“That would be my guess.” He nodded. “Now do something.”
“Say no more.” Tianna leaned over and kissed his cheek quickly. “Don’t forget to pull me back like you did this morning when you saw me running, wrapped in the bedsheet.”
His eyes sparkled as if he enjoyed that memory. “I’m ready,” he announced, and glanced at his watch. “Five minutes is all I’ll give you, then I’m going to yank hard.”
“That’s all I need,” she agreed. “Either they’re there or they aren’t.”
She gazed at the fires and narrowed her eyes in total concentration.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THE FLAMES ON THE torches trembled, and then it was as if she were looking at the ocean through a crumpled sheet of plastic. The roar of the surf became distant, and at that moment the membrane dividing the two worlds rippled and swelled before bursting.
She found herself standing in that other realm. It was eerily still and a strange gentle radiance filled the air, although she couldn’t see the source.
“Vanessa,” she called. “Serena. Jimena. Can you hear me?”
Then she felt a change in the air and looked cautiously behind her, sensing something evil hidden in the gray nothingness. She cursed silently and called their names again.
Where were they? Derek’s explanation had seemed so reasonable. She had been confident she would find them here. She had expected to see all four of them tied up together. Now she wondered if she had walked into another trap. Maybe this was even part of the ceremony.
She had taken only a few steps when she had to stop. She realized with a grateful sigh that Derek had taken her hand and was keeping her bound to the real world.
A soft fluttering sound made her look around. “Hello,” she called. “Is someone there?” Her words fell into the air with a tremor of fear.
A flapping noise made her look up. Jimena waved and dove toward her.
“You did it!” she yelled. “I knew you’d find a way to get us back.”
“I almost didn’t.” Tianna spoke softly. “And we’re not safe yet. I still have to get us out.”
“What is this place?” Vanessa yelled as she soared into view. “It’s like being in a huge tank of water without the water.”
“Another dimension.” Tianna shrugged. “Where are Serena and Catty? We don’t have much time.” How many minutes had gone by already?
Catty and Serena appeared from a roiling mist. Serena was pulling Catty by her arm.
“This is Tianna,” Vanessa said to Catty. “The one who first saw you in a séance.”
“It wasn’t really a séance,” Catty insisted. She still seemed weak, but not as weak as the last time Tianna had seen her. “And how do you know she’s not one of them? After all, she trapped you in here with me.”
“She’s not,” Serena insisted. “I told you, Followers killed her parents.” Then she glanced at Tianna. Her eyes seemed worried that what she had said might upset her. “Sorry, I read it in your mind back in your apartment.”
“How did you know they were Followers?” Tianna asked. “I didn’t even know until just a few minutes ago.”
“I recognized the tattoo,” Serena explained.
Jimena took Vanessa’s hand. “She’s going to get us out of here. Hold on.”
As they joined hands, Tianna had an uneasy feeling. It was as if the mysterious force were alerting her to danger again. She glanced around, wondering if that deadly shadow were about to filter into the air.
“What’s wrong?” Serena asked.
“It shouldn’t be this simple,” Tianna answered. “Why did the Atrox trap you only to let you go so easily? I’m starting to get a weird feeling. I always trust my instincts, and something’s telling me this isn’t right.”
“Why does everything have to be hard?” Vanessa asked. “Maybe for once we’re getting a break.”
“It never works that way,” Jimena answered.
Tianna felt a tug on her hand. “We’re going back,” she said. She had forgotten that Derek had agreed to pull her back in five minutes no matter what.
Suddenly they were sprawled in the cold, foaming surf.
Derek yelled, “Look out!”
The Followers bolted toward them, kicking up sand. There was nowhere to go but back into the other dimension. Even the ocean seemed too forbidding. The high tide had now started to come in.
“What are we going to do?” Tianna said.
“Stay and fight.” Jimena laughed dangerously as the Followers slowly circled them.
Justin took a step forward, his eyes glowing. The Followers crowded beside him.
“We’re outnumbered.” Tianna realized now she had made another foolish mistake. “Maybe we should go back to the other side.”
“No way,” Serena argued.
“Not a chance.” Catty looked strong again now that she was back in the real world.
Tianna wondered what they were doing. They didn’t seem afraid. Didn’t they understand how dangerous these guys could be? Instead they stood together, their amulets glowing, and a golden aura wavered around them, coloring the beach with inexplicable rainbow lights. Then their eyes seemed to dilate as if energy were building inside their heads.
“They look like the guys from Zahi’s old group,” Catty said with disgust in her voice.
“You’re right,” Serena agreed.
Tianna stood motionless. “You’ve fought them before?”
“We tried to tell you,” Vanessa said.
Their eyes flashed with anticipation.
Tianna wondered why they seemed so eager to fight. There were too many Followers, and before she could even start to consider how many, Mason stepped forward with a twisted grin on his bony face.
“We have never fought so many at one time before.” Jimena looked directly at Mason. “It’s been something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time.”
Mason raised an eyebrow. “You won’t win.”
Suddenly Jimena, Catty, Vanessa, and Serena locked arms, and the air around them glowed, then pulsed and rushed toward Mason with amazing force. He staggered back.
“Justin,” he called. “Time to show them the strength of the Atrox.”
“I hear you.” Justin stepped next to him.
This time when the girls sent an attack, Mason and Justin pushed it back. The force exploded in electrical waves around Serena and Jimena. Their moon amulets sparkled, then glowed weaker. Tianna could feel something happening.
She glanced back at Justin.
“Serena,” Tianna yelled too late. Justin attacked. Even at this distance she could feel the heat of his power.
Small fires bobbed on the surf before going out and the dry chaparral smoldered.
Then Jimena and Serena leaned together and Catty and Vanessa joined them, all four locked arms again, and their power crackled across the night.
Justin deflected their hit, sending sparks like a million fireflies swirling up and around.
Tianna felt spellbound by what she had seen. Derek grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back.
“You’re too close,” he cautioned. “Can you believe this?”
“I don’t think they’re winning,” Tianna said, worried.
The air smelled of ozone, smoke, and sulfur. She stared at Mason through the shower of embers. A strange light covered his face, and then she realized it was coming from the moon amulets. His eyes flashed with evil anticipation, as if he enjoyed the fight. The others Followers gathered close around him, with the same hungry look in their eyes.
She moved in front of Derek, ready to protect him but not sure how.
“For the first time,” Justin said, “all four goddesses will join the Atrox at once. Think what that will do to the world.”
The others pushed forward.
Tianna was doubtful the Daughters could fight so many by themselves, and she didn’t understand her fierce need to protect Derek. Then an idea came to her. She had already made the three four a
gain. Her mission was accomplished. Why not just take Derek and flee?
“Come on.” Tianna grabbed Derek’s hand and started to pull him toward the jagged rocks.
“Where?” he asked, eyes wide.
“Back to the road.” She motioned with her head. “It’s not our fight.”
They scrabbled up the rocky cliff.
She heard Jimena, Serena, Vanessa, and Catty reciting an incantation or prayer. “O Mater Luna, Regina nocis, adiuvo me nunc.” They chanted the words over and over.
Justin scoffed. “Look at the moon tonight, goddesses. It’s only a crescent, soon to disappear. The queen of the night won’t help you now.”
Tianna glanced back. The power emanating from Jimena, Catty, Serena, and Vanessa made the air waver and glow, but not as brightly as before. Their strength seemed to be fading.
Derek took her arm. “Do something.”
“Me?” Tianna said in exasperation. “I don’t have the kind of powers they have. The best I can do is save you.”
The air rocked as Mason and Justin attacked again. Serena staggered back from their smashing blow, her moon amulet on fire. Jimena caught her.
“They’re not going to be able to defeat them without your help,” Derek insisted.
She turned to him. “But what can I do?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“USE YOUR POWER,” Derek encouraged.
An idea came to her, and slowly she made her way back down to the rocks. Waves crashed over her. She stood on a boulder and concentrated until she had created a breeze. She made the wind swirl around her, and when it had enough momentum, she sent it charging down the beach. The tempest slashed through the sand and scooped it up, then whirled like a dust devil, surrounding the Followers.
They covered their eyes as the sandy winds screeched about them.
Justin stopped his attack.
Mason looked around, his baggy clothes flapping wildly as the squall circled him.
Then Justin caught her eyes, and in a flash she understood that he knew what she was doing. She felt him piercing her mind. His mental force throbbed through her, forcing her to stop. She could hear Derek say something, but his voice was too far away.
She tried to fight Justin with stubborn determination, but then Mason joined him. Their power was too strong, and her head ached until the pain became intolerable. She collapsed and released her power as they cut through her resistance.
The wind went out of control and blustered around the beach. It tore into her lungs, smothering her with air too thick to breathe. What had she done? She was going to destroy them all.
She grabbed onto a rock and pulled herself up. Sand scraped her face and arms, and the night turned an odd coppery dark. She squinted, eyes tearing from the grit, and held her hand over her nose and mouth while taking a stumbling step forward.
Sand gummed her mouth, coated her tongue, and clogged her nostrils. She spit and coughed. With laboring steps she continued up the cliff.
Then through the swirling whirlwind a hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her onto an outcropping of jagged rock. The air was clearer there. She sneezed and brushed the sand from around her eyes.
She looked back at the strange roiling clouds below her.
“You did that.” Derek looked down at the howling winds with amazement.
“I think I killed them all.” She started to cry.
Then Jimena, Catty, Vanessa, and Serena pushed through the sandstorm and climbed on the rock.
“You did it!” Serena yelled, and spit sand from her mouth.
“You saved us.” Vanessa hacked.
“I almost suffocated us all,” Tianna argued.
“No, you didn’t,” Catty replied. “You still gave everyone a way to escape. It’s just that the way the winds were blowing, the Followers had to run away from us down the beach.”
“Yeah,” Vanessa agreed. “Very smart.”
Tianna smiled.
“Let’s get away from here, anyway,” Catty urged.
Vanessa hugged her, obviously glad to have Catty home.
They started up the cliff, brushing sand from their hair and ears.
“How did you get in that other dimension?” Tianna asked Catty when they were safely on the street and walking down the strand.
“Long story.” Catty shook her head. “We were fighting this powerful Follower.”
“And Catty got hit because she was trying to save me,” Vanessa added. “She’s such a good friend.”
“So what happened?” Tianna asked.
“I saw that he was going to have a direct hit on me,” Catty explained. “So I tried to escape, but when I opened the tunnel—”
“That’s Catty’s gift,” Vanessa interrupted. “She travels in time, and the tunnel is what she uses to get from one place to the next.”
“His force hit me just as I opened the tunnel, and it threw me into that other dimension,” Catty continued. “I figured I was going to be sacrificed at the next dark moon. So I was just as shocked as you were when I first saw you. I tried to warn you then.”
“But you wrote ‘Help me’ on my wall,” Tianna said, confused.
Catty shook her head. “The Followers wrote that. They were trying to lure you to stay. I’m the one who scratched ‘stay away’ because I knew it was too dangerous for you to rescue me.”
Then all four turned as if they had suddenly become aware of Derek. “Should we fix his mind so he doesn’t remember?” Serena asked.
“No.” Tianna jumped in front of him. “Please don’t. He loves adventure.”
They all looked at her curiously.
“I’m not going to tell anyone,” Derek promised. “If that’s what you’re worried about. No one would believe me, anyway.”
That made them all laugh.
“Let’s go home,” Vanessa said.
Tianna sighed. More than anything she wanted to go home, but she didn’t have a place to go. She walked slower and fell behind the others.
Derek took her arm. “What’s wrong?”
She couldn’t look at him.
“After what we’ve been through tonight, I can’t believe you have a secret you’re not going to tell me.” He put a comforting arm around her.
She looked up. “I don’t have a home to go to. I guess I can go to a shelter or the nearest police station.”
He thought about it. “My older sister is away at college. I bet my mom would let you spend the night in her room.”
Jimena was suddenly beside her. “You can stay with me. My abuelita would love to have someone living with her who hasn’t heard all her stories.”
“Or you could live with me,” Vanessa offered quickly. “We’ll clear out the bedroom where my mom stores all her clothes. She could use another daughter as a model for her dress designs.”
“We have room, too,” Catty put in. “My mom will say yes to anything once she sees that I’m okay.”
“See?” Vanessa said. “You have plenty of homes.”
Tianna took a deep breath. “Thanks.”
“But there’s someplace we have to take you first,” Serena said.
“Where?” Tianna asked, baffled.
“You’ll see.” Catty smiled mysteriously, then she glanced at Derek. “Sorry, Derek, this is one place you can’t go.”
“That’s okay.” Derek laughed. I’ve had enough adventure for one night. I’ll catch a bus home.”
He pulled Tianna away from the others and whispered against her cheek. “It looks like you’re going to be staying in L.A. I’m glad.”
“Me, too,” she said and softly kissed him good night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“WHERE ARE YOU taking me again?” Tianna asked suspiciously as they walked through the massive Cedars-Sinai complex. Nurses going off duty turned and stared at them, covered with sand and scrapes.
“Don’t worry.” Vanessa smiled. “You’ll like it.”
The fragrance of night-blooming jasmine filled the ai
r as they stepped up to the entrance of a gray apartment building and Catty pressed a button on the security panel.
“Yes,” a voice answered.
“It’s Catty.”
A loud hum opened the magnetic lock.
They entered and immediately caught their reflections in the mirrors and started laughing. Even though they had brushed at the sand, they were still covered with a fine layer of dust on their faces and arms. Their eyes were bloodshot, and their hair looked as if it had been moussed with Play-Doh. They continued laughing as they crowded onto the elevator and rode up to the fourth floor.
When the doors opened, they walked down a narrow outside hallway.
A woman wearing a white silky gown stood in the open door of her apartment. She was short, with long gray hair that curled thickly to her shoulders. “Look at you! Whatever happened?” She embraced Catty and hugged her tightly.
“Is that Catty’s mother?” Tianna asked.
“No, this is Maggie,” Serena replied.
Maggie smiled at Tianna. “So this is the friend you told me about.” Her amiable eyes glanced over her, and then she motioned them to come inside.
Candles blazed, and the flames reflected in mirrors and gilded frames. It gave everything a fairy-tale feel.
“Why don’t you each take a shower while the others talk,” Maggie offered. “You’ll find clean robes and towels, oils and soaps in the back bathroom.”
Tianna was the first one to shower and dress in one of the silky robes. When she came out, Jimena went in.
“Come join us, please.” Maggie offered her a chair and a cup of tea.
Tianna sat down as Serena, Vanessa, and Catty continued to tell Maggie all that had happened.
Finally they had all finished showering and sat together, hair wet and wrapped in towels. Maggie pulled out a moon amulet that matched the ones Serena, Jimena, and Vanessa wore. She handed it to Catty.
“You lost yours,” she said simply.
Catty slipped it on. “Thanks.” Immediately it turned an opalescent color and reflected the candle flames with multicolored sparks.