Rogue Wave (The Water Keepers, Book 2) (31 page)

“What’s that platform thing down there?” I asked. “Do you know?”

Rayne followed my gaze. “I’m not exactly sure, to be honest. There’s an entire underground structure down there. It’s possible that the platform is a disguise.”

“A disguise?”

“Well, I’m guessing they had to get some kind of permits when they started building. They probably got permission to install an underground water reservoir or something like that. Of course, that’s not even close to what’s really down there.”

“So, what
is
down there, exactly?” I asked.

Rayne dropped his arms from around me and moved to my side. “A large part of it is a parking garage, as boring as that may sound, but its real purpose is border patrol. There’s an elaborate security screening area designed to allow only documented agents through.”

“And this whole thing is underground, right below us under these hills?”

“Yep,” he said. “It’s all right here. You just can’t see it.”

I shook my head. “But I don’t understand. Where does it go? Is the source of the Healing Water underground too? And didn’t you once tell me that your family’s orchard was near the source, and I would probably never get to meet them because the location was a big secret and all that?”

Rayne ran a hand through his hair and took a breath. “The source of the water isn’t underground; and no, my family’s orchard isn’t just down the street from here. This security area leads to something we call a Threshold. A Threshold is like, I guess you could say…a portal, like a doorway or shortcut to another place.”

“Are you serious?” I said in disbelief. “Where does the Threshold go?”

Rayne paused and examined my face. “Home,” he said quietly. “It leads to my home.”

25. THE THRESHOLD

I watched Rayne’s face as he stared down at the mystery hidden under the hills. Only, it wasn’t a mystery to him. It was a place he knew well. And it had special meaning for him. It was his home.

I placed my hand on Rayne’s arm and said, “Do you miss it?”

“Sometimes,” he said thoughtfully. “But not as much as I used to. Wherever
you
are, that’s my home now.”

I curved my body to face him and leaned closer. “Tell me about your home, Rayne. Please? I want to understand you. I want to understand where you come from.”

His eyes smiled warmly. “It’s called Ambrosia.”

I repeated it in my head.
Ambrosia
. I didn’t say it, but the name sounded a lot like a salad my grandma used to make, although it was more like a dessert. My mind filled with fond memories of oranges and marshmallows.

“Ambrosia,” Rayne went on, “often refers to something incredibly delightful or fragrant. That’s actually a great way to describe my home, too. In many ways, it’s a very delightful place. The land is beautiful beyond belief, there are colorful flowers and plant life around every corner, and the breeze carries the faint scent of dew and honey. You couldn’t imagine anything more pleasant.”

It was touching the way he spoke about his home with such veneration. I gazed sincerely into his eyes. “It sounds wonderful.”

“In Greek mythology, Ambrosia was actually considered the food of the Gods,” he explained. “It was said to grant immortality to anyone who consumed it. I can’t say I know anyone who is, in fact, immortal, but people from my home live more than two hundred years. That seems like a pretty good start. I don’t think they were far off when they named the place. There’s something special about it. The Healing Water surrounds everything there.”

“I wish I could see it,” I said. I closed my eyes, hoping I could picture it better in my mind.

When I opened them again, I saw what looked like a car down below us. At the foot of the Threshold entrance, the car paused briefly then rolled forward, disappearing out of sight.

“Did you see that?” I said, intrigued. “Someone just went through the gate.”

Rayne glanced at his watch. “It’s already after five. We should be seeing a lot more traffic in the next couple of hours.”

“Why? Isn’t that rush hour in L.A.? Why would Keepers wait to come through the Threshold when there’s a bunch of traffic on the roads? Don’t they make their own schedules?”

“Some of them are probably Keepers,” he said, “but most agents coming through right now are a different kind of agent, called Backers.”

“There are
more
kinds of agents?” I gasped.

“Yes, but that’s it. You know about all of them now. There are three different departments with agents—Keepers, Scouts, and Backers.”

“What do Backers do?” I asked.

Rayne shrugged. “Basically…they make money. Most of them run banks owned by my organization. We have a bank right here in Los Angeles. Backers are the only agents who commute back and forth through the Threshold on a regular basis, many of them every day.”

“Look, there’s another one,” I said, pointing my finger with big eyes, like I was standing on a beach, spotting a dolphin out in the ocean.

Rayne chuckled. Then he turned my body to the side as if he wanted to show me something. “Do you see that street just to the left of the concrete platform, at the bottom of that hill?”

I searched the streets below us. “You mean the one with that house with the big checkered thing on the roof?”

“Yep, that’s the one,” he said. “I think the thing on the roof is a solar panel. Anyway, the end of that street has an entrance to the Threshold as well.”

“There’s another one?”

“There are five actually.”

“Five?” I repeated.

Rayne began pointing out across the hills. “Some of them are more difficult to see a little farther down, but they’re all located within these neighborhoods at the base of these hills.”

“Why are there so many entrances so close to each other?” I asked.

He shrugged. “They all go to the same place. I think it’s mainly for traffic control. It can get pretty congested during rush hour.”

I shook my head in disbelief. I used to have this idea that the Keepers came from a small organization, but I was beginning to think I was way off.

Rayne jogged over to the Viper and came back with a set of binoculars for me to take a closer look. With each passing minute, the number of cars winding their way up through the surrounding streets multiplied. The numbers rose to the point where there were even cars waiting in line outside the gates. I couldn’t believe there were so many of them.

“You said there was a big parking structure down there, right? So, everyone just leaves their cars parked here and crosses through the Threshold on foot?”

“Usually,” he answered.

“If they can’t bring their cars, what do people do when they get there?” I asked.

“I have another car parked and waiting for me on the other side. A lot of them do. Of course, there’s a nice commuter train that picks up at the Academy and makes stops all over the city. Most of the agents live right in the city, so a car isn’t really necessary.”

“Wait, back up,” I said. “The Academy? What’s that?”

“It’s a school. That’s where they train us to become agents. The Threshold comes out right onto campus.”

I needed to sit down. I noticed a large rock a few feet away and steadied myself onto it. “But how is that possible? How can someone drive through a tunnel under the ground and end up walking out onto the campus of a school? That sounds impossible.”

Rayne sat in front of my rock on the ground. “I’m sorry. I grew up with this knowledge. So, for me, it feels easy to understand. What can I do to make this easier for you?”

“Just explain to me how this Threshold thing works. Like, where is it really going? Is it some kind of alternate reality or something? My mind is seriously just…boggled.”

“Have you ever heard of a…” He stopped himself before he could finish.

“Heard of what?” I urged.

Rayne squinted, hesitating. “Have you ever heard of a…wormhole?”

I laughed instinctively. “You mean, like one of those tunnel things they talk about in Star Trek kind of movies, where spaceships fly through some big hole in the sky and jump back and forth through time or to another galaxy?”

Rayne looked up at me but didn’t say anything. His eyes locked on mine with an almost nervous stare. The nod of his head was so slight, I could barely pick it up.

I blinked for a moment. When I had given him my answer, I was mostly joking, but the way Rayne looked at me now, told me I was more right than I ever wanted to be.

“No way,” I finally said. “No
way
. You’re messing with me.” His face was way too serious. “But—” I said, cutting myself off, wishing I could protest.

I was speechless. Rayne studied my reaction carefully, waiting patiently for my thoughts to catch up.

I pushed out the words. “So, are you from another…galaxy…or from another time?”

Answering my question indirectly, Rayne said, “Ambrosia is only a three hour time difference from Los Angeles.”

I looked at him carefully. “So, you’re from a different…place.” I caught my eyes shifting up toward the sky. “A place out there?”

Rayne stood and dusted off his pants, then sat next to me on the rock, lacing his hand through my fingers. “Yes,” he whispered. “Ambrosia is a completely different planet.”

My muscles tensed.

“I hope that doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable,” he said. “I’m not some freaky alien or anything. I’m just as human as the next guy. Well, except for maybe my Watermark.” He held up his wrist when he mentioned it.

I looked at him and shook my head. “No, of course not. I could never feel uncomfortable around you, even if you
were
an alien. I mean, I’m glad that you’re not.” I laughed once under my breath, but I wasn’t in the mood to laugh.

Rayne smiled. “Ambrosia isn’t all that different from Earth. Well, in some ways it is, but in many ways, they’re very similar. We have jobs and homes and families, just like here.”

“Really? What else is it like? Is it big? Are there lots of different countries, and languages, and people, just like here?”

He shook his head. “No, I guess that’s one of the ways that it’s different. Ambrosia is a lot smaller than Earth. There are only two continents there, Banya and Cayno. The rest of the planet is covered by water. And Cayno is hardly even inhabitable. The only people that live there are terrible criminals who have been sent to exile.”

“So you live on the other one, then?” I said, already having trouble remembering the name.

“Yeah. Banya.” He sighed. “We all live there. We have just one great city, called the City of Banya, built all around the source of the Healing Water. You could almost compare the layout to Los Angeles. We have the coast all along the south side of the city and a string of rolling hills across the north.”

“People live all around the source of the water, then? Are they allowed to go there? I mean, I don’t even know what the source really is. Is that even possible?”

“Yes, it’s possible,” he said. “The source is an actual place. But they keep it heavily guarded. People can’t just go in and out whenever they please. You have to have special permission. I’ve been there before, a couple of times, actually. Water Keepers are usually the agents assigned to guard it, and I was lucky enough to get a few shifts there before I took this assignment. You have to sign a bunch of extra paperwork and stuff before they’ll let you up there, but it was worth it.”

My eyes brightened. “What was it like?”

“I’ve never seen anything else like it. Banya is a beautiful place, but even it can’t compare. It’s called the Sacred Pool of Banya. I’m not sure I can describe it in a way that would do it justice. It’s almost surreal, like a dream. There’s a tall, single-streamed waterfall coming down from the tops of the hills, cascading into the first pool. Then from there, the water spills over the sides of the first pool down to a second, larger pool. But it’s not just water; it’s Healing Water. So, it doesn’t just flow down normal, like you would expect. It sort of waves and floats down on the air. Then around the base of the pool, is every color of plant and flower you can think of. And there are these huge, towering trees, called Banyans, creating this protective wall on all sides. Their trunks weave and wind together, almost like they’re all part of one massive tree.”

Rayne laughed at himself. “Sorry. That was probably a terrible description. I just can’t find the words to explain what it’s like.”

“No, that sounds amazing,” I insisted.

“I wish you could see it. And it’s not just the beauty there that captivates you; there’s a special feeling, too. Like, deep down, you just know that there’s a purpose to everything. I don’t know. Does that make sense?”

“I think I know what you mean,” I said. “Sometimes I feel that way when I stop to look up at the stars. I guess, I just can’t believe that they’re up there by accident, you know? It feels like there has to be a reason. And then I think…if they have a purpose, then I must have one too.”

Rayne gave me a funny look, eyeing me playfully.

“What?” I said.

He grinned. “That’s exactly what I meant; like almost word for word what I wanted to say. Wow, get out of my head, woman. Soon you’ll be finishing my sentences.” I tried to hold it in, but suddenly, I was laughing. We both were.

“Hey, I’m trying to be deep here,” I joked.

He threw his hands on my waist. “Oh really? Maybe we should see how deep you can be while you’re being attacked.” His fingers squeezed my sides to tickle me, making me jump and burst into giggles.

“Okay,” I squealed in between laughs. “I’m done being deep, I promise.”

His hands went still, but lingered on my hips. Just when I thought I could relax, he squeezed my sides one more time. “I don’t know, are you sure you’re done?” he teased.

I was laughing so much my eyes were watering. “Yes…I’m done…”

When he finally stopped, I slapped the side of his arm with a smirk. “Wow, you fight dirty.”

He shrugged his shoulders innocently. “What can I say? Sometimes when I’m around you, I can’t control myself.”