First World(20)

“Why ...?” I looked around. “Why am I still here then?”

“Could someone speak in English? Just for five minutes.” Annoyance replaced Lucy’s usual cynicism.

“We need to get Aribella back now; the countdown is on for both of these worlds. And it is too dangerous to be roaming New York.” He sighed. “The reason you’ve been here for extra years is ... I don’t have the power ... and I lost contact.”

Lucy glanced at each of us in turn.

“I’m really hoping when you say Aribella needs to go to dreamland, you mean Lucy and Aribella, and you just forgot about me.” She turned to me. “He just forgot me, right, Aribella? Crap. Sorry ...” She grinned. “It’s a catchy name.”

I shook my head and sighed. “I’m not leaving without Lucy, no matter how annoying she is.”

Quarn had paced a few steps away toward the alley entrance. He spoke over his shoulder. “You cannot go, Lucy Laurell; this is no place for an Earthling. You must stay here.”

Did he just say –? Hell. NO.

“I’m going to ignore that. Implying I’m some type of alien ... well, it’s just rude.”

“Are you kidding me? Don’t ignore it.” Lucy interrupted me to glare at Quarn. “What do you mean: Earthling?” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Is Abby an alien?”

I groaned. It was time for the conspiracy theories.

“I knew it.” She was triumphant. “There is no way someone gets to be as gorgeous as Abigail and then is also tall. On top of that her lips are full and perfect and naturally red without one ounce of lipstick. Come on, it’s not natural.”

“You’re not natural,” I retorted weakly.

Lucy was always harping on about how unusual my lips were. I was just happy they matched the blood-red of my hair and not the black.

Lucy glared. “Oh, I’m sorry, Extraterrestrial. Where’s your other skin? Green not your color?”

Quarn interrupted. “Sorry to cut this short. As amusing as the pair of you are, we need to move before the Gangers regroup. I’m good, but even I have my limits.” He was standing near the entrance to the alley, scoping it out.

“I’m. Going. Nowhere. Without. Lucy.” I had to spell it out.

He looked between us for a second before nodding. “It does not matter. I don’t have the power to send one of you there, let alone both of you.”

“How do we get more power?” Lucy looked around eagerly. “I’m ready – we digging for coal ... oil?”

I laughed. Fossil fuels. We’d have more chance of finding a magic wand.

He shook his head. “Nothing on Earth. The dead zone is more encompassing than we’d ever anticipated. I’d need a storage amulet, which is rare; a sacred stone, even rarer; and, as a last resort, a power on the other side to assist.”

I smiled in delight. “Quarn, this may just be your lucky day.”

Moving to the wall, I retrieved my pack before reaching in to unearth the stone. Cupping it with care, I held it out in front of me.

“Is this a sacred stone?”

It was impossible to describe his expression. A sense of reverence fell over him. He stepped forward, laying a hand lightly, respectfully, on its blue surface.

“No, this isn’t, Aribella. This is something much more than that – it’s one of the royal pair, the most important stones in our world. Your lanina – mother – sent it with you ... I thought it was lost.” He whispered the last part.

I interrupted. “Mother? You know my family?” Panic laced my tone.

He nodded. “Your mother, Lallielle, is one of my oldest friends.”

I shuddered, trying to fill my compressed lungs with air. “Does she have long dark hair? Green eyes a little lighter than mine?”

He nodded again.

I smiled; I’d guessed right for once.

“She was in my dream. She told me about the stone and then it just appeared. Could she have anything to do with this?” I was overtaken by an uncontrollable urgency.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. Which is not a comfortable place for me. I would have said not possible, but with the dream-spanning Lalli must have found a way.” A thoughtful look crossed his features. “The stone has power. It may have decided that it would come to you.”

He was reiterating my previous feelings: this stone was powerful. Still, I had not been very comfortable with its sudden appearance. In my world the very things you either want or need do not just appear before you. But there hadn’t been time to question it.

“Do you know a way to get there? Abby needs to meet her family.” Lucy’s blue eyes were huge.