Page 3 (1/2)

Iqueen of the Thorn Land, and it was hard not to grow attached to a place you had a spiritual connection to Nonetheless, nothing the Otherworld offered would ever take the place of hborhood, near the Catalina Mountains north of the city Gateways between the worlds existed all over, facilitating travel, but I had an "anchor" in ate, I was able to materialize directly in my bedroom An anchor could be any object tied to your essence

My roommate Tim, who hadn’t seen me in a few days, was understandably shocked when I ca!" he exclai pancakes at the stove "We’ve got to put a bell around your neck or soe to hug hih I knew that would freak him out even more After all the craziness in the Otherworld, his norht have been an exaggeration Tim - with his tall, dark, and handso Native Americans (badly) in order to score chicks and h various tribes, and last I knew, he’d been passing hiot a little less pissed off by hi hundreds of e for cooking and housework, and I was glad to see him dressed in an ordinary jeans and T-shirt enseh for two?" I asked, heading straight for the full coffeepot

"I always oes to waste" That last part caaround now

"Messages?"

"Usual place"

When in the Otherworld, I left my cell phone with Ti he resented since I actually already ees he’d scrawled on the refrigerator’s white board were from her

Tue - 11 AM - Lara: two job offersTue - 2:30 PM - Lara: one possible client needs ASAP helpTue - 5:15 PM - Lara: still wants to talk to youTue - 5:20 PM - Lara: needs you to finish tax paperworkTue - 10:30 PM - Lara: won’t stop callingWed - 8 AM - Lara: who calls this early?Wed - 11:15 AM - BitchWed - 11:30 AM - Sa?

I ad - frustration with Lara aside - butEvery time I came home, I secretly hoped I’d see their names up there Sometimes, on the sly, my mom would check on me Butout about iance to the Otherworld

Ti, didn’t seeShe knows you can’t get any of her es Why does she need ically going to get through to you"

"It’s just her way," I said "She’s efficient"

"That’s not efficient," he declared "It’s borderline neurotic"

I sighed, wondering not for the first tio to voiceneverthe at her string of calls already made me feel tired I’d once had a brisk trade as a freelance sha supernatural creatures who harassed huhted as a fairy queen, I’d had to becoer keep up with the demand around here and felt bad about that I suspected Roland was picking up my slack but didn’t know for sure

I waited until after breakfast before dealing with Lara Pancakes, sausage, and coffee gave th to deal with this latest batch of requests Undoubtedly seeing my number on her caller ID, Lara didn’t bother with formalities when I finally called

"About ties?"

"He just did I’ve been gone for three days You know you don’t need to keep bugging him about it"

"I want to make sure he tells you I called"

"He writes the also tells me you’ve calleda lot"

"H a lot of requests lately I’ve thinned theot to choose"

It was almost February We weren’t near any major sabbats, when paranorh, it happened for no reason It figured noould be one of those tiht while I was in thebecause of that My identities as queen and sha et aith more while I was distracted Half seemed to show up for selfish purposes in our world; the other half hoped to forcibly father Stor’s heir on me

"Okay," I said "Let’s hear the priorities"

"We need to finish your taxes"

"That’s not a priority Keep going"

"Single woman, stalked by a fetch"

"That’s serious I’ll have to get on that one"

"Tree elehborhood"

"Yeah, that one’s here for me He won’t hurt anyone else"

"Phantoraveyard?"

"Yup"

"Schedule it, and ed double Their own stupid fault"

"Will do Then you’ve got the usual weirdness Lights in the sky Possible UFO"

"Was that Wil again?"

"Yes"

"Damn it! Did you tell him it’s just the military?"

"Yes He also said there’s been sofoot? Where?"

"I didn’t get the details I thought it was his usual craziness And didn’t you say they don’t live in Arizona?"

"They don’t Has there been anything weird in the news? Deaths?"

There was a pause, and I heard the rustling of papers "Two hikers died over in Coronado, near the Rappel Rock trail The report stated that they fell Took a couple days to find their bodies Nasty stuff Soot to them"

I was up and out ofthe dishes on the kitchen table rattle Tiazine, looked up in alar on one ofthe phone "Find out where he heard about these Bigfoot sightings If it’s not Coronado, give me a call back If it is, no need to call" Wil was Jas to him when I could One reason was that he always asked me about her The other was that he was a crazy, paranoid conspiracy theorist This ti

Lara was understandably startled "But you said Bigfoot - "

"It’s not Bigfoot"

"Don’t forget your other job tonight!"

"I won’t"

I disconnected and arded et that look"

"That makes two of us"

He watched as I went to our hallway closet and produced a little-worn leather coat "You’re going to Coronado?"

"Yup"

"High?"

"Yup"

He sighed and gestured to where we hung our keys near the door "Take my car It’ll handle better if you run into snow"

I slung rateful smile He warned me to be careful, but I was already out the door with the keys, heading for his Subaru

My eyes barely saw the road as I drove toward Coronado State Park Bigfoot No, you wouldn’t find Bigfoot out here, not even in the Catalinas Now, tellin the Pacific Northwest? Or anywhere in Canada? Yeah, it’d be Bigfoot hunting tienerally har in Tucson, it was a deot the point across - and really, there was nothing funny about them They came from the Underworld and were utterly lethal With their tall and furry appearance, it was easy to understand why the untrained eye would foot Demon bears didn’t fuck around either If only two people were dead, then this one hadn’t been in the area long We were lucky - even if the hikers weren’t No rodents or foxes had fed on those bodies

In Tucson proper, ere enjoying our typically uess As I drove higher into the mountains, the teround and signs for Mt Lens directedRappel Rock In and of itself, it was a popular area for outdoorsmen With its proximity to the ski areas, the deerous this time of year

I finally reached the trailhead and parked in a gravel lot Only a couple other cars were there, which was a s I stepped out of the Subaru, shocked by the blast of cold air that hit me I was not used to these temperatures I hadn’t been bred for thehosts? No problem But cold weather? That was a weakness I could’ve used ic to adjust the air but needed to conserve my power Instead, as I stuffed my arsenal into my belt - not coic for a su I spoke the ritual words, and a few moments later, a small implike creature appeared before ht-black skin, and red slits for eyes

"My mistress calls," he said in a flat voice, "and I answer, no doubt for so after a de nore the cold My jacket wasn’t suited for this weather at all, but it was the best I had

"Atask than nored his condescension as I stopped before the sign indicating the various routes and levels of difficulty for these climbs and hikes Volusian was a cursed spirit I’d subdued and enslaved His power made hiood deal of his ti how to kill me, should I ever lose the control needed to bind hi to become one with the air rather than its victi of wind in the pines and chatter of birds and s out of place My abilities weren’t perfect, but I could often sense a presence not from our world

"There" I opened my eyes abruptly and pointed near a trail ?"