We jogged back to the ballroom then out onto the balcony. “Thanks, we appreciate it,” Jason told the sock monkey.
“Good luck, kids,” the sock monkey said. We saluted each other then turned toward our dimensional exit.
“To Earth,” Girtha said.
“To saving Crisa,” I added.
“To beating Midnight Law,” Jason finished. He looked to Chance. “Time check?”
The prince flipped open his glowing pocket watch. “A little less than an hour of Book time, which means a little less than ten hours when we land on Earth. We should be fine. Hopefully wherever this portal puts us, it’s close to where Crisa is being kept.” He gave Jason and me a smirk. “Would the new couple like to go through first?”
“Shut up,” I said amicably. Then I glanced at Jason. “But why the heck not?” I offered him my hand again and he took it gladly. We hopped through together and in the blink of an eye, went from night to day.
Our portal let out behind a low, concrete building surrounded by dry grass. A low roar filled the background. Cars? I stepped around the corner to see what lay beyond.
It was kind of funny. After going to so many fantastical places, Jason and I now faced a large parking lot. Actually, it was a highway rest stop. I was glad to put my knowledge of Earth terminology to good use.
Thank you, TV.
The building we hid behind had a sign out front indicating it was a café. There was another building labeled: “Public Restrooms” close by, and a gas station. A few wooden picnic tables sat in the dead grass next to a vast parking area full of cars and buses. People migrated around, stretching their legs after long trips no doubt.
Girtha came through the portal, followed by Chance. When the prince stepped through, the portal snapped shut, locking us in this realm.
“I don’t see any kind of light trail,” Girtha said.
I rubbed my chin. “The light trails were for flames. This last portal was supposed to lead us to Crisa, but I don’t know how we find her from here.”
I turned on my Hole Tracker. The second I did, the watch started to heat up. I quickly scanned the holographic map. “Yup, we’re on Earth. It’s pretty early in the morning here, and we’re in a place called California, but I—argh!” Angry sparks shot out of my Hole Tracker and I shut it off.
“So, now what?” Jason asked.
I glanced around at all the people, cars, and buses. The latter were huge—probably able to seat dozens of people comfortably. There were gray ones, black ones, and white ones. Some were solid colors, others had banners across their sides. That’s when my eyes widened.
I slapped Chance on the arm excitedly and pointed at a white bus. “Does everyone else see that bus is slightly glowing?”
They all followed my extended finger. The faintest glow illuminated the white bus I pointed to; it was the same color as the Midnight Law flames and their trails.
“Holy cow, yeah!” Girtha said. “That must mean we’re supposed to get on the bus, right? It’ll take us to Crisa’s location.” My shock deepened as I read aloud the text on the bus’s side banner. “National English Society Big Bear Weekend.” I pivoted toward my friends. “The only other clue Crisa was able to give me about her location was that she heard her guards mentioning something about a big bear. What if it wasn’t an animal they were talking about, but a place?”
“It’s plausible,” Jason said.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Chance added. “Why else would the portal drop us in the middle of nowhere?”
“We need to get on that bus,” I declared.
“Can I make a suggestion?” Jason said. “We need to conceal our weaponry first. I don’t know much about public transportation on Earth, but kids with knives and swords might raise a few red flags.”
“Good point,” I said. Jason and Girtha hadn’t taken any weapons from Toyland because the king said if Toyland objects crossed realms they would remain toy-sized (a.k.a. become tiny by comparison). However, Chance and I still had our normal gear. I swung off my backpack and shoved my hunting knife and utility belt inside. “Chance, if I attach your sheath to my backpack and cover that with my cloak, we may be able to get away with it.”
Chance handed me his sword sheath and I secured it to my pack. I draped my cloak over it again and pivoted. “How does it look?”
“Maybe we’ll be okay,” Girtha said. “Let’s be quick and casual. We’re four unassuming kids from California on a nice, normal field trip.”
I laughed. The others stared.
“Sorry,” I said.
We moved “quickly and casually” toward the bus. Peeking in, we saw that the driver was not at his post, so we hopped aboard. There were about sixty seats in the bus—plush ones with a lot of legroom. Only a handful of people were inside, including a woman knitting, a guy in his twenties eating a meaty sandwich, and a trio of girls around our age, all of whom had their noses buried in a book.
My friends and I moved to the very rear of the bus. Each row on either side of the aisle had two comfy seats. Jason and I settled in one row and Chance and Girtha sat in front of us. I took off my backpack and Chance’s sheath and slid it under my seat.
The clock at the back of the bus informed us that it was seven o’clock in the morning. I yawned like a lazy cat. “Anybody object if I sleep for a while?”
“Anybody object if I join you?” Girtha added.
“Why don’t you all get some rest,” Chance said. “I’ll keep an eye on things. Depending on how long this ride lasts, later we can switch.”
“Thanks,” I said. “And if you get a chance, Chance, I also want to entrust you with a highly important mission.” I gestured with a finger for him to come closer. Then I pointed at the front of the bus. “Find out where that guy got his sandwich.”
Who knew one of the most physically stressful parts of this quest would be sitting still? The ride to Big Bear was unbearably long. At least the bus was full enough to conceal us, and the driver never checked passenger tickets.
My friends and I slept, talked, and stared aimlessly out the windows, lost in our imaginings. I caught the bookworm girls periodically looking back at us; it didn’t take a genius to deduce from their giggles that they were checking out the boys. After a few hours I went over to break the ice. They were super nice and ended up lending me a book called City of Heavenly Fire. It took the girls a bit of exposition to get me into it, given that it was the last installment in a series. However, once I became absorbed in the story, I forgot all about my anxious body and restless legs. At half past two in the afternoon, my eyes were strained from having read the book cover to cover.
“What the frack!” I said to the girls, moving to the row directly behind them so we could chat. “That was nuts.”
“I know, right?” the brunette called Sue said. “Monsters, romance, high stakes. Tell us, what was your favorite part?”
I paused and considered this seriously. “The ending,” I said.
“Why?”
“Because it’s nice to know that at the end of a storm of monsters and tangled relationships and high stakes, there could be something perfect waiting—a nice bow to wrap up a story that caused so much pain and struggle. A light at the end of the tunnel.”
“That’s deep,” Sue responded.
“Maybe,” I said. “But isn’t that what we’re all hoping for?”
“Attention passengers.” The bus driver’s voice crackled over the intercom. “Final destination in fifteen minutes.”
I handed the girls back their book and thanked them, then retreated to my seat beside Jason. Our bus had been climbing switchbacks for some time and the view was full of pine trees, dirt, and coats of snow that increased in thickness as we ascended.
Chance and Girtha leaned over the tops of our chairs to address the two of us.
“Given what the driver said, that gives us about two hours to find Crisa before Midnight Law expires back home,” Chance said, trying and failing
to keep the concern from his face. “I have no idea what our next move is when we get off this bus though.”
“We’ll figure it out,” I said, sounding calmer than I felt.
Out the window a “Welcome to Big Bear” sign whizzed by.
“There has to be light at the end of the tunnel,” I muttered to myself. “There has to be.”
aniel advanced toward Alex, sword drawn. I stepped in his way.
“Hold on, Daniel,” I said, staring at Crisa’s brother.
We had not seen Alex since interrogating him at Fairy Godmother Headquarters. At that time, he had been pale and weak, still recovering from his ordeal trapped in Dreamland and as a prisoner in Alderon before that. Now he looked strong and healthy. His blond hair was longer and a bit shaggy. He wore a black snow jacket and sturdy mountain boots. More importantly, he had the thinnest green aura glowing around him.
“Alex,” I said, in shock. “How did you escape the Godmother Supreme’s custody?”
“Please. Lenore thinks she’s so smart. I’ve been trained to be a hero, a prince, a king, and a villain. Escaping a magical building on a cloud is far from the hardest thing I’ve had to do.”
“Well, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“What am I doing here?” He looked both ways then stepped farther into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. “What are you—” He froze when he saw Mauvrey.
“Hi, Alex.” She gave a somewhat shy wave.
I felt the awkwardness in the room heighten. Mauvrey had “dated” Alex while Tara was in control of her. Tara-Mauvrey had been the one responsible for manipulating Alex into joining the antagonists. They had not seen each other since Tara was ejected from Mauvrey’s body. So, while Mauvrey still had Tara’s memories, this was technically the first time they were really meeting. How strange that must be . . .
Alex adjusted his body angle to avoid looking at Mauvrey and addressed me instead. “I’m here to save my sister.”
“We are here for the same reason,” I replied. “Where is here exactly?”
“Well, right now we’re in a burger place. I stopped for lunch. Crisa is about a two hour drive up a mountain in a region called Big Bear.”
“How do you know that?” Daniel asked, narrowing his eyes. “We hadn’t even figured out she was on Earth when we came to interrogate you. How did you know she’d be here?”
“Because I get how Arian’s brain works. You knew Crisa was in another dimension. I knew he and Nadia have been hoping to corrupt Crisa, but that she would need to be taken somewhere her magic could be restrained. The antagonists have bases in a lot of realms, but with all the black holes that connect Alderon to Earth, I figured it was a good place to start looking.”
“And you didn’t share that theory with us because?” Daniel said.
“Because it was just a theory. What if I’d been wrong and you guys wasted all your time pursuing a bum lead?”
“So how did you get from general assumption she is in this dimension to being sure she is on that specific mountain?” Daniel pressed. “You said you didn’t know the locations of the antagonists’ other-dimension bases.”
“And I didn’t,” Alex said, seeming genuine. “Not at the time anyway. After I escaped Fairy Godmother HQ, I started searching old hideouts the antagonists kept in Book. Most had been raided and shut down—the Godmother Supreme and her lackeys are very good at their jobs in that respect. But eventually I found one still in use and tailed a few antagonists. It took a lot of following and threatening and . . . other things, but I got all Earth base locations and came to this dimension to start searching them. I only have one left to check now. So Crisa has to be there.”
“That must be why the portal dropped us here,” I thought aloud.
“What portal?” Alex asked.
“SJ, I don’t think—” Daniel tried to intercede.
I held up my hand and turned to my friend. “I know, Daniel. But we are running out of time. When the universe sends you a convoy to get you to your destination, you take it.” I leaned in and whispered, “You do see that slight green aura around him? It is the same color as the trails that lead to our flames.”
He sighed, irritated. “Yeah . . .”
“It must be a sign we should follow him,” I continued. I pivoted back to Alex. “We enacted a spell called Midnight Law to help us find Crisa. Our final magic portal deposited us in this restroom, seemingly to run into you. Can you give us a ride please?”
“SJ, I don’t think—” Alex tried to say.
I held up my hand again. “Let me rephrase that. We are on a deadline. We are going to save my best friend. And, Alex, you are giving us a ride.”
“Number twenty-five, your order’s ready!” someone called from the main restaurant area. “Number twenty-five!”
“Can I at least get my food first?” Alex asked.
I pursed my lips. “Of course. I mean, what is a few extra minutes added to your little sister’s imprisonment? If she were here, I am certain that she would want you to take care of your empty stomach first. Endangered siblings are not nearly as important as fast-food combos.”
Alex grimaced. I was glad. I had not been in Dreamland when Crisa chose to save him from the dark abyss he had been trapped in. Even if he had helped my friends on their quest there, my most recent questing interactions with Alex involved him playing for the antagonists’ team and trying to kill us. I was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, but make no mistake, I did not relish the idea of spending time with him. If I could, I would have gladly summoned the Godmother Supreme posthaste and turned him back over to her for his crimes against the realm. He had no right to be walking around in the world freely. She and I would have a talk about her agency’s security later.
I walked past Alex without looking him in the eye and pushed open the restroom door. It was a good thing he had such a thick jacket; the ride ahead was going to be quite chilly for him.
I sat in the seat directly behind Alex and could see his eyes in the car’s rearview mirror. His green aura had faded; the peculiarity of sharing a ride with him had not.
Alex drove a white pickup truck that was, frankly, a total mess. Wrappers littered the floor, the cupholders were sticky, and assorted maps and crumpled pamphlets lay everywhere.
We sped over a road that wound up a great mountain, headed for the place called Big Bear. Alex’s burger remained in its wrapper and his fries were untouched in the cupholder closest to him. My guilt trip had clearly filled him up. The only part of his meal being consumed was the jumbo chocolate milkshake, which Mauvrey sipped in the front seat. Being shrunk had left her feeling lightheaded. The sole noise in the car for much of the ride thus far had been the sound of her sucking through the straw.
Part of me would have preferred we stay in silence. However, I had a lot of questions for Alex, so half an hour into our journey I put my distaste for the boy aside.
“You say you have searched all the other antagonist Earth bases,” I said to Alex. “What can we expect in terms of security? And how have you not gotten killed by any of the antagonists guarding these bases? You are all alone.”
“On Earth many guards prefer to use Earth weapons, so I’ve encountered a lot of guns,” Alex said, eyes not leaving the road. “Do you know what those are?”
“Unfortunately,” I replied. “Blue made me watch a film called Die Hard the first time we came to this dimension.”
“Haven’t seen it,” Alex said. “As for your other question, I’ve survived because I’m good at it. Arian and Mauvrey are great villains, and part of being a great villain means always having an exit strategy. They taught me well.”
Mauvrey stopped sipping and cleared her throat, shooting Alex a look.
“Sorry,” Alex said. “Tara is a great villain. Not you. That I know of anyway.”
Mauvrey narrowed her eyes at him as she went back to sipping.
“There is still one big problem with your being here,” I thought alo
ud suspiciously.
“What’s that?” Alex asked.
“Once you assembled a list of the Earth bases, why not contact us? I understand we have a colored history, but we share the common goal of saving Crisa.”
Alex briefly met my gaze in the mirror. “You turned me into a statue then dropped me in a prison to be detained by our realm’s most powerful, and arguably most ruthless, woman. It’s obvious you don’t trust me, so it’s doubtful you would have believed me even if I had come to you. Forging ahead on my own made more sense. I figured you guys could try finding Crisa your way and I’d try mine solo because you wouldn’t have wanted me on your team.”
I paused a long moment. “No,” I said, leaning forward in my seat with my eyes fixed on Alex. “You are not telling the entire truth. I can hear it in your voice. You do not wound easily and you would never let a few harsh words deter you from doing what needs to be done. You know that if you had come to us with a legitimate lead to save Crisa, we would have taken it. With several bases on Earth and so many people who care about your sister, we could have split up and searched them all in no time. Crisa could have been saved a long time ago. So why did things not play out that way?”
I saw Alex’s knuckles whiten as he gripped the steering wheel tighter. Mauvrey had stopped sipping. Daniel’s face contorted with suspicion.
“Answer the question,” he said.
There was no response from Alex.
“Alex,” Mauvrey insisted.
“I don’t owe you guys anything,” Alex said, glancing at Daniel and me in the rearview mirror. “Why should I answer to you? Who are you to me? Our different alliances have tried to kill each other multiple times, and if either party had been successful, we wouldn’t exactly be mourning the loss of the other.” He looked at Mauvrey. “And I don’t have a clue who you are. You just wear the face of someone I used to know.”
A silent moment passed.
“You are right,” Mauvrey replied calmly. “And I could say the same about you. But whoever we all are to each other, we have one thing in common. Crisa is the reason we are here risking our lives. I do not care how good you are at stealth, Alex; there is a difference between scoping out a location and freeing a prisoner from it. If Crisa is under the guard of the antagonists, you cannot save her alone. You need us. And if you need us, you must be honest with us. Holding back is idiotic at this point. No one in this car likes you anyway.”
Midnight Law Page 71