Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 3, Portal Guardians (2 page)

"I think it's too late for that," I wheezed, trying to keep up with him.
 
He might not have had his super-speed here, but that didn't mean he was slow.
 
I had to struggle to stay with him, the only thing keeping me from being left in the dust the fact that he was holding onto my hand with an iron grip.

"Yeah, well, I have no idea how good their tracking skills are in the woods, but they can't fly here," he said.
 
"Trees are too thick."

"Let's hope so," I said, grabbing my backpack from Spike and throwing it over my shoulder without breaking stride.

The forest quickly got darker, the trees growing closer together and their branches heavier with leaves.
 
The temperature dropped considerably, but it wasn't unwelcome since I was sweating my butt off and still hoping B.O. wasn't in my near future.
 
I cared whether I was going to offend the sensibilities of my dragon-hunting partner, which told me a lot about how my feelings were changing towards him.
 
But there was no time to ponder that development, since something awful was happening, and I had no friggin idea where we were or where we were headed, only that bad things were trying to off my angel guide.

"Ah-uh-ah-uh-ah-uh-ahhhh!"

I stopped in mid-stride, my breath coming in gasps, spinning around to see what or who was following me.

Spike kept going which ended up jerking my arm hard in his direction.
 
If our hands hadn't come apart from the force, I would have done a face-plant into the dirt for sure.

"What'd you stop for?" he asked, freezing three paces away, his breath coming in gasps.

"Didn't you hear that?" I asked, desperately searching the nearby area for my pursuer.

"Hear what?"

"That ...
thing
... yelling!"
 
I couldn't identify anything nearby that could have made that sound, since I knew it wasn't coming from me, and Spike had been in front of me the whole time.

He shook his head.
 
"No.
 
The only thing I can hear is us gasping for air."

"Uhhhh ... momma ... ," came the voice again.

I spun around once more, looking at the ground for the small fae that I knew must be there.

Spike laughed absently.
 
"What are you doing?
 
Is that a new dance?
 
The panic dance?"

"No, idiot, what
was
that?"
 
The thought that I might actually be going crazy crossed my mind.
 
Hearing voices in my head had never brought good news into my life.

"What was
what?"
He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
 
"Come on, Jayne, stop messing around.
 
We have to get out of here."

I walked over and grabbed Spike by the upper arms and stared into his eyes.
 
"I am
not
fucking around.
 
Something is here, and it keeps sneaking up behind me and moaning."

Spikes eyes opened wide, and then he leaned towards me, peeking over my shoulder to look behind my back.

I turned my head to look with him, afraid of what I'd see standing there.

Spike stood straight again and blinked twice before smiling and whispering, "There's nothing there except your backpack."

"Momma!
 
Momma!
 
Papa!
 
I want my mommaaaaaaaaa!!" came a wail from behind me again.

I grabbed the strap of my bag and whipped the thing off my back, leaving it to dangle between us.

"Please tell me you heard that, Spike."

He laughed.
 
"You are seriously losing it.
 
The only thing talking here is you and me."

"Oh no, oh no, oh NO!"
 
I babbled, in full freak-out mode now.
 
"This cannot be happening, no friggin way can this possibly be happening!"

"What?
 
What's happening?" asked Spike, bemused by my seemingly unbalanced behavior.

I was praying I was not going to find what I thought I was going to find in my backpack.
 
I hurriedly unzipped the various pockets, reaching my hand in carefully to each one.
 
As I came up empty in the first and second places I checked, my heart began to return to its normal rhythm; but in the last pocket, when I touched something soft that shouldn't have been in there, my heart sank all the way down to my toes.
 
"Oh fuck me sideways."
 
My jaw dropped open and cocked to the side as the realization hit me.

"What?" asked Spike, squatting down next to me.

"You are not going to fucking believe this," I said, shaking my head slowly, feeling the movements inside my bag that told me my little passenger was climbing on board.

I pulled my hand out of the pocket and held it out in front of me, bringing it up so that it rested directly between Spike's face and mine.
 
"Say hello to our hitchhiker."

The tiny baby pixie, barely bigger than a largish bumblebee, sat up in my hand, his hair sticking out in every direction.
 
"Hello, Lellamental!" he said in a cheery voice.
 
"Where's my momma?"

Spike's eyes almost fell out of his head.
 
"Holy crap ... is that ... ?"

I nodded, unable to speak over the horror of it.

"Oh, dude ... you are in
so
much trouble," he said in a hushed tone.

I shook my head, trying to imagine the reaction of Abby and Tim to the fact that their child was with me hunting dragons in the Otherworlds and on the run from some mean angels intent on kicking our guide's ass and maybe ours too.
 
It was too awful to contemplate, so I shut it down immediately.

"Willy, what in the ... umm ...
heck
are you doing in my backpack?"

"I'm-a find a dragon."

My head would not sit still, slowly moving left and right trying to deny the situation.
 
"No, you're not, Willy.
 
You were supposed to stay with your momma and papa in the garden."

"No.
 
I don't wanna."
 
He stood up, his pants falling down in the back a little to reveal his tiny butt crack.
 
"I'm goin' wif you, Lellamental.
 
I'm-a find a dragon and I'm-a go in his nose, and I'm-a play polly balls with him."
 
He nodded his head once for emphasis.

"What'd he say?" asked Spike, staring intently at the little winged rebel in my hand.

I looked at Spike meaningfully once before responding to Willy.
 
"No, you're not.
 
You are not going to find a dragon or stick shit up in his nose."

"Dat's a bad word.
 
Shit.
 
My momma says."

I sighed heavily.
 
"Yeah.
 
It is a bad word.
 
Don't say it."

"But you did."

"Yeah, well, I'm older."

"If you're older it isn't a bad word anymore?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"No, it's still a bad word when you're older."

"Then you can't say it.
 
Momma says.
 
'N if you do say it, that big man has to wash your mouth out with ladybug pee.
 
Momma says dat too."

"Well your momma can ..."

Spike grabbed my arm.
 
"Uh, Jayne ... not sure you want to go there.
 
I'm not exactly sure what the little guy's saying, but I can see you getting feisty, and we have a problem bigger than your colorful language to deal with right now."

I smiled in spite of my frustration.
 
"Colorful language.
 
I like that."

"Good.
 
Now let's get the heck out of here."

I stood back up, cupping my hand around the pain in the ass pixie.
 
"That wasn't very colorful, Spike.
 
I like
hell
better."

"Yeah, I know.
 
I'll leave the color to you.
 
I'll just bring the music."

My heart filled with something that felt suspiciously like joy.
 
"Color and music.
 
We make a good team."

He flashed me one of his sneaky, sexy smiles.
 
"Yeah, we do.
 
Come on."

He grabbed my backpack, zipped up the pockets, and held it out for me to put on my back.

I slipped into the straps, asking, "Where to now?"

"I don't know.
 
Away from that meadow seems as good an idea as anything else at this point."

"I'm hungry," said Willy.

I started walking behind Spike who was doing his best to move branches and other obstacles out of my way, now that my attention was partially taken by the pest in my hand.
 
"Too bad.
 
I don't have any food for you right now."

"Dat's not very nice, Lellamental.
 
My momma never says
too bad
.
 
She gives me
food."

"Well, I'm not your momma, and you're not supposed to be here."
 
I followed Spike, trying to make Willy's ride as comfortable as possible.
 
I was so distracted, I didn't notice how upset he was until the wailing began.

"Waaaahhh ... I want my mommaaaa!!"

I lifted him up to eye-level as I walked.
 
"Stop crying, Willy, there's nothing I can do."

"You're
mean!
 
I want my mommmaaaaa!
 
I want my papaaaa!"

I stopped.

Spike realized I wasn't following anymore and stopped too.
 
"What's up?"

"The pixie is hungry," I said, staring at his red face and the tears coursing down his cheeks.

"Yeah!
 
Da pixie is
hungry!"
screeched Willy, glaring at me.

"He looks pissed," said Spike staring down at him.

"Pissed!" yelled Willy.

I rolled my eyes.
 
"Don't give him any more ammo like that.
 
We'll all end up getting our mouths washed out with ladybug pee."

Spike laughed and then stopped when he realized I wasn't laughing with him.
 
"Are you serious?"

"Apparently it's the pixie version of soap."

"Daaamn.
 
That pixie lady is serious."

"You're telling me."
 
I turned my attention back to the unhappy baby in my hand.
 
"Okay, Willy. Tell me what you like to eat, and I'll try to find some."

"Fruit!" he said, brightening up immediately.

I held my hand up higher so he could see around us.
 
"Do you see any fruit here?"

Willy looked around, falling down twice in his efforts before finally facing me again.
 
"No," he said, ready to start crying again.

"Me neither.
 
But if I see any, I'll get it for you, okay?"

He nodded, absently sticking his finger up his nose.

"Listen, little dude ... you can't pick your nose when you're with me."

"How come?" he asked, his finger not moving.

"Because it's gross."

"Why?"

"Because it is."

"Why?"

I sighed heavily, looking over at Spike.
 
"This is going to be a long friggin trip."

He smiled.
 
"Yeah.
 
I got that."

I nudged his arm.
 
"Come on.
 
And keep your eyes out for fruit."

"Fruit?" he asked, sounding like he wasn't sure he'd heard right.

"Yeah, fruit.
 
The kid is hungry, and that's what he eats."

"Okaaaay, then," said Spike.

I knew exactly what he was thinking.
 
Where in the hell are we going to find fruit in the Overworld?

CHAPTER TWO

THE TREES BEGAN TO THIN, and eventually we reached a spot where we could see sky again between some of their branches.
 
It was still full of gorgeous colors and not the normal blue like at home, but there weren't any of the angels flying around in the clouds that I could see.

"Why are we stopping?" I asked.

Spike stood in place, surveying the area around us.
 
"I don't know.
 
I'm just not sure where to go at this point, and I don't know how much farther we should go without some sort of plan."

"Did you bring any food or water with you?" I asked, kicking myself in the butt mentally for not even considering my most basic needs.
 
How could I have been so stupid?
 
I really needed to start thinking a little bit more before acting.
 
Aidan had probably put that stuff in his bag, but his brilliance was doing nothing for me right now.
 

"Yeah, I've got water and a few snacks, but they're not going to last long," he said, unzipping his bag and pulling out a canteen.

"Hey!
 
Like a real camping canteen," I said, for some reason delighted over the fact that we looked like pioneers or something.

"Yeah," he said smiling like a little kid.
 
"My brownie kicks butt."

I took a small sip and offered a few drops to Willy out of the cap.
 
Spike took a drink too and then put it back in his bag.

I looked around the area where we were and the place ahead of us that looked a lot lighter - as if the trees were spaced farther apart.
 
I urged Spike forward with a lift of my chin.
 
"Let's go over there and see what that is."

Spike nodded, taking my hand and moving in that direction.
 
I held baby bee up in front of me so he could watch where we were going.
 
My hand stayed in a fist, and he sat in the hole in the very top of it, using my curled forefinger and thumb to support most of his body with his tiny hands.