Special Passage (The Coursodon Dimension Book 4)

by M. L. Ryan

  Ulut lay in the shade at a distance so as not to spook my dining companions and eyed our prize with focused longing. Energy replenished, I uttered a husky call of thanks to my hawk pals before lifting off for home. I flew more slowly this time, allowing Ulut to jog beneath my flight path rather than sprint. I figured it was the least I could do for not sharing Bugs Bunny. That, and I was stuffed.

  “I wonder if I’m supposed to wait an hour after eating before flying long distances?” I mused.

  “I think that’s for swimming,” he replied. “Why, are you getting a cramp?”

  “I’m fine, but I just realized there are a lot of things I don’t understand about being a bird.”

  “I know what you mean. In my dimension, there aren’t many who can change forms. When I first started to shift, there wasn’t anyone I could ask about how to be an animal. It was a lot of trial and error. Fortunately, I’m cute. Even in my dimension, it elicits people’s innate desire to nurture.

  I pictured Ulut transfixing some kind-hearted soul with a Puss in Boots-inspired, wide-eyed, innocent face to score a nice meal. All that was missing was the musketeer’s hat.

  By the time we made it back, there were no vehicles in the driveway or around the construction. What luck, I thought excitedly, I can transform outside for a change. It was never a problem going from Hailey to hawk, but intestinal control the other way around was always a bit of a crap shoot—literally—and I didn’t want to make a mess inside the house if I didn’t have to.

  I circled around an extra time to make sure none of the workers remained. Confident the coast was clear, I landed by the side of the house near my bedroom. Stashed nearby in a camouflaged, watertight, army surplus, ammo container, were my after-form-bend supplies. I wouldn’t require the protein bars this time—posthumous thanks again to Mr. Bunny—but the flip-flops and towel were a godsend when moving through the desert naked. Cactus spines found their way into my flesh even when they weren’t readily apparent.

  “I think you’re okay to go now,” I communicated to Ulut.

  He’d seen me naked before we realized he was more than your standard mutt. Now, with his true nature revealed, I tried to avoid being au natural around him. It was one thing to parade around without clothes in front of your dog, but quite another to do so when you’ve seen him in the flesh, so to speak. I didn’t have any romantic feelings toward him, but he was a fine piece of Dekankaran, and Alex was convinced Ulut’s feelings toward me were not entirely platonic.

  Ulut paused as though deciding if it was okay to leave me unattended. When I hopped over to a nearby shrub to begin my alimental pre-cleanse, he erred on the side of his own comfort and disappeared.

  Like his shit smells like roses, I grumbled inwardly.

  It didn’t take long for me to revert to my normal self. I always ended up crouched in a tight ball, and standing after a bend was stiff and awkward. It was no different this time around, and I slowly stretched up and out until I was in an upright position. Once I got my bearings, I moved the rocks that covered the ammo box, snapped open the clasps, and grabbed the sandals from inside.

  Just as I stepped into the shoes, I caught sight of Rachel, peeking out through my bedroom window. Mouth agape and eyes wide as saucers, she stood perfectly still, with one hand poised near the pane as if she were going to wave.

  I ran, cursing like a sailor, to the sliding door, but it was locked. Continuing an invective-laced rant, I sprinted to the closest door with an entry keypad and punched in my security code. When I got to the room, Rachel was still standing in the same position as I first saw her.

  “Rach, sweetie,” I said softly, moving closer. I was behind her, but advanced slowly, like I was talking her down from a window ledge. I supposed in some ways, that was exactly what I was doing. “Are you okay?”

  It seemed like such a stupid thing to say. My best friend had seen me change from a bird right in front of her eyes and was now, basically, catatonic. Of course, she wasn’t okay. I wrapped my arms around Rachel, guided her gently toward the bed, and made her sit. Her hand was still elevated, mid-wave, so I carefully pushed it down to her side. I waited, thinking she would snap out of it, but Rachel continued to stare, unseeing and unmoving.

  Shit.

  “Alex? Sebastian?” I called out, hoping they were there. I tried to do it loud enough that they would hear, but without sounding as freaked out as I actually was. I must have failed, because within seconds, both men skidded into the room, concern etched across both of their faces.

  “What’s wrong?” Alex snapped. He surveyed the room first, then focused on Rachel and me.

  “She saw me bend back into myself, and now she’s… she’s…” I gestured at her statue-like mien, still frozen even with all the new commotion.

  Sebastian crouched in front of Rachel and gently held her hands. He must have infused some calming magic with the touch, because her shoulders slumped a bit. She still had a blank expression, but at least she didn’t look like a zombie anymore.

  He spoke to her softly, never releasing his hold. The scene reminded me of the first time I heard Sebastian speak in my head. Alex gave me his version of a magical Xanax before explaining there really was a voice and I wasn’t hallucinating.

  As the minutes ticked by, I grew impatient. “Whatever you are doing doesn’t seem to be helping much.”

  “Patience, my dear,” Sebastian replied. Without looking away from Rachel, he added, “Incidentally, you might wish to rethink your choice of attire. While it is not a bad look, it could startle your friend when she regains her bearings.”

  Crap. I completely forgot I was still in the buff. I grabbed the first thing I found—an afghan draped across the end of the bed—and covered myself as best I could. “Alex, you could have mentioned that when you came in,” I complained, wrapping myself in purple chenille.

  He shrugged. “Everyone here has seen you naked before. It didn’t seem that important.”

  The Courso were much less prudish about nudity than your average American, and my comfort level with this kind of display of flesh started out far below the U.S. mean. In high school P.E., I developed a foolproof, albeit somewhat convoluted, method of changing in the locker room without ever exposing any of the bits I was raised never to let anyone see. Apparently, if my mother absolutely had to be unclothed around my father, she turned off all the lights. I had no idea what happened during the day—maybe she made him close his eyes—much less when they had marital relations. Despite this puritanical upbringing, I’d gotten much less inhibited lately—form-bending induced-exposure had a tendency to do that—but I wasn’t sure I’d ever be as cavalier as Alex about standing around in my birthday suit while everyone else was fully clothed.

  Sebastian continued with his ministrations and slowly, Rachel began to respond. I never thought I’d be so thrilled to see someone blink, but when her eyelids finally fluttered, it felt like a huge victory. However, the semi-automatic opening and closing of one’s eyes did not a normal person make, and Sebastian decided it was best to let her sleep for a while. Like magic, which in fact it was, Rachel leaned back onto the pillows and was out.

  I gently placed a comforter over her and then threw on some clothes. Alex and Sebastian moved to the far side of the room and were deep in discussion when I joined them.

  “How did she see you?” Alex whispered. “You are always so careful when you transform.”

  “I checked, and no one was around. She must have come to the window just as I changed back to me. I had to bend outside,” I said, berating myself for the lapse in judgment. “If I’d done it in the bathroom like I normally do, this would have never happened.”

  Strong arms encircled me, and I found myself nestled into Alex’s rock-hard chest.

  “It’s okay, carisa, Rachel will be fine.”

  “What if she’s not? Have you ever seen anyone freak out like that before?”

  I knew from personal experience that discovering the world was made up of t
hings you never dreamed were remotely possible was, well, shocking. Confusion, alarm, even revulsion were completely understandable responses to witnessing your friend changing into a bird, but Rachel’s reaction was more what I’d expect if she’d witnessed me shoving a chopstick in someone’s eye. Thankfully, she wasn’t around when I did just that—she’d likely never recover from that visual.

  “Everyone behaves differently when confronted with a traumatic event,” Sebastian explained. “Alexander, do you recall the fellow in Luxembourg who happened upon us when we emerged from the portal in the woods?”

  Alex nodded. “Poor sap chose a remote spot to hike so he could clear his mind, not get it blown. He took one look at us, appearing out of thin air, and fainted. Took both of us hours to get him to wake.”

  “And when he finally came to,” Sebastian continued, “he couldn’t stop screaming. It was quite disconcerting.”

  “So what did you do?”

  “Generally, we would do nothing. When a human observes something supernatural, it is easily explainable: their eyes were playing tricks on them, that sort of thing. Because the arcane is so far out of their perception of reality, they choose to believe they did not see what they actually did. In this case, he was so traumatized we had to remove any recollection of our magical appearance. When we were finished, we told him we came upon him, out cold, and tended to him until he awoke.”

  That was news to me. “I thought it was standard practice to wipe the memory of anyone who randomly encountered a Courso doing something un-human.”

  “Oh no, we prefer to avoid meddling with the mind of a human. It is extremely rude, mucking about someone’s head uninvited. Besides, there is always a chance of permanently altering their cognitive processes. It is rare, but possible. We only resort to such means when absolutely necessary.”

  “Didn’t you once tell me you made all the humans you bedded forget you? How was that necessary?”

  Sebastian flicked his hand dismissively. “Necessity is relative, my dear. And I never said I made them forget me, only the erotic nuances that are not in the human repertoire.”

  Sebastian was one of the very few Courso who could perform transcendental arousal—the ability to sexually excite without the benefit of touching—in the human dimension. Having experienced it with Alex while in Courso, I was a huge fan. Sometimes, two hands were just not enough to get the job done right. It was like a threesome without any of the awkward ramifications of involving an extra participant. I understood how it might be tough to explain tweaking a woman’s nipples when both your hands were pinning her to the wall, but when in the throes of unbridled passion, it should be easy enough to let your lover believe you were just amazing in the sack. In any case, Sebastian’s choices in post-coital remembrances weren’t important right now.

  “So, what about Rachel?” I worried, glancing at my friend. Her beautiful blond hair fanned out across one cheek, obscuring most of her face. If you didn’t know she’d been drugged, you’d think she was taking a nice afternoon nap. “We can’t leave her like this forever.”

  Alex followed my gaze. “No, this is only a temporary fix. In a few hours, Sebastian will awaken her. Hopefully, her head will be a bit clearer and we will explain everything.”

  “And if not?”

  Alex gave my hand a squeeze. “Then we shall have to consider altering her recollections.”

  “But you said there’s a possibility of giving her brain damage,” I argued, trying my best to keep my rising panic masked.

  “My dear,” Sebastian said smoothly, “I have altered the memories of hundreds of women with whom I have slept. Let me assure you, I am very, very good at it.”

  I hoped he meant the altering part. Given Rachel’s reaction to my supernatural feat, I wasn’t convinced Sebastian had a ghost of a chance with her once she realized he wasn’t human.

  6

  They waited until morning to remove the magical Ambien, and after a long and somewhat heated discussion, I agreed that Sebastian would be the first face she saw. Since I knew Rachel the longest, my first inclination was for it to be me. However, Alex provided a convincing argument that since it was my hawk-to-human metamorphosis that caused her to flip out in the first place, I was not the best choice. There was no reason for her to fear Sebastian. Not yet, anyway.

  Ulut kept me company outside the bedroom while Sebastian and Alex went to wake her. I paced up and down the hall in a vain attempt to ease my jitters, and occasionally, stopped by the door to listen. I couldn’t make out any actual words, only the deep bass of male voices occasionally interrupted by Rachel’s quieter, higher frequency tone.

  “She’s talking. That’s a good sign,” I reported. And not screaming, I thought, relieved that she sounded somewhat calm.

  After what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was probably closer to an hour, the door opened and Alex invited me in. Rachel had moved from the bed to the overstuffed chair in the corner, and Sebastian was perched beside her on the matching ottoman. Neither looked particularly happy.

  “Hey,” I said softly, approaching with caution.

  Rachel didn’t recoil in terror, so despite her creased forehead, I figured the guys had gotten through to her at some level. I sat next to Sebastian and waited for Rachel to continue the conversation.

  She didn’t say anything, just studied me as if we were strangers. Which, I supposed, was kind of true. Still, her intense perusal felt like the emotional equivalent of fingernails scratching across a blackboard.

  I took a deep breath and offered a small smile. “I know how bizarre this must seem, but I’m still me.”

  Shaking her head, Rachel said quietly, “You, yet not quite you.”

  I desperately wanted to take her hand, comfort her in some way, but I decided against it. Just as she said to me, she was herself, but not exactly, and I really wasn’t sure how she might react to me touching her. I settled for asking, “Did Alex and Sebastian explain everything?”

  “You mean, that they are from another dimension and have magical powers that now you also have because Sebastian was trapped in your body and left a little piece of himself when he left?”

  “Uh, yeah,” I mumbled. “That pretty much hits the highlights.”

  My attempt at levity went unnoticed, and her stare continued to bore into my soul. This was not going well. Given her apparent distaste for me, I wasn’t prepared when Rachel requested Alex and Sebastian leave us alone. As they departed, I worried she would use the relative privacy to really go off on me.

  The door had barely closed when she demanded, “How could you not tell me any of this?”

  “Honestly, I didn’t know how to explain. When I first realized I was… possessed… I wasn’t sure what the hell was going on myself. Plus, we had to find Sebastian’s body. There wasn’t any time.”

  “What about when you came back? In all the months that have gone by since, there wasn’t a single opportunity to be straight with me? What about when I was dating Cortez?” she blurted, suddenly more agitated. “He’s not human either, is he?”

  Goddamn Sebastian. He had one job. One fucking job, to give Rachel the whole story. Nice of him to avoid that little bombshell.

  “No,” I winced, “he and Aiden are Courso too.”

  “I can’t believe I had sex with someone who isn’t human,” she said, hands trembling.

  “Rachel, it’s not like he has scales and horns. He’s from another dimension, but what you see is what you get.”

  “That’s right,” she shot back, “you are the only freak who can turn into something else.”

  As the last, bitter syllable flew from her mouth, Ulut trotted past the French doors leading from my room to the inner patio. Rachel couldn’t see him because she was facing the other way, but the significance of his appearance at that precise moment didn’t escape me. I briefly considered saving that revelation for another time, but given her anger at being left out of the paranormal need-to-know loop, I decided on full d
isclosure.

  “Yeah,” I began reluctantly, “about that…”

  I had to hand it to her. Rachel didn’t seem nearly as astonished by my explanation of Ulut and a third dimension as I might have anticipated. All she said was, “Is Vinnie a cat?”

  She was reassured only when I pointed out I’d owned Vinnie for a lot longer than I’d known Alex and Sebastian, and therefore, he could be nothing more than a normal feline. Well, normal might have been a bit of a stretch—when annoyed, he somehow found a way to deliver hairballs routinely into my shoes. Still, she accepted Vinnie wasn’t some overweight curmudgeon posing as a house pet.

  “I don’t know how to process this shit,” Rachel said finally, shaking her head. “Look, I want some time to myself. I’m going home. Don’t call me, and tell Sebastian not to call me either.” She got up, straightened her rumpled clothes, and smoothed her hair. “I’ll get in touch when I’ve had time to think.” With that, she stomped out.

  I stood dumfounded as I watched her go. Rachel’s attention to her appearance hadn’t been marred by the day’s revelations, a development I took that to mean she might come around eventually. If she still worried about personal grooming after what she discovered, perhaps she was more the Rachel I knew and loved than she currently presented. I understood the difficulties involved with having one’s entire worldview turned upside down, but she was taking this way more personally than I’d have expected. Yes, I’d neglected to tell her the truth, but it wasn’t as if she’d never done the same with me. She started dating Cortez without my knowing it, bedding him in my house, and I didn’t get all bent out of shape about that.

  Sebastian and Alex were waiting for me in the kitchen. “What the hell did you say to her?” I demanded. “I’ve never known Rachel to be so closed minded.”

  “It was similar to what I told you that first time,” Alex explained. “Parallel dimension, magical demonstration.”