Somewhere in the Middle

by Linda Palmer

  Oh, how I wished he weren’t.

  Roone walked past the two guards without a glance, though they fell into step behind him. He didn’t stop until he got to Eli and me. Ignoring Teo, who stood right there, he kissed me on the lips and then hugged us both. “I’m sorry you two got sucked into this.”

  I started crying again, burying my face in his shirt instead of answering. Eli did the talking. “They made her do it.”

  “I know. I’m not mad, okay?” Roone stepped in front of us to face down Teo.

  “Where are the other Thorsens?” Teo asked, clearly pleased that things were going so well.

  “Underground. They don’t even know I left.”

  “And where, exactly, is that?”

  “A safe room beneath my house.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  Roone just shrugged. “Why am I here?”

  “I think you know, but just so we’re clear, Father needs you back in Början. Come with me peacefully, and I’ll let these two go.”

  “You want me to maintain the portals, I guess.” Roone coolly eyed him.

  “How else will we widen the empire?”

  “Fine then. Let them go.”

  Teo made a big show of thinking about it and then shook his head. “Actually…I have a new plan. Only the kid goes. Everly comes with us.”

  Roone shook his head. “Not happening.”

  Eli echoed that answer, but in a physical way. He wrapped his arms around my neck, squeezing so hard I strangled.

  Teo’s smile widened. “I don’t think you understand your position, Thorsen.”

  “My position is simple. Let them both go and we’ll talk.”

  “Talk?” Teo snorted. “Nohai, hurt her.”

  The Mongolian instantly lunged, shouldering Roone aside to get to me. I tried to put Eli down, but he wouldn’t let go. Nohai grabbed my biceps in an iron grip that made my cry out in pain. Roone knocked him sideways with a hard shove. In a heartbeat, we were surrounded by Teo’s men, who were more than eager to fight from the look of them.

  “Get the picture?” Teo smirked, obviously pleased.

  “Oh I get it, all right,” Roone said. “But you clearly don’t. There’s no kobling, Liu. It opened just long enough to spit out your men last night and then closed again. You’re stuck here.”

  Did Teo’s smile slip a notch? “That’s bullshit.”

  “Is it?”

  “The güür is there all right. I can feel it. Now make it open or she’s dead.”

  Instead of answering, Roone stepped in front of us again, backing up and making us do the same.

  Teo’s smile completely vanished. His eyes gleamed with hate before he turned to his men. “Kill the bitch and the brat. I want him alive.”

  Six guys charged. Roone pushed me back so hard that I lost my balance and fell, landing on my butt with Eli on top of me. Stunned for a second, I watched the Mongolians surround Roone. He went after the one who got to him first, landing a punch that made the guy’s head pop back. Chaos erupted. The fight quickly turned vicious, distracting Teo’s jeering men. I untangled myself from Eli.

  “Don’t move,” I said to him, jumping up just in time to be seized by a lone warrior in black who’d obeyed his leader’s orders. Though he had a weapon, he didn’t use it. Instead, he closed his hands around my neck, lifting me right off my feet. I fought back—scratching, kneeing, kicking. But it was no use. He clearly relished the kill, and wasn’t going to be cheated. My head swam. I saw stars that weren’t there. The dark grew darker…

  And then I was free and once again flat on my back. Gasping for breath, I struggled to sit, only then realizing why I’d been released.

  My brave Eli.

  Hanging off the arm of the man who’d been choking the life from me. I saw my brother had clamped his teeth on my attacker’s hand. With a roar of rage, the guy tried to shake him off.

  I lunged to my feet again, getting to Eli just as he fell. Scooping him up, I retreated, my desperate gaze already seeking out Roone, who was now a bloody mess. But he wasn’t alone. Every man had apparently joined the fight at some point and all were the worse for it. Teo, alone, remained untouched. Looking on, jer in hand, he clearly fumed.

  Suddenly the ground under our feet began to quake.

  Whooping victoriously, Teo strode to us and grabbed me by my hair, twisting hard. I cried out and almost dropped Eli. Roone spun to look at us, his face streaked with blood and already swelled on one side, his chest heaving. Teo put the tip of his jer to my jugular. It began to hum as if he were firing it up. “I’ll do it, Thorsen. You know I will.”

  Roone’s shoulder’s sagged in defeat.

  “Knew you were lying about the güür, asshole.” Teo stared down his soldiers. “Get your sorry butts together. We’re going home.” His words brought his wounded men to life. They limped to the flyer. When the first one reached it, Teo touched the control on his wrist again. A ramp lowered from the bottom of the craft.

  That guy boarded, followed by the others until only one of them remained on the ground—Teo. He yanked hard on my hair, drawing my head close. He gave me a hard kiss, sweeping his tongue across my lips before I could twist away. “Let go of your brother or he dies.”

  Never doubting it, I tried, but Eli wrapped himself around me like a monkey on a tree and started wailing. Teo cursed and touched the jer to Eli’s forehead.

  “No!” I screamed. “No!”

  “Liu.”

  Teo turned at the sound of Roone’s voice, dragging us with him. When I stumbled over his feet, he lifted me up by my hair. I tried to tear his fingers free. Roone started toward me, stopping when Teo pointed the jer at him.

  They exchanged a long stare until Roone deliberately flicked a glance at the spacecraft.

  Naturally we all looked in that direction. I saw nothing new.

  Wait.

  Was that…?

  Trees edging the field swayed as if in the wind; a couple actually uprooted and crashed, taking out even more. Before our eyes, the ground beneath the craft began trembling ominously and then rolled, waves of motion that formed a vortex and sucked in the dirt and grass. As it widened, the spacecraft shuddered and slowly began to sink, creating a ripple effect that threatened to knock us off our feet. I heard the muffled cries of Teo’s men. I watched the flyer vanish into the earth until only the tip of it could be seen.

  With a roar of rage, Teo knocked me aside and tossed his weapon. He charged Roone. Both fought the field’s motion, but they still crashed together furiously, throwing punches like pissed-off Earth guys.

  But only for a second.

  Then Teo slipped into martial arts mode, which put Roone on the defensive. The Mongolian got the upper hand quickly even though the guy I loved had a million muscles and enough psychic skills to control cosmic portals.

  So why wasn’t he using them on Teo?

  As baffled as I was desperate to help, I peeled Eli off me and rushed forward. But what could I really do? Teo fumbled for something. A short sword. Grasping it, he faced Roone. As they circled each other, I crouched slightly, ready to tackle Teo from behind.

  “Stay, Everly!”

  If Roone thought his warning would make Teo look back he was wrong. Our enemy did not take the bait. That left me no choice but to attack. Teo tossed me off like a ratty old coat and turned, brutally thrusting the sword at me. It nicked my flesh just as Roone caught him in a one-armed headlock. When Teo tried to stab him, Roone twisted the guy’s arm until the bones snapped. My stomach lurched when one jutted through the skin, which gushed blood. Teo dropped the sword with a shriek of pain.

  Roone added his other arm to the headlock, catching his own wrist to tighten his hold. Teo desperately tried to break it, but impaired as he was, couldn’t. With my hands pressed to my lips in horror, I watched Teo’s face turn red and then purple. Finally he slumped, but Roone still didn’t let him go. Flushed, bloody, and livid, he was way past the point of self-control.


  I knew it was up to me. “Stop, Roone! You’re killing him.”

  My boyfriend closed his eyes, breaths ragged, but didn’t let go.

  “Did you hear me?”

  Furious hazel eyes locked with mine.

  “Roone!”

  He blinked.

  “Let. Him. Go.”

  With a growl of disgust, Roone released Teo, who crumpled to the ground.

  I knelt and put my ear to Teo’s heart. Thump. Thump. Weak with relief, I went straight to Roone, who threw his arms around me. We hugged each other really hard.

  “Is he dead?” he finally asked, peering over the top of my head.

  “No.”

  “Shit.”

  I smiled into his shirt, very glad he hadn’t murdered Teo, but just as glad he’d tried.

  Roone caught my chin and lifted so I’d look at him. “I told you to stay. Why didn’t you just stay?”

  “How could I when he was kicking your tail?”

  Roone released me. “Is that what you thought?”

  “Of course.” I touch his battered face. “Just look at you.”

  “I’m fine, and just so you know, Teo wasn’t kicking my tail.”

  “But—”

  “I was stalling, okay?”

  At that moment, Eli crashed into us. Roone hoisted him into his arms. “Hey, dude. You okay?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Now I made Roone look at me. “You were stalling?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why?”

  He just grinned.

  I gave up and glanced back at Teo, who hadn’t moved a muscle. “What do we do now?”

  “Tie him up. I need your belt.” He set Eli on his feet and began to tug his own through the loops on his jeans. I did the same and handed mine over. Roone secured Teo’s hands behind his back and his ankles together, using the sword’s tip to punch new holes in the leather.

  I could do nothing more than stand there wondering why he’d been stalling. As if hearing my unasked question, Roone took my hand in one of his and offered the other to Eli, who clasped it. Roone tipped his head back, gazing raptly at the sky. “I’m starting the countdown, Leif.”

  “What?” I looked where Roone looked, but saw nothing extraordinary. Eli’s rapt attention never shifted from his hero. Clearly he waited eagerly for whatever amazing thing might come next.

  “Ten, nine, eight…”

  A bolt of lightning came from nowhere, piercing the ground. Another snaked down. And then a third. Sparks danced outward from each strike point in a spidery web that the wet weeds quickly ensnared and smothered. Eli began jumping as if he had springs under his feet.

  “Seven, six, five…”

  A sudden blast of wintry air might’ve lifted me off my feet if Roone hadn’t had me. My hair whipped around my face. He pulled both me and my brother closer, anchoring us with his body.

  “Four, three, two, one…”

  The ground trembled anew beneath our feet and began to stretch forward and rise, reaching for the sky even as the sky reached back. When they touched they connected and blurred, creating a brilliant and colorful new landscape that slowly reformed into a swirling mass.

  “Now!”

  Chapter Fourteen

  A luminescent flyer shot from the ever-widening opening and gently coasted to a stop over the glowing field. Smaller than Teo’s, it hovered there as if suspended by invisible wires from heaven. A ramp dropped from it. I instinctively recoiled, but Roone gave me a reassuring kiss, clearly not in the least concerned.

  A guy who looked shockingly like him disembarked and began striding toward us. Dressed in tight pants, a shirt, and a vest, and with a weapon at his hip, he had a roguish air that reminded me of Han Solo, though his physical characteristics were way different. Golden-blond hair cut short, scruffy jaw line, and muscles. Lots of muscles.

  Had to be Leif Thorsen.

  Behind him other passengers were getting off the craft, all of them similarly dressed, but none with the bulk of the first. One was a slender young woman, who caught up to Leif, her long platinum hair blowing freely in the air current kicked up by the flyer. She had to be pushing six feet tall, with legs that went on forever, something five-three me would never know. Roone moved to meet them. I scooped up Eli and followed.

  “You did it, brother! Exactly as planned. How many are on the flyer?” Leif had his gaze glued to Teo, still out cold on the ground.

  Roone glanced at what could be seen of it. “Six.”

  “I heard there’d be ten.”

  “Then four wussed out.” Roone stepped forward and gave his brother a one-armed hug. Leif returned it and then pushed him away so he could give him a good onceover.

  “Please tell me the other guy looks worse.”

  Roone laughed. “Leif, Everly and Eli. Everly and Eli, Leif. And this is his wife Tyra.”

  Leif playfully punched Roone’s arm, though his eye was now on me. “This pretty little thing blew your cover?”

  “No,” Roone told him with a heavy sigh. “I did that all by myself. Just one of the things I’m gonna catch hell for when I see Dad again.”

  “Well, you won’t have to wait long. And there’s Jon, too.” Leif waved to someone behind us.

  Roone pivoted to look, as did I. “Damn.”

  From the corner of my eye, I caught Leif signaling his companions to load up Teo. Then he swiftly sidestepped us and headed toward his family, both of them now climbing out of Thorsen’s quad-cab at the road.

  Roone’s eyes narrowed. “Who’s that with my dad?”

  I tried to see. “Is that…? It is! My dad. And Cory, too. Why are they here?” I asked even though I was thrilled to see them. Eli, way past thrilled and into ecstatic, squirmed to be free. I set him on his feet so he could race to his daddy.

  “My dad must’ve called yours when he found my note. Your number’s in the phone book, right?”

  “We don’t have a home phone anymore. He could’ve used my cell, I guess. Teo left it at your house.”

  “That works. Um…can your father handle the unexplained?”

  “If anyone can make sense of the craziness we’ve just witnessed, it’ll be my down-to-earth dad.”

  “Actually, I’m not so sure that ‘down-to-earth’ is what’s needed here.”

  I realized he had a point. “Well, he’s all about facts, and it’s not like he can’t see that something very strange is happening.” Wondering why the air suddenly felt so damp, I glanced around and saw that a cloud had settled over the field.

  Roone answered my unasked question. “Camouflage. Can’t have every redneck in Alabama posting the lightshow on YouTube.” He caught Tyra’s eye. “The boys?”

  “They’re safe with my parents.”

  “And the recovery?”

  “You might as well call it what is it, Roone—a rebellion. Qing is imprisoned. We were able to infiltrate the stronghold in complete surprise and with minimal injury. Those in his army who didn’t run are now confined, as well. Johansen will decide what to do with them.”

  “So she’s Ledare again?”

  “Yes, and she won’t be so quickly unseated if there’s a next time. She’s already appointed a military committee and promised to form an army of rebels willing to protect us. There are many.”

  Roone’s obvious sadness made my heart ache. “Holmstrand will never be the same.”

  Tyra smiled and briefly hugged him. “But it will still be home. I know you’ve missed it.”

  “Everly!” Dad, Eli in his arms, closed the remaining distance between us and swept me up a hug that told me how worried he’d been. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, thanks to Roone.”

  “But you’ve been hurt.”

  I glanced to where he pointed and found my blood on my hoodie. Had Teo’s sword done that? It wasn’t hurting. “I’m okay.”

  “You seem to be making a habit of saving my daughter.” Dad released me to affectionately mess up Roone’s hair as he’d
clearly just done to Eli’s. Roone grinned.

  “This is some freakin’ awesome shit.” Cory had his eye on the flyer still hovering just ahead of us. Beyond it lay the kobling, its light making the night scene as bright and colorful as midday. Thank goodness a dome of clouds hid us from the rest of the world.

  Dad clearly agreed. “Yeah. Wouldn’t believe any of it if I weren’t seeing everything with my own eyes, even though Bo tried to prepare us all the way here.”

  “How long do we have?” asked Thorsen, who’d also gotten to us. He was watching Leif’s companions hitch the buried craft to theirs.

  “I can keep it open seven more minutes, eight tops,” Roone told him.

  “Then say your goodbyes, son. It’s time to go home.”

  I gasped and whirled on Roone. “You’re leaving me?”

  Thorsen answered for him. “Of course he is. We only came here as a last resort to keep my son safe. Now that there’s no threat, Roone can return to Början, where he has family and friends and a much better life.”

  Roone’s cheeks stained bright red. “Dad, there’s something I need to te—”

  Thorsen briefly touched a finger to Roone’s lips to hush him. “Everly’s friendship has made your life bearable while you’ve been stuck here. I get it. I do. And I sincerely thank her for that.” He briefly nodded at me. “But now it’s time for us to return to Början.” Thorsen caught Dad’s eye. “Pardon my honesty, but Earth is pandemonium compared to our home—pollution, poverty, disease, wars. I don’t know how you—”

  “Listen, Dad,” said Roone, cutting him off. “More Govil soldiers could be here. Leif heard there’d be ten in the posse plus Teo, but we’ve only seen six tonight.”

  “Bad intel. And even if there were that many here, there are only four now since we’re taking Teo with us. Anyone left behind will soon realize their mission is lost. They’ll be forced to assimilate, to blend in to survive.”