Now to find a shirt.
I moved to the casual clothes and pulled a royal purple top off a hanger. A tank top in simple cotton – ribbed and baby soft. Whatever material they made clothes from, or what they washed them in, was amazing. Dressed now, and semi-ready to marry my wardrobe, I noticed a row of coats just before exiting. If it was still December, New York would be freezing, maybe even snowing. I grabbed a mid-thigh trench coat. Thick and black, with a zippable lining, it would be plenty warm.
I left without another glance. For once I let my red curls hang heavy down my back. I’d tie it back later. I ran down the hallway, focused now. Time to find Lucy.
Chapter 11
They were already standing with their packs on. Lallielle turned at my entrance, and a dazzling smile lit her face.
“My goodness, Aribella, you look stunning.” She took Josian’s hand. “Your hair is amazing. It’s as if you took both of our coloring.”
Considering I hadn’t checked the mirror before leaving, I wasn’t sure what I looked like. But my hair felt silky and smooth. It was working for me today. With curls you never knew what you were going to wake up to.
Josian disengaged from Lallielle and moved forward. Before I could react, he engulfed me in a hug. There was nothing tight or overpowering about it, despite his size. It was comforting, gentle and warm. The world disappeared for a moment. I could have used this hug millions of times over the years. Shaking my head, I pulled away.
His eyes were narrowed and his brow creased as he stepped back. “Sorry, Aribella, I couldn’t help myself. Walkers are demonstrative people, and right now you look so grown up. Just the perfect mix of Lallielle and myself.”
Lallielle stayed back, her expression neutral. Remembering the pain she encased in her mind, I felt a strange need to offer her a token. Taking a deep breath, I stepped around Josian and walked toward her.
“Josian had his chance; it’s only fair that you have one too.” I held my arms open. I was going for sainthood or something.
Without hesitation, she threw her arms around me. Unlike Josian, she held me tightly. I might have heard one or two soft sobs. Another set of arms encased both of us. Josian again.
“You had your chance. Don’t be a hug-hog,” I mumbled into my mother’s shoulder.
He laughed, the comforting rumble surrounding me. Eventually I managed to extract myself.
Brace stood near the back door, watching me. As our eyes met, I blushed, warmth rushing to my cheeks as I was reminded of the naked incident from upstairs.
His returning smile was full of heat, but the slight nod spoke volumes of his approval, like I needed it.
Josian moved next to me. “Okay, time to go to Earth. Picture a safe place for us to go. I’ll find a doorway close by.”
Right. Somewhere safe in New York. Not an easy task. The alley was at least a small area that we could try and defend ourselves in. I dropped the energy encasing my mind and let images of the alley linger.
“There aren’t many places in New York one would consider safe, but this alley is generally deserted. And we might find Quarn there.”
Josian closed his eyes. As a little experiment I threw some energy at his mind, trying to read his thoughts. I really wanted to know how they traveled between the worlds. I slammed up against a hardness the consistency of diamond. No way was I tunneling through that. Josian opened one eye to grin at me, before he spoke to everyone.
“Okay, link hands.”
I waited for the shimmer, but as Josian stepped back there was something very different there.
It was freaking scary.
A swirling vortex, a deep purple. It reminded me of the night sky with no stars to break the endless depth of the black. Like a dark tunnel and at the end I could see the New York alley. But it was contorted, as if there were millions of miles to traverse between where I was standing and where we would end up.
“What the hell is that?” I took a step back. No way was I walking into that death trap. I prefer shimmer and sparkles, thanks.
Josian looked up in surprise.
He gestured. “It’s a doorway between the worlds, part of the energy wormholes that connect all seven worlds. This is what the doorways look like. How did you get here, Aribella, if it wasn’t through one of these?”
I clenched my hands into tight fists to stop the shaking. “It was nothing like this, just a shimmery wall I stepped through from Earth into First World.”
Josian locked gazes with Lallielle. I’d guess they were communicating. Noticing my interest, Josian smiled.