by Maria Dean
There were probably other things he wanted to show her too, things Astrid was only 75% sure she was ready to see. There were two other Russos fighting for her affection, after all. She didn't want to make a rash decision just yet. But she agreed, anyhow, hoping a change of scenery would be better than going back to her empty apartment. Her excursion to the library aside, she was still lonely.
Lorenzo turned on the radio, apparently not one for small talk in the car. He hummed along to an older pop song. If he were Christian, Astrid expected him to burst out into song. "You're staring at me," he blurted. "That's my job."
Astrid blushed and looked away. "I'm just thinking."
"You do that a lot," he chuckled. "What about?"
"Your brother."
He glared at her. "That's not exactly what I was hoping to hear," he grumbled. "At least tell me it's Gio and not Chris who's on your mind."
"Actually," Astrid said, "I was thinking about how Chris likes to sing along to whatever's playing on the radio. You don't, you just hum along. Does that mean Gio doesn't sing along at all?"
Lorenzo couldn't hide his grin. "You're an interesting character, Astrid."
"Thanks," Astrid said dryly, "that's definitely going to get you into my pants."
He raised his eyebrows as he slowed down for a red light. "I didn't realize you were thinking about that too," he said, lowering his voice to a sly tone. "Any chance you want to make that happen?"
"Not if you keep asking," she replied. "How far are we from your house?"
"Not too far," he said. "Just south of here." They turned onto Snelling and headed past a Whole Foods, getting closer to Magdalena's former house. Lorenzo passed Summit, though, and kept going. He turned left onto a street across from a local college. "And here's the block I live on, filled with pompous professors who are trying to pretend their students aren't next door getting slammed on the weekends."
They passed a large white van pulled to the side of the road. As Lorenzo continued to the next block, Astrid looked out the side window and noticed the van had was inching behind them. "There's an unmarked van following us," she noted. "Is that common?"
Lorenzo glanced at it through the rearview mirror. "No." He turned into his driveway and pulled up to the house. "That is not common either," he said, his voice wavering.
Astrid followed his gaze and gasped. The back door to his house had been violently ripped off its hinges, tossed into the garden and crushed a bed of marigolds. They both got out of the car and walked toward the door, Lorenzo ahead of her and she was glad in case he needed to set something on fire. The inside of his house was ransacked. Magdalena's paintings were thrown on the ground, vases were smashed against walls, and every amber sculpture Lorenzo had made was shattered. "Who the hell would do this?" His voice was a low, dangerous growl Astrid had never heard before. It made her shiver, more terrified of him than whoever had broken into the house.
"Look, whoever did this is clearly insane," she said. "I think you should come stay with me for the night. We don't know if they're going to come back."
Lorenzo ignored her, stalking through the house to his front door. It too was damaged, though not as destroyed as his back door. It opened with a loud squeak and hit the side of his house. "What the hell?" He shouted.
"Hey, listen," she tried to reel him back to her. "It's not safe. We need to call the police and then get you out of here. This could've been one of those slayers or hunters, or even an alchemist! And even if it isn't one of them, this was the work of someone really, really dangerous!"
"Astrid," Lorenzo sighed, "I'm a dragon. I can take on any one of them."
Something behind him caught her eye. Astrid tried to look past him, but his hulking frame took up the entire door. "Lorenzo, move," she demanded.
"I'm not going to move away right now. This is my damn house," Lorenzo said, "and I'm not fucking leaving no matter who breaks in."
"No, I mean move out of the way!" She tugged on his arm and pulled him aside, as a rain of bullets ripped through the doorway. Lorenzo fell on top of her and she pulled him against her body, trying to control her breathing. "It's going to be okay," she said to herself. "This isn't going to end badly."
The gunfire stopped, the lack of bullets creating an uneasy silence. Lorenzo pulled her onto her feet and ran up the stairs, muttering to himself. "I can't believe this is the kind of shit I have to go through," he said.
"You don't get to complain," Astrid said. "I had a normal life before I met you and your family."
He turned to her, his hand on the bedroom door handle. "Oh, are you saying this is my fault? Because you didn't have to come with any of us. We gave you the option. You took it."
Another round of bullets tore through the living room. Astrid pushed Lorenzo into his bedroom and snuck over to the window. Outside, the white van had parked on his front lawn. Armed assailants poured out of the vehicle, each taking shots at the entrance. "We can't go out that way," she noted. "There has to be another way." She paced back and forth, walking the length of his bedroom. "There's got to be another... exit..." A shimmer reflected in the mirror caught her eye. She spun around, spotting the portal right behind Lorenzo. "Perfect," she grinned.
Grabbing Lorenzo's arm, she dove through the portal and they tumbled out onto a grassy plain. "Did we just--did we just Alice? Holy shit," Lorenzo said, running his hand over his scalp. "Holy shit. That was insane. How did you know how to do that?"
Astrid turned, noticing how the shimmer turned gold behind them. "Well, I'm not sure how to explain it. I can't just Alice anywhere at any time. It has to be a specific spot that like, sparkles?" She waved to the spot behind them. "The one that will take us home will look different to me. You're going to have to trust me."
He nodded. "Then I will. I'm sorry if I got angry earlier, Astrid. This is all just strange. My family and I haven't recently run into things like this. Usually, we can lie low until the trouble blows over."
"I'm not so sure that's going to cut it anymore," she said. "I just can't figure out how they found your house." She shook her head. "I'm going to go take a look. I promise I'll be right back, okay?"
Lorenzo started to protest, right as she backed into the shimmer. Astrid turned around and found herself face-to-face with a gunman. "We have a live one!" He shouted.
Oh, hell no. Astrid backed away into the portal. "Your house is not safe anymore," she told him. "We need to find another way out."
"Didn't you just say there's only one way to take us home?" He asked, pointing at the space behind her. "How are we going to get out if they know that's where we came in from?"
She held up a finger, shushing him. "There's always another way," she said. "That point will take us exactly where we left, but every realm has multiple portal points. There's one I know has at least three entry points to our world. If I can get us to the right one, I can get us home." She put her hand out, offering it to him as a sign of trust. "Please, just let me help you."
"I guess I don't have a choice," he sighed. Lorenzo took her hand and squeezed it. "Take me home, Astrid."
Her first order of business was finding another shimmer. They were in an other-realm she didn't recognized, but it didn't seem threatening. It was a grassy field looking out on a beach, with a large, greenish blue ocean in the background. The shoreline stretched as far as Astrid could see, much like that terrifying gate she'd encountered earlier. The only building she could see was a red lighthouse, a little to the west of their location.
Astrid took the lead. She guided the dragon to the lighthouse, making sure to tread carefully in case there were any threats nearby. "Can you see it?" She asked him when they got closer to a portal. "It's like a silver shimmer, floating in the air."
"I'm going to imagine in," he replied. "I'm amazed you can tell where these things are."
Astrid pulled him through the portal and they tumbled out on a cobblestone street. She looked around, grinning when she recognized where they were. "All right, don't
be shocked by the inhabitants, okay?"
Lorenzo didn't know what she meant, nodding though confused. "What does that mean?"
His question was quickly answered when a cotton candy colored man strode past them, arm in arm with a canary yellow boy. The man stopped when he glimpsed Astrid, jaw dropping when he saw them. "Aye, you ain't from around 'ere!" He exclaimed.
"You're right, we're not," Astrid confirmed for him. "But I've been here before. They call me Fawn. I'm here looking for Buckweed. Is he around this part of your realm?"
"Bucky?" The little boy asked. "Blue Bucky?" Astrid chuckled, nodding. "I know! I know! Daddy, isn't he in jail?"
Astrid's face fell. "He's in what now?"
"You make one friend in this realm and he's already in prison," Lorenzo snorted. "Good job."
The man jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "The jail's that way, if you're looking for 'em. It's a real hole in the wall kinda place. Good luck getting the boy out, though. He's in real trouble with the queen." He and his son waved and left down the street, following a larger group of spritlings who were gathering at a juggling display.
"This place is colorful," Lorenzo noted. "I'd love to stay here and sketch some time."
"Maybe we could," Astrid said. "I just don't know where you'd get the stuff to draw." She looked down the opposite side of the street, trying to find the jail. "I need to go find my friend. Promise you won't get into any trouble?"
Lorenzo was too busy marveling at the surrounding shops. Astrid sighed in frustration, leaving him next to a Blacksmiths shop before going out to find Buckweed. She drew funny looks from the spritlings, but many of them shrugged and moved on. Something told Astrid they'd seen stranger things happen.
Astrid found the jail in between two dodgy looking taverns. It was, as the man said, a literal hole in the wall. They'd crammed Buckweed inside a cut out hole. The stones surrounding were getting smaller every minute. "Oi, Fawn?" He squeaked when she stopped by. "Is that you?"
"It is. How d'you get yourself into this?" She tried not to laugh. Even if he was in peril, it was still kind of hilarious.
"I was just trying to impress the queen. You know, bring my act up to the castle. But she thought I was makin' fun of 'er!" He wiggled around in his restraints. "An' now I'm gonna end up like poor Burgundy over there." Astrid turned to look at Burgundy, a red spritling who was squished into a cube. "We can live all nice like that, but it's humiliating!"
"I can see that," Astrid said. "Is there any way to get you out of here? I need your help to find that portal I first used when I came into your realm."
"You mean you can come from different places?" He asked. "Wild. That means you could hop all around this universe and no one would notice!" Buckweed cracked a grin. "Do ya think you could pull me out of here?"
Astrid shook her head. "It's not that easy. I--What the hell is that?"
A large parade had started down the stone road. It was coming from the castle, in the opposite direction from where Astrid had portalled in. Spritlings in colorful clothes played assorted instruments as the caravan marched down the street. As they got closer, Astrid could make out a woman in jewel tones, waving to the crowd. "Is that the queen?"
"As I live and breathe," Buckweed nodded. "Oi! Your majesty! Please let me out!"
The caravan slowed to a crawl when the queen passed them. She floated down from the carriage she was sitting on and approached Astrid and Buckweed. "You," she said, her voice like a melodic hum, "are in prison for a reason." She clicked her tongue at him. "Learn your lesson before you speak to me again."
Astrid moved so she was in front of the queen. Bowing slightly, she said, "Your majesty, please let Buckweed out. He's an earnest soul who just made a mistake."
"Who're you?" The queen asked. She circled Astrid, trying to get a good look at her from all angles. "You're not a spritling," she noticed. "What are you?"
"Well, I'm a," Astrid paused. She wasn't sure what she could say that wouldn't get her killed. "I'm an Alice," she said, deciding on the truth. "I need Buckweed's help to get home."
"An Alice?" The queen repeated. "Why, we haven't seen one of those in ages! How did you get here? Why did you come here of all places?" She stopped to look at her prisoner. "And why do you need Buckweed's assistance to get home?"
At least she believes me, Astrid thought. "Well, I got here through a shimmer from another world. I didn't know I was coming here, though I'm glad I did. I came to this world once before through a different shimmer, and I need Buckweed's help to find it."
The queen stopped pacing and nodded. "Fascinating. Can you really portal to other realms?"
"Yes, but only in certain spots," said Astrid. "There are many here, but only one will take me where I need to go."
"All right then." The queen rustled through her skirts, pulling out a pair of silver keys. She motioned for Astrid to step aside. Plunging them into the stones above Buckweed, the queen turned the keys and released him. The walls started to recede and Buckweed tumbled out, kissing the ground beneath the queen.
"Thank you ten times over, your majesty," he exclaimed. "I'll never cross your favor again!"
"Humph." The queen looked away and returned the keys to her skirt. "You may now show this Alice to the portal she desires, provided I can watch a real Alice in action."
Astrid shrugged. "Fine by me," she said. Pulling Buckweed to his feet, he started to guide her toward the place they'd originally met. They passed Lorenzo on the street. Astrid motioned for him to follow discreetly. Buckweed weaved in and out of the cobblestone pathway, stopping to do irrelevant things like smell the flowers and chatter with friends. "Buckweed," Astrid said when he stopped to ask the baker about his bread, "please take this seriously."
"I am!" He rested against a wheelbarrow. "Can't you tell? We're here!"
Astrid looked around, spotting the shimmer just in front of Buckweed. "You're amazing, Buckweed!" She turned to thank the queen for her help, thanking the blue spritling as well when he complained. Nodding to Lorenzo, who'd hung in the back, she reached out her hand. He ran forward and grabbed it as she pulled them through the shimmer.
They landed with a thud in a thick grove. Pastel colored dirt flew up from the ground, and blue mushrooms began to glow alongside the path as they rose. "Perfect," Astrid grinned. "Come on, it's this way." She laced her fingers through Lorenzo's, albeit absentmindedly, and raced down the pathway.
"Can you slow down at all?" He asked her when they broke out of the forest.
"Not a chance," she replied. "Now it should be out here somewhere. That's where I saw it last time."
A bird cooed in the woods. The yellow songbird fluttered out of the trees, flitting around Astrid's head as it sang. It then flew out into the meadow, stopping and tweeting at Astrid when she didn't follow. Astrid trailed after the bird, taking in the environment once more. It was easy to see why when she was younger, she would like this place. It was vibrant and serene, with no one to bother her and plenty of space to play.
"This was like my second home," she burst out. "I used to go here when I was younger to escape everything I was dealing with. Nova didn't mind. I don't think she knew I was gone half of the time." She looked up at Lorenzo. "It meant a lot back then. I think it still means a lot to me now."
His gaze traced over her body. "I'm thankful I'm the one who gets to see it," he murmured. Squeezing the hand he held, Lorenzo cupped her cheek with his free hand. "I don't know what I would've done without you, Astrid."
Astrid's mind wasn't focused on what he was saying. She was thinking about how tall he was, and how his callouses from gardening felt against her smooth skin. Her mind drifted to how it felt when he put his arms around her. It was natural. It felt right. "Time passes differently here," she said quietly. "No one would notice if we were gone for a while."
Lorenzo dipped his head closer to hers and was immediately knocked off his balance by the yellow songbird. It screeched at him, wanting to protect Astrid from what it perc
eived as an imminent threat. "I'm sorry!" He shouted, trying to apologize to a bird. "Please leave me alone!"
Astrid laughed, only partially annoyed the moment was ruined. She took his hand again and followed after the songbird. It took them to a vague shimmer Astrid recognized. The shimmer was encircled by blue mushrooms. "Good note for next time," she said aloud. "I can remember that pretty well." She turned to Lorenzo. "Are you ready to go?"
He shrugged. "As I'll ever be."
Astrid pulled them home.
Lorenzo stayed the night in her apartment after they tried to continue what the yellow bird had interrupted. Lorenzo bent down to kiss her lips. Astrid could smell the scent of the spritlings other-world on his skin mixed with a subtle scent of sulphur.
Their lips caressed as he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her in to him.
Astrid put her hands on his shoulders and could feel the firm muscles under his shirt. The plains of his chest rubbing against her hardening nipples.
He teased her lips open with his tongue. She could feel the increased sensitivity in her lips and an urgency in his movements. He sucked her bottom lip as his hands lowered to her ass lifting her from the ground. As if she wasn't close enough, he lifted her leg so all that was separating them was their clothes.
He pulled back. Astrid grabbed his head to pull him closer but he was stronger.
"I can't do this," he murmured looking her straight in her eyes. Astrid could see the turmoil of his racing mind reflected in his eyes. "I want this. But not now."
Astrid could feel the sharp arrow of rejection pierce her chest. "I get it, I'm not right for you." She was right, why would any of the Russo brothers want her.
"That's so not it. You are right. We are right, but I can't do this. I can't bring you into the middle of the war without you knowing what's at stake."