Worlds Apart (16 page)

Shit.
Tina closed her eyes.
It won't work, will it? I'm going to have to deal with him
sooner or later. He'll never stay away once he
knows.

By all appearances, this was a
battle she'd already lost. If these people could tell by looking at
her that she was pregnant, any one of them might talk to Clive. She
couldn't force them all to secrecy. She'd managed to convince Ruth,
but this woman... Tina opened her eyes again.
No, there's no way
to convince her. I'll have to be adult about this, I
guess.

She waved a hand again. “All
right. You just make sure he doesn't show up on my
doorstep.”

She almost felt Windblood's
relief, it was so strong. She suspected that goodwill would come in
handy for what came next. She turned to the door. “So show me your
world. And let's step on it, okay? I need to get home.”

Chapter 18

They couldn't make this stuff
up.

Walking through the domestic
portal offered Tina the greatest proof. She could pretend the
people she saw were just in costume and makeup, devotees of some
elaborate role-playing game. The village of Poentreville could be a
collection of quaint buildings for their stage. But the portal: a
rectangle stretching from the ground to a few feet higher than
Tina's head. It was about four feet across, a shimmering
translucence stationed a few blocks from the sheriff's office where
they'd taken her for questioning.

A doorway in the middle of
nowhere.

Windblood let her walk around it a
few times to convince her there was nothing on the other
side.

Tina held onto her distrust. “Why
didn't the other portal—the one in the forest—shimmer like this
one?”

Windblood stood with crossed arms,
watching Tina as she strolled. “This is an active portal,” she
said. “The one in the forest is indicted. It's been closed, and
remains under guard until we find the werewolf.”

Tina turned to stare at her. “So,
even if he tried to get back, he couldn't? You effectively trapped
him in my world.”

“We didn't know he was there. All
indications were that he'd returned to Kaarmanesh. That's what his
ward made us think. It took a while to get the ward translated. I
told you, he's a witch. A powerful one, as it turns
out.”

Then Windblood took her arm, and
in three steps took her through the portal. The first step was
leaving Poentreville. The second was shimmering grayness. The third
was into a cavernous room, bustling with all kinds of people,
coming and going through a line of portals stretching in both
directions.

Tina yelped and wrapped both of
her arms around Windblood's. “Dear God, where are we?” She turned
to stare at the portal they’d emerged from, then around the room.
It was like any travel station anywhere, with people standing in
clumps or lines, talking to others or ignoring everybody, greeting
newcomers or waving good-bye to those departing.

Windblood pulled her forward so
others could step into the portal they'd come from. “We're in
Farendale. It's on the island you call Manhattan.”

“What? We got all the way across
the continent by stepping through...” Tina gestured at the portal
behind her, but turned back when Windblood headed for the outer
doors. She scrambled to stay close as Windblood
explained.

“The domestic system has been in
place for millennia. It's based on spells woven into the fabric of
magic. The witches have a guild that maintains them.”

“Are they the same as the portals
to… to my world?”

“Not exactly, although I believe
the underlying principle is the same. The portals between worlds
are a natural occurrence of the dimensional boundary.” She glanced
at Tina and shrugged. “It's complicated.”

“I bet it is.” Tina nodded. They
left the building and she stopped to take in this version of
Manhattan. The first thing she noticed was there were no
skyscrapers. The architecture was different—more of the
old-fashioned quaintness she'd seen in Poentreville, with odd
angles and curves in unexpected places. Textures and color were
different, too. She stopped to touch a wall, her fingers sliding on
smooth warmness.

“What are the buildings made of?
Do you have steel?”

“Yes, we do, but it's not normally
used in construction.” Windblood didn't stop her hurried walk and
Tina jogged a few steps to catch her words. “I don't have time to
explain everything. Let me just say that our technology is based on
magic, and leave it at that. After we solve our immediate problems,
I'll be glad to answer all your questions.”

They turned into a building with
orange and blue awnings. People stepped aside to let Windblood
pass, with curious glances at Tina. Windblood ignored them,
ushering Tina into an elevator as she continued to talk.

“Will you let one of our healers
examine you? She can do it in my office, and I assure you, the exam
is non-invasive and painless. I need to know and you need to know
what's happening with your child and with your own body. These are
not issues that your medical establishment is equipped to deal
with.”

Tina thought about that as she
followed Windblood through a large room filled with people and
equipment, just like any cop bullpen anywhere. She gave them a
quick glance, her mind elsewhere. As a doctor, what would she do
with a patient carrying the child of a werewolf? Once she was past
the disbelief, that is.

How would it affect the mother?
Why did the women die? Did the fetus release a toxin? This made
some sense, as Windblood had said a werewolf mother does not die.
She would already have the werewolf mutation in her body, so there
would be no negative reaction to the fetus.

Did werewolf females carry a
litter
? Tina gasped, her hand flying to her stomach at the
thought. Windblood turned back, anxiety painted on her face. “What
is it? Are you in pain?”

Tina waved her off with a hoarse
laugh. “No, no. I agree with you, it would be a good idea to see
one of your doctors. I have a lot of questions.”

Windblood nodded. “Good. I had my
assistant contact her already. She'll be here momentarily.” She
entered an office, motioning Tina to a small couch against the
wall, while she sat at the wooden desk, its top strewn with
papers.

Tina glanced around, taking in the
desk and matching file cabinets under a window. She shook her head.
“This all looks so normal. No computers or typewriters, but
otherwise, it's just like a human's office.”

Windblood shrugged. “Form follows
function, I guess. We're bipedal mammals, just like you are. We
have similar needs, so therefore our jobs and tasks are similar. We
have machines like you do.” She waved a hand over her desk and a
blue shimmer appeared in an uneven circle about two feet across.
She grinned at Tina's gape. “It's called a tascrum. Clive says your
computers fulfill the same function these do, including,” she
gestured to the papers on her desk, “printing what we need on
paper. But you've had computers for less than a century. We've used
some form of these machines for thousands of years.”

She pulled a small strap off her
wrist and held it out. Tina took it with some hesitation, relieved
when nothing happened. She frowned at it, turning it in all
directions. It could pass for a watch or cell phone, with a flat
gray screen taking up the center. There was nothing else on it,
although its warmth tickled her palm. She turned her frown on
Windblood. “What is it?”

“The official name is Horgan's
Rent, but everyone calls them straps,” Windblood said. “We all
receive one at birth. A strap is bound to its owner—containing all
official information about that person. Name, age, species, health
status, job, clearances... all kinds of things. The basics can be
accessed by anyone. Any person is required to relinquish their
strap to an authority figure upon request. For instance, I can
examine a prisoner's strap to learn who they are, where they live,
whatever. I can't keep the strap, however. After a few hours, it
teleports itself back to its owner. They are also communication
devices, similar to your cell phones.”

Tina handed it back to Windblood.
“It sounds like you have a totalitarian society. Do your
authorities have complete control of the populace?”

“We have laws, just as you do,”
Windblood said. “I don’t consider our society totalitarian, but
perhaps you'd best make your own judgment about that.”

A soft knock turned their
attention to a young woman standing in the doorway. She smiled in
Windblood's direction, but her eyes were intent on Tina. The
visitor's short hair was white, but her skin was smooth, firm, and
black as midnight. Her eyes were a deep brown, with long lashes
that curled up to brush the bone where her eyebrows would be, if
she'd had them. She was as tall as Windblood, but did not have that
woman's elegant, pointed ears, or her austere bone structure. Not
an elf, then. Tina wondered if she was human.

“Sensa
Shandari, thank you
for coming so quickly.” Windblood's tone was respectful. She came
around her desk, placing a hand on Tina's shoulder. “This is Tina
Cassidy, a human from the Flatlands. You can see why we need
you.”

Shandari sank onto the couch next
to Tina, moving with liquid grace. She took Tina's hand in hers and
gazed at her with quiet intent. Tina's heart gave a leap as she
noticed a tiny white shimmer deep within Shandari's
pupils.

“I'm pleased to meet you, Tina.”
Shandari’s voice was low and pleasant, filling Tina with warmth. “I
understand you were not aware your mate was a werewolf. May I
examine you and the fetus? It will take just a few minutes, and can
be done as we sit here.”

“How...,” Tina stopped to clear
her throat. “How do you do it? What does an exam
entail?”

“I See into your body.” Shandari
gestured to her eyes. “It is my skill—to See a patient's body in
all its aspects and know what is in balance and what is not. It
should not hurt you, but I confess I have never examined a
Flatlander before.”

“That's some bedside manner you
have, Doc.” Tina uttered a shaky laugh. “Yes, go ahead with the
examination. I'm curious to see how you do it.” She suppressed a
shiver, concentrating on the warmth spreading through her from
Shandari's hand.

Shandari smiled and nodded. Her
expression grew unfocused, and Tina gasped as the shimmer in
Shandari's eyes brightened sharply, as if a tiny star had exploded.
Tina was afraid to move as that gaze drifted along her body,
starting with her head and moving down, along each arm, her torso,
legs, and feet. Shandari's hands followed her eyes, brushing soft
strokes over Tina as she examined her. She spent several minutes
hovering over Tina’s abdomen. That comforting warmth continued to
emanate from her hands, and Tina allowed herself to
relax.

Shandari placed her hands in her
lap, and the shimmer in her eyes receded into her pupils. She
sighed, and when she looked at Tina, her gaze was normal once
again. She touched Tina's hand. “You will have to correct any
misconceptions I have about Flatlanders, if you feel I am in error.
But here is what I See: your fetus is a male of eleven weeks
gestation. His aura is one I have never seen, but I believe he is
in good health. He has the werewolf mutation, which is obvious to
anyone. But he also carries an antibody that
appears
to
prevent the mutation from activating. I say
appears
to
because I am not certain how it works. I've never heard of such a
thing happening before.”

Tina sat straighter, her mind
reeling with the cascade of information.
A boy!
She hadn’t
even wondered at her baby's gender, and now she knew. But she could
not understand the rest.

“So, you're saying he won't…
change… into a wolf? Is he... is he
human
, Shandari? Like
me?”

“In form, yes.” Shandari squeezed
her hand. “He is not Flatlander, like you. But he is
human.”

“What is the difference? What does
it mean, that he’s not Flatlander?” Tina's chest
constricted.

Shandari tilted her head as she
thought about it.

“In Kaarmanesh, magic is an
element. It is as much a part of our world as the atmosphere, soil,
or water. It is in our bodies, like iron or magnesium, and we
constantly access it. We can see and feel it around us, always. In
your world, there is almost no magic. To us, your world appears
flat, without the contours that magic creates. Your son is a child
of Kaarmanesh. Magic fills him, just as it does all of
us.”

Tina shook her head, trying to
clear the jumble of thoughts enough to say something coherent. ”I'm
sorry. I'm trying to understand this. I think you're saying that he
has inherited the magic of Kaarmanesh from his father. Those genes,
if you will, are dominant over my Flatland genes. Does that sound
right?”

Shandari pursed her lips. “I'm not
certain what you mean by
genes
, but the principle is sound.
I believe it would be wise for us to spend much time together,
Tina. We are both healers, and your pregnancy raises many
questions. I would like to study this with you, and also help you
through it. I know you are frightened and uncertain. But together
we will find answers. Would you be willing to do that?”