Page 5 of On A Rift’s Edge (Riftworld #2)
“I went for a swim, and the portal opened up.” Zale threw up both arms and a few tentacles. “Out of nowhere. Anyway, this wasn’t the plan for me to get here. I was going to be discreet.”
That sounded like Zale had admitted to being a spy whose travel plans had gone in an unexpected direction. Kat was no expert, but the tentacled biker dude didn’t seem to be a good choice for espionage.
Remi spread his own arms to indicate the bubbling water and eerie red glow of the monstertown’s new water feature. “Does this look discreet to you?”
“Something similar happened to me.” Lyall let out a disgusted sigh, perhaps because he hated having anything in common with Zale. “I was inside the Mt. Hood earth rift visiting my clan. I walked by one of our onsens, saw a portal open, and heard Kat scream.”
“It was more of a yelp.” Kat felt embarrassed enough about being grabbed by a half-naked tentacled man. Hopefully Bug hadn’t caught that humiliation with his visual apparatus. Even if it would be edited out anyway, Kat didn’t want to relive it.
“This transported you here from Oregon and Zale from Massachusetts?” Kaveh frowned. “You’re the expert on portals, Lyall, but I didn’t think that was possible.”
“That’s not even the most disturbing thing about it.
” Lyall released Kat’s arm, walked over to one of the rocks that encircled the water, and kicked it.
The rock began to glow with a soft orange light.
Then multiple jointed legs popped out from underneath it, and it scuttled away.
“That’s a glow crab, and most of the rest of this is made of living rock.
It should be a mini-hellmouth, if not for the fact that both Zale and I came through the wet part, making it a water portal. ”
“A hybrid earth and water portal isn’t something Ari could pull off.” Remi looked worried, a concerning change from his usual breezy confidence. Bug flew over to him, letting out a string of trills and chirps. “Not now, Bug. The video issues can wait.”
“I think I know who did this.” Lyall locked eyes with Kaveh. “It’s not something I want to discuss here.”
Did that mean he didn’t want to talk in front of Kat or because Zale was around?
Kat hated to feel he was in the way, as much as he wanted an explanation from Lyall.
“Kaveh, if there’s no immediate danger, I’d like to leave and change out of my wet clothes.
Plus, the people in the park might want to know what’s going on. ”
“Of course.” Kaveh nodded at Kat before turning back to Lyall. “You have my permission to visit the drakone-protected territories of the monstertown and the ranch. I’d ask that if you need to go through the rift, though, you let me or the guardians know.”
Bug, seemingly tired of trying to get Remi’s attention, buzzed in a circle around Zale’s head. The cyberbug could communicate by merging with most human technology, but he usually preferred Remi’s gold Matchmaker Rolex.
Zale tried to grab the cyberbug, which easily dodged him and flew back to land on Remi’s wrist, its chirps growing louder. “I see you kept the don’s expensive tech, little cousin. What are you using Bug for here?”
“Recording your criminal activities.” Kat had no idea what authorities regulated mysterious hot-spring hellmouths, but Zale didn’t know that.
Remi winked at Kat and rotated his wrist. “Nice comeback. Okay, Bug, show me what you got.” Bug crawled over to Remi’s watch and dove into it, its body shrinking down as it became one with the device.
“Hey, I only came here to check on you.” Zale gave Remi a pleading look, which the streamer ignored as he studied the information on his watch. “If your dragon daddy lets me stay, I could, like, investigate stuff.”
Lyall gave a low growl and moved back next to Kat. Did that mean anything? The hellhound hadn’t said anything to him yet, except to ask if he was okay.
“If Remi agrees he wants to talk to you, Zale, I’ll grant you guest courtesy for one Earth day.” Kaveh wasn’t amused by the half-kraken calling him dragon daddy, Kat could tell. “Any longer and you’ll need to formally petition me to visit drakone territory. That will come at a price.”
“After we edit and upload Remi’s great introduction to the monstertown, we won’t hesitate to give the authorities the video of what you did if you try any funny business,” Kat added, acutely aware of Lyall’s proximity.
It was as if the hellhound couldn’t resist being right in Kat’s personal space, but maybe Kat was projecting.
Remi, who had been scanning the watch’s surface with an odd expression, cleared his throat. “I don’t think we’ll need to upload that part of the video. Or any part, actually.”
“Why?” Kat’s dramatic dunking and Lyall’s heart-stopping appearance could be edited out of the final cut.
He was so relieved he had insisted on a pre-recording.
His family would have had a collective heart attack about today even before a half-kraken popped out of a water portal and a hellhound pounced on him.
“Because Bug found a way to connect to Wi-Fi and sent the whole thing as a livestream.” Remi scanned his watch again and groaned.
“Including the expression on your face when Zale pulled you into the water and Lyall’s overeager puppy act.
I hate to break it to you, Kat, but you’re already going viral. ”