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We made it to the gate in less than two hours and we stopped to eat lunch. “If you don’t mind, I need to check in with Gina,” I said quietly to Martin.
“Let me know when you’re ready to move.”
“Be back in half an hour.”
Gina swore she had found a shortcut that would shave half an hour off her trip, and although I warned her about shortcuts, she insisted she was going to get there faster and I relented. She was less than an hour out, and that was what I needed to hear. Time was running out and we needed to get the children tonight. I had to ask for an additional favor, describing exactly what I wanted and she promised to get it.
Quinn winked at me as I settled next to Martin and I ignored the wicked grins on everyone else’s face. “Go ahead, try me. I have plenty of time to teach a few of you a lesson, so please, say something. I dare you.” I was mildly disappointed when there wasn’t so much as a whisper, although Remy looked like he was seriously considering it. A challenging look in his direction though, and he kept quiet too, leaving us all silent as time dragged by.
I quickly became lost in thought. My eyes locked on the place where I knew the gate was supposed to be, although I saw nothing at all. We had to do this without involving the police or anyone nearby, which meant we wouldn’t be able to use weapons like we had the last time. We had to somehow get inside. I didn’t know how we were going to do it, but I was working hard to figure that out.
“Joan,” Martin said quietly in my ear. His hand was on my arm, his other hand at my back. “Joan,” he said again.
I blinked. Everyone was looking expectantly at me. “What?”
“What’s our next move?” Quinn asked.
“Your next move is to stay here until I get a call, and then my next move is to go to the Flip Side with Martin and get the rest of what we need.”
“What else do we need?” Landon asked, confused.
I shook my head. “Look at yourself, Landon. Your outfit practically screams, ‘I’m not from the Flip Side!’ You all need to change and lose some of your weapons before we go.”
They looked outraged. “I’m not leaving my weapons!” Keeton protested, resting his hand on his gun.
I was patient. “Let me rephrase then. In the Flip Side, you have to have permits to carry guns or to own guns. There are also places where guns are not allowed. If I’m not taking my gun, you aren’t. And if you can’t part with your weapons, then you can stay behind and guard them. Understood?”
Keeton glared.
“What weapons are allowed?” Liam asked.
“Bows and arrows stay, any guns other than a small sidearm stays, swords stay. Your knives stay concealed, and your sidearm stays concealed and you do not shoot or draw your weapon unless you absolutely have to. We can’t attract attention or drag the police in.”
“I assume a silencer would be allowed?” Neal inquired.
“Silencers would be great.” I laid my gun down. “Start tossing now. If I find that you’ve taken something that shouldn’t go and you get caught, I’m going to kill you.”
Keeton grumbled, but he rested his rifle beside my gun. I pointed accusingly to Yal. “Don’t even try to tell me that rocket launcher is a small sidearm.” Yal liked big weapons and he had yet to move.
“Compared to him, it’s relatively small,” Remy reasoned.
“Small compared to me,” I said. “Pierson, crossbow stays.”
Martin had removed his sword. Keeton looked forlorn now without his gun. “What am I supposed to carry now?” he demanded, looking and sounding petulant.
I pulled out my knife from the small of my back and handed it to him. “I expect that back, just so you know. Anyone else need a weapon?”
“No, Guardswoman,” Captain Parkton said, fighting to keep a straight face. “May I ask how many of those you have?”
“Five.”
“You mean four,” Remy corrected.
“No, I’m down to five now.” I pulled the thin dagger from my braid, where it had looked like a decorative hairpin. “A gift from Hillarie. Just a small reminder to not underestimate me, Captain.”
“Dave,” he said at last. “Just call me Dave, if you don’t mind.”
I smiled internally but I kept my face calm. “Dave, I hate to tell you this, but you’re going to have to lose the uniform, so you’d better find another way to carry that pistol.”
My phone rang an hour later, after I’d taken away many more weapons that would not go to the Flip Side, and I picked it up. “Yes?” I smiled at the response at the other end. “Either that was a very good shortcut, or you sped all the way. Where are you?” I listened to the response. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.” I snapped my phone shut. “All right, everyone. We’re moving. Stay invisible. Martin and I will go through first, half of you are coming now, and the rest are staying here for now. I can only have so many of you sticking out like a sore thumb. Quinn, Liam, Keeton, Mark, you’re with me.”
“Who was that?” Remy wanted to know.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” I said briskly. “Oh, Randall, you’re coming too. And we’re walking,” I said as Mark headed for his horse.
“But no one can see us,” Keeton protested.
“The Light Bearers can, and I don’t want to chance them seeing us and being clearly identified by riding horses no one else can see.” I slung my bag over my shoulders and took Martin’s hand. “Let’s go.”
Lakeview, Oregon was currently overcast and promising rain. I could hear the rumble of thunder off in the distance and prayed it would rain. It would help us when we attacked the Light Bearers. I waited until we were all in the Flip Side before heading out, walking briskly. It took only a few minutes to enter the town and find the place where Gina was. I handed Martin my green knife and let go of his hand before stepping out of the shadow I was in and heading inside.
“Joan!” Gina jumped up. “I’m here, and I got everything you needed.”
I hugged her. “You’re the best.”
“Do I get to meet them? Please? You have to let me at least meet Martin!” she pleaded as we walked outside.
I could see Martin, and since he was dressed in black like me, I motioned him forward. Gina’s eyes popped when she saw him. “Whoa,” she muttered under her breath.
I grinned. “I know. Gina, this is Martin. Martin, you already know Gina.”
Martin shook Gina’s hand. “Joan speaks highly of you.”
Gina squinted her eyes at him. “You hurt Joan again, and I’ll stab you with one of her knives.”
“Gina!” I was mortified.
She laughed. “Ah, come on, Joan. After you threatened, like, thirty of my boyfriends, you had to let me have one.” She gestured to her car. “It’s all in there. What do you want to do now?”
“Go two blocks south and there’s an empty garage on your right. We’ll be there momentarily, but we can’t have people suddenly appearing.”
“Where now?” Liam asked.
“Back to the empty garage we passed.”
“Wait, we’re not actually meeting her,” Quinn protested.
“You’re still following me, right? Then let’s go.” I wondered nervously how they would take this. They followed, but I could feel their confused and wary looks the entire two blocks to the empty garage. Gina was inspecting the lock on the door, and right as I heard someone snort, Gina stepped back and gave the door a kick, and the door swung open, torn from the rusty lock. Then she pulled her car into the garage. “Nice kick,” I told her. “You’ve been practicing.”
She flashed me a smile. “Well, I had to. Turns out this guy I’m dating works out at the gym every day. He was trying to get me to go, and then he laughed at me with his friends once he saw how much I sucked at lifting weights.” She smiled sweetly. “Then I broke the bench they were all sitting on. Tai Kwon Do was the best thing you ever forced me to do.”
“You loved it.” I went to the back of the car and pulled out radios. “Perfect, Gina.”
“Oh, so that’s Gina?” Liam said, interested.
“Why don’t you meet her for yourself?” I suggested, not turning to look at them when I said that.
I heard Gina’s startled gasp, then, “Oh, you must be Liam Vega. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to people appearing like that.”
“You know me?” Liam asked, amused.
“Joan’s told me all about you. You wore green at the Linson ball.” I turned to see her eyeing him critically. “I think I know why Joan had me pick up some clothes.”
“See? I told you they’d never fit in,” I said. “Did you get the other...?”
Gina nodded. “Up front, under the seat.” She gave another gasp as others appeared to her eyes. “Geez! How many of you are there?”
I left them to talk while I went to the front of the car. My dad’s pistol was under the passenger seat and I silently picked it up. I’d never touched any of my dad’s stuff since he’d died, except to pack it up, but I knew I’d need this. This was Dad’s gun. It had been passed down father to son, but there had never been a son. Dad had never been disappointed, but I missed the talk we were supposed to have before he gave me the gun, the same talk they’d all gotten.
“Joan?” Martin asked, standing behind me.
“It was my dad’s,” I said quietly.
It was all he needed to hear. He wrapped an arm around my waist. “I’m sure he doesn’t mind,” he said, pulling me so I rested against him. “He’d be very proud of what you’re doing.”
“I know. I just...I miss him still.” It was part of the reason I couldn’t calm down. I felt like I had to do something for him, something to make up for not bringing him back. I couldn’t lose my sister; I wouldn’t be able to hold it together if I lost her too.
Martin nuzzled my cheek, calming the rising panic. “You’re doing everything right, Joan. Cathy’s going to be fine.”
I waited until I felt I could breathe again, then I straightened and snapped on the belt that came with the gun. “You have no idea how glad I am to have you,” I said, tone almost normal.
He brought my hand to the lump in his jacket pocket that I knew was the jewelry box holding my ring. “I might have an idea.”
Gina dropped us off beside the empty highway and watched in amazement as we disappeared through the gate with the clothing she’d bought. “How do you do that?” she asked, bewildered after walking through the same area twice with no result.
I shrugged. “I think it’s something that only they can do. I don’t know if I could get through on my own; I can’t even see anything.”
“You can’t see it?” Martin asked, surprised.
I shook my head. “I don’t see anything. What is it supposed to be?”
“It’s a...hole.”
“How big?”
“Big enough for that semi to drive through,” he said, gesturing to the one that blared by.
“Impressive,” I said, wishing I could see it. “I see...nothing.”
He stared at me. “But you can go through it?”
“With you. I’ve never been through it alone except for coming back.”
Martin let go of my hand. “Try then,” he urged.
I shrugged, then walked forward. Just as I was about to say it didn’t work, the scene suddenly changed and I blinked. “Huh.” Martin appeared a second later. I looked at him. “I can go through, but I can’t see it.”
He looked like he was thinking, trying to figure out this new puzzle about me. I remembered Gina and called, “Joe!”
Joe was dressed in jeans and a blue shirt, looking as at ease as I’d seen him the first time. “Would you go tell Gina to wait for us at the garage? Please?”
He gave me an odd look, then complied.
“Why Joe?” Martin asked, distracted.
“Gina wants to say thank you. She never got to thank him for bringing her out of the coma.”
Dave pulled me aside, furious. “You told her?” he hissed, trying to keep his tone low.
“It’s not a problem,” I insisted. “Gina can keep her mouth shut, and we need her.”
“What do we need her for?” he demanded, tone still low.
“We need her to help you blend in, Captain,” I said coolly. “We need her because no one from here will recognize her as someone from the peace conference or even from here. She’s just another girl from the Flip Side, so she can do things that we can’t.”
Dave glared a minute longer.
“Are you satisfied, Captain?” I asked calmly.
“Enough with the titles,” he grumbled. “I asked you to call me Dave. I’m satisfied.”
I turned to everyone gathered, picked up a radio, and turned it on. “There’s one for each of us. Channel five, sub-channel three. We move in twenty minutes.”