by M. L. Ryan
“Hardly,” Sebastian scoffed from the hallway. “I would never infringe on your lovemaking, my dear, unless I needed to convey something of great importance.”
Alex sat up and yanked his pants back on. His cheeks were still flushed, but his expression was focused, serious. Apparently, even eroticus interruptous didn’t prevent him from shifting immediately into Xyzok mode. He waited for me to find my shirt and put it on before he went to the door.
“This better be good,” I grumbled as Sebastian entered the room.
“Unfortunately, it is not,” he answered solemnly. “Every volcano in Courso has erupted.”
Alex eyes widened. “All of them? At the same time?”
“Actually, they blew one after another, a bit like a game of dominos,” Sebastian responded. He turned to me and added, “It seems, my dear, your abductor is as powerful as he boasted.”
Suddenly woozy, I dropped onto the side of the bed. It never really occurred to me that Doc’s threats were anything more than bluster. Yes, he proved himself to be a prolific and macabre killer, but one doesn’t need to be Zeus to accomplish that. Yet, here we were, confronted with a geologic disaster of epic proportions. At least, that was what it seemed like. In truth, I had no idea how many active volcanoes existed in my dimension, much less in Courso.
“When you say they all erupted, what does that mean, exactly?” I asked finally.
“In this dimension, a volcano is considered active if it has erupted within the last ten thousand years,” Sebastian explained, “so there are around fifteen hundred here. But in Courso, we have a much narrower definition, so there are only three hundred and eighteen.”
“And all of them blew?”
“Yes, fortunately none were explosive. There aren’t many populated areas around volcanoes that are likely to erupt, but there has been some loss of life, mostly as a result of subsequent lahars or fast moving lava flows,” he added. “But, as you can imagine, people are in a panic.”
“I suppose there’s no chance this is all just a weird coincidence rather than Doc Martens’ doing?”
Sebastian narrowed his eyes. “I think not.”
“Have we been given orders?” Alex asked brusquely.
“Your mother asks that the three of us return to Courso immediately. I do not agree, however. I believe it is best if you and Hailey remain here. Having all the Royals in-dimension seems shortsighted. In truth, the entire family may be safer out of Courso.” Sebastian scowled. “But my recommendations were ignored.”
Alex nodded, but he wasn’t completely convinced. “While it has yet to be determined if this dimension is safer, I do agree that we will be safer if we separate. I shall go to Courso, but we should not all be in the palace.”
“She doesn’t want you all in the palace,” Sebastian huffed. “She feels the summer residence is more defendable.”
“And hopefully, not near any volcanoes,” I added.
A rueful smile curved on Sebastian’s lips. “That too.”
We all sat in silence, taking in the ramifications of the day’s events in our own ways. For me, that meant mostly wondering if my life would ever be normal again. Not that it was particularly normal before, but once again, just when I thought I’d reached the pinnacle of weirdness, someone goes and unleashes unprecedented power and fucks with the geologic status quo.
As I pondered the immensity of causing volcanoes to erupt at will, I noticed Rufus standing at one of the French doors leading out to his patio.
Turning to Alex, I asked, “What are we going to do with Rufus and Vinnie while we’re gone? Should I ask Rachel to stay here and look after them?”
He glanced at me, and then followed my gaze to where Rufus stood. “Cortez and Aiden will be staying in this dimension. They can move in here and take care of them, I suppose.”
Sebastian, frowning slightly, added, “I believe it is better if Cortez accompanies us. His proficiency with surveillance may come in handy.”
“Good point,” Alex said, nodding. “Aiden can remain here then.”
I raised a dubious brow at Sebastian. Right. Cortez’s skill-set was the reason he was suddenly indispensable. Keeping him as far away from Rachel as possible had nothing to do with it. “You know, absence makes the heart grow fonder,” I reminded him.
“I have no idea to what you are referring, my dear,” Sebastian remarked with a dismissive flick of his hand. “Besides, it has been my observation that that particular adage was invented by someone trying to persuade themselves that a bad situation was somehow good. Much like rain on one’s wedding day indicates the marriage will be a success. It is just to make the bride feel her big day is not ruined by foul weather.”
Crossing my arms, I continued to express my lack of conviction. “Sebastian, I had no idea you spent so much time contemplating the origins of human sayings.”
“There are many things about me of which you are unaware.”
“Heruf vxyjit plozxj tsxg bybkhs,” I grumbled under my breath. “Heruf vxyjit plozxj tsxg bybkhs.”
11
It didn’t take any of us long to pack, and within an hour, we were ready to go. For expediency’s sake, the plan was to transport through the portal nearest Tucson, instead of one closer to our ultimate destination in Coursodon. As I wheeled my suitcase outside, I heard Rufus barking and howling on the patio. By the time I went to try to calm him down, he added scratching the doorframes to his separation anxiety-fueled repertoire. Rufus was frantic, and he’d worn his front paws raw.
We decided to take him with us as far as the portal, after which Aiden would bring him back to Sebastian’s. I hoped seeing me disappear into thin air would be less disturbing to Rufus than watching me drive away. In any case, he’d have a whole plane and car ride to get over it. Sebastian wasn’t particularly pleased with this arrangement because even though the SUV sat five comfortably, bringing Rufus meant we had to strap the luggage on the roof.
We drove to the same isolated airfield we’d used months before when we were trying to locate Sebastian’s body. While that twisted tale had a happy ending, I wondered what the outcome of this unanticipated crisis would be.
The Xyzok had many of these airports and all were conveniently magically obscured to avoid detection. A fancy jet was waiting at the secluded runway when we arrived, and we took off for somewhere in New Mexico. I tried to sneak onto the plane so Aiden could go back to Sebastian’s with Rufus, but every time I was out of the dog’s sight, he howled. Luckily, Aiden didn’t mind continuing along, but I was worried that bringing Rufus even this far was a big mistake.
The one-hour flight brought us to yet another remote site where we were met by two Xyzok operatives tasked with driving us to our next destination. One was to accompany us through the portal, while the other was responsible for returning the vehicle. Someone must have given them the heads-up that a big SUV wasn’t sufficient to transport everyone and their stuff because for this leg of the trip, we had a fifteen-passenger van. Twenty minutes later, we had arrived at the portal.
“I get why the portals have to be in some out-of-the-way place,” I noted as we unloaded our stuff from the back of the van. “But why do the airfields have to be when they are already magically hidden from view?”
As I had learned on my previous trip to Coursodon, the inter-dimensional gateways were invisible, but if a human happened to try to walk through—even inadvertently—they would feel like they hit a wall. As this would tend to arouse suspicion, the portals were placed in out-of-the-way locales to minimize accidental encounters. In reality, because of pollution breaking down the natural barrier between dimensions, the Courso could move from one to the other almost anywhere. The portals—or marqizoborta, in the Courso tongue—were developed to prevent someone from transporting into Courso someplace inconvenient or dangerous. Apparently, there’s some skill involved in figuring out exactly where you’ll pop out.
Alex chuckled. “You know how no one wants to end up in the middle of a socc
er pitch during a match or, worse-case scenario, buried inside the field when they travel to Coursodon? The airstrips are secluded for much the same reason. No human can see them, but we don’t want to mistakenly fly our masked, undetectable-on-radar planes into some flight path.” He paused and added, “After the Hindenberg debacle, we keep to unpopulated areas for air travel.”
“The Hindenberg exploded because a Courso plane crashed into it?” I blurted. “I thought some spark ignited the hydrogen gas inside.”
“You can’t imagine how much arcane talent was required to perpetuate that myth. Even the film and photos had to be altered.”
“I don’t know why I’m surprised. Next, you’ll probably tell me Amelia Earhart’s plane was downed the same way.”
“Actually, Amelia didn’t crash. She was Courso, as was her navigator, and they decided to return to our dimension for good.”
“Of course they did.” I was beginning to suspect that lots of unsolved mysteries and suspicious incidents were somehow tied to the Coursodon Dimension. “I suppose Jimmy Hoffa’s lying on a beach somewhere over there too?” I teased.
A mischievous grin blossomed across Alex’s lips. “Don’t be ridiculous. With all the illegal activity he was involved in, he’s been in a Courso prison since 1975.”
I wasn’t completely positive he was yanking my chain until I noticed Aiden, Cortez, and Sebastian looking at us from a few feet away, laughing. “Hey,” I yelled to them, “it’s not like that’s such a big stretch. The whole disappearing-in-broad-daylight scenario seems like something you’d be responsible for, Sebastian.”
“On the contrary, my dear, I was only involved with perpetuating the many theories of where he was buried. I was particularly proud of the one where the body was run through a mob-owned fat-rendering plant.” Now completely confused, I was sorry I’d ever brought it up. Was Hoffa in prison in Coursodon or not?
Before I had the chance to inquire further if Sebastian’s tale was true, I noticed one of the New Mexico Xyzok approaching the portal. I couldn’t see it, but I figured that was where he was going based on the determined bounce in his step as he walked purposefully toward, well, nothing. Sure enough, the air around him took on a sort of rippled effect, and he was gone. Seconds later, he reappeared, and signaled it was safe for us to proceed. Again, he went through first, with Sebastian and Cortez following close behind. Then it was time for Alex and me to transport.
I wanted to say goodbye to Rufus, but he wasn’t sitting next to Aiden as he had been before. I glanced around and realized the dog was standing behind me. “You are the sneakiest animal,” I admonished playfully as I scratched behind his pointy ears. “How do you do that without me hearing you?” I crouched down and gave him a hug. “Be a good boy for Aiden. I’ll be back soon.”
Turning away, I grasped Alex’s hand, and we walked into the portal. As simple as inter-dimensional transport might seem—stride into nothing and arrive more-or-less instantaneously in the parallel dimension—it was not without difficulties. For me, the sensation of dropping, like an elevator in free-fall, always made me a little queasy. Just as my stomach began to roil, I thought I heard someone shout, and a dark blur swept across my field of vision. Before I could process any of that, we were no longer in New Mexico, but in a wisteria-covered pergola somewhere in Coursodon.
I could see Sebastian, Cortez, and a couple of other people just outside the structure and was about to comment how every marqizobaz was unique, when I noticed they didn’t seem all that happy to see us. In fact, they looked kind of shocked. Glancing down at myself, I didn’t notice anything unusually odd about me, and Alex appeared normal as well. Behind me, however, came an enthusiastic and familiar “yip.”
“How did you get here?” I wondered aloud as Rufus leaned up against me and nuzzled my hand.
“Indeed,” Alex said, frowning. “He should not have been able to come through.”
“Maybe the whole hitting-a-wall thing only applies to people,” I offered.
Sebastian moved into the marqizobaz and studied Rufus. “No, only beings with magic can pass. Otherwise, Courso would be overrun with random squirrels, pigeons, and whatnot from your dimension that happened to wander through.”
“I have never sensed magic in him,” Alex remarked as he, too, began to examine the dog.
“Nor have I, Alexander, but a regular dog would not be sitting here.” Sebastian tapped a finger to his chin as he continued to eye Rufus. “Perhaps my original assessment of him being a wolf in sheep’s clothing was not far off the mark, hmm?”
He barked some orders in Courso to the others standing next to him, Xyzok underlings, I supposed. One retreated, but I couldn’t see where she had gone. To us, he said, “Until we can determine what this animal is, we will have him isolated and secured. In times like these, we can never be too careful.”
Not certain I heard him correctly, I asked, “Wait a minute, you think Rufus is some sort of a danger? He’s a dog!” As if to illustrate my point, Rufus stood and wagged his tail.
“Carisa,” Alex said softly, “I have to agree with Sebastian. Something is not as it seems, and given what has transpired over the last few days, it would be prudent to investigate this carefully.”
I looked at Rufus, and then at the worried faces of the Courso around me. The woman Sebastian had sent away returned with a couple of new guys. One held a long pole with a rope loop on one end. The other was carrying a large container that looked a lot like a dog crate.
“Come on, really?” I sputtered. “He’s just a dog. He simply doesn’t like being away from me. He probably jumped through at the same time we transported and got caught in the, the, whatever it is that moves us from there to here.”
I was rambling, but Loopy was cautiously slipping behind Rufus, preparing to ensnare him. I was about to fling myself between the dog and the rope when Rufus walked spritely to the waiting cage and stepped inside. He turned around, sat, and let out what can only be described as a happy bark. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I could swear he was smiling.
“That was weird,” I noted as Cratey went to shut and latch the door of the cage. “Where are they taking him?”
Alex paused. “To the nearest Xyzok headquarters, I suppose.”
“But we aren’t staying here; we’re going to the summer residence, wherever that is,” I protested.
“Nothing is going to happen to him, carisa.”
“Unless, of course, we discover he is a spy from the third dimension,” Sebastian added, still glaring at Rufus.
“He’s a fucking dog,” I shouted. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Alex placed his arm around my shoulders and scowled at his mentor. “Sebastian could have phrased it better, but it does seem odd, given the latest turn of events, that he showed up at the same time the killer vanished.”
I turned to Alex. “You think he’s Doc? You think Rufus is a cold-blooded killer who wants to take over Coursodon?”
“Of course not. He was with us the entire time you were missing. But you have to admit, the timing is suspicious.”
It was a little suspicious. Okay, maybe more than a little. But even with Rufus’ unexplained talent for inter-dimensional travel, I couldn’t believe he was a threat. He sat in the cage, still wagging his tail, seemingly thrilled to be confined.
“Fine. But he’s coming with us. I’m not moving from this spot unless he is somewhere close, and I can make sure he’s being well treated.”
“Carisa, I know you are concerned about his welfare, but with everything else that is going on, there are more important considerations than…”
I raised my hand to interrupt. “That’s exactly why he needs to come with us. With the entire dimension wrapped up with Doc’s doings, he’s likely to be shuffled off and forgotten. It’s not like I have much else to do. I want to be certain he is okay.”
Alex let out an exasperated sigh and turned to address Sebastian in their native tongue. They conversed for a minute
or so and then continued the discussion in English.
“If that is amenable to you, Sebastian, the dog will accompany us and be investigated at the summer residence.”
He nodded, and rattled off some orders to Loopy. Cratey lifted the cage and followed us as we walked a few hundred feet to the intra-dimensional marqizobaz from which we would continue our journey. He seemed untroubled by his burden. It was a good thing all Courso were immensely strong because Rufus had to weigh at least a hundred pounds and the sturdy metal cage itself looked heavy.
We traveled through two marqizoborta, taking a somewhat circuitous route to the summer residence as an additional safety measure. Each time, I insisted on waiting until Rufus came through before moving on to the next portal. Not that I was worried they might try to waylay him—I knew Alex wouldn’t say one thing and do another—but since I’d sort of drawn a line in the sand on this, I felt I needed to play it out the whole way through. I did notice that Cortez always placed himself between the crate and me throughout the journey.
The summer residence was somewhat smaller than the main palace where I had stayed on my last visit to Courso. Smaller in that it had only around seventy-five rooms instead of twice that many. I suppose a residence of royalty—even the vacation home—by definition had to have a ton of space. The architecture was different as well; this one had more of a medieval castle quality with turrets and stonework. It was also built into a steep rock-face and was otherwise surrounded by the swirling water of the Tryplexyn Sea, all of which made it less likely someone could sneak in. The huge number of troops amassed in and around it likely constituted an additional layer of precaution. I couldn’t tell exactly how many were there, but it looked like hundreds.
“In case you were wondering,” Sebastian proclaimed as we first caught site of the hulking edifice, “it is not just the palace’s architecture and location that make it a veritable fortress. In addition, there is also praseodymium within every stone which makes it impossible for anyone to transcommute anywhere within a half-mile radius, much less inside the place.”
