First Crossing (4 page)

Eve hunched on the floor with her back against a pile of
cardboard boxes, waited for her mind to calm, and finally allowed herself to
think.

She was fae.
Part
-fae.

That was the huge, overwhelming fact that had been sitting
at the back of her mind ever since the words had left Hunter’s lips. It
explained so many things. Why she saw the things she did; why she
felt
things
differently to everyone else. It probably explained why, when she was showing
the victims of road accidents how makeup could disguise the scars, she was able
to do a lot more than add a thin film of cosmetics. Every time she saw a
damaged client, as her hands smoothed on foundation, she directed a pulse of
healing energy to the ravaged tissue. She had no idea exactly how it worked;
she had always explained it away as being some power passed down to her by Nana
Alice.

Now, she wasn’t so sure.

Her thoughts turned to her father. How had he managed to
keep a secret like this for so long? And how –
how! –
could he let her
think her mother was dead?

The answer came immediately:
fear
. Whatever it was
that had led to her mother sending her away, and to her father agreeing to
leave the Otherworld with Hunter, carrying his daughter to safety – it had to
be huge. Something big enough and scary enough for Eve to feel the fallout even
in a different world.

The thought came again:
Why
are they hunting me?

Drawing her knees up under her chin, Eve thought about
Hunter’s words earlier, and came to the inescapable conclusion that they either
wanted her dead, or in their power. Okay. That much was easy. But as for the
‘why’….

Because she was dangerous to them?

Because they would be able to hold something over her
mother?

Because she held the answer to something, maybe.

She sighed. Only Hunter would be able to tell her, or her
mother. Neither was here, and she didn’t even know if Hunter was alive. If he
wasn’t
,
then how was she supposed to find her way anywhere? How was she supposed to
evade
them
?

Since her efforts to think things through had come up with
nothing but more questions, she turned her attention inward, curious about the
hyper-awareness she had experienced after crossing from Human Earth. Before
crossing over, she was routinely able sense things; to sometimes see future
events. She could tap into others’ emotions and, quite often, their thoughts.

But from the moment she met Hunter, she was able to
send
thoughts, as well as receive them.

And that wasn’t all she had received. Her face flooding with
heat, she recalled the jolt of sexual arousal when he had been helping her to
get a fix on the coordinates for the path under the sea. Had that come from
her?
Or him? Was it deliberate?

No, she wasn’t going to think about that. Someone – or some
thing
– was hunting her. That was what was important. Getting out alive. Once she was
safe, she could start thinking about how she was going to fit into this strange
new life.

Outside, she heard a tiny snick of sound. Eve scrambled to
her feet, silently cursing herself for not finding a spot to hide. Although
that might not matter here: she was no longer on human earth. For all she knew,
everyone here might be able to sniff out strangers at a thousand paces. 

The door opened, and Hunter slipped inside.

Relief made her rubber-kneed. “It’s you! What
happened
to
you?” Then he came closer, and she could see the gash on his face in the dim
light. Blood trickled from his hairline down over one ear. His energy was far weaker
than it had been earlier. “You’re wounded.”

He waved away her concern. “I am all right,” he said
impatiently. “This will heal within hours. But they have found the path, and
it’s only a matter of time until they align themselves to it.” He fixed his
eyes on hers; deep, green, compelling. “Eve, you
must
listen carefully.
Do exactly what I tell you – it is imperative you get this right.”

Eve just nodded, her eyes searching his. She wasn’t about to
argue. When you were the prey, getting away was pretty important. “What went
wrong? How come they caught up so quickly?”

“You’re part mortal,” he said bluntly. “You have a lot of
latent power, but you don’t know yet how to cloak yourself, or how to put up
strong shields against the kind of creatures that are hunting you. They
followed your trail faster than I thought,
and
they’ve found new ways to
hide their approach. By the time we were ready to dive to SF3, it was too
late.”

She swallowed. Oh great; they could track her because of her
human-ness. “Where are they?”

“
Too close,” he said tersely. “Longer explanations
will have to wait, Eve. We have half an hour at most, and it might only be
minutes. I’ll have to send you through to Elm Crossing. It’s a pocket of the
dimension we’re in now – not ideal, but it’s well-defended, and you’ll be safe
until your powers are more fully developed. I’ll stay here and draw them away.”
He absently wiped away a trickle of blood on his forehead with the back of his
hand. “They can’t
be allowed to find you.”

“So you’re not coming.” Eve fought down the panic that
assailed her at the thought of having to find her way around by herself.

“I can’t. My task was to remove you from Mortal Earth, and
see you to safety.” Despite the tension she sensed in him, his voice was as
steady as ever. “Now they know where you are, and you’re not safe anymore. I’m
sorry, Eve, but it means another transition, and that’s going to be hard on
you. The crossing will be uncomfortable, and when you get there, you can’t let
anyone know too much about yourself.”

She stared at him helplessly. “What am I supposed to do
there? Where do I go?”

“I know it must be frightening. And confusing.” He reached
out a hand. “Come here. You have to be ready to go in an instant; I need to
lock in the coordinates, as we did before.”

She flushed, remembering only too well what had happened the
last time.  Hunter didn’t appear to notice her reluctance. This time he turned
her to face away from the ocean, again taking his place behind her. His hands
settled into place, warm on her shoulders, his fingers trailing lightly near
the throbbing pulse in her neck. “Ready?”

She tried to relax. “Yes.”

“Open, then.”

Hesitantly, she allowed him entry again. Immediately she
felt that flooding surge of power and energy, burning blood-red and hot through
the core of her. She clamped her thighs together and fought down the flame of
arousal, biting her lip in the effort to control her reaction, her hands coming
up to clench over his. Her nails dug into his skin.

Then it happened, same as before. The force coalesced into a
tightly-focused ray of energy, burning a path into her mind; her muscles; her
tissues. She could feel the path; she could, in her mind’s eye, see it
stretching out in front of her.

“Okay,” she whispered, letting her hands fall back to her
sides. She sagged back against him, spent. “It’s locked in.”

For a moment he didn’t move, and Eve became aware of a
something different humming between them.
He feels it too,
she thought
.
 His hands squeezed her shoulders gently, then he drew back and slid his
palms slowly down the sleeves of the rough jacket that covered her arms, and
linked his fingers with hers. Something unspoken lay between them.

She had to ask. “Did you… do that deliberately?”

He didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “No. But it can happen,
if there is an attraction between parties. Especially if one half is untrained,
as you are.”

If there is an attraction between parties.
He made it
sound like a scientific experiment.

Fighting the impulse to turn and melt into him, she turned
her focus away from the insistent warmth between her thighs, and straightened.
Move
away, Eve.

She turned to face him, folding her arms. “Tell me about
this place you’re sending me to.”

He said nothing for a moment, his face betraying nothing of
what he thought. Eve extended her awareness and probed gently, but hit a shield
immediately. He stared back, and let her know that he’d felt it by quirking one
eyebrow. 

She shrugged. “Tell me.”

“It will take some time before you understand how it all works.
I’ll try to give you some idea, but if they come before I’ve finished, I’ll
boot you out of here so fast your head will spin, so be ready.”

Eve matched her expression to his: business all the way.
“Okay.”

“And it will hurt.”

Well, she was no girly girl. She shrugged, pretending
indifference.

“You were raised on Human Earth by a human father, but your
mother was half fae.”

Eve’s brows flew up at that.
Half
fae. “That means
I’m only one-quarter fae?”

“Yes. Your grandmother mated with a voyager from Earthstar.”
Obviously reading bewilderment in her face, he searched for words to explain.
“Think of it as simply Earth in another galaxy; yet another version of where we
are now, rather like Mortal Earth – but on a higher plane.”

Eve’s mouth dropped open. This was beyond anything she could
have imagined. Had she not already crossed into two strange lands, she would
have laughed in his face. Half human, one-quarter fae… and one-quarter
something the hell else that she couldn’t get her head around.  Not to mention
the fact that she had gained both a mother and an extra grandmother, all on the
same day.

“Your grandmother Liliana,” he went on, “is not only full
fae, but also a powerful ruler. When one of our spies recently brought news of
your planned execution, she and your mother assigned me the task of bringing
you back.”

Eve’s pulse jumped.
Execution?
 Her day was
definitely getting worse. “But
why?
What possible reason – ”

“Wait, we’ll get to that. Now stay with me here; you have to
concentrate. When we first crossed over today, it was to the Otherworld, which
is mostly fae. Your grandmother rules there, but you would have been too easy
to find. With me so far?”

“Yes,” she said faintly.

“When we locked in to the path under the ocean, we arrived
here, which is another dimension of the Otherworld. Many different beings
co-exist: vampires, fae, shapeshifters. It’s like an ethnic melting-pot, where
different nationalities are learning to coexist. There is no one ruler; there
are territories.”

She nodded, barely keeping up. Half an hour ago she was
barely coming to terms with being fae. Then an Earthstar grandparent. Now it
was vampires and shapeshifters?

She was going to wake up any minute now.

“This is where we had planned to keep you until you learned
self-defense, both physically and on a psychic level. You also will have to
learn combat skills.” Unexpectedly, he reached out a hand and cupped her chin,
rubbing a thumb over her chin, just touching her lips. “What you will be doing
is like nothing you have experienced before. It’s going to be tough, but from
what I’ve seen, you’ll handle it.”

Almost in a trance, she simply nodded. “But now I’m not
stay;
margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:ing here.”

“No. You will remain in this dimension; same mix of people
and races, but we’re moving you to safety through another portal. This one is
heavily guarded and protected, and only a few know about it.” He hesitated, and
for a fleeting second she saw a rueful expression in his eyes. “Your
grandmother, Liliana, had to send her other two daughters there for safety some
years ago. Their names are Helena and Sophie. You will arrive at their door,
and they will be expecting you.”

She stared at him. “That would make them … my aunts?”

He inclined his head. “They are your aunts. However, they
have always proved troublesome to Liliana, and you too may find them difficult.
But they are too afraid of Liliana to betray you, and that is what is most
important right now.”

She rolled her eyes and moved away from his hand. So she was
being sent to live with the black sheep of the family. Better and better.

“What am I supposed to do there?”

“Lessons and combat training will be arranged for you. The
rest of the time, you will work for your aunts in the family business.” He
frowned. “It would be better if I were there with you; that was always
intended, while you adjusted to the life here. Now, however, I have a lot of
work repairing the breach that led to them finding you. There are traitors who
need to be dealt with. And while your aunts will not hand you over to the
enemy, they cannot be trusted in other ways. They know you are their sister
Tia’s daughter and Liliana’s granddaughter, and they know your father is
mortal.” He paused for emphasis. “They do not know you have Earthstar genes,
and Tia does not want them to know.”

It was a good thing that Eve’s arms were still tightly
folded, because she needed something to hold on to.

She felt completely, utterly lost.

Her father was back on Human Earth, probably grieving as
much as she was. In the space of a day she had discovered she was part fae and…
and part-Earthstar, although she was still confused about what
that
meant.
She had traversed two worlds, but was not permitted to stay in them and meet
either her mother – or the grandmother who did seem to care at least a little
about her welfare. Instead, she was going to be flying off to some other pocket
of this – this dimension, or whatever it was called, to stay with two aunts who
could not be trusted.

Oh, joy. She stared at her feet so Hunter wouldn’t see the
moisture in her eyes. Big tough guy Hunter who spoke lightly of her having to
learn self-defense and combat skills.

“I do know something of self-defense,” she said, managing
with some success to keep her voice from wobbling. “Surely that will help.”