“He is a warrior. Taught me how to fight and hunt as well as Glowranthian, the Glowranth language. He is….” He trails off as his gaze snaps back to mine. What I think is the sound of him clearing his throat follows. “He is bonded to Ignis.”
“Bonded as in…?”
“Bonded like Harry and Helen Tasker inTrue Lies.” He bobs his head, his hair that appears like dreadlocks—but without the knots—moving with an almost rhythmic flow as he does so.
True Lies. At least it’s a movie I remember fairly well. “As in they’re married?” I clarify.
“Yes. Ignis is my sister.”
Surprise has my brows shooting high. So different species of monsters can betogethertogether. And why that’s the first thing I properly think about rather than something more pragmatic like how long these merges have been happening is something I’m going to ignore for a while.
That my gaze falls to Solan’s deep red lips—a couple of shades darker than his skin—and catch on those two fangs that shouldn’t look cute any more than I should be wondering what they’d feel like scraping over my skin is neither here nor there.
“Right.” I nod, forcing myself to look away as I gather my thoughts. I settle on: “And English?” I look at the TV again before adding, “And the TV? How do you get images?” I can’t imagine him getting a signal out here—you know, in a whole different dimension.
Solan stands. His large form fills my view, reminding me how fucking hot kilts are. Technically, I don’t think it’s a kilt, but it looks like wide strips of leather that reveal flashes of the hairless red skin covering his muscular thighs.
Without a word, he turns, heading towards a raw-sawn cabinet close to the TV. He pulls open the door and peers over his shoulder at us. “Here.”
Jamie immediately jumps up and heads over to Solan while I lean to my side to see what he’s showing us.
“Look, Uncle Jack.” Jamie holds up two DVDs. “This one saysConan the Barbarianand this one isTwins.”
I glance again at the TV, eyes roaming until I see the bulky compartment underneath the screen. It’s a TV/DVD combo. Andapparently, the only DVDs Solan has access to are from the Arnold Schwarzenegger catalogue.
Solan saying, “Voran was able to adapt the power source to make the TV work,” draws my attention back to him. “Voran is… inventor. He has a store close to the markets. Deals in inter-dimension wares.”
“And this is how you learned English?” Honestly, I’m impressed.
As a smile forms, Solan’s fangs become more prominent, and my breath catches. At the sound, Solan’s expression turns neutral, and he peers at the DVD in his hand before looking at me again. Some of the shine has dimmed from his golden eyes. I miss seeing the luminescence, but I can breathe easier again.
“Yes, with the movies… and Voran speaks the human tongue, and so do Morvex and Rygor. Rygor is a Shadryn and only passes through every five moon cycles. Morvex is a Sigilari, a rune healer.”
A headache is forming behind my right eye. Between the names, the species, the whole Arnie fandom, and, let’s not forget, having a nephew to protect in this dimension that has tank-sized monsters—and plants, apparently—that could happily suck on our bone marrow, I’m close to my limit.
What am I going to do? My sister and brother-in-law must be going out of their minds. Panic slices through me, my eyes widening in horror when a new thought hits me. I rush to say, “When the merge happened, our homes and land were brought here.”
“That is correct.” Solan nods, walking back towards me, a frown appearing above his large eyes, his locks of hair twitching a little.
“What did it replace them with?” I pull my lips together, flattening them. What will Harper and Derek discover when theyhead home? Jesus, will they…? I swallow hard, unable to finish that thought, the possibilities too harrowing.
Understanding appears in Solan’s features, as does a wince. “Where I found you, it was close to where your world was?”
I draw my brows low. “We’d entered… Terrafeara, yes. Maybe thirty minutes on horseback from our slice of world.” I don’t even flinch when I speak, despite thinking in terms of worlds or dimensions.
“That is what I thought. Your land is red and brown, yes? Flat?”
Jamie answers, “Ours is, yes. We’re in Australia. The Queensland outback. Lots of Earth is blue with the ocean.” He’s still standing by the DVD cupboard, holding two different Arnie films in his hand.
Solan nods. “Hmm… Australia is mentioned inCollateral Damage.But I do not know what it looks like other than the glimpse in the distance where I found you.”
Thank Christ he did, but I have more pressing concerns. Specifically, whether my sister is going to need to save herself and whether the police… hell, the damn military can get there in time. “Shit, hold on. That a TV, a fragment of Earth, appeared a couple of years back, does that mean part of Terrafeara has been on Earth all this time?”
Holy shit. It has to be, right? And if so, how has that been kept quiet? The government—of whichever country the exchange happened in—has to be responsible. They must be.
This is some next-level Area 51 shit, but exchange intergalactic aliens with monsters from another dimension.
“Yes. I discovered the TV in a dimensional transfer. I was with a friend.”
