Looking away, I found myself caught in Brace’s stare. Something was up with him. His aloof coldness was growing the longer we were on Earth.
I didn’t have time – but something was there and I would figure it out. I shook my head. Well, I probably wouldn’t. Brace was awfully good with the secrets.
I moved aside then as Quarn took the lead.
As I was moving forward to follow them, I felt a strong shove from the right that sent me reeling. I had no chance to recover my balance, so I simply closed my eyes, prepared to hit the ground.
But I never did.
I was back in the vacuum. I’d fallen straight into the rift.
Chapter 12
I screamed silently in the pressing darkness. My energized cells bounced around my body as I moved at the speed of light. I hadn’t realized the last time how much Brace’s presence and embrace had calmed me. It was quicker this time for the rift to expel me violently. Suffice to say I wouldn’t be sitting easy for a week.
The room was dark and I couldn’t find anything to anchor myself in it. I stayed still and quiet, trying to sense what dangers were lurking around me.
I could be anywhere in the entire universe. A jostling on my arm reminded me I still had my night-vision goggles.
Hmmm, Abby, they may be useful right now.
Pulling the rubber strap back, I slid them over my head, groaning as I poked myself repeatedly in the eye. Finally they settled over my face and images jumped at me. The darkness turned to a landscape of green and gray.
It took a few minutes for me to focus. The strange color plateaus from the night vision were disorientating. Eventually, the room came into focus. It was small and empty. There was a door on the far wall. An empty room whose only purpose could be receiving from the compound.
I walked a few steps forward, moving toward the door. I wondered why no one had followed me through the rift. Did it close behind me?
I refused to stand around waiting to be rescued. There was only one way to figure out where I was.
I dropped my hand onto the handle. Taking a deep breath, I pushed down and the door clicked open. I gave a gentle shove.
The next room was dark as well; I took my time before stepping through into what looked like a huge single-level room. I was puzzled by what I saw through the goggles. The room looked like a dungeon – like those from the fifteenth century, similar to those I’d seen in books about the medieval period.
I moved forward two steps. The straw on the floor crunched under my boots. Yes, I said straw. The room appeared to consist of a long row of cells, with large and heavy bars along them.
Crap, could you time-travel using the doorways?
I couldn’t tell if there were people in the cells. Although, as I moved further along, my nose wrinkled in distaste. There was a distinctive smell of sweat, fear, and other disgusting-ness lingering in the air. If that aroma was any indication, humans had been held here and it hadn’t been that long ago.
A noise from behind had me swinging around. The door was opening.
Awesome.
What was coming through there now?
I crouched down to present a smaller target. I was just fumbling for my throwing knives when a massively tall person stepped through.
Okay, how many people could be that tall? I hesitated for a moment, just in case I was wrong.
“Baby girl?”
Relief flooded through me. I recognized that whispered and deep baritone.
Trembling, I scrambled to my feet and took off at a flat-out run, before diving into Josian’s arms.
“What the hell. Where have you been?” I whispered into his shirt front.
He was clutching me close, my feet hanging off the ground.
“Sorry, baby girl. It takes a few minutes before anyone can use a doorway again.”
Lallielle was at our side. I could smell her unique flowery scent. “Thank the gods we found you. I could not get through that rift fast enough.”
Josian laughed as he lowered me back to the ground. “She was definitely a riled-up mama bear. I was a little scared for my life.”
“Yes, my love. Lucky you got us here in time or things could have gotten very dangerous for you.” She sounded only half-serious.
Josian kissed the top of her head.
“I would never let our baby go again, Lalli. You know that.”
“Where are we, Aribella?” I smiled as Quarn interrupted them, probably deliberately.
“No idea. I didn’t make it far before you arrived.” I tried to keep my voice low, but someone had to have heard this racket.
It appeared that everyone had better eyesight then me. None of them were using their goggles. I turned back to look around the room again.
“Can we go back in time using the Walker doors, Josian?”
I felt him shift next to me. “There are no Walkers that have that type of power anymore. One of the powers we’ve lost.”
I shook my head. “It’s just strange. This looks medieval.” I pointed toward the barred cells. “Fifteenth to sixteenth century.”
Brace’s voice came from the darkness. “We’re definitely still on Earth. My energy power isn’t swirling around as it usually does.”