Authors: Corinne Davies
Six months later
Destiny Harriston wiped her arm across her forehead, stopping droplets of sweat from dripping into her eyes as she looked down at the engine of her car. Smoke poured out of something, and the stupid thing was dead as a doornail. She’d been trying to make it to Vegas and had taken a wrong turn. Okay, so maybe she should’ve stopped at a hotel and gotten a good night’s sleep instead of napping on the side of the road, but she couldn’t shake the feeling like she was close. Ridiculous really, because she wasn’t even in the right state, but in her dozy mood she must’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere because now she was completely lost.
Pushing herself off the car she left the hood up and looked down the empty road. The heat beat down on her back, as a warm breeze did nothing to make her more comfortable. Off in the distance were some mountains that looked suspiciously like pyramids. If they were what she thought they were, she had an idea where she was, and that was in the completely wrong part of the state with a broken-down vehicle.
To top this situation off, she had a job interview in two days at a casino in Vegas. If she didn’t get there on time it would be the end of her chances to work toward her dream. She’d end up in some diner for the rest of her life, working double shifts and complaining about her feet. At least working as a dealer in a casino was a step up from smelling like a greaseball every day. The tips would be better, too, she hoped. All she needed was a couple big winners to toss her some hefty tips a couple times a week…it was possible. It’s not like her dream was to move to Hollywood and become a world-famous actress. That was craziness.
But I’m not going to get there standing on the side of the road daydreaming.
The smoke pouring from her engine had slowed down some and she leaned back over the side of the engine and looked around. A pointless effort since she had no idea what to look for. If she saw a hole in a hose she could wrap something around it and get going long enough to make it to a gas station or a phone. As she waved her hand in the smoke, it dissipated enough for her to see lime-green speckles over her engine.
Oh, no!
That looked like transmission fluid and she knew enough to know that was a bad thing. “Fuck!”
She glanced back at the barren landscape around her and then down the road, hoping to see a car or truck. Hitchhiking was dangerous, but so was wandering around a desert. From here to the horizon was nothing but dirt and brush and not another car in sight. The back of her neck tingled and she slowly turned in a circle, looking all around her. It felt like someone had been watching her, or guiding her…somewhere. “Get a grip, you’re tired and overheated.”
She checked her phone, but it hadn’t magically picked up a signal. It looked like she was going to be walking after all. Trumping back to her trunk she pulled out her small suitcase with her necessities. Originally her plan had been to use the small suitcase when she stayed in a hotel so she didn’t have to dig around her trunk for her stuff every time. It had wheels, so it would be easy to pull along the road behind her.
She figured it would be better to have some belongings on her instead of leaving them all behind. The two bottles of water she’d picked up the last time she got gas were tucked into one of the side pockets of her purse. Leaning back into her trunk she rifled through a bag until she found the pepper spray she carried with her at night and tucked it into her back pocket.
Better safe than sorry.
She could use it to ward off any animals.
She rubbed sunscreen into her legs and arms and wrapped a light cotton shirt around her waist and plunked a big floppy-brimmed hat on her head. She’d had visions of Audrey Hepburn when she bought this and was she glad she did now. She slipped on her oversized sunglasses and slammed the trunk closed. Pausing to kick the tire, she muttered “stupid car” before heading down the road. The suitcase tugged slightly on her arm as she walked.
She could feel the heat radiating up from the asphalt and there was a slight smell of tar in the air. Looking behind her, she could see where the wheels on the suitcase were making marks in the road as she walked.
Well, if anyone finds my car at least they will know which direction I went.
The pyramid mountains were to her right and she knew that there were some small towns, but it would be stupid to try to cross any section of the desert with only two bottles of water. What she was doing now might be classified as slightly dumb, but if she drank one bottle of water and hadn’t seen any sign of life then she’d save the second bottle and head back to her car. Sooner or later someone was bound to drive by. This was a paved road after all, and that gave credit to the idea that vehicles did head in this direction from time to time.
Destiny trudged down the road and imagined what her life might be like five years from now. Thirty was a stepping stone and she hoped that by then she’d have found her place in the world and maybe by then she’d have saved up enough to open a business of her own. At this point she wasn’t certain what she wanted to do, but she didn’t want to be working for any more schmucks that thought grabbing her ass was their right as a boss. That was what drove her to leave her last job. Her manager was getting a little too handsy with her and a complaint to the owner, his wife, got her fired. Destiny hoped the bitch caught a nasty case of crabs from her skanky husband.
Two hours later, Destiny was seriously questioning her plan. The sun had dropped very low in the sky, making the shadows stretch out like they were reaching for her. She’d put the top on to cover her shoulders as the temperature started to drop with the sun. Her anxiety climbed with each passing minute. She could turn around and head back to the car. At least there she wouldn’t have to worry about any wild animals coming after her, but then all this walking would’ve been for nothing. Her legs were starting to feel shaky, so she knew she had to sit down soon, but she worried that if she sat down she wouldn’t want to get back up. It’s not like she carried matches to make a fire and she’d given up smoking years ago, so she no longer had a lighter on her at all times.
What if there was a gas station on the other side of this hill? That would suck if she walked all the way back after being so close to the end. She switched hands on the suitcase. Her shoulders were killing her from dragging the stupid thing. More than once, she’d considered letting it go and leaving it behind, but what if she needed something out of it? The wheel caught in a rut and the handle yanked out of her hand and clattered to the ground for the fourth time in the last twenty minutes. Her feet were killing her and she was afraid that if she took off her shoes to check for blisters she might not get them on again.
“Oh, fuck it!” she snapped and sat down on the top of the case. It felt so good to get off her feet for a moment. Her thighs twitched and she yawned. Maybe she should have a nap?
I read somewhere that a quick twenty-minute catnap is sometimes better than a long sleep.
She looked at the sun.
It’s not going to set in the next twenty minutes.
She would feel better and push forward. It couldn’t be that much farther to some sort of civilization.
It’s not like I’m lost in the rainforest, for Pete’s sake.
She set the alarm on her phone for twenty minutes and walked over to a large rock on the side of the road. Sitting down next to it, she relaxed back against its warm surface. It felt cozy against her back and she stretched and yawned.
Twenty minutes and then I’ll keep going.
* * * *
Chak Tok Ich’aak, more commonly known now as Rock, watched his friend, Jag, pace in front of him. Jag stomped another four steps and then turned.
“I don’t know how you can stand there so calmly. This feeling…” Jag dug at his chest with the heel of his hand. “I can’t stand it. We need to go. Now.”
“Not yet.” Rock looked up at the sky and judged the amount of sunlight left. One of the more fascinating aspects of this world was how it managed to do so well with only one sun. He missed the feel of the double suns of his world. “Soon, Jag. We’ve waited this long.”
“That’s exactly my point. We’ve waited this long, I don’t want to wait any longer.”
Rock understood exactly what Jag was feeling. The incessant need that clawed at his skin and pushed at his chest urging him to run and run fast would’ve been maddening, but Rock was used to waiting. He’d learned to control that urge long ago, a talent honed by the art of war. He had a mere fraction more patience than Jag or he’d be pacing the front as well. This was the first time since they’d crossed into this world that he felt a real connection to it.
This was more than simply a feeling of anticipation. Their lives hung in the balance. In fact, this entire world was under a threat from the moment that portal opened and they’d stepped through. It’d been a thousand years since the portal last bridged their world with this one, a wait his people had forecasted and written prophesies and legends about. Many had worried it would be the end of their world, but as he had suspected, nothing happened.
A soft noise behind him alerted him to the fact that they weren’t alone. One of his Midnighters stepped up beside him and watched Jag pace back and forth. As part of their education about this planet, Eddie had told them the legends of Midnighters. Stories of men who abducted women and claimed them for eternity. Neither he nor any of the other god-chosen warriors had any intention of enslaving the women they were looking for but nothing would prevent them from claiming them. The warriors adopted new names to fit in easier and dubbed themselves Midnighters.
“The work is finished and the portal is secure. We’ve set up a schedule of sentinel duty, but we need to figure out a way to hide the obvious fact that we’re protecting a hole in the desert floor.”
Rock looked over at Blade. The warrior stood there with his arms crossed, his jaw set, and eyes constantly watching everything around them. The scar that ran along his cheek pulled the right side of his face down into a permanent scowl. Blade remained there with Rock and watched Jag dance out his frustrations with Rock.
A warrior’s dance was a way to prepare for battle and keep their body in prime shape, not like the dancing men they’d seen in this world who had an obsession with grabbing their own cocks. Rock would rather move in a dance and entice a woman into grabbing it.
“What about Eddie?”
“He’s decided that he’d rather stay in our world. Something about an Arthur Rye-tus leaving him alone…I don’t know who he is, but we should keep an eye out for him.”
“Agreed.”
“Has there been any sign of the Kimil insurgents?”
“Nothing so far. If they get into this world it won’t be through our portal.” Blade’s scowl deepened. “I wish I knew for certain if this was the only one.”
“If they knew of another opening we’d have heard about it by now.” Shadow and his twin, Raven, who had a natural ability to decipher the electronic communications of this world, had been watching the Internet and security channels. “So far there hasn’t been a large enough spike in violent behavior in one single area that would make us worried.”
Jag suddenly stopped in the middle of a dance step, freezing as the shadow from the pyramid mountain stretched over them as the sun dipped below its peak. Rock felt his lips curl up into a smile. Jag looked at him with the grin of a hunter about to take down his prey.
“It’s time.”
Rock turned and clasped arms with Blade. “Be careful, brother.”
“Hunt well and bring back your prize,” Blade replied and then clasped arms with Jag.
“Keep our world safe,” Jag replied.
The moment Blade released their arms, Rock and Jag took off at a dead run in the same direction, out into the desert. The nagging feeling inside of him blossomed into exhilaration. The moment they had waited their lifetimes for was near. He could feel her, smell her on the air, and hear her soft breathing. She was so close to them. The temple scrolls had warned him of this time. If they could sense her then so could others, and that was what he and Jag feared the most.
If one of the others got to her before them, they would kill her slowly as punishment for their exile and to prevent the rising of their people again. But he and Jag wouldn’t allow it. They couldn’t. Their very sanity relied on finding this woman and claiming her. They settled into a steady, loping rhythm, eating up the space between them and their prey.
“We need a plan once we get there.”