Your Dimension Or Mine? (20 page)

“You are doing wonderfully,” Terrian assured her as they took their dinner in the fur field away from Mayir. “Mayir may not show it, but even he is impressed.” Tonight she magicked up a simple dinner of steak and baked potato, and he dug into it with relish.

“I’ll just be glad when it’s over,” she admitted. “I don’t like this constant shadow looming over me.”

“I know and to be honest, I want to invite you to Darinth after all of this is over. I think you would like it.” His eyes twinkled. “And we have a library that should please you. Over two million books are housed inside it.”

“Yes, but I doubt I could read a word,” she laughed.

“I think you would catch on. For one thing, teaching through visual media has been a way of life for us for thousands of years. Most of the books are picture based. I would also like to take you for a ride. Abriethon misses me I am sure, and he would love nothing more than to give my lady a ride.”

“Your lady?” she asked with a smile.

His eyes softened. “I was not going to bring this up until the problem with Orion was solved, but a Darinthan knows within a short time when they have met the one who was meant for them.” He took her hands in his. “You are the one for me, Arwen. I know you have other things, more important things, on your mind right now. But know that once it is over, I want to take you to Darinth, hopefully to make it your new home.”

****

Do guys really talk like that?
Later as she sat brushing her hair before bed, she wondered. It was obvious they must since Terrian had bared his soul to her just an hour earlier. It had been wonderful hearing how he described his thoughts of her, and she was partway somehow there with him too already. She could see herself with him. And that scared her. Logical Arwen Maria Reynolds couldn’t fall for some guy so quickly. So why was she already in love with him?

“He’s a prince, dummy,” she muttered, hating she had to remind herself of such a major obstacle.

“You think too much.” Mayir appeared in her room, frowning. “This isn’t Earth or even worse, the Cragort dimension, where people are judged by their bloodlines. Terrian’s family are good people and will welcome you with open arms if you let them. Besides, you do not even know your true lineage. After this thing with Orion is behind you, ask Abigail about it. You may find you have more to offer Terrian than you know. Your grandfather is very well respected.”

“You’ve mentioned him before. Who is he?”

“No, you won’t be getting that information from me. That is for Abigail to tell you. For now, try to sleep. Tomorrow you start a new round of training.”

“What now?” she whined making him shake his head.

“Yes, you and Terrian can defend you from a known attack, but you must get used to the unknown.” Without another word, he was gone.

“One of these days, I am going to make you give me a straight answer.”

He chuckled.
“I look forward to the day when anyone can make me do anything.”

Curling up in her bed, she smiled. True, she had a madman after her, but had her life ever been so fun and so fulfilling? There was a part of her that would miss this once they figured out a way to get Orion to back off. She was sure her life would go back to boring…unless she followed Terrian to Darinth.

****

“Again.”

Growling in annoyance, Ari glared at Mayir. “Five times I have been attacked without being prepared and five times it has hurt Terrian who had to rush to try and protect me from it. There has to be another way or more information you haven’t given to me, yet. Cough it up.”

“Once again, your way of speaking brings forth rather hideous mental images. Have you not figured it out yet?” he asked in actual frustration. She had never seen him frustrated before. “You must be prepared at all times for an attack. At all times. It does not matter if you are in the shower, out for a peaceful walk, eating dinner, or kissing Terrian. You. Must. Be. Prepared. Some part of you must be aware of your buffer at all times, so when a magical signature attacks, you are aware of it before it can take control.

“Do you think Orion will sit back and wait until you feel him to attack?”

Wincing at the force of his words, she shook her head. Of course he was right, but she was frazzled. She had now been working almost completely nonstop for weeks to find a way to keep Orion at bay, and she needed a break.

“No, of course he won’t,” she whispered. “Mayir, I’m burnt out. I need a break! I can hardly think, let alone concentrate. It feels like I’m going crazy.”

Shaking his head, he turned and looked at Terrian who nodded and stood up. “I will be back,” he said calmly and left with one last look at Ari.

“Arwen, I know you are afraid of him, and you have heard of what he can do, but you do not know the depravity to which that zoor will go,” Mayir said through clenched teeth.

It was true, she didn’t know. But on one hand, she wasn’t sure she needed to. He was bad. She got it. No matter what, she needed to figure out a way to keep the bastard at bay. She got it. Abigail’s words came back to her.
“Ask Mayir about it once you have been there for a while. You never piss off one of the fae folk. Never.”

“What did Orion do that got him banned from Zeta?” During her time here, she had tried to get to know the enigmatic man in front of her, but his aloof exterior made it difficult. That and the fact his attitude was maddening.

His jaw tensed for several minutes before he physically relaxed. “It is not something I like to talk about, but you deserve to know. Do you remember Verisha?”

“The man you sent to check out things a couple weeks ago?”

He nodded. “He has disappeared.”

Her mind whipped through what little knowledge she possessed of the time she listened to them. “Do you think he is the traitor?” Someone had let down the barriers that protected Zeta, and somehow Orion had got in. It would be disappointing if it was Verisha. He seemed so nice.

“No! He would never put us in peril that way. It was the two of us together who put the barriers in place centuries ago. No, my fear is he went after Orion himself.”

While she wanted to egg him on, she knew he said things in his own time. If she tried to push, she might not hear it at all.

“He was mated to my daughter Leonaya. They were very happy and gave me the most delightful granddaughter anyone could ask for. Sharya was happy. She laughed and played all day, and as she grew, she became an incredibly superb young woman. Until the day she met him.

“You see, Orion had skiffed our dimension many times over the millennia, causing small problems, but nothing big. He was like a Vrillian tongue beetle. Annoying, but not enough to worry about. For over a century before the…event, he tried to get our females to follow him to his realm. But they were too smart for him. Enough complaints came to me that I asked him never to return.

“On our world, that kind of request is taken seriously, Arwen. Other beings accepted it, left, and never returned. I thought he did the same. Until the day my daughter contacted me, frantic because Sharya went missing.”

As he spoke, Ari curled in on herself. She knew she did not want to hear what happened to Mayir’s granddaughter and yet that she had to.

“He never even tried to cover his trail. He wanted me to know who took her.”

“He made her into one of his slaves, didn’t he?” she asked in a tiny voice when he stopped talking.

“Worse. He did not want her, Arwen. He wanted to show me he was more powerful than I was. He stuck her in a dark space and never let her out, taking delight in tossing things at her and scaring her whenever he could. Verisha and I went after him. Three months we followed his trail. We shifted again and again, jumping dimensions as we followed his energy signature.

“One day, Leonaya contacted us. Sharya had been returned. Of course, immediately we went back.” His voice, which had been steady and somewhat dead, turned ice cold. “Her body was there, but her mind was gone. He broke her by torturing her mentally until she could no longer take it. She was only sixty years old. She died in her mother’s arms three days later. Two weeks after that, Leonaya took her own life. Verisha and I spent a good century going after Orion, but he was and is very good at staying hidden, and the realms protect their own. Unable to go after him, we did the only thing we could. We protected our people.”

Silence rang through the room even as tears stung her eyes. Slowly, he turned to face her, his expression that of one who had lived through too much. “Arwen, I know it seems frightening, but I will not let you go through what Sharya did.” He mumbled something else under his breath, but she didn’t catch it. “If you are too tired to continue, look at that bedroom as your jail cell. For you will never leave this building. He
will not
take you.”

His words rang through the room with utter finality, and she nodded, knowing she would have to find the strength to continue. Before she could say so, the door burst open.

“Mayir! Arwen!” Terrian called, running into the room. “Abigail is coming. I just spoke with her. Something is dreadfully wrong.”

Chapter Fifteen -
Decision Made

“What is it?” Mayir snapped, his face losing the tired look it just held.

“She wouldn’t say,” he said, pulling Ari into his arms where she lay her exhausted head against his chest. “All she said was plans had changed and it would be up to Arwen how she handled it.”

“How long?”

“Two hours.”

“Stay with her.” Without another word, Mayir left the room, barking out orders in a language he rarely used when Ari was around.

“This is bad.” Ari’s words did not need to be spoken. Even before she felt Terrian’s nod against the top of her head, she knew them to be true. Orion had done something to force her hand. He could have taken Jane or Cory, and she could not hide away in Zeta if that was the case. Even the thought that one of her sisters could end up like Mayir’s granddaughter made her physically ill. Happy-go-lucky Cory with her positive view of the world, reduced to a mindless body. Or Jane… She hiccupped as she wondered what would happen to Jane’s children if he destroyed her. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out of Terrian’s arms. As much as she would have loved to stay there and hide from the world, she couldn’t do it. Orion wanted her. Well, she would just have to rely on the training she had to get her through.

“You have decided.” The words were quiet, his silver eyes sad.

“If it has brought Abigail here, it must be bad. I won’t let anyone else suffer. I can’t.”

Nodding, he stood back. “Practice.”

As she took her stance and prepared her defenses, defenses no longer supported by his energy as neither of them knew if he could accompany her where she was going, he went to the door and called in a few of the guards to test her.

Anger. Deep-seated anger filled her up. Fury at the being who was so selfish he destroyed others for his own happiness. No, not his own happiness…his amusement. Rage rumbled in her chest as the guards faced her and attacked in ones and twos. None of them was able to get through that thin web of light that surrounded her, but she wasn’t able to overcome their defenses either.

“Enough!” Mayir said, walking back in where Ari stood covered in sweat as she faced her newest challenge. Three of them at the same time. “Abigail is five minutes away. Arwen, drink something.” A large glass of water appeared in her hand and she chugged it down.

As Terrian came over and put an arm around her, she kept drinking. How did a simple girl from Tucson become the individual who would fight such a horrid creature?

The guards left and neither of the men talked as she took deep breaths and tried to calm herself. Any moment, Abigail would walk through that door and tell her one of her sisters was in that bastard’s clutches. As much as she tried to prepare herself for that, she knew she couldn’t. It would be a blow, a huge shock, and she wished she could make her mind accept it before hearing the words.

Abigail rushed into the room, her eyes frantically searching for and spotting her granddaughter. “Arwen!”

“Abigail!” she wailed, throwing herself into the arms of her grandmother. “Which wo-one? Which one did he take?” she gasped out.

“Calm down, Arwen,” Abigail said sharply. “Get a hold of yourself. You need to before you hear what I have to say.”

Her lips trembling, she pulled back, relieved when Terrian wrapped his arms around her, giving her as much support as he could in that moment. After a couple deep breaths, she nodded and looked her grandmother in the eye. “Okay. Did he take J-Jane or C-Cory?”

Abigail’s pale face fell. “Neither one, honey. But…this is going to be hard to hear. Are you ready?”

Confused, Ari nodded. If he didn’t take Jane or Cory, who could he have grabbed? Surely not Destra. So few people even knew where she was. Leaning against the one person in the room who felt solid to her in that moment, she nodded. “Tell me. I will only make up worse and worse scenarios until you do.”

Nodding, Abigail took a seat, her hands slightly trembling. “I’m sorry, Arwen. I had no idea he would do this. If I had, I would have taken them myself and hidden them away no matter how much Jane thinks she can protect them.”

Wait. Jane? Who would Jane protect? Even as the question came to her, Arwen began to tremble. “No!” she screamed, knowing exactly whom Jane would protect at all costs. “NO!” Her entire body fought to get loose, struggling against the unmovable arms that held her still.

“He took Kari, Nellie, and Shasta,” Abigail continued in a shaky voice. “Cory contacted me as soon as Jane called her. Orion took them right in front of her. One moment she was putting them down for naps, the next he appeared, told her who he was, grabbed the girls, and they were gone.”

“No,” Ari said, tears falling down her face. Her delightful nieces. He took them and would turn them into mindless bodies. No! She couldn’t let it happen. No! “Where can we make the exchange?” she demanded in a much calmer tone than she would have expected considering how she was feeling. “He wants me? He’s got me! But he has to give those girls up first unharmed.”