by Tina Donahue
“What are they talking about?” she asked Nikoli.
“Not us.”
“Why aren’t they continuing down the hall?”
Nikoli didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. One of the men had just spoken. Instantly, Nikoli’s muscles stiffened beneath Regina’s fingers, telling her that at any moment he feared one of the pair would come inside.
“Where can we go for good?” she whispered. Deliberately, she included them both, unable to bear the thought of him returning to this dimension, facing execution or sure death from the atmosphere because he’d risked his life to save her. “Where will we be safe?”
He pulled back from her, listening as the men resumed speaking. A bit of relief flickered across his face.
Had they decided to move on?
“Nowhere here,” Nikoli whispered, answering her question. “On your side…” He paused, then reached inside his coat pocket, taking out his portable instrument.
“On my side what?” she asked.
“You’ll be in a place where Andris and the others won’t know to find you. One Sazaar won’t be able to detect for them.”
“What about—” Regina’s words stalled before she could say you.
Footfalls sounded from behind. Glancing over, Regina listened carefully, hearing only one man departing, not two. What had happened to the other?
She noticed the renewed worry on Nikoli’s face. What had changed? What had the men—
A soft buzzing sound halted the rest of her thoughts.
Regina stared at the door—still closed.
In obvious haste, Nikoli ran his thumb over the controls on his device. Symbols jumped and flickered on the small screen. Taking her hand, he led her to the back wall, equally shadowed as the rest of the space, though offering no real place to hide.
She noticed a timid whoosh. The door opening?
Yes.
Regina gaped at the man who entered, his coloring dark like Nikoli’s, his complexion nearly as rich, his features eerily similar, his clothing shapeless—a top and pants, resembling a health-worker’s scrubs, constructed of a dull gray material. He read a document in his hand, stopping abruptly as though he sensed an intruder’s presence.
Had he heard them or smelled her perfume?
All the energy drained from Regina’s body, leaving her clammy and weak.
Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, Nikoli drew her into him, wordlessly demanding that she be still and not make a sound.
Blood pounded in Regina’s ears.
The man glanced to the left of them toward the hologram. His attention then inched to the right, where she and Nikoli stood just barely shielded by a large piece of equipment.
A cry of horror stalled in Regina’s throat. She couldn’t pull in enough air.
The man looked farther right.
From behind her, intense cold swept in, just as it had in her office. Tightening his embrace, Nikoli directed her to step back.
Regina’s legs refused to work. Frozen in place, mouth open in alarm, she stared as the man’s gaze inched toward her. Closer, closer, clos—
Time stopped.
Her senses became sharper. A clicking noise seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. She saw a small scar near the man’s chin, a wrinkle in his top, the fabric moving as he turned.
Nikoli tugged her as he backed them through the seam in the wall where they slipped into a new gateway.
Chapter Six
This time, unlike the last, Nikoli didn’t pause as he pulled her backward through the void between their dimensions.
Whatever lay behind them, whatever part of her plane they had entered wasn’t Regina’s greatest concern. Nikoli had indicated it wouldn’t be her office. The quiet surrounding them, the murky light told her they weren’t in a public place. For the moment, he and she were alone, safe from both her people and the vampires.
Although her mind accepted that truth, her body refused to relax. Shoulders bunched, knees tightened, she breathed shallowly, not only from the thinner air in her dimension, but also from her lingering fear of those on his side.
Through the portal’s window, Regina saw the room she and Nikoli had just fled. To the left, something moved. She stared at the man who’d sensed their presence. Again, she noticed how similar his coloring and features were to Nikoli’s. Was he a sibling or maybe a cousin?
Dark brows drawn together, the man seemed to see her. She shivered.
Nikoli tightened his arm around her shoulders.
Turning into him, Regina froze, immediate concern prickling her skin. “What’s wrong?”
Nikoli’s lids remained closed, his face registering pain or discomfort.
“Nikoli.”
He shook his head.
“Dammit, talk to me. Are your lungs burning?”
“No.” He spoke with great effort, his words sluggish. “Atmosphere here is less dense than E2’s. Colors brighter. Time swifter. I need to adjust.” He paused to clear his throat. “Surely you noticed the change too.”
She had but not to the degree he seemed to be experiencing. Placing her hand on his chest, Regina frowned at how his heart raced. “Were you wrong about what you said before? Is Sazaar’s bite affecting you here too?”
“No.” He pulled in more air. The tightness of his jaw, the strain on his features, began to soften. “In a few minutes, I’ll adjust.”
Regina curled her fingers into his sweater. Faint tapping sounds came from the direction of the gateway.
Nikoli’s colleague had moved closer to the portal, his shoes—gray like his clothing—having made the noise. Arm extended, he pressed his hand to the solid wall on his side.
Instinctively, Regina leaned away from him and into Nikoli, the swell of her breast pressing against his ribs. “Will he feel the cold?” she asked, hearing the hollow ring of her words. “Will his hand go through as the vampires’ did?”
“No.” Pulling in more air, he spoke with less strain, his adjustment nearly complete. “I recalibrated the settings. The portal on Thom—” His explanation stalled, though only for a second. Continuing, he said, “The portal on his side closed more quickly than it had in your office.”
Regina heard Nikoli’s relief and something more—shame at what he’d done, what he continued to do in order to save her life. She ached for him, the blow to his integrity, what he’d been taught to believe in, to respect. He’d forsaken his heritage and safety for a woman he barely knew, who wasn’t even of his plane.
Biting her lip, she wouldn’t allow herself to consider or be shaken by the odds he faced to save himself. Unless he didn’t intend to try.
Oh God, not that. She snuggled closer to him, needing his solid weight, the heat emanating from his big body. Whatever it took, she’d do all that she could to save him as he’d done for her.
Vigilant, Regina focused on their most current threat—the man on Nikoli’s side.
“Who is he?” she asked, adding quickly, “He looks like you.” Her next question sounded hesitant. “Is he your brother or a cousin?”
“No, I have none.” He breathed easily now, his words tinged by remorse, despair or a wealth of other feelings, not physical pain. “As a means to control the population, only one child is allowed to those who are allowed to breed. Not many are given that honor.”
It took Regina a moment to digest that. “Then how can he resemble you so closely?”
“All the males do. Between us, there are only slight differences. The same is true of the females.”
“Why?”
“Long ago, my people manipulated what you know as genetic material so they could produce the strongest specimens. The uniformity of my race eliminates risk.”
And variety, anything novel or fresh.
Regina tried to picture living in such a world and suddenly realized she already had. Prior to meeting Nikoli, she’d valued stability, the known, averse to anything new, any manner of risk, especially when it came to her involvement with a man. H
er father’s legacy, the turmoil he’d created in Regina’s and her mother’s lives had imprisoned her spirit and trust.
She’d made herself safe, though not fully alive.
With Nikoli, there was more danger than hope. What she would have warned a patient against, explaining that the uncertainty no doubt added to the allure. As a woman, Regina knew that Nikoli made her feel protected and cherished. Her attraction to him might have been immediate, but it felt as natural as awakening each day. For the first time in her life, she accepted the unbearable need of a heart starved for affection. What had driven her mother into her father’s arms…and Sazaar into Andris’s grip.
Denied the wonder of love, constricted by rules, Sazaar had longed for the spontaneity, the messiness of life on this side.
The door behind Nikoli’s colleague opened.
As though someone on E2 had heard Regina’s thoughts, a double for Sazaar came inside. She had the same lovely features, long blonde hair, and wore garments as shapeless as the man’s, the only difference being hers were a slightly darker shade of gray.
The man said something to her in their language. Joining him at the wall, the young woman placed her hand on it.
Regina regarded their palms, absent of lines, then the circles that represented their fingerprints. They were identical to Nikoli’s. Was there a slight and infinite variation in them as there were for human prints in her dimension? Something undetected by the human eye but readable by the door’s locking mechanism?
Drawing back his hand, the scientist strode to one of the circular monitors that Regina had identified as a computer. For a long moment, he regarded the symbols flashing across it, then leaned down and spoke, his face close to the screen.
Nikoli’s arm tightened around her shoulders, telling Regina something was wrong.
“What’s he doing?” she asked.
“Alerting security about a breach.”
“Oh my God, he saw us?”
“No.”
Regina didn’t understand. “Then why would he think there’s been a breach? How could he know what we did if he didn’t see us?”
“He senses something. We’ve been trained for that.”
“Will he suspect it’s you?”
“Not immediately. From childhood, I’ve had his trust.”
Again, Regina heard self-reproach in Nikoli’s comment, the blame he carried for his continuing deception.
Releasing her and stepping away, he lifted his portable device.
Surely, he couldn’t be thinking about going back. “What are you doing?”
“Closing the portal from our side.”
So the man couldn’t see them or for some other reason? “Does he have one of those instruments you’re holding? Will he use it to come over here and harm you?”
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
Nikoli’s expression grew more troubled. “Thomo, the man you see, would never think of constructing one of these devices or doing anything to harm me. He has too much honor.”
“Then he’s no different than you,” Regina said, determined to refute what she sensed Nikoli was thinking. “You haven’t hurt him. You haven’t hurt anyone. You’ve risked your life to protect your people and me from the vampires.”
Offering no comment, Nikoli ran his thumb over the instrument, closing the portal that allowed them to view his realm.
In its place stood a wood-paneled wall. Despite the gloom, Regina could still see its color—a deep cherry, highly polished.
She glanced at the timbered ceiling, a rustic design that reminded her of five-star lodges where she’d gone for work-related conferences, then advanced to the series of windows that made up one wall. Beyond the immaculate panes, a light rain fell. Moisture dripped from the towering trees and fat bushes that surrounded the building. Farther out, the clouds had parted temporarily, revealing the night sky crowded by dozens of stars. Within them hung a heavy moon. Its ashy beams sparkled off water that flowed across a wide channel to a series of hills. Past the meek ridges, Regina recognized the Olympics and Mt. Olympus, the largest of the mountains in Washington State.
Snow glittered on its massive peak that rose regally above everything else.
At the icy scene, she finally noticed the room’s damp chill. It seemed to seep into her core, producing a slight shiver.
Turning a slow circle, Regina took in the massive stone fireplace that made up one wall, the plank floors, the comfortable furniture, constructed of what she suspected was expensive burgundy leather. Pine perfumed the air, along with the lingering scent of a fire. The sweet, smoky odor reminded her of fall and winter nights as a child, anticipating the magic of Thanksgiving and Christmas that never measured up to the enchanting scenes in TV movies.
On most holidays, her mom had worked, leaving Regina to spend the time alone in a shabby apartment. When she’d earned enough money to buy a home in the Queen Anne section of Seattle, she’d decorated like a madwoman and baked for days to give her mother and herself what they’d never had.
Given the view here, Regina suspected this mansion or estate was not too far from her home, possibly on Bainbridge Island. But where exactly? “What is this place?”
Nikoli didn’t answer.
Why?
She was surprised to see him standing near the expansive sectional sofa, regarding her. Heat rose to her cheeks at the naked longing she saw on his face and his male beauty.
In the faint light, he was a study in black, gray and ivory, the strong planes of his face arresting and masculine, the scratches from Sazaar less noticeable. Stubble shadowed his firm jaw, cheeks and upper lip. Several locks of dark hair dangled over his forehead, giving him a tousled, bed-mussed look. His eyes, so sooty and expressive, glistened in the faint light.
Regina recalled his inner fire seconds before he’d kissed her.
She recognized the same desire and yearning now.
As though he sensed her thoughts or read her expression, Nikoli glanced away, concentrating instead on the instrument in his hand. “This estate is secluded,” he said, not quite answering her question. “It’s surrounded by a wide expanse of land, three acres in your realm. It provides privacy and safety.”
“You’ll be in a place where Andris and the others won’t know to find you,” he’d said earlier. “One Sazaar won’t be able to detect for them.”
“How did you locate it?” Regina asked. “Whose is it?”
Nikoli kept fiddling with his device, showing no emotion. “A man Andris targeted, then fed on and killed.”
Regina’s hand went to her throat. She suppressed a shiver. “What do you mean? You said they wouldn’t find us here. If Andris fed—” Regina couldn’t finish. She spoke in a whisper. “I don’t understand.”
“I know. With the man destroyed, Andris has no use for this place, nor do the others. They’ve gotten his money. It’s what they really wanted. They have no idea I’ve been watching Andris in my efforts to locate Sazaar, and that I know of his victim’s existence.”
“They wanted his money? Why?”
“To see to their basic needs—paying for their clothing and housing, the same as anyone else in your dimension. The man who once lived here was an inventor. He worked in an upstairs room, rarely leaving this house. He had no wife or children, no one to be immediately concerned should he go missing. He was the perfect victim.”
She regarded the beautifully appointed room. “They got money by stealing things from here to sell?”
“There was no need for them to do that. Andris seduced the man into turning over a large portion of his money for an investment that didn’t exist. Once the transaction was complete, Andris destroyed him.”
“Here?”
“No. At a place where Andris felt safe and could dispose of the body.”
Regina put up her hand, not wanting to hear details. “Did you see him do it?”
Nikoli nodded. “I wanted to save him, but it wasn’t possible. Can you unders
tand that?”
Was he asking if she blamed him for the man’s death? “Of course.”
“But I should have saved him.”
“You shouldn’t have to save anyone.” Didn’t he understand that?
“There was no choice,” he said, quietly. “Not after what Sazaar had done. When I crossed over tonight, I came here first to prepare.”
“For what?”
“To move among your people without being noticed.”
Regina wasn’t certain what he was trying to say and then she did. She recalled the shapeless garments she’d seen on the man from his side, so different from the topcoat, jacket, sweater and pants Nikoli wore. Until now, she hadn’t considered where he might have gotten his clothing.
The pants and topcoat fit him well, though not perfectly. The man who once owned the clothes and this estate wasn’t quite as tall as Nikoli.
She cleared her throat. “Even before you crossed over tonight, did you know that Sazaar would call for Andris and the others while she was in my office? Did you know if we escaped that you’d be bringing us here?”
“I planned for all eventualities.”
“So you could protect me.”
He hesitated a moment, then nodded.
It took all of Regina’s will not to go to him and wreath her arms around his shoulders, thanking him for his protection, then asking him to stay with her so he could also protect himself.
She sensed what was on his mind and feared if she approached him too quickly, he’d open another gateway and flee, not wanting to bring more terror into her life, taking the blame for all that had happened. How wrong he was. The horror belonged to Sazaar and Andris. Nikoli had given Regina a reason to fight, to live. She couldn’t let him go now and risk never seeing him again. They hadn’t even had their promised date.
Despite her ludicrous thoughts, Regina allowed herself foolish hope.
“You don’t have to leave.”
Nikoli’s acceptance of their parting was obvious on his face.
“You can breathe more easily here,” she said, trying to reason with him. “You can survive in this atmosphere. You can—”
He interrupted, “When dawn breaks, the vampires will retreat to their lair. Until then, you should be safe here.”
