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All strapped in with some help from me, Kaspian stared around the truck's cab with an interest that couldn't be faked. Either he was insane and truly believed his lies, or—and I was shockingly leaning toward this option—he was telling the truth. And if he was telling the truth, I was sitting beside a man from another world. A man with magic, who could put out fires with a wave of his hand. Oh, and he could make his eyes glow. Really glow. Not just a trick of the light. If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't believe it. Even after everything I'd seen, I still doubted it. There had to be a logical explanation—that's what the rational part of my mind kept telling me.

But there was another part of my mind—a part I liked to call Peter Pan—who kept whispering, “But what if you fly?”

And if you don't get that reference, you're a sad, sad person who needs to read Peter Pan immediately. Or at least watch some Disney movies. Sheesh.

Anyway, I was only half paying attention to the truck when I turned the key in the ignition. Mostly, I was watching Kaspian investigate everything. He had the meager contents of the glove box spread across his lap when the engine roared to life. His inquisitive expression launched into one of horror and ferocity. Papers and napkins went flying as he jerked in his seat, the belt barely keeping him in place, and snarled. Really snarled. Like an animal.

“Whoa!” I held a hand out to him. “Relax. It's just the engine starting.”

“The engine?” He did not relax. “What is an engine?”

“Wow. Okay. Uh. An engine is a machine. There are many types of engines. The type in vehicles are what's called combustion engines. I think the full title is internal combustion engines. But now there are electric cars and hybrids . . .” I trailed off when I saw his face go slack. “Yeah, that's too much. Okay. This engine is a combustion engine. You'll probably love that because it functions on fire.”

“Fire powers this vehicle?” His ferocity instantly withdrew. “So, there is magic in this world.”

“Uh. No, not as you're implying. But we have a type of magic that we call science. Um . . .” I floundered, trying to come up with a way to explain it to him. Then I saw people congregating outside the truck, talking and motioning at us. I'd gotten him away from the firefighters, and I knew they'd do all they could to help us, but there were more than firefighters onsite. And as much as I saw the support teams as family, they might not see me the same. Or Kaspian. “You know what? We need to get you out of here right now.” I put the truck in gear and pulled out of the parking spot.

Kaspian must have sensed the severity of the moment because he went silent, his stare swiveling from window to window. I knew that look. One of my exes was in the Marines. After he got back from Afghanistan, he used to do the same thing. Always on guard. One foot in the black at all times.

I let Kaspian keep watch while I focused on the road. As soon as I was on a real one—as opposed to the dirt trail that led up to the job, I put on speed. Kaspian flinched and gripped the oh-shit bar, but still didn't speak. When we got to the highway, I really opened her up.

“Dear Goddess,” Kaspian whispered.

“Hey, we're good now,” I said. “You can relax.”

“Then why are we moving so rapidly?”

“To get you away from all of those people who saw that magic trick of yours.”

“Why?”

“Because that isn't normal here. Some of those people—the ones I don't trust—might report you to the authorities. If the authorities catch you, they'll hurt you.”

Kaspian snorted. “No human can hurt me.”

I just shook my head. “I don't know about the humans who live wherever you come from. But here, we don't have to be strong to kill strong things. We have weapons that we can fire with the pull of a trigger. A child can take down a lion.” I glanced at him. “Do you have lions where you're from?”

“My world is called Serai, and I believe we have a similar beast.”

“Similar beast,” I murmured. Then the thing that had been in the back of my mind, pecking at me, finally came forward. “If you're from another world, how do you know English?”

“What's English?”

“The language we're speaking.”

“Oh.” Kaspian shook his head. “I don't know. At first, I didn't understand you. I speak a language called Serain. It's a global language. We have many others, but all know Serain.”

“That's what you were speaking at first?”

“Yes. But then the meaning of your words became clear. I simply understood.” He shrugged. “Must be . . .”

“What?” I pulled around a slow car, then glanced at him.

Kaspian was scowling.

“Kas?”

He looked at me. “I remember now.”

“Remember what?”

“How I got here. It was a strange magic. Unlike any I've ever seen before.” Kaspian's eyes narrowed. “I was in bed when I saw a light in the corner of the room. It grew brighter. I climbed out of bed and went toward it.”

“Never go into the light.” I shook my head. “Haven't you seen Poltergeist ?” I winced. “Sorry. That just came out. Of course, you haven't. Go on.”

“The light widened. It was a long slash in the air. A tear in reality. Through it, I could see a burning forest. I held out a hand and even felt the heat. I was going to call for my guards to investigate, but the tear shot toward me, pulling me into it. And then I was here.”

“A portal.”

“How do you know about portals?” Kaspian demanded. “Does your human magic create them? Was it you who brought me here?”

“No. We don't have magic. But we tell stories about magic. We make things up. Fantasy.” I motioned at him. “Like how Gromit called your kingdom make-believe. You remember that? Make-believe is the term we use for made-up stories. It's all pretend. Things created in our imagination.”

“All right. All right.” He held up a hand. “I understand. We have stories as well. But we don't have to make-believe. Our stories are true.”

“We're here.” I pulled into the station's parking lot and parked the truck. “We've got to hurry.” I snapped open his seatbelt, then got out. “Come on!”

Kaspian followed me into the station. I took him through the garage and a side door. Not that it mattered. Everyone was gone. Ours wasn't a call station, so when we got a call, we left the station unoccupied. I took Kas to my locker and shrugged out of my gear, then stripped down to my underwear. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. When I looked over, I caught Kaspian gaping at me.

I admit I preened a little. To have a man like that staring at me with admiration—well, to say it made my day would be an understatement. And to say it didn't motivate me further would be a lie. But I didn't have time for more than a few seconds of preening. We had to get moving.

I pulled on my clothes, then grabbed a spare pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt that I kept at the station for working out. “Here. Try these on.”

The clothing was snug, but they would do. Kaspian plucked at the material clinging to his thick thighs and grimaced.

“Sorry. They're better than this though.” I shoved the blanket into my locker. “Come on.” After pulling on my jacket, I got my keys and wallet out of the inner pocket and tossed the station's truck keys on a table. Then I ushered him back to the parking lot. “My car's over here.”

“Another fire-powered vehicle?”

I chuckled. “Yeah. I should get a hybrid, but they don't pay me enough.” I pushed the clicker and opened the doors of my truck.

“This is a smaller version of the last vehicle.” Kaspian looked around the lot. “I'm glad you do not own one of those.” He pointed at a Prius.

I snorted a laugh. It was Tank's car, and he looked ridiculous in it. But no one made fun of Tank. “Yeah, me too. Wouldn't be caught dead in one of those.”

Kaspian's head jerked my way. “You wouldn't what?”

“Oh, it's just a saying. Never mind.”

“How does one be caught dead? You cannot run if you're dead,” he murmured to himself as he got into my truck.

I shook my head, my brain still trying to catch up to the insanity of my actions. Because I was about to do something even more insane than believe a crazy person.

I was about to take him home with me.