and music filled the room as they danced across a floor somehow miraculously clear now of glass and debris. The change in atmosphere brought even more theater to the scene.
“Now,” Cal urged and, to his relief, Stella leaped to her feet and kept pace with him as he ran for the door. As they burst through and into the night air beyond, he grabbed her hand, hauling her to the parked vehicles. Selecting the largest and most powerful of the motorbikes, he swung himself onto it, gesturing for Stella to get up behind him. She obeyed, clasping her arms tightly around his waist and pressing her cheek into his back.
“Can you start it?”
He fished the keys out of his pocket. “It’s mine.”
The engine roared to life and they screeched out of the drive just as the door of the casa flew open.
“I’m so glad I’ve got you for my guardian angel,” Stella yelled as, both barefoot and clad in shorts, they streaked down the hill into the busy city streets.
“Who told you I was an angel?” Cal shouted back over his shoulder, cutting across a stream of traffic.
* * *
“Can we talk about this on the way? Because I for one would like to put as much distance between us and Moncoya as I can.” Cal was throwing clothing into a suitcase while Stella sat curled up in a chair in his hotel room, watching him. Despite the heat, she was clad in one of his hoodies. The sleeves were rolled back and, when she stood up, it hung almost to her knees. Her feet were still bare.
“Talk while you pack. You can start by telling me about Otherworld.”
He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Otherworld is a realm inhabited by supernatural beings. It exists alongside the world of the living, but is invisible to most humans. The intrusion of the Otherworld into this one does take place, but, when that happens, it is mainly unobtrusive and harmless.”
“Are you talking about ghosts?”
“Ghosts are the most common manifestation of an overlap between Otherworld and the world of the living, yes. But ghosts are not the only beings to inhabit Otherworld. If they were, my job would be much easier. Ghosts are generally not aggressive, although there are breakaway groups within their numbers, notably banshees and poltergeists. The Ghost Lord is not one of those leaders who seeks to take control of the whole realm of Otherworld.” Cal snapped the suitcase shut and looked around, checking the room to make sure he had collected all of his belongings. “Let’s go.” He glanced down at her feet. “We’ll get you some shoes on the way.”
Stella followed him out of the room. “It sounds complicated.”
“Tell me about it. Just as this world has its different countries and races and religions, so Otherworld has its own dynasties. It is not a physical realm, but it is as fiercely fought. Debates rage as furiously there as they do here. Battles are as bloody, if not more so. The difference is that the weapons used are deadlier and the methods employed are more ruthless. It is my task to ensure that the war for Otherworld does not spill over into the world of the living.”
“Sounds like a hell of a big job for one man.” Where in all of this do you find the time to babysit me? And why? Stella massaged her temples, trying to get rid of the ache that was forming there.
Cal chucked the suitcase into the trunk of a particularly nondescript car, and then held the passenger door open for Stella. She slid inside. It had not once occurred to her not to go with him. Her every instinct cried out that he was her only hope. Against what, she had no idea.
“Car. Bike. You must have known we would have to make a quick getaway,” she said as Cal started the car.
“I know Moncoya.”
Stella shivered. She wasn’t ready for that conversation. “Who are the aggressors in Otherworld?”
The city traffic was heavy and Cal joined a line of cars heading for the suburbs. “It changes over time, with different dynasties fading in and out of prominence. The vampires are always at the forefront of any conflict. Their prince has caused us problems on and off for the past few millennia. Rage is the most powerful underlying motivator for the vampires.” He grinned down at her stunned expression. “Makes them bloody difficult to negotiate with, I can tell you.”
Stella swallowed the obstruction in her throat. “You mean proper vampires? The full-on, bloodsucking kind?”
“Is there another kind?”
“But you just said that the overlap between Otherworld and this world is harmless. If vampires are real and they drop in and out to feast on human blood, I wouldn’t exactly say they do us no harm,” she argued.
Cal appeared to give it some thought. “I see what you mean. They do harm those individuals they feed on and ultimately transform into new vampires, that much is true. In the grand scheme of things, their proclivities don’t fundamentally change the earthly realm. It’s something vampires have always done. It’s a bit of a nuisance, especially when we get a high-profile case that has to be covered up. It doesn’t change the status quo, however, so there’s no real damage done.”
Stella covered her mouth with one shaking hand, regarding his profile with eyes that were wide with shock. As he drew up at a red light, Cal turned and returned her gaze with a question in his eyes. When she lowered her hand, her lips trembled on something that was an attempt at a smile. “A bit of a nuisance? Cal, what the hell is happening here? And why am I part of this Otherworld madness?”
* * *
Cal’s eyes ached. Neon advertising signs, overhead lights and the relentless stream of headlights coming in the opposite direction had taken their toll. It was only just over an hour since they had left Barcelona, but his intense concentration on the road and who or what might be following made it feel as if he had been driving forever. Squinting slightly as he read the road signs, he was relieved to see that they were approaching the city of Girona.
“Tell me again why we couldn’t get a flight from Barcelona Airport?” Stella spoke for the first time since they had left the shopping center on the outskirts of the city, where they had stopped to get fuel and the cheap plastic sandals that now encased her feet. Cal had managed to avoid the question about how she came to be involved in the Otherworld uprising by claiming it was a complicated story and he needed to concentrate on getting them to safety. Stella had huffed at him, but accepted his admittedly pathetic excuse. He wondered now if she really wanted to hear the answer. Sooner or later, it was a conversation they would have to have. He wasn’t looking forward to it. Bloody Valkyries. What had possessed them to get involved before there had even been any fighting? Their job was to gather up the fallen, not come storming in causing havoc before the first blow had been struck. But these were strange times. Ever since the three-tailed comet had first appeared two months ago, tensions in Otherworld—always heightened—had fizzed to the surface like champagne bubbles pressing at a cork.
“They will expect us to go to the main airport. It’s the first place they’ll look. Hopefully, by the time they think of the smaller airport at Girona, we’ll be out of here.”
Stella mouthed the word they to herself but said no more. He was worried about her. It was a feeling that went beyond the obvious concerns for her safety. She looked very small and lost in his well-worn hoodie. Cal experienced an overpowering, urgent desire to reach out a hand and touch her. To smooth the spikes of her hair into place or stroke her cheek. Determinedly he kept both
