Page 52 of Shifter King

But those eyes were unmistakable. She'd seen them before. Over Rasha when she had come through Amelia's mind. Over Tai the cake decorator. Only now did she recognize them as the same. And that meant one thing. "Is it Okalu ortheOkalu?"

The darkness shifted within the doorway as the eyes blinked vertically. Another set of eyes opened a little lower than the first. "The Okalu."

"I do not recall inviting you into my mind, so please leave."

"You did not have to. You opened the door."

Opened the door? She restrained a pained laugh. There were no doors! Nothing to open or close. "I don't recall doing so."

"All that matters is it is open." Something scraped against a stone floor as if they drew closer. "Someone opened it, and we have come."

"Still doesn't make you welcome." She looked up and down the hallway, swallowing nervously.

A low almost dreamy voice followed. There was something familiar in the voice, but she could not place it. "You aren't a particularly good host."

"No. I'm not."

"You should invite us to take our rest. To talk. You could learn what all of this is about. Perhaps gain some favor."

She narrowed her eyes at them. Despite the rustling and scraping, the eyes had not actually come much closer. "If you want to tell me your purpose, you can tell me from there." Other vague recollections pressed at her mind as if she had been here before. Perhaps—perhaps this wasn't precisely her mind. Did these doorways lead to other places?

The eyes narrowed. The larger set glowed as if heated by some internal fire. "Such rudeness."

"If by rude you mean not welcoming every strange entity that waltzes around through my mind or around it, yes, exceptionally. I'm rather full-up on unknowns right now. So…go on."

"Do you want to dance, little girl?" the Okalu hissed.

"Not especially." She studied the doorway, feeling a little more confident now that she had concluded it couldn't completely come in without her permission. Shrieking crespa. How was there no door? Rasha had said she was bad about closing doors. But how was there any way to close the door if there was no door?

All right. If she couldn't envision the door actually attached within the door frame to start, perhaps there was a way around that. She held her hands up and imagined a large red door with a simple golden knob that would fit perfectly in the frame.

It emerged, resting against her hands as if someone had gently leaned it there. "Aha."

The Okalu hissed. "You think that will work?"

She stepped forward and set the door into the frame. It slid into place perfectly. "Yes!" With now steady hands, she secured it to the frame and stepped back. It blocked everything off and even had a lock. She flipped it into position. Now to do that another seventy million times. But at least now she had a solution.

She blinked.

The door vanished, and now three sets of red eyes stared back at her.

Joy.

"Ki," she said, louder this time. "Ki, get your scaly butt out here."

"We do not find this amusing," the Okalu hissed, multiple voices now overlapping as they spoke. "It is not enough that you have hidden her. You will not subvert our plans. You cannot stop what is coming. Every day we get closer."

Maybe if the door was black and made of the same material as the doorway itself with self-fastening hinges. It was worth a try. The door appeared, leaning against her hands as before.

"Are you actually trying that again?" the Okalu demanded, their voice resonating higher now.

She shoved the door into the doorway. The hinges clicked into place. "Yup." She pressed against them. They felt firm enough. Cold too.

She stepped back and surveyed her work. Her eyes started to burn as if smoke was getting into them. She sniffed. It smelled a little smoky too. She blinked.

Once more the door vanished. "How dare you," the Okalu growled, lowering down like a snake preparing to strike. Something rattled within the darkness.

"Oh I dare." She tilted her head. "Maybe lapis lazuli this time."