Your Dimension Or Mine? (23 page)

“Me too!” she said grinning. Cory looked over her shoulder, her eyebrows raising. “Oh,” she gasped, turning around. “Cory, this is Mayir, my mentor, trainer, and all around good curmudgeon.”

“Her manners could use some work,” he said dryly as he stepped forward. “Ms. Corrine Reynolds Agastion, I am Mayir of Zeta. It is a pleasure to meet another of Abigail’s granddaughters.”

Frowning, Ari looked at him. Why was he so correct all of a sudden? Then she caught the longing look in his eyes. Ooooh! He was attracted to her sister. “She has a boyfriend,” she said, garnering a frown from the two of them.

“As usual, dear girl, you are reading things wrong,” he responded before turning back to Cory. “Is Abigail here?”

“She went to see Mom but should be back any time. Jane is bringing the girls over soon. They will want to see their Auntie Ari,” Cory said with a wink at her sister. “They can’t wait to tell you about the strange man with red eyes who kept talking about you.”

“Ugh,” Ari said with a shudder. “He is the last one I want to hear about.”

As Cory led them from the room, Ari found as her toes touched the edge she felt a little fear about stepping over it. She was safe in this room. Once she stepped outside of it…

“He’s gone, Arwen,” Mayir reminded her. “The contract is void.”

“Yeah, but we don’t know what happened to him when he left,” she hissed, peeking around the corner. “What if he is just waiting to try again?”

“You conquered him the first time, and you will conquer him again,” he answered simply, following her sister down the stairs.

Must be easy just to put it out of mind like that.
Taking a couple deep breaths, she checked her shield and found it intact.
Good.
Forcing herself, she stepped over the threshold. Nothing happened. Sighing in relief, she followed them to the first floor, taking a seat in her favorite rocking chair, which unfortunately put her in the hot seat as she realized all the other chairs in the room faced it.

“Okay, I’m sure you don’t want to tell all in front of the girls, but I want to know what happened,” Cory said the moment she sat down.

“I, too, would like to know what happened.”

“Well,” Ari said, chewing on her bottom lip for a moment, “I will tell you, but I think it won’t sound nearly as weird as it actually was.” Haltingly at first, but then moving on with more strength as she remembered it all, she told them. “It was strange as I felt the power build. It wasn’t something I was used to without Terrian holding me and yet…somehow I did it.”

Cory, who hadn’t said a word the whole tale, smiled. “Oh, Jane is going to go crazy about this Terrian person. When do we get to meet the stud muffin?”

Ari began to laugh even as Mayir said, “Stud muffin?”

“Ignore their way of speaking, Mayir. It will just confuse you,” Abigail said, charging into the room.

“Abigail!” Ari said, leaping up and hugging her grandmother.

Hugging her back, Abigail beamed at her. “I knew you could do it. Your energy is very intense.”

“She had some help,” Mayir said, almost sounding affronted.

“Of course, we know you helped train her,” Abigail responded, waving her hand at him. “We won’t forget your help.”

“That is not what I am talking about. Terrian was with her in spirit if not in body.”

“I did imagine him there,” Ari admitted. “But usually the cyclonic power thing didn’t happen without him.”

“As I said, he was with you,” Mayir said calmly.

“What do you mean?”

“That is for him to explain when you see him. Which you will need to do as soon as possible.”

Huffing, as she knew that would be all she would get out of him, she turned toward Cory. Before she could say anything else, her sister spoke up. “How long is she staying?” The fact she asked him and not her was quite annoying.

“She can only stay here for a couple days at most. And while she is here, she cannot leave your house as everyone here thinks she is dead.”

“Hello! I’m right here!” she said, feeling a little forgotten, and that feeling was a bit unsettling.

Three individuals gave her a strange look and then went back to talking as if she wasn’t there. Thankfully, Jane and the triplets arrived moments later, and she was able to concentrate on them. The girls didn’t seem any worse for their kidnapping, in fact they had very few memories of it.

“The man wif red-eyes took us ’cause he said he needed you, Auntie Ari,” Nell explained once the three stopped screaming in excitement when they saw her. “He said you would save us and you did.” She beamed showing where her front teeth were missing.

“What happened to your teeth?” Ari asked, worried he had done something.

“They fell out last night. I got two whole dollars from the tooff fairy,” she said, grinning widely.

Being back with family was nice, but something was missing. She wanted to see Terrian badly. “Is my laptop back on Zeta?” she asked once Jane and the girls left.

“No,” Abigail answered. “We destroyed it so that Orion had no chance to trace you ever again.”

Her mouth gaped for a moment before closing. How could she contact Terrian and let him know she was okay? “Does he know I’m back?” she asked, hoping they would know who she meant.

“I’m sure he knows you are gone from that planet,” her grandmother responded, thinking of the wrong he. “I wish we knew what happened to him.”

“Me too,” Ari said, wrinkling her nose. “I still do not understand where he went. It isn’t as if he would have left me there if he had the strength to take me. So something must have happened.”

As the four of them discussed the event, she began to relax, and questions she had thought of before came to mind. “Abigail,” she said when there was a lull. “Who is my grandfather?”

Mayir actually looked amused even as Abigail raised an eyebrow haughtily. Cory looked on with interest, as it would be her grandfather as well. “Why do you want to know?”

“Oh, please,” Ari sighed. “Mayir told me my magical signature was as strong as my grandfather’s.”

“I also told you it was as strong as my own,” he commented.

Ignoring him, she went on. “He won’t tell me who it is, so I am aski—” Her words stopped even as his words went through her head. So many times he mentioned she was as strong as he was. Why had she never made the correlation before? “You?” she gasped. “You are my grandfather? Why didn’t you just tell me?”

He dared to look affronted. “You mightn’t look so put out about it, Arwen. I gave you many clues. You just weren’t paying attention.”

Glaring at him, she truly wished she could get back at him. He just smiled at her. Now that she was thinking, other things began to make sense. “Orion knew, didn’t he?”

Frowning, he slowly nodded. “I think so. Your magical signature is very close to mine. He hates me so entirely, finding that within you was probably more than he could ever wish for. Yes, he wanted you, Arwen. For you, alone, are very powerful. If he had use of your power, he could destroy me.” The words were spoken calmly, but the force behind them would have knocked her over backward if she wasn’t sitting down.

“You know, in a way that makes me feel better.”

Cory snickered at Ari’s words even as he looked at her blankly.

“I could never figure out why me. Now I know, it wasn’t me. It was you. Pointy-eared freak,” she added with a giggle. He might be annoying as hell, but now she understood why he wanted to protect her so badly. Part of it might have been the magic, but it was also the fact she was his granddaughter.

Sighing, Mayir shook his head and turned to Abigail. “Your granddaughters truly have no respect.”

Laughing, Abigail nodded. “Just like me, hmm?” Shaking his head in mock annoyance, his twinkling eyes gave him away.

They continued to talk until late in the evening when Cory set up a mattress in the small oval room at Ari’s insistence. “I just don’t think I could sleep anywhere else,” she admitted sheepishly.

For two days, she answered questions, rehashed the meeting with Orion into infinity until finally she had had enough. “I need to see Terrian!” she said in exasperation when Mayir and Abigail were embroiled in a discussion of how to stop this from ever happening to the women in her family ever again.

He raised an eyebrow. “Well, why did you not say so before? I have been waiting until you were ready.” Her eyes narrowed and she glared at him. Leave it to him to make it her fault. “Your glare is pitiful. Maybe you should spend some time with Vres, he has it down to a science.”

So here she was. She spent over two hours getting ready, scrubbed her body until it shined, took special care with her hair and face. Without thinking about it, she magicked a silver halter dress onto her body to finish the job. After creating some sandals to go with it, she walked out of Cory’s bathroom and into the little safe room. The three of them were waiting.

“Are you going with me?” she asked in surprise.

“Nope,” Cory laughed. “I don’t want to stop aging. I’m keeping my feet stable on earth, thank you very much. Besides, Brent would miss me if I left.”

Hugging her, Ari squeezed. “I will contact you. Maybe send you some strange things like Abigail does.”

“Cool. Find me one of those penis deities. I would love to tease Jane with it.” After another hug, where Cory had a hard time fighting back tears, she left, closing the door behind her.

“So the three of us are going.”

“Wrong again,” Abigail chuckled. “I will come to the Delania Dimension soon and visit. I wish to get to know this man of yours. For now, I have a few things to do on my home world.”

“And I must return to Zeta. Verisha found the one who did not keep up his barrier, and we must deal with him quickly.”

“So, I’m going alone?” Ari asked surprised. “Will Terrian be there to meet me?”

“Highly doubtful. More than likely his father will meet you.” Before she could do so much as freeze in fear, the room disappeared, and she stood in what looked like a foyer of a grand hotel—high ceilings, marble-like flooring, and tall columns. Deciding she would really have to find a way to hurt Mayir at some point, she looked around for the front desk.

There wasn’t one.

“Miss Arwen Reynolds Agastion?” Ari turned toward the voice and saw a slightly older version of Terrian standing a few feet away, dressed in what could only be called regalia. A white jacket buttoned over deep gold pants. Several medals were hooked on the right side of his chest. His hair was black with silver at the temples, and he had the same twinkling silver eyes as the man she loved. Uh-oh.
Please let this not be the crown prince.

“Y-yes? I’m Ari.”

His lips smoothed out into a smile as he stepped forward and took her right hand between both of his. “It is a pleasure to meet you, my dear. Terrian has not stopped talking about you since he got back. I apologize he was unable to meet you, but considering the danger, he is sequestered until he gets his protection back.” He pulled her hand into the crook of his elbow. “Come, I will take you to him.”

Confused, she followed him through a large doorway into a huge room with white stone flooring. There was no furniture in it, so she had no idea what it was for. On the other end of the room was a grand staircase. As they began to ascend, she asked, “What do you mean ‘until he gets his protection back’? He had it when I was on Zeta. How did he lose it?” Surely, nothing bad had happened to him. He was fine when she left. Panic began to build in her chest. With his protection gone, Orion could have gotten to him. In fact, all of those guards could have gotten to him.

He paused on the last stair and turned to her. “He did not lose it, dear child. He gave it to you.”

Her eyes widened as she heard his words. “What? But…” She couldn’t verbalize her crazy thoughts. Giving up his protection was crazy! Anyone could have attacked him. But he gave it up to save her. And it worked. Tears began to prick her eyes as she remembered the last time she saw him with that tear dripping along his scar. “How did he do it?” she whispered.

He chuckled and shook his head as he climbed the last stair and walked down a long hallway to their right. One part of her brain noticed the opulence of everything around them. The clean white wainscoting on the walls, the gold leaf wallpaper and the art that was more than likely priceless. The rest of her brain was focused on what Terrian had done for her.

“I will let him explain. To be honest, he refused to tell us. We have been waiting to hear of you, to know that his protection worked.” He winked at her as they reached a double door at the end of the hallway. “Finding out three hours ago that you were alive and well and coming to see him was a great relief to us all.”

He opened the two doors and waved her inside. When he did not follow her, she turned around. “I will see you later, Ari. It was a great pleasure to meet you. My son has chosen well.” Without another word, he closed the doors behind her.

Whoa. So, he was the crown prince. Should she have curtsied or something? Frowning, she turned around, surprised to find herself at the beginning of a long hall with no doors on either side. At the very end was another set of double doors. She walked toward them, glancing at the strange designs in the walls. She wasn’t sure what they were, but they were pretty. They reminded her of natural flowerbeds that weaved and twisted amongst themselves. In no time at all, she reached the other end. Should she knock? Or just walk in?

She chose to knock. Without a noise, the doors opened, and she came face to face with Terrian. “Arwen!” he yelled, pulling her into his arms faster than she could even react. “It worked, it worked,” he muttered, pulling her through the doors. Before she could ask him any of the number of questions she had, his lips met hers and she forgot everything but him for a long time.

When she came out of her haze, she was curled up next to him on a long light gray sofa looking out floor-to-ceiling windows. A huge forest stood in the distance beyond a sea of buildings. Turning to him, she smiled. “How?” That was all she wanted to really know. How had he transferred his protection to her?

He smiled and his hand reached behind her neck and she winced as her hair caught on something. The memory of the same thing happening with Mayir came to her and her eyes widened as he pulled his hand back and she spotted a small silver piece that glinted like metal in his palm. “What is it?”