Two Renegade Realms (Realm Walkers Book 2) (37 page)
Rollygon sprinted the few feet and dove through the opening. Totobee-Rodolow followed with such speed that she slammed into them. They went through the portal in a jumble of tumbling bodies, accompanied by Jesha’s ear-numbing screech.
Bixby rolled the farthest and came to a stop when she ran into someone’s legs. She checked the polished boots and trim trousers. For some reason, they looked familiar.
Stretching out on her back, her gaze traveled up the lean figure to the face of a man looking down at her. He looked tremendously pleased.
“You came back! Will you marry me this time?”
Groaning, she covered her eyes with an arm. “No. I’m still busy.”
B
ixby stood and brushed dirt and bits of dried grass off her skirts. Still picking brittle brown blades out of the loose weave of her top, she checked to see if Totobee-Rodolow and Rollygon were all right. They sat next to each other. Rollygon grinned as his eyes roamed the surroundings. Totobee-Rodolow used a pocket mirror to examine her face.
When Bixby looked around for Jesha, she was startled to find the cat had made her comfy spot in Tegan’s arms. The bothersome man couldn’t be all bad if he’d won Jesha’s approval.
Still suspicious, Bixby narrowed her eyes. “What are you doing here?”
Tegan stopped stroking the cat to frown at Bixby. “Why do you always ask me questions?”
“Because I like to know things.” She watched him tickle Jesha’s nose with a feather he pulled from his pocket. When
she responded enthusiastically, he set her down, tied the feather to a string retrieved from another pocket, and tantalized the cat by keeping it just out of her reach.
Bixby tried again. “So what are you doing here?”
Tegan shook his head. “I don’t remember.”
“Try.”
He let the cat capture the feather and swooped her up in his arms again. His expression stilled. To look at him, one would think he pondered great and weighty matters. Finally, he shrugged his well-muscled shoulders. “I think I was waiting for something.”
Bixby was pleased to have gotten some kind of definitive answer. “What?”
His face brightened. “You?”
Her momentary hope fizzled. “You couldn’t have known I would be coming through the portal. We didn’t know we’d have to use it until five minutes ago.”
Tegan nodded, not terribly upset that his theory did not pan out. With a final rub behind Jesha’s ears, he put the cat on the ground with the feather and string. Jesha sat for a moment in a regal pose, then sprang on the feather. Trailing the string behind, she flounced off with her kill.
Moving in a languid manner, Totobee-Rodolow ambled over to stand beside Bixby. “Darling, please introduce us. I don’t believe I’ve met your handsome young man.” She batted her dark, thick, and exquisitely shaped eyelashes. “Although she did describe you.”
Starting with an impatient sigh, Bixby made the formal introduction. “Totobee-Rodolow, I would like to acquaint you with someone who tried to kidnap me the last time we met. Tegan —”
She stopped, her cheeks warming. Leaning closer, she whispered, “What is your last name?”
He gazed at her for a moment. “I forgot.”
She clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Tegan, this is my friend and occasional constant, Totobee-Rodolow.”
Bowing with the grace and finesse of a courtier, Tegan smiled at the elegant dragon. “I’m pleased to meet you.”
Rollygon sidled up to stand on the other side of Bixby. Bixby realized he wanted an introduction as well. As soon as Rollygon and Tegan exchanged bows and polite greetings, Rollygon came out with a question he’d obviously been holding back.
“Tegan, can you tell us what plane we’re on?”
The tall man looked around. “This isn’t Effram.”
Startled, Bixby peered at the nearby countryside. Rock formations dotted the arid land. No, this wasn’t Effram or her home plane, Richra, or Dairine.
“What do you think, Totobee-Rodolow? Are we still on Derson?”
The whoosh of an opening portal caught their attention.
“Now that’s Algore.” Tegan nodded toward the hole in the landscape. “Algoreans always build fancy homes. Even their shacks have class.”
Rollygon’s eyes grew big. “You can see that?”
“See what?” Tegan’s head jerked back and forth. “What are you looking at?”
“The portal. You can see the portal.” Rollygon joined Tegan in front of the entry to Algore.
Tegan shifted his gaze back. He pointed. “That?”
Totobee-Rodolow allowed a contemplative smile to bloom. “Now that’s unexpected.”
Tegan frowned at her, and then looked to Bixby. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, nothing at all. You’re a realm walker.”
He stared at her, his face reflecting deep concern. Then, for no apparent reason, his features relaxed.
“All right.” He nodded a couple of times. “Does that mean I have to do something?”
Bixby shook her head. “Look, we have to get back to Higtrap and meet our friends. It was nice seeing you again.”
She started toward the open portal.
Tegan’s hand stopped her. “That’s not the portal to Higtrap.”
“I know. We’ll go to Algore, and then find a portal to Derson. We may hop around a bit, but we’ll get there eventually.”
“But the gateway to Higtrap will open within the hour.” He glanced around at the others. “You’ll save time and effort.”
Bixby tilted her head and squinted at him. “How do you know that?”
He blinked.
Tamping down impatience, she kept a level tone. “Most portals open at random. Not necessarily in the same place. Not at any reliable and set time. How can you know that a portal to Higtrap will open within the hour?”
He gave her his considering look, and then shrugged. “I don’t know. I think I’ve been here awhile.”
Totobee-Rodolow had widened one of her hands and placed webbed membranes between her fingers. She used the hand to fan herself. Of course, she had removed her rings and decorated the scales. “It’s hot here. Alius is noted for dry heat across most of its breadth and width. I’m sure we’re on Alius, and I prefer to go back to Derson promptly. Darling, let’s do find some shade and something cool to drink while we wait.”
Tegan proved to be quite useful. He had hampers and nice, useful things in them. Two scrawny, leafless trees didn’t provide more than skinny shadows. Spreading a tarp over them weighed the trees down so they bent alarmingly. Tegan frowned a bit as he stood back to survey the canopy. Then he shrugged and seemed to accept the sag. He’d created shade.
Bixby watched him as he worked. She monitored every nuance in his fluid aura, combining this fastidious study with knowledgeable reading of his body language and expressions. Admitting to herself she was being more than finicky, she also had to concede that not once did Tegan’s demeanor brush against a dark influence.
He bowed to Totobee-Rodolow and swept one hand in front of him to usher her under the trees. “A shady spot awaits your pleasure.”
One of his hampers yielded fruity drinks in glasses with ice. He provided Rollygon a dish of ice cream when that dragon expressed a yearning for toffee and fudge syrup wandering through vanilla. Bixby had her own hampers with her favorites stored within, but curiosity nudged her to ask for bubbling lemon water. Without a pause, he produced her request.
Rollygon and Totobee-Rodolow chatted amiably with their host. Bixby listened with half an ear. The area in the shade was too small. Feeling trapped, she stood and walked out to sit on a boulder.
Rollygon followed. “Why don’t you want Tegan to go with us?”
Bixby studied the dragon’s expression. Earnest and young, Rollygon still saw things in black and white, right or wrong, good or bad. No scale between two extremes tempered his
judgment. She’d watched his aura slowly taking on the hues of doubt and second-guessing since they’d left Effram. He really wanted to know why she had formed this opinion.
“We don’t know much about him. Obviously, he’s encountered those who would make him ineffectual. Has he also been seeded with a desire to do us harm? Will he betray us?” Having been under the influence of someone like Errd Tos, Tegan could be carrying a command deep in his mind. One he knew nothing about.
Looking out across the arid landscape, she suddenly longed for the gardens of her parents’ palace. Everything green, tidy, coaxed into the best display of blooms, everything predictable. She shut her eyes. When she opened them again, she gave Rollygon her full attention. “He seems to have a convenient memory.”
“Even if he has fallen into the hands of one of our adversaries, he’s a realm walker. We can’t just abandon him.”
“He can take care of himself. We aren’t abandoning a child.”
“Maybe Dukmee or Chomountain can fix whatever’s wrong with him.” Rollygon’s eyes twinkled. “Maybe Cantor can persuade him to stop asking you to marry him.”
“That isn’t my main concern.” Bixby chafed at the smug look on Rollygon’s face. “It’s far more important to keep our mission from being jeopardized.”
“With all of us watching him, he couldn’t get away with much.”
Bixby shook her head. She couldn’t put into words why she didn’t want the big friendly realm walker to join them.
Rollygon shuffled his feet. “I could be his constant. I could watch out for him and see that he doesn’t get into trouble.”
Interrupted by Tegan emerging from under the tarp, Bixby managed a curt, whispered answer. “No! Go talk to Totobee-Rodolow.”
The dragon scurried past Tegan with a nod and an all-out gracious grin. The sight of a dragon smile can be unnerving to the uninitiated. Occasionally, Bixby still felt the shiver of trepidation at the appearance of Bridger’s toothy grin. Tegan, however, reacted with a friendly nod of his own, not bothered in the least.
He came to stand beside the boulder where she sat. “Hello, Bixby. Are you busy?”
“N — yes!” She managed a smile for him. “Do you need something?”
He nodded absently and opened his mouth to reply.
Her smile faded. Oh no. Had she given him an opening for another proposal after all? “I — we — need to help you put your things away before we go.”
“No need —”
“Yes. You’ve been a good host, and as thankful guests, we’ll help pack before we leave you.”
A sad expression took hold even as he nodded. Though he managed a few natural-sounding responses to the two dragons as they all gathered things to be stored in his hampers, his eyes tormented Bixby.
Totobee-Rodolow questioned her with a look. Bixby shrugged, shielding her thoughts from the dragons as she pretended she didn’t know what had come over Tegan. Rollygon’s gaze shifted from the deflated realm walker to Bixby. She watched his aura darken.
Before she could respond with an apologetic gaze in response, a soft swooshing sound, the gentle disturbance of
the air, and a change in the light heralded the opening of a portal. They could see the same market they’d been perusing earlier in the day. Totobee-Rodolow, with Jesha on her head, stepped through. Bixby turned to Tegan. “I’m sure we’ll meet again. We’ve got to get back to our friends.”
He nodded. “Be safe.”
“Yes. Right. You too.”
Bixby took several steps toward the opening and stopped. All the teachings of being kind, nurturing those who are afflicted, and being generous even when the desire not to be was strong welled up and prevented her from taking another step. She turned and pulled in a big breath. “Well, come on. I expect you should come with us. Chomountain will want to meet you.”
Joy stamped itself on Tegan’s face and put a bounce in his step. With one long stride, he was beside her.
He looked down at her with clear blue eyes. Happy wrinkles accented his delight. Little bird feet spread from the corners out toward his temples. The man was too attractive.
He put a hand on her elbow. “Does this mean —”
“No! It doesn’t.” She grabbed Rollygon’s wrist and marched through the portal without looking back.
C
antor walked through the marketplace, wondering where in all the planes Bixby, Totobee-Rodolow, and Rollygon had disappeared to. Several shopkeepers said they had seen his friends some time before. No one knew when they had left.