Portals

by Wilson, Maer

  “I appreciate you,” I protested.

  “Of course, you do!” she agreed, blew me a kiss and popped out. The morning was making me ready for a glass of wine. Or maybe a shot of tequila. I was still tired. Thulu went upstairs to do his forms. I was seriously behind on my own workouts, but not in the mood to do them.

  Jenna and Carter were still in the family room, playing checkers, with Sophie curled at Jenna’s side. Parker was out on his patrols and had seemed preoccupied.

  I called Lilia and she answered quietly. I asked how Daria was. Lilia said that she was still unconscious, but the doctors were completely baffled, since there was no head trauma. I told her I knew someone who might be able to help and disconnected to call Reo. I figured he and Sloane could stop by to see Daria. Maybe Sloane could see what was wrong with her.

  Reo said he’d ask Sloane when he got back from Avalon, the world where the elves, goblins and unicorns lived.

  “Apparently, there’s a lot of hoopla going on about these mutated daemons that no one ever heard of before,” he said.

  “Yeah, so I hear. I guess I’ve met so many new races the last month or so, a mutation isn’t fazing me one bit.”

  “Me either, but don’t tell Sloane I said that.”

  “Well, other than the fact that they seem to be very dangerous.” I changed the subject. “So how was your show last night? Was it good to be back onstage?”

  “Yeah, actually it was. There were quite a few ghosts there, and their table was full.” Reo, as Brandy Malone, always kept one table clear for the dead to sit at and feel welcome. “People are definitely settling down and are becoming used to the idea of real, live, non-human, magical people. Last night, I had a lot more of the usual, ordinary requests. Only a few people were worried about the recent changes and their reactions were pretty mild. That’s the closest we’ve come to having a normal audience since the pre-portal days.”

  That was good news. And although his audiences tended to be more open-minded and progressive, I thought it boded well that they were calming down. Maybe the rest of the human population would become more at ease, too. Except for the usual whacko contingent. But then they were always up in arms about something or other.

  The morning passed with mundane chores. Dusting, vacuuming and laundry. Thulu always did his part, and we worked our way from room to room, with Carter, Jenna and Sophie trailing behind first one of us, then the other. We always gave Carter small tasks, so he could help.

  I was finishing my own overdue workout just before lunch when my phone sang. Reo said that Sloane was back and willing to see Daria.

  I made another call to Lilia to see if there was any change in Daria’s condition. Lilia said there wasn’t and agreed to have Reo and Sloane meet her at the hospital after lunch. Her gratitude made me feel almost uncomfortable, but I tried to handle it graciously.

  It wouldn’t be the first time Reo and Sloane had made contact with someone in a coma. I’d been tempted to go along, but there really wasn’t any good reason for me to be there, other than curiosity. And they would fill us in, anyway.

  I started lunch and had it on the table before I called my guys in. We’d barely taken two bites, when the phone sang again. It was Thulu’s cousin Ally, just calling to chat. Ally was also my best friend, and it was nice to talk with someone who didn’t have a problem or wasn’t involved in any of our cases.

  Thulu said hello and spoke to her for a few minutes before passing the phone back to me. I ate while she filled me in on how busy the clinic was. They’d had to hire another vet and two assistants to handle all the traffic they’d been getting. It just proved to me that ultra-compassion was something people in general wanted desperately. I still suspected Ally had a gift of her own along the Dr. Doolittle lines.

  We had Carter down for his nap, when the next call came. Thulu put it on speaker when Lassiter called to say that Daria was awake. She’d been visited by some mysterious cousins and sometime during their visit she awakened.

  “I don’t suppose you know anything about that,” he commented drily.

  “Who, us?” responded Thulu equally as dry.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought. So, Reo and Sloane are her cousins, huh?”

  “How is she doing?” Thulu asked, smiling.

  “Considering she was kidnapped and something had been done to keep her unconscious, she’s doing surprisingly well. Daria didn’t wake up freaked out. Maybe a little startled at first, but she seemed to acclimate very fast and was calm after that. It was kind of weird, to be honest.”

  “They would have made sure she knew she was safe. Has she said anything yet about what happened?”

  “No, as soon as she was awake, the nurses ran everyone off. You would have thought we’d done something wrong the way they acted. Her sister insisted on remaining in the room and refused to leave. Reo and Sloane left, just as we got there, but we had to wait until the doctors had examined her. They’ll keep her overnight, but we have an interview set up for later this afternoon.”

  “Good, I hope she identifies the guys,” I said.

  “And Lilia said to tell you she wants you and Thulu there during the interview. I get the impression that Daria shares your opinion of authorities. Plus, I believe she wants to thank you. After you do that, you can go in for your line-up.” He named a time and said I was going in between other witnesses, completely off the books.

  I looked at Thulu, unhappily, and shrugged. Lassiter gave us a room number at a hospital not too far from Ally’s clinic. We made arrangements to meet in an hour.

  I called Ally back and asked if we could drop Carter off while we did some work on a case. She said it was no problem, and I went upstairs to wake Carter up and get him ready to go, packing his knapsack with a change of clothes, just in case he needed them, and a picture book and a couple toys.

  We had an easy time in traffic and Carter was thrilled to get to go to Ally’s work. He loved the animals and chattered away in his car seat.

  Thulu pulled into the parking lot at the vet clinic, and I unbuckled Carter and grabbed his backpack. I gave him a hug and kiss before I turned him over to Ally and handed her the bag.

  Chapter 20

  Once we arrived at Daria’s hospital room, we found the typical bland decor. The woman in the bed was anything but bland, though.

  Her picture didn’t do Daria justice. Maybe it was her abilities shining through, but she was dynamic, and I immediately liked her.

  We hesitated at the door as Lassiter was there and we didn’t want to interrupt. Lilia was firmly ensconced in a chair and holding her sister’s hand. When she saw us, Lilia came forward and greeted us each with a hug.

  Lilia took the lead. This was a more confident woman than we had met before.

  The doctors were only keeping Daria overnight for observation, and she would be dismissed in the morning. I only hoped her “in the morning” really meant morning and not late afternoon as had been my experience more than once with hospitals.

  “This is Thulu and La Fi Thulukan, Daria.”

  Daria gave us a big smile and said, “Oh, hello, thank you so very much for taking our case.”

  “Before you guys get into a chat, let me do my interview first, okay?” Lassiter said with a smile, but he was all business.

  I was impressed with his interview technique. Much the same as he’d been with Reo and Sloane. Simple, straightforward, yet kind and compassionate. He made his notes on his phone as he had before.

  Daria answered everything clearly and had a lot of details.

  She said two men had grabbed her and hustled her into their car as she left her apartment building to meet Lilia. It happened so fast, she doubted anyone had seen it happen, but wasn’t sure. She didn’t have time to even react before it was over. Once in the car, they covered her mouth with something and that was the last she remembered.

  She was also able to give detailed physical descriptions of both men. I was pretty sure those were the two who were in
jail. It also sounded as if she had been a specific target.

  It made me wonder if Reo would have been kidnapped, if his attacker had been successful in killing Sloane, but that didn’t feel right. We needed to get Reo pictures of the two men to see if his attacker was one of them. The description didn’t seem to match either of them from what I remembered. But if Reo’s attacker was connected to the two in jail, then he was still running loose. And if he was part of the group, why had there only been one attacker for Reo? It felt like the two cases were connected, but of course that didn’t mean anything. My feelings could be completely wrong. Not that I’d admit it.

  Lassiter’s next question caught my attention and pulled me from my musings.

  “Daria, do you have an idea why these men would kidnap you?”

  She opened her mouth to answer, but stopped, looking confused. She looked around the room at the rest of us, seemingly at a loss.

  “There’s something. I’m not sure what, but I know something. It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t seem to grasp it,” she said, her brow furrowed in concentration.

  “Had you ever seen the two men before?”

  She shook her head slowly, “I don’t think so. No, but there is something that feels connected to them, but isn’t them.”

  “A third man, maybe?” I asked. The others looked at me. I hadn’t meant to speak out loud. “Maybe someone who knows them?”

  She nodded, “Yes, someone who -” She stopped suddenly, confused again. “What was I saying?”

  Lassiter looked concerned and shot Thulu and me a look that clearly wondered if she was such a great witness after all. I had a suspicion that someone had tampered with her memory. Apparently Thulu thought the same thing as he shook his head.

  “Daria, I think someone has done something that makes you veer away every time you start to remember this other person,” Thulu said.

  “What other person?” she asked blankly.

  Thulu and I grinned, in spite of ourselves, but Lassiter wasn’t pleased.

  “Thulu would you please explain?” his tone was strained, just a bit.

  “Yeah. The knowledge is there and she may remember on her own, but someone has erased this other person or persons from her memory. The fact that she can come to the fringes of it tells me they probably did a hurried job of it. We’ll see what Reo and Sloane can do, if Daria is willing to let them try.”

  “So, you think I’ve forgotten something?”

  “Yes, Daria,” said Thulu.

  “Well, then, can you help me figure out what it is?”

  Thulu nodded. “But there’s no rush, Daria. Get back to one hundred percent, then we can work on that.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Lassiter put away his phone, and he excused himself, reminding me I was to call him when we left the hospital for the station. I grimaced, but nodded.

  Daria beamed at us after Lassiter left. “Thank you again. I’m so honored that you took the case. It’s well known in the community that you don’t work with the living. I’m so very grateful to you, and I’ll do whatever you need for payment.”

  Thulu and I looked at each other in surprise.

  “Don’t worry about paying us,” Thulu said, dimples showing as he smiled.

  “What community?” I had zeroed in on another part.

  “Oh, you know, the other supes in the area.”

  I wondered if she was referring to Reo, but decided probably not. “I’m sorry, Daria. What other supes are you talking about?” I glanced uneasily at the door, which Lassiter had left open. Thulu moved over to shut it.

  She looked thoughtful for a few moments. “Well, Ken said you guys didn’t know about the rest of us. I thought he was making excuses to keep us away. You know, so we didn’t bother you.” She stopped for a moment, watching us carefully, but we didn’t answer. She continued with a rueful smile, “Yeah, I guess you really don’t know. There’s a small group of supes here. Not a large one like down in L.A., but we kind of have each other’s backs.”

  “The two of you and Brandy, I mean Reo Malone, are the only ones we know of in the city that don’t belong to the group. There’s about eight of us at the moment. Telepaths, psychics, mediums, empaths.”

  “Real ones? Like you?” slipped out of my mouth before I thought.

  “Yeah, they are definitely real ones. The fakers don’t even know we exist, and we make sure we keep it that way.” Her tone said she felt about them the same way I did. “Of course, none of us are as powerful as the three of you, but some of them have some pretty strong abilities.”

  “Well, I don’t know about the others, Daria, but I can tell that you are pretty strong. I could see your ability almost shine the moment I came into your room.” I said and meant it. “What do you do?”

  “Telepath, empath. It’s erratic and not nearly as strong as Brandy’s. I mean Reo’s.”

  “I’m not so sure about that. Reo can be pretty erratic at times,” I said, but I was more interested in this community that knew about us, but that we’d never heard of. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

  “So tell us about this community,” Thulu prompted gently.

  “Oh, we get together once a month and share whatever news there is. In the past we did anyway. Since the portals opened we’ve only met once, we didn’t know what to think of everything. I mean magical beings just stepping right out?

  “Ken said the three of you were involved and that some serious things were happening. When we heard what happened to your family, we were so devastated for you. We decided if there was that much danger, we should duck our heads and stay low until whatever it was got resolved. Although, some of us wanted to contact you to see if we could help, but Ken and the others said not to interfere.”

  “So who is this Ken? Your leader?” I asked. I didn’t want to talk about what had happened to our family.

  “Ken Williams. And not in any real sense. More our organizer than anything. He’s psychic and knows about things happening. He makes sure we are protected.”

  Lilia spoke up. “He was with Tommy Lin when I spoke to him.” She paused. “They are the ones who came to me and told me to go to you. I knew Tommy from work.”

  It started to make sense. I hadn’t even thought of how she hooked up with Tommy.

  “Well, we are very glad they did!” I exclaimed sincerely. The alternative of what might have happened to Daria was not one I wanted to examine too closely.

  “So tell us more about the people in this community,” Thulu said.

  “There’s really not a whole lot more to tell. Just a bunch of ordinary people who can do some things that others can’t. Only Ken and I work using our actual abilities. The rest do different things. I think you’d like them, and I know they’d like you. You’re both welcome to come join us any time you want to. Reo, too.”

  “Well, it sounds like an interesting group. We’ll see if we can’t do just that.” Thulu, the charmer.

  It wasn’t really a bad idea, but I’d have to think about it before I committed to doing anything so public. That was a lot of non-family to know about what Thulu and I did. Of course, they’d apparently known all along and hadn’t betrayed us that I knew of. Unless one of them had a pipeline to Brown. I’d have to have a chat with Thulu later on. My natural distrust was getting in the way.

  I changed the subject. “Daria, I have a question. Did you have a sense about these guys at all? Could you tell if they were human?”

  She seemed surprised. “Well, they looked human. No, I didn’t get anything at all from them. That’s what’s kind of weird, you know? I should have been alerted they were there, and I wasn’t. They were just there, and I was in the car and then lights out. It was almost as if they were invisible.”

  “As if they were blocking their presence?” Thulu asked.

  “Yes,” said Daria, eyebrows raised, “exactly like that.”

  Thulu and I looked at each other and Daria immediately picked up on something
going on.

  “So, what does that mean?” she asked.

  “We aren’t sure, exactly.” Which was true. “I’ll know more after the lineup.”

  “Why is that?” asked Daria.

  “Because then I’ll know whether they’re human or something masquerading as human.”

  “You can tell by looking at them?”

  “Yeah, that’s one of the things I do. I can see the true nature of people.”

  “And you see the dead, right?”

  “Yeah, and hear them.” I saw no reason to mention my language thing.

  She turned to Thulu. “And I know first-hand that you can find anyone. You found me.” She was quite pleased and in good spirits for someone who had been through such an ordeal. I was convinced Sloane had something to do with that.

  We probably would have chatted for hours getting to know each other, but I knew Lassiter was waiting for us. We spent only a few more minutes in idle chit chat, before we wished them both well. We left our address for them and headed out.

  Calling Lassiter to alert him we were on the way, we headed over to the police station. Lassiter said he’d be down to meet us once we arrived.

  True to his word Lassiter collected us in the lobby and escorted us through a hallway to an elevator. We went up a couple of floors where we saw several people waiting in the hallway.

  Lassiter spoke to a small woman in the group, and she answered that the previous witness had just left. Lassiter opened the door and ushered me and Thulu into the small, dim and empty room. There were six chairs in two rows and a counter along the rear of the room. The chairs faced the one-way glass.

  Lassiter spoke into a speaker next to the wall and dimmed the lights even more.

  I watched through the glass carefully as half a dozen men filed in. I recognized two from the pictures that Lassiter had shown me, but I didn’t need the pictures. The moment I saw them, I knew there was something “other” about them. I didn’t get the double exposure I usually did with daemons or shifters, but I knew for a certainty that the two men were not human. I also knew they were of the same race as the entity I had experienced through Jones.