“He has a point, Jax,” Wayra says, seeing Jax’s skeptical face.
“It’ll work,” Trey states, loosening his belt.
I quickly turn to Jax, trying to garner his support. “This is stupid, right?” I say. “He’s an idiot to do this.”
“No, he has a point. If we tie you two together, you should be able to make it,” Jax says, shifting to the ground and rummaging through his duffle bag. “We can separate your gear, Trey. I can take some in my bag and Wayra can take the rest. Here,” he says, coming up with a pair of scissors. “I’m going to modify your clothing, Kricket.” Not hesitating, he leads me to a rock and sits me down on it. Cutting my jeans, he makes them into shorts—really short shorts. “Less drag,” he explains.
I glance at Trey; he looks like an advertisement for Calvin Klein. Wearing only dark, athletic boxers, he’s something out of a catalog or a warrior movie. Blushing deeply, I want to crawl under the rock I’m on. “Wade into the water together. We should tie you two so that you’re face-to-face with both your heads above the water,” Jax says. Trey nods, extending his hand for me to take.
Avoiding looking at him, I stand up, walking to the water’s edge on my own. Dipping my toes in the water, I pull them back sharply. “It’s freezing!” I glower at them, hearing my voice echo off the walls again.
“It is,” Trey agrees, scooping me up in his arms and wading out quickly into the water before I can object further. When he is chest deep, he says softly in my ear, “Breathe.”
Clinging to him tightly with my arms around his neck, I inhale deeply before muttering, “Shh...you’re interrupting my revenge plotting.”
“If you survive this, I’ll insist that you learn to swim,” he says, sounding annoyed as Jax wades to us with a line, circling us.
“If I survive this, I’m killing you,” I reply dryly, feeling the rope tense, drawing me tighter against Trey’s warm body.
A small smile touches his lips at my comment. “How do you propose to do that?” He gazes into my eyes as Jax knots us together.
“I’ll let you spend some sleepless nights worrying about that,” I reply, my teeth beginning to chatter as the cold water is chilling me to the bone.
“You’re as securely tied as I can make you,” Jax says next to us. “Kricket is becoming hypothermic, Trey. You should go now, we’ll follow close behind.”
“Look at me, Kricket,” Trey orders. When my eyes meet his, there’s something in them that wasn’t there before, an intensity that he hasn’t shown before now. “Inhale as much air as you can, then let it out. Do that a few times.”
Nodding my head, I take in a shaky breath before letting it out.
“Again,” he says, encouragingly. I do it again. “The next big inhale I want you to hold it, then, we go,” Trey says, breathing with me.
“Okay,” I say, feeling every fiber of my body shaking in his arms.
Breathing in, he lets the ropes and my arms hold me to him as he dives us under the water, swimming down to the light beneath us. I gaze around in wonder as creatures that I’ve never seen before swim around emitting light. A current begins to develop, weak at first, but in just moments it catches us, pulling us both with unbelievable force and propelling us forward. Wrapping his arms around me, the water tears at us, beating us as we spiral like a corkscrew.
Feeling like an earthworm in a flash flood, I’m hoping to hit a sidewalk soon even if it will probably mean that I’ll be squashed by some kid’s bike tire. My lungs burn as the urge to inhale is warring with common sense. Bright, intense light is shining through my eyelids, making them almost red. But black spots are slowly blocking out the light.
Hugging Trey to me desperately, I shake my head, trying to force myself not to inhale the water all around me. But, I can’t hold on. Inhaling deeply, the water chokes me. Digging my nails into Trey’s back, I struggle against him, knowing that I’m drowning. The current is slowing down as the light is fading around us. My entire body begins to relax as I open my eyes, seeing Trey staring back at me beneath the water, and then everything just goes black.
CHAPTER 6
FOLLOW YOUR EYES
I hear his voice...it calls my name in the dark as pressure on my chest turns into a burning agony in my lungs. Coughing, a gurgling sound emits from me as my eyes flutter open and I’m being pushed on my side while I retch water onto the sandy ground.
Inhaling a deep breath and coughing again, my wet hair clings to my neck as my entire body shakes from trauma. Intense, violet eyes peer down at me from above as Trey says my name again.
“So lost,” I whisper, closing my eyes and feeling like the tide is going to sweep me away, back into the water. Trey picks me up in his arms, pulling me to his chest. He strokes my back hypnotically.
“Here, Trey, put her down. I need to—okay, take it easy,” Jax says defensively. “I just want to make sure…” Jax trails off. “At least let me cut the rest of the rope off of you two.”
Feeling a gentle tugging on my abdomen, the rope eases away from me, allowing me to breathe more deeply. My eyes flutter open briefly. My cheek rests against something warm and solid. I look up from Trey’s chest to his chin. He sits down wearily, leaning against a rock with me on his lap.
“What was that?” I ask in a low, gravelly voice.
“Thin spot,” Trey says, touching my cheek with the back of his fingers.
Jax sits next to Trey and eyes me, clearly wanting to snatch me from Trey to examine me. I gaze back at him from my position on Trey’s lap. Jax says, “It’s what some humans call a wormhole. It’s a link between your Earth and our Ethar.”
I just continue to stare at Jax’s concerned face. Then I murmur, “Oh,” but only because he seems to be looking for a reaction from me.
“Your universe and Earth are our closest dimension, well, right now they’re the closest,” Wayra chimes in, digging through his bag. Finding a canteen, he hands it to Jax. Jax twists the cap off, extending it to me. I shake my head, feeling like I’m waterlogged. “In another few of your millennium, Quixar will be closer.”
Jax nods, “He’s right.” He hands the canteen to Trey, who drinks like he has been in the desert.
I feel drunk. “Is this the only thin spot?” I ask, my mind is still hazy, but I know that I need to find out all I can about how this works if I ever hope to get back home.
“No,” Jax replies, handing me some kind of protein bar that Wayra handed to him.
“Are they all in water?” I feel ill. I never want to repeat what I just went through. Nearly drowning while being flushed to another world is probably the worst torture ever—in either place.
“No, there’s another gateway just a few clicks north of…” he trails off, looking at Trey’s face. “Uh…no. Some are located on the ground, but you wouldn’t want to travel through a few of them.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“They drop you at the poles. It’s a little colder than Chicago, even in winter. Aren’t you more interested in Ethar?” he asks, his eyebrow tilting up.
Raising my head off of Trey’s chest, I gaze around curiously at the panorama. We’re at the edge of a basin, facing an enormous mountain. The clear water is a mirror’s reflection of the imposing mountain, looking like it could indeed be an alternate universe. “Holy…mother of…” I breathe, looking up at the sky and seeing not only a waning sun, but also a moon that is so close that it looks like I could reach out and touch it. Not only that, it’s blue.
“Eat, Kricket” Trey says softly, pushing the protein bar in my hand nearer to my mouth. “You’ll need your strength for what’s ahead.”
“Why?” I ask. “You mean there’s more?”
“We need to get to Rafe,” he replies, accepting a protein bar from Jax.
“This isn’t it?” I blanch, taking a small bite of the protein bar and immediately fighting the urge to spit it out. “Uuughck! What is this?” My face distorts in disgust. “It tastes like bark!”
“Oh, t
here’s bark in it and protein.” Jax smiles while chewing his bark bar. “It’s from the Grumrell tree and it contains enzymes that ward off parasites and insects, but it tastes like—”
“Cat poop,” I state, trying to fight my gag reflex and hearing them all chuckle.
“Eat it,” Jax replies, “or when we travel through the Forest of Omnicron, you’ll get an intestinal worm the size of those hot dogs they sell at Wrigley Field.” He takes another bite of it.
“Eewwww,” I whisper, feeling a shiver go through me. I nibble on the bar again, having absolutely no appetite. “When are we going to the Forest of Omnicron?”
“When you’re finished with that bar,” Trey says, “we’ll leave.”
“How are we getting to Rafe? Is it far?” I ask, feeling like I need to lie down for at least a day before I move again. My muscles ache and even though it’s really warm here, deliciously warm, I’m still shaking like I was when we were in the frigid water of the underground pool. “Can’t we stay here for a while?”
“No,” Trey replies. “This is a water source for every creature within 20 clicks of here and most of those creatures are bigger than us.”
“Excuse me?” I ask, hoping I misunderstood him.
“This is wilderness, Kricket,” Wayra admits, pulling out clothing for Trey and Jax and tossing it to them. “This is not our territory.”
“Whose territory is it?” I ask. “Someone needs to give me a really good explanation for why I have to move from here after I literally almost drowned a few minutes ago.”
“No one owns this territory—or everyone does, depends on how you look at it,” Jax explains.
“It belongs to every Etharian, but no one can alter it or attempt to annex it. It’s protected land,” Trey says.
“So, basically, don’t try to build a summer home here because you’ll never get a building permit?” I ask.
“Not only can you not build, you can’t employ a vehicle on this land or in its airspace,” Wayra expounds.
“So…no limo?” I ask.
“No roads, Kricket.” Trey’s tone is soft as he rubs my arms, like he’s trying to improve my circulation.
“How large is this territory?” I ask.
“Hmmm…” Jax scratches his chin. “About the size of South America, wouldn’t you say, Trey?” he speculates. Trey nods.
“So, we’re supposed to walk across South America?” I ask.
“NO!” Jax exhales, holding both hands out to me, like he wants to stop me before I freak out. “We’re not too far from the borderlands of Rafe territory. We’re really close to the Comantre clan, too.”
“Too close,” Wayra adds, looking tense.
“The way you’re all acting…it’s like we’re in danger or something.” My voice sounds hollow. I watch them look at each other.
“We’re not in danger, exactly,” Jax replies. “It’s more like we’re not very comfortable with our current position.”
“Oh,” I reply nervously, glancing around. Trey sits forward, easing me off his lap. He stands up quickly and dons a pair of sleek, dark, utilitarian-style pants and a shirt that doesn’t hide just how perfect his physique really is.
After fastening his belt, Trey flips open a small panel on the thigh to reveal a tiny row of buttons. Pressing one a few times, the fabric of his pants changes from dark shades of brown, to camouflage, to white, to sand, to a watery-pattern that looks like actual water wavering on his body. Selecting a chameleon setting, the pants begin to blend in with his surroundings, taking on the shades and shapes of whatever is nearby. He does the same with a panel hidden in the lining of his shirt, and then he looks up, eyeing me critically.
I self-consciously put my hand to my hair, running my fingers through it to try to smooth out the tangles. “Did we bring anything for Kricket to wear?” Trey asks Wayra.
“Uh, no. She’s a prisoner. I didn’t think it mattered,” Wayra says. Trey frowns at Wayra before he glances back at me. I stiffen, hearing just how insignificant I am to them.
Jax nudges my arm, trying to make me take another bite of my bark bar. “Eat that and I’ll give you this,” he says, holding up a small leaf in his palm.
“What’s that?” I ask suspiciously.
“It will refortify your enamel and take away the taste of…cat poop,” he says, trying not to crack up.
“So, it’s good for my teeth?” I ask for clarification.
Jax nods, putting on his clothes that are just like Trey’s. Feeling pissy now, I shove the whole bar in my mouth at once, trying really hard not to gag on it. I need to remain strong if I’m going to find a way to get away from these tools and get back home. Reaching for the canteen, I swallow several mouthfuls of water. Afterward, I hold out my hand for the leaf Jax had promised. Popping it into my mouth, the taste of mint quickly dispels the awful aftertaste.
A terrifying shriek emits from beyond the basin, echoing off the rocks and making every hair on my body stand on end. Bolting to my feet, my eyes the size of saucers, I whisper, “What was that?”
Before anyone can answer me, a deeper, more gut-churning roar sounds, on the same side where the shriek sounded.
“Ready, Kricket?” Trey asks, reaching his hand out to me grimly.
I stumble toward his hand, taking it like a lifeline. “Let’s go!” I reply. Taking his duffle he drops my hand for a moment, threads his arms through the bag, and then grabs my hand again. He leads me rapidly away from the water, toward the cover of enormous trees.
Under the canopy of leaves, the light dims as trunks and branches tower over us, higher than some of the buildings in the loop. I’ve seen pictures of large trees—redwoods in national forests that are so large that one could drive a car through their trunks. These trees are bigger. You could drive a cross-town bus through one and traffic could pass you going the opposite way. Another roar sounds behind us.
“Can you run?” Trey asks me, frowning.
Paling, I nod, “What is this place? Jurassic Park?” I ask, picking up my pace. Trey matches it as Jax and Wayra flank us.
“I saw that movie!” Jax says, excitedly. “How did they do that?”
I don’t answer him but fall into the quick pace that I always use to run for the El when I’m late.
“Those sounds were definitely mammals,” Trey says. “The first one was a mastoff and the second was a saer.”
“Describe,” I insist. Trying to keep my breathing easy and steady, my boots are pounding the dirt beneath me, making squishing noises because they’re still wet.
“A mastoff is an enormous, hairy…mastodon with long tusks,” Trey says.
“That’s prehistoric,” I say, narrowing my eyes. “And a saer?
“Scary cat,” Wayra fills in.
“How scary?”
“You see me running?” Wayra counters grimly.
Looking around me, the scenery is whipping by me faster than it should be. I stop for a second, confused by what’s happening. Everyone pauses with me. “Kricket?” Trey asks. “What’s wrong?”
“I—did you see how fast we were going?” I ask, searching at their faces in confusion.
“Yes, but we need to go faster,” Wayra urges, looking over his shoulder.
“No—I…how fast do you think we were going?” I ask.
“OH!” Jax says, “Gravity is different here, Kricket. It exerts a little less force on Ethar. We have roughly the same size planet as Earth, but it turns a fraction slower, creating slightly less gravity…it’s not that different from Earth, but enough to make everything grow larger. You’ll probably be able to jump higher, too”
“And that’ll come in handy if we don’t go now,” Wayra reminds us. Seeing his distress makes me move again. Picking up the pace and plowing ahead, we eat up the terrain in no time.
Running, we leap over huge, fallen branches as if they aren’t there; but after about an hour, I begin stumbling over unseen roots because the twilight is turning to darkness. Catching me before I stum
ble again, Trey halts us beneath another huge tree that looks like every other tree in this vast woodland. Pushing away from him and bending over, I grasp my side, trying to work out the cramp. My face feels flushed as sweat drips from my jaw.
“Here, Kricket,” Jax says, handing me the canteen. Thanking him, I put it to my lips.
“Up or down? Wayra asks Trey, breathing heavily from running.
“Definitely up,” Trey says with a grin, pointing to the high canopy of branches above our heads.
Wayra grins too. “How did you spot that?”
Trey shrugs, still smiling. I look up and see nothing unusual.
“How do you feel about heights, Kricket?” Jax asks, staring up, too.
“Don’t ask me that. Why are you asking me that?” I shoot back, narrowing my eyes at him.
“We need to rest and we need a safer place to accomplish it,” Trey says. “How well can you climb trees?”
I just stare at him for a moment before I say, “Let me put it to you this way, Trey, I’ve never had a backyard in my life…that I can remember.” My hands go to my hips defensively, waiting for his disapproving scowl.
Shaking his head, he mutters, “Add climbing to the list with swimming.”
“Do we put her in a harness? Hoist her up?” Wayra asks.
“No,” Trey says, shaking his head and sounding annoyed again. “I’ll take her up. Kricket, get on my back.”
“Why?” I ask tiredly.
“Because I gave you an order. This isn’t Chicago, Kricket, where you can do whatever you want. Here, there are consequences when orders are disobeyed,” he replies, glaring at me.
Feeling hot and sticky from running for my life through the jungle, my chin rises militantly. “I’m sorry, I don’t recall joining your army, so your orders don’t apply to me.”
I see Jax cringe. “Kricket—” Jax says quickly, but Trey cuts him off by holding up his hand. Then, he turns to me and the menace in his eyes is unmistakable.
Bracing myself for whatever is coming, I watch as Trey approaches me and leans down until he’s an inch from my face. “This is your draft notice, Kricket. You’re in my army now. You no longer think for yourself. I will think for you. I will tell you what to do and when to do it. Do you understand?” he asks.
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