My unusual reaction was as unnerving as their presence.

“Hey, Jeremy,” my husband's voice sounded from behind. I turned to see him coming down the last flight of steps, barefoot, dressed in his karate gi, but shirt open and missing his black belt. Tousled, sun streaked brown hair, gold flecked, brown eyes and dimples that could be either infuriating or endearing, my husband was a view I usually enjoyed. Right then all I felt was relief.

I tried to regain my composure as Thulu shook hands with the two men and ushered them into our small parlor. I told myself they were here to ask Thulu for help and it had nothing to do with portals opening and the return of magic to Earth.

I bent to pick up the laundry basket, but Lassiter said, “La Fi, we'd like to speak to you, as well, if you don't mind.”

“Oh, well, let me get Carter settled in the other room.” I took Carter's hand and led him into the family room, trailed by Jenna and Sophie, the ghost Pomeranian. I quickly switched the TV channel over to one that would hold the kids' attention. I looked from him to Jenna and spoke in a very low voice. “Stay here and watch TV, okay?”

They both nodded solemnly. My nerves hadn't gone unnoticed by either of them. Even Sophie gave me what I was sure was a pitying look. I didn't bother trying to pretend to be perky for the kids. They'd see right through it anyway.

I went back to the parlor and perched next to Thulu on the antique loveseat. His arm automatically went around my shoulders. It didn't sound like they'd been chatting. The air felt thick and everyone seemed to feel awkward and uncomfortable. The two men sat on the chairs and seemed uncomfortable in the room. We'd furnished this one with antiques, but they were nice solid pieces we'd mostly refinished ourselves.

Lassiter spoke up. “Sorry to disturb you guys, but Special Agent Brown here asked for an introduction.” I rather liked how he threw the ball straight to the other man, letting us know it wasn't his idea to be there.

The other man looked to be in his late thirties, maybe early forties and had dark blonde hair and kind, dark eyes. “It's been a very long time, Fiona. Do you remember me?”

I shook my head, as I stared at him intently, trying to figure out where I might know him from. Just as I was convinced I'd never seen him before, it came to me. A night of storms and crashes. The night I lost my parents in a fiery freeway pileup.

“My parents - you came to pick me up,” I said.

He nodded.

“Okay, so yeah, I remember you. Why are you here?”

“A fair question. It does go back a way. Back to that night, in fact.” He paused.

Once again Nana Fae's training kicked in. Or maybe just my instinct to delay what was coming. “May I offer you something to drink? Coffee, soda, water?”

Both men seemed to relax a bit, which I suppose is the point of being hospitable.

Brown answered first. “Water would be fine, thanks,”

“Coffee or soda. Either one would be appreciated,” said Lassiter.

I jumped up quickly to go get their drinks. It didn't take nearly long enough before I was back in the parlor. I carried a tray full of soda cans, glasses of ice and a pitcher of ice water. Thulu got up to take it from me and put it on the coffee table between the chairs and our sofa.

Lassiter and Brown both thanked me. I gave a nod with a mumbled, “My pleasure.”

I think Lassiter snorted, but he quickly covered it with a cough. I looked at him suspiciously, but he stared back, with only a twinkle in his eye. I gave him a rueful smile in return before returning my attention to Brown.

“So, Officer Brown, you were going to tell me why you're --”

“Special Agent,” he corrected.

He reached into an inner pocket in his suit jacket and held out a leather wallet. Flipping it open, it showed his picture and a gold shield. FBI. Not good, in my opinion. Not good at all.

I sat back, my heart pounding, remembering the story Nana Fae had told me of that friend of hers. He'd been a psychic and helped the police with missing persons and kidnap victims. Well, helped until somebody rounded him up and he disappeared. Nana Fae had been an empath and she said that she could still feel him, even decades later. She knew he was alive, but also knew he was kept locked up somewhere, sometimes deeply afraid and in pain.

It had been on her advice that I insisted our detective agency stay as low-key as possible.

It seemed my worst nightmare was coming true. I hadn't been pleased a couple of weeks before to discover that Thulu had quietly helped Lassiter now and then. However, Lassiter had kept our names out of it.

Thulu and I hardly ever argued. And we hadn't actually fought when I found out about his helping Lassiter, but inside I was angry he had kept that from me. The wound of what I considered his betrayal was still raw, but we were getting through it. Compared to other couples, we had a blissful relationship. And I think deep down, I’d suspected all along, but had refused to look at it very closely. I can be good at denial sometimes. So, even if Thulu hadn’t told me, to be fair, I hadn’t allowed myself to know, either. Still we’d have to talk about it sooner or later. I just wasn’t ready to yet.

I looked at Lassiter, and I'm sure he saw the accusation in my eyes. He shook his head at me.

“No, La Fi, he came to me.”

Brown followed this and nodded in agreement.

“That's true, Fiona. After the night I met you –” he paused, took a deep breath and let it out before continuing. “Ever since I was a kid I always wanted to be a cop. But the night of that crash – well, I decided I needed a different direction. Between the bodies pulled from those cars and your reaction when we came to pick you up – something told me that being a traffic cop was not what I wanted to do. So, I applied to the Bureau.”

“My reaction?”

He nodded. “Families were crying and screaming, demanding answers we didn't have. And then there was this little girl. She was this calm little person in the middle of a frantic storm. Marna was right that night. Do you remember my partner?”

I remembered. A tall woman, with freckles and compassion. “Yeah, I do.”

“She said you knew. When we came to pick you up, you didn't question us about your parents. You didn't ask why we were there. All you did was ask for our identification. And then you sat at the police station for hours while you waited for your grandmother. You didn't ask about her, either. You just waited, as if you knew she was going to be there. In contrast to everyone else's reactions, yours stood out even more.”

He gave me a crooked smile.

“I knew there were no agents tucked away in little basements investigating supernatural phenomenon, but still, I felt the Bureau was the best place for me. I wanted something different from traffic accidents. I wanted to investigate stories and people and maybe make a difference that way. And if there were those who somehow impossibly knew what they couldn't possibly know – well then maybe I could find out a little more about it. So, the supernatural part has been more of a hobby for me. And it's not one I advertise, but still the other agents have picked up on it over the years. As you can imagine I take a lot of good-natured ribbing about it.