Mystic Flame (Beyond Ontariese 4) Read Online Free

shooed them away. Despite their
attempts to control the portal, the conduit was noisy and bright.
They locked wrists and closed the vortex, leaving Dro Tar alone in
the hotel room.
    Tal had scanned ahead and located an
uninhabited room. The suite might be empty at present, but it was
obviously occupied. One of the beds was rumpled, the pillows
stacked against the headboard, as if someone had sat on the bed to
watch television.
    The bathroom door swung open and a man stood
in the threshold, a towel wrapped around his hips. “What the—”
    “Oh gods!” She rushed toward the main door
to the suite, wheeling her small suitcase behind her. “There’s
obviously been a horrible mistake.”
    “How did you get in here?” He stepped back
into the bathroom, partially closing the door.
    “Card key. You must not have flipped the
privacy thingy.” She slipped into the hallway before he could say
any more. The front desk was going to get an earful as soon as he
dried off. She better hurry.
    Twenty minutes later, Dro Tar lifted her
suitcase onto the bed in her own room. Moving to the window, she
pulled back the draperies and stared out at the mesmerizing clutter
that made up the world-famous Strip. The scene was cast in hazy
twilight, the sun still visible against the far horizon. Her gaze
swept down one side of the crowded street and up the other. Had any
civilization ever created a more eclectic skyline? She couldn’t
wait to see the lights once darkness fell.
    She finger-combed her hair as she walked
back to the bed. Unzipping her bag, she retrieved a handheld
scanner. A recent skirmish with the technologically advanced
Rodytes had left Ontariese with some interesting new gadgets.
Rather like Vee’s journal, the trick was going to be keeping them
out of the wrong hands. The device had been designed to look like a
cell phone, but it was far more powerful. She powered up a simple
grid. A blinking red light indicated her location.
    “Activate full spectrum.” The primitive grid
morphed into a three-dimensional diagram. Turning as she moved, the
image maintained perspective, but there was no sign of Evan.
“Minimize.” The display returned to the original grid.
    Moving between dimensions allowed the
Mystics to access different points in time as well as space. The
timeline remained constant on Ontariese while the vortex had
deposited her on Earth before Evan arrived. But how long before,
that was the question. She had five days to find him and discover
the truth about the journal. Setting the scanner on standby, she
made sure it would signal her at the first sign of Evan’s energy
signature.
    She looked into the mirror above the small
desk and verified that her contacts were still in place. The thin
film concealed her gently swirling eyes and created the appearance
of concentric rings. Confident that she would pass for a human, she
headed for the casino.
* * * * *
    Evan staggered out of the transport conduit
and sank to his knees. Disjointed images beset his mind, blinding
him, melding reality and vision until he couldn’t tell one from the
other. He clutched his head, bracing himself against the agonizing
waves.
    “Oh my god, are you all right?” A shrill
female voice sliced through his throbbing head. “What was that
crash? It sounded like…”
    The ringing in his ears distorted her words
beyond comprehension. Think. Concentrate. What language is she
speaking? Where are you?
    He slowly opened his eyes. The woman’s face
swam before him, swelling in and out of focus.
    “Are you— Where did you get those
contacts?”
    He groaned as her voice attacked him
again.
    “What’s going on, Sheryl? Is he okay?”
    English. They were speaking English. Why was
he on Earth? The pain was less penetrating with his eyes closed. He
concentrated on his breathing, pushing the pain from his body with
each exhalation.
    Sheryl giggled. “I think he’s drunk, but you
should see his eyes. He must be with Star-Crossed .” She
touched his