Chapter 21
Chapter
Twenty-One
Anon stood at the head of the dining room table. They’d brought chairs in from the living room and kitchen so everyone could have a seat.
He rapped a wooden spoon against the table. “All right, everyone, let’s call this meeting to order. I’ve gathered you all here because we have an emergency on our hands.”
Louise ignored him and reached for a pizza box. “Pepperoni? I wanted Hawaiian.”
“Try another box, Louise,” Sam said.
Anon rolled his eyes. “There’s plenty for everyone, and yes, I ordered your Hawaiian, Louise.”
He rapped the spoon on the table again and sat.
“Now, while you’re all serving yourselves, let me make this perfectly clear. Nothing leaves this house. Not one word of what we’re discussing. Is that understood?”
Everyone nodded.
Just then the doorbell rang.
“Ah, that would be Emory. Be right back.” He hurried to the front door and opened it. “Emory, my lad, thank goodness you’re here. Come in.”
Emory stepped inside, looking over his shoulder.
Anon bent toward him. “Were you followed?”
“No, I don’t think so. Thankfully, Paul had to check in with Major Kincaid. They’re meeting for dinner at the Silver Fir Inn. I told him I had a headache.”
“Oh, well, it’s a standard excuse, but it still works. Come. Everyone’s gathered in the dining room.” He led Emory through the living room and into the dining room, then found him a seat.
“Have some pizza, and we’ll get underway.” Anon returned to the head of the table and drained the goblet of dinner he’d poured for himself. Then he watched everyone start eating. He waited a few moments, and as soon as Emory had devoured a slice of pizza, he began again.
“All right, this meeting is called to order. Now, we have a couple of problems.”
“Make that three,” Louise said.
“Louise, you have your pizza. The box is right in front of you,” Anon said, fighting an eye roll.
“I’m not talking about the pizza, Anon.”
“What?” He heaved a sigh. “What do you mean?”
“She’s talking about all of you.” Sam sent a dagger of a glare around the table.
“What is the matter with you two?” Anon asked.
“I’m with them,” Pearl said. “I’m mad at you, too.”
“What? What did I do?” Anon asked, perplexed. He checked his goblet, but he’d already drunk everything. “Oh, bugger,” he muttered under his breath. “All right, out with it.”
“It’s what you didn’t do,” Louise spat.
“Good heavens, you’re really upset, aren’t you?” He looked at Sam and Pearl. “Why, look at the faces on you! I don’t recall doing anything untoward to any of you.”
“No, that’s the problem. You didn’t do anything,” Louise emphasized.
Anon rubbed his face with one hand. “Now back up and explain yourselves.”
“Basil,” Louise said, pointing at the gnome seated on a step stool in the corner of the room, “told us everything.”
All heads turned to Basil. “I did nothing out of turn. I simply told the truth.” He chomped on his pizza and ate it so fast it disappeared in seconds. He licked his fingers and glared at everyone. “Unruly peasants.”
Anon covered his face with both hands and muttered under his breath. “Oh, balderdash.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were a vampire?” Louise asked.
Anon’s hands dropped. “What?” he said, his voice menacing. He glared at Basil. “You told them I was a vampire?”
“Yeah, he did,” Sam said. “And that Jackson’s a werewolf, Caelen’s a Fae something-or-other, Quill there’s a wizard. Okay, we’ve seen what Aaron did, but we still don’t know what he is. Anyway...” He looked at Rhaz and scratched his head. “And you’re a dragon.”
Rhaz’s eyebrows shot up.
“Okay fine. Three problems,” Anon admitted with a nod. “Good heavens.”
Louise, Sam, and Pearl stared at him.
Anon sighed. “You cannot tell anyone.”
“We’ve been playing bridge with you for two years, Anon,” Pearl said. “Two years. Isn’t that worth anything?”
“What do you mean?” Anon asked. “Of course it’s worth something. We’re friends, after all. We’re bridge partners. What is the problem?”
“The problem,” Louise said, “is you never told us you were a vampire. So… what? You don’t trust us? Our friendship means nothing?”
“Oh, that,” Anon said. “Well, how would you have taken it had you not seen what Aaron did, or witnessed that little tyrant of a gnome vomited out by the ocean and face planted in the sand?”
“Well, when you put it that way,” Louise said, “I suppose it would have come as a shock.”
“It would have come as more than just a shock, Louise. You might well have been pulling out the pitchforks and rakes and whatever garden weapons you have to burn me at the stake. Or, well, do something else with a stake.”
“Does that really work?” Sam asked with a curious expression.
“Never mind that now,” Anon said. “I apologize for not telling you, but secrecy is safety for us. Please swear to me you won’t tell a soul what we are.”
“What makes you think we’d do that? We’re friends, after all,” Louise said. She grabbed another piece of pizza and tossed it onto her plate.
“We forgive you, Anon,” Pearl added. “But don’t do that again.” Her shoulders slumped. “Now I’ll have to figure out what kind of snacks to bring to bridge. I always wondered why you never ate much.”
Anon shrugged. “Well, you know...”
Emory cleared his throat. “Now that that’s settled, would you like to hear what I know?”
“Yes, Emory,” Anon said, exasperated. “Let’s take this one item at a time.”
Emory nodded and looked around the table, his eyes coming to rest on Rhaz. “So, you’re a dragon?” His face screwed up and he looked worried.
“Yes, but never mind that,” Anon said.
“He’s a nice dragon,” Aaron remarked between bites of pizza.
“Aaron,” Betty whispered, “don’t talk with your mouth full.”
Aaron stopped chewing, eyes wide. “Sorry.”
Anon smiled and turned his attention back to Emory. “I believe you know everyone but Rhaz Stormfyr.” Anon held up a finger. “Prince Rhaziel Stormfyr. He is our latest addition and came through the door in the pine grove.”
Emory nodded, wiped his hands on his pants, and took a deep breath.
“Okay, here’s what I know. Paul Bristow and I are here because he believes that whatever came through that door in the Mount Hood National Forest is heading in this direction.”
Hana and Dandy gasped.
“Oh no. What does that mean?” Hana asked.
“It means that if it comes to Moon Creek Falls, it might be looking for one of the doors to get back to wherever it came from. That’s our theory.
It’s traveling through the woods, but it’s also moving fast. Not like a car, mind you, but it’s covering a lot of ground in a day.
Maybe, fifteen, sometimes twenty miles.”
“Great Scott!” Anon blurted. “What sort of creature can go that fast?”
Rhaz raised a hand. “I can.”
Jackson raised his next. “So can I.”
Anon glanced between the two. “Oh. Well. All right.”
Caelen looked around the table. “I can as well.”
Aaron also looked around the table. “How far is twenty miles?”
Anon sat back in his chair. “And I can travel it perhaps faster than all of you. Now that that’s settled, Emory, continue.”
Emory fidgeted in his seat. “We’re here to check on the doors.”
Dandy gasped. “You mean this Mr. Bristow knows about them?”
“He knows of them, yes. And he doesn’t have the same data the people I work for have. He has different data, and I’ve signed a contract with the people I work for, basically a non-compete clause, which means I can’t give Mr. Bristow all the knowledge I’ve learned while working for Miss Charles.”
“Who’s Miss Charles?” Hana asked looking at everyone. “Is she related to the Dr. Charles we saw come through the door last month?”
Emory blinked a few times. “I… I don’t know. How could it be?”
“Get on with it, Emory,” Anon said. “Once you’ve told us everything, we’ll sort it out.”
Emory continued. “Miss Charles is the woman who assembled the team of scientists that came out here and were trying to study the door in the pine grove.”
“Do they know about the door in the surf?” Caelen asked.
“Yes and no. They know there are odd signatures, but they haven’t quite traced them to the one in the surf. But I do have sensors there that I put in while I was off duty. I took a few days off. You remember?”
“Yes, yes, of course we do,” Anon said. “Sorry, Rhaz, you weren’t here.”
“That’s okay.” Rhaz held up both hands, then reached for another slice of pizza.
“Anyway,” Emory went on, “I volunteered to come with Mr. Bristow to make sure he didn’t have a clue about you guys.”
“We appreciate that, Emory. Thank you,” Jackson said.
A chorus of thank-yous went around the table, including from Louise, Sam, and Pearl.
“So,” Sam said after wiping his mouth with a napkin, “what does all this mean? Who’s this Miss Charles?”
Emory eyed one of the last pieces of pizza. “Someone who has a rich daddy. He was heading up everything, but then just disappeared.”
Jackson looked at Caelen.
Caelen looked at Dandy.
Dandy looked at Hana.
Finally, everyone looked at Anon.
“He wouldn’t happen to be known as Dr. Charles, would he?” Anon asked. “Oh dear. The plot thickens.”
Rhaz sat back in his chair and listened as Emory Chen continued to explain things that, from the looks on everyone’s faces, no one else knew about.
“Yes, he does. Dr. Charles,” Emory said. “I’ve never met him, but I hear he’s brilliant. Though sort of evil and cranky, like his daughter. She’s a piece of work. What a witch.” He wiped his brow.
“Oh, we’ve heard,” Anon said. “While eavesdropping during rescue missions and infiltrating your camp, but that’s another story. Go on, Emory. What else do you know?”
“Our work was drawing too much attention, so we left the area. The military was getting involved and getting in the face of the mercenaries we hired.”
“Mercenaries?” Louise said. “I knew it. Didn’t I tell you, Sam?”
“Yes, yes, Louise. You did. Now let the young man talk.”
Emory gave them a nod of thanks.