by Alysh Ellis
“You mentioned another portal.” Judie swung to face Tybor.
“There are a few,” Tybor agreed, “But most of them are not as strong as the one on San Michele. It took five Dvalinn to conduct Huon and his equipment to Venice. It would take at least two, preferably three to bring him home.” His lips twisted. “Hopewood’s black box gave him the extra power he needed to piggyback in, but without it, most of the portals are as good as closed to us.”
“I have copies of the plans for the device I made,” Judie said, “but it would take me a while to put one together.”
“No!” Huon shuddered. “There has to be another way. I never want to see one of those black boxes again.”
“Couldn’t we get to whichever portal is nearest?” Judie asked. “Tybor transports back, gets as many helpers as needed and takes Huon home.”
“It’s not as simple as that,” Huon put in. “Tybor is AWOL. When he goes back home, the authorities are likely to arrest him on sight.”
“Because Huon and I completed the mission and Hopewood is dead, any punishment they dish out won’t be too serious,” Tybor said. “But it will take time to sort it out and arrange to send back a rescue team—time we don’t have.”
“The police aren’t that efficient.” Judie couldn’t believe the men who had already faced down such danger seemed to be so concerned. “We’ll keep a low profile. We’ll have time.”
“I have plenty of time,” Tybor said, grimness tightening his face into a rigid mask. “Huon doesn’t.”
“I don’t…?” Huon’s relaxed posture straightened and his light gaze fixed on Tybor. The air between them quivered with tension. “There’s been something you’ve kept from me all along. What do you know that I don’t?”
“When they took your powers,” Tybor rasped out, “they took your connection to the earth.”
There was a moment’s silence broken only by the soft intake of Huon’s breath.
Bands tightened around Judie’s chest, making it hard to breathe, while she waited for what was to come next.
“How long?” Huon asked.
“Another three days, four at the most,” Tybor said softly.
“I don’t understand,” Judie whispered. Talking out loud seemed somehow sacrilegious.
Huon picked up her hand and held it. “Without a connection to the earth, to our life source, a Dvalinn cannot survive.” The hand holding hers tightened its grip, becoming painful. “They didn’t tell me.” He squeezed harder, grinding her knuckles together, but his attention was focused entirely on Tybor. “You never told me.”
“I didn’t think I’d have to,” Tybor explained. “I thought if I was here, helping you, we’d get the job done, together, in plenty of time. If we didn’t, then we were going to be dead anyway. Telling you about it would only have distracted you.”
“Fuck you!” Huon flung Judie’s hand away and marched the short distance to Tybor. “When the fuck are you going to get it through your head that I’m not weak? I’m as much a warrior as you are.” He shoved his hand against Tybor’s chest. “I don’t need you to protect me.”
“I thought…” Tybor began, stepping back a pace.
“I know what you thought. I know what you’ve thought all along.” Huon paced up and down. “Did it occur to you that if I’d known about this I never would have left Venice? That if I’d stayed I could have found some way to get to the portal on San Michele?”
“You were bleeding, weakened.” Tybor shoved his hands in his pockets and Judie could not have said whether it was to stop them from hitting Huon or from holding him. “Judie made a decision to catch the train and I went along with it.”
“Because you don’t give a shit whether I live or die!” Huon shouted.
“After all Tybor has done for you? Don’t be ridiculous!” Judie said at the same time that Tybor shouted, “Of course I give a shit. I’d die rather than let harm come to you, I…”
He broke off and the silence tolled around them like a bell, the unsaid words clanging in the air.
After a long, tense moment Huon said, his voice husky, “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have made it this far without you and I had no right to say any of that.”
He looked down at Judie, who was wringing her hands together, half in agitation and half in an attempt to restore the circulation cut off by Huon’s fierce grip.
“I apologize to you too, Judie.” He picked up her hand again, holding it as if it were fragile. “I’ve hurt you and I didn’t mean to.” The words were directed at her, but he pitched his voice louder than before and Judie knew they were meant for Tybor as well.
“There is another portal,” Tybor said quietly. “More powerful by far than any other. It is the focal point for all ley lines, a center of worship and mystic ritual for as long as humans and Dvalinn have walked the earth. The natural power there is so strong that I could bring Huon back with me.”
“Then we have to go there,” Judie said, one hand still captured in Huon’s, the other reaching out imploringly to Tybor. “Tell me where it is and I will do everything in my power to help you get there in time.”
“We’ll need your help,” Tybor admitted. “I don’t understand the modern human system of transportation and I don’t have time to figure it out.”
Shaking her hand free of Huon’s, Judie reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. “Unless it’s some obscure place no one has ever heard of, I’ll be able to use this to get directions.”
“Unless the upper world has changed more than I thought in the last five hundred years, you’ll have heard of it.”
Judie tapped her finger impatiently on the keyboard. “Well?”
“Stonehenge,” Tybor said. “If we can get Huon to Stonehenge within three days, he will live.”
“Piece of cake,” Judie said. And it would be, but as she said it a heavy cloud settled on her shoulders. Only three days left with these extraordinary men, and they would be gone, and she would be left alone to deal with the murder of Brian Hopewood, left alone to try to salvage what she could of her life, left alone forever because she would never be able to move on, never able to forget that in a world somewhere beneath her feet, Tybor and Huon lived their long, long lives without a thought for the grieving woman they left behind.
“Can you find out the information now?” Huon asked, breaking her out of her reverie. “Find out how to get from here to Stonehenge?”
His eyes gleamed and Judie knew the thoughts that saddened her had not so much as crossed his mind. And why should they? She had only ever been part of an assignment. A pleasurable part, to be sure, but once the mission was over, easily forgotten. If they could take a soldier’s view of it, she could too. She squared her shoulders, swallowed down the tears that threatened and put on the mask she expected to wear for the rest of her life.
“It depends on the coverage,” she said, and flicked her thumbs over a few more buttons, pinching and spreading her fingers across the screen. Then she pushed her lips into a smile. “Gotta love a university town. Extensive, free network coverage for internet access. We’re in. What do we need to know?”
With a quick tap of her fingers on the screen, she called up a map. “There’s Venice and here’s Klagenfurt. If we want to go to Stonehenge, which is here,” she stroked her finger down the screen and the map scrolled, “we went in the wrong direction out of Venice.” She shrugged. “But the Venice—Vienna Express took me to where I thought I needed to go at the time.”
“And you dragged us along with you,” Tybor grated. “Shit, how did things get so bad we’re dependent on humans and their machines for help?”
“Unless you’ve suffered a memory lapse, I’d have thought that would be obvious,” Judie snapped back. “You’re in the human world now, and that makes me the expert.” She grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. “We have plans to make,” she said, fingers flying again. “There isn’t a direct train from here to the UK and even if there were, I’m not sure it would be wise to take it.
There might be other Gatekeepers and they might be watching the trains.”
“Fuck!” Tybor exploded. “It would be so much easier if we could just transport there.”
“If we could do that, we wouldn’t bloody need to do any of this,” Huon replied. “There must be a way we can do it in the time we have left.”
“Without drawing the attention of the authorities. We need a car.” Judie clenched her hair in her fists.
“Steal one,” Huon suggested.
“And draw the police to us like a moth to a beacon? I don’t think so,” she said gloomily. “We can’t rent one because any company would insist on seeing identification.” She paused. She’d never been to Klagenfurt before, but she’d exchanged hundreds of emails with fellow post-grad students at the physics department of the University. “But we might be able to borrow one.” She picked up her phone again.
“What are you doing?” Huon asked.
“Calling on the geeks and nerds network,” she whispered, holding up one finger to stop the flood of questions.
She thumbed in a text message and waited. After a moment the beep of an incoming message had her pressing buttons again. One more wait and a beep and she crowed with excitement.
“Got it. All I have to do is go and pick it up.”
“Just like that?” Tybor asked skeptically.
“I told him I needed to get to a conference to deliver a paper,” Judie explained. “He’s an academic. It was reason enough.”
“Didn’t he ask any questions? What if he sees something on the news and realizes it’s us?” Huon sounded just as doubtful as Tybor.
“This guy is neck-deep in some really complicated theoretical calculations,” she replied, shaking her head. “Don’t think he’s been away from his computer for months, let alone left the town. The only time he connects with the real world is if there’s something about his particular field of physics. Another problem I solved.” She looked at the two dumbstruck men. “You need me.”
Her phone beeped and she looked down. “I’ll go and meet him and bring the car back.”
Before either man could make the protest that so obviously rose to their lips, she raised her eyebrows and asked, “Can either of you drive?”
Both men shook their heads.
“Thought not,” she said, unashamedly gloating. Let them feel the sting of inferiority for a moment.
“It’s after dark. One of us should come with you to make sure you’re safe,” Huon said. “You can’t use energy balls.”
“As long as any other Gatekeepers haven’t got here yet, and we have no reason to think they have, I’ll be safe. I’m not worried about walking the streets of Klagenfurt after dark. Austrians are very law-abiding people. ” She pulled on her coat. “I’ll be careful and I won’t do anything to draw attention to myself. I’m not stupid.”
“I won’t risk it,” Tybor said, folding his arms and spreading his legs wide, looking as if he planned to model for a Master of the Universe poster.
“I’m only going to pick up a car,” she said with an exasperated sigh. She had to stop them from seeing her as a liability. “Believe it or not, Tybor, I’ll actually be safer without your great big imposing presence. You said yourself Gatekeepers can recognize you as Dvalinn.”
“Then let me come,” Huon demanded.
“No. If the Gatekeepers do come after us somewhere along the line, you’ll both need to be at the peak of your abilities. Save it for then.”
Before they could muster any more macho arguments, she shut the door behind her and sprinted down the stairs.
Fifteen minutes later, she slid behind the wheel of a surprisingly well-maintained Volkswagen Golf and waved goodbye to its owner. If Johann had any concerns about the safety of his car in the care of a relative stranger, or worries about when she’d return it, they had taken second place to his earnest queries about the paper she’d claimed to be delivering.
Stumped for an answer she’d rattled off the title of the paper she’d prepared for her doctoral thesis.
“Oh, that,” Johann said, disgust evident in his tone. “There’s nothing groundbreaking about that.”
Having shown herself unworthy of his interest, she was able to drive the car away without further conversation, not sure if she was more relieved or offended that he had stalked off, so eager to return to his work that he didn’t bother waving goodbye.
She found a parking spot in the street behind the apartment and, after making sure the car was locked, headed back up to their rooms.
She’d barely reached the door when it was flung open and she was faced with two very imposing, angry men.
“Why were you away so long?” Tybor demanded at the same time Huon asked, “Are you all right? Nothing happened to threaten you?”
She raised her hands to shove at two solid chests, one a wide expanse of brown skin-covered muscle, the other slender and ivory colored but just as solid. Both of the men took one step backwards, but it was only so they could pull her inside and slam the door shut behind her, not because she’d had any impact on them.
“I’m all right. I told you I would be.” She dropped the keys on the hall stand. “I’ve only been gone a little while. I barely took time to cover the civilities with Johann.”
“Johann? Who’s Johann?” Tybor snapped.
“The man I borrowed the car from.” Judie blew out a long breath. “It’s parked outside, everything is under control and I don’t need you to make a fuss over me.”
“You take too many risks. You’re only a human and you don’t have the strength or training to deal with this situation.”
“A human who got you out of a situation you didn’t seem to be dealing with too well,” Judie reminded him. “Maybe you’ve forgotten where you were before I intervened.”
* * * * *
Judie stood there with her hands on her hips, glaring at Tybor as if she were unaware that he towered over her and outweighed her by about eighty pounds of pure muscle. Tybor glared back, his clean-cut lips firm, his jaw clamped shut, a muscle in his cheek twitching.
Huon looked from one to the other and his skin grew hot and itchy. He rolled his shoulders restlessly, but the tension didn’t lessen—the tightness grew and spread down to his groin, settling solidly in his cock, causing it to swell and harden.
Desire. Although he knew the feeling, knew how to label it, knew by now how to obey it, the intensity of need that gripped him, held him rigid and vibrating, took him by surprise. He had to have Judie. He wanted to bury his cock deep in her body and thrust and thrust again until he reached the peak of divine madness, but he wanted more—wanted something he couldn’t put a name to, something tied inextricably to the man in front of him. Harsh, warlike, infuriating, but fiercely loyal, prepared to give his own life to save Huon’s.
As he watched the pair of them face off, another image burned in his brain. Judie squirming and writhing beneath him, sandwiching him between her soft smoothness and Tybor’s sharp edginess above him. He needed them both.
His cock stirred and hardened and he stepped forward, placing himself sideways between them, one shoulder against Tybor’s rock-hard chest, the other arm brushing against the gentle swell of Judie’s breasts. Raising his arms, he embraced them both.
“You are amazing, Judie Scanlon. Brave, resourceful and very, very sexy.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “And Tybor knows it. He just doesn’t like to admit it.”
“I’ve noticed a few things he doesn’t like to admit,” she said.
“Yeah?” Tybor snapped. “Like what?”
“Your feelings, for a start,” Judie said.
“I’m not a human,” Tybor replied. “I don’t have feelings. Not the way you mean.” He shrugged his shoulders and stepped away from Huon. “If you want to fuck, then let’s fuck. But don’t mistake it for anything other than what it is. Sex. Physical escape.”
He wrenched Judie away from Huon and threw her down onto the narrow single bed, stripping off his
clothes, pushing Judie’s out of the way and coming down over her. Huon stood where he’d been, shock holding him transfixed.
He’d wanted the strength that made Tybor the warrior he was, but not this savage creature who seemed intent on selfishly fulfilling his own needs regardless of what Judie might want.
Judie. The thought of her galvanized him into action. He rushed forward, fists clenched, prepared to fight Tybor if he had to, if Tybor did not back off. He would not let Judie be abused, not by anyone—not even the man he admired to the point of pain.
But as he reached out to grab Tybor’s shoulder to drag him away, Judie’s brown gaze caught and held his. “It’s all right, Huon. Tybor won’t hurt me. He needs this and I…” She caught her breath as Tybor, acting as if he had not heard her speak at all, raised his hips and plunged into her.
Now Huon’s breath caught in his lungs. He watched Judie’s eyes glaze over and he knew her focus was all on the point where Tybor’s cock drove into her soft depths.
His own cock hardened and ached and his hand slid down inside his pants and curled around it, squeezing and rubbing as the excitement grew. Shuffling around, he positioned himself to the side, where he could see the tight angles of Tybor’s ass as it rose and fell, flexing with each powerful movement of muscle. He moved again and his field of view widened to include the sight of Tybor’s profile, tight with lust, the hard lines of his expression looking too much like anger for Huon’s comfort. Beneath him, Judie made soft, sexy little exhalations, sounds that indicated her pleasure and tracked the rising push of her passion.
The sight and sound and the warm, musky smell beginning to rise from their two bodies excited Huon more and he rocked back and forth as his hand moved faster on his cock, keeping time with the pumping of Tybor’s hips.
With one strong movement of his arms, Tybor pushed himself up higher on Judie’s body, and Huon caught sight of his cock, darkened to a deep purple, veins standing out in pulsing lines, before Tybor thrust downward again.