Riley positioned herself in front of the archway that provided the only route in and out. In each hand she held one of the bangles from the liberal collection around her wrists. Eyes closed, feet planted the width of her shoulders apart, she extended her arms to the side and brought them slowly towards each other, reciting syllables Kayla didn’t recognize in a rhythmic singsong.

When the two bangles began to overlap, the interior of the archway shimmered.

“Now?” Kayla asked Niko.

“Hmm...” He sounded thoughtful, watching Riley, eyebrows drawn down over dark eyes. The shimmering intensified as the two metal circles came further into alignment.

“Now,” Niko said.

Kayla hit Send on the text message she already had set up on her phone. It was to Max, and simply said, «Look towards the kitchen door.» If Max and the others were in the living room where they should be, they should see the doorway open.

The two rings overlapped perfectly, Riley looping a finger from the opposite hand around each to keep them that way. The medium didn’t otherwise move, still murmuring her chant.

Kayla, on the other hand, strode around her and up to the open doorway, to face four utterly dumbfounded expressions.

She could hardly blame them, since the kitchen door now led to an outdoor space at night with her and Riley in sight, though Niko had positioned himself off to one side, out of immediate view.

“Come on! Get your asses in gear! Riley can’t keep this thing open for very long. Missing persons and answers right this way, and I have no reason to believe it’s not safe. The cats and dogs and mice will be fine.”

Max found his voice first. “Kay? What the hell...?”

“Sorry about the approach, I know it’s scary, but I promise there are several good reasons. If you don’t come now, I’m not sure when we’ll be able to slow the ride down enough to let you on and get you caught up, so come on! You’ve got loved ones who need you!”

“Zach’s over there,” Heather said flatly.

“Yep! And Theo, Suzi, Alison, Des, JC, and Erica. Riley will send you back after we explain, if you want, she promised and I believe her.” She held out both hands, across the threshold, trying not to think about the Gate bridging two different locations and for that matter two different time speeds. She absolutely did not want to know how that worked or what happened if it glitched or failed. “Please? Trust me?”

Max and Heather traded looks, and took more-or-less simultaneous deep breaths. Max closed a hand around Kayla’s; Kayla caught hold of Heather’s hand when she started to raise it and then faltered, and drew them both across. She didn’t let go until she was sure they were steady, although they seemed to suffer none of the discomfort she had. She urged them back out of the way.

Levi did not look very happy. “Why isn’t Suze right there?”

“It’s complicated, but she’s here and safe.”

“Niko?” Heather said in surprise, behind Kayla. “What are you doing here?”

“Helping, I hope,” Niko said. “I’d estimate that you have about forty-five seconds before Riley loses that connection, and the longer you take, the longer before she can do it again.”

“Just come!” Max said in exasperation. “So far we’re still alive, and we need answers and spouses!”

Levi ducked his head in acknowledgement, murmured something Kayla missed that might have been a prayer, and came through.

Wade followed, though he hesitated at the last instant, looking back.

Riley let her hands drop. The instant the bangles separated, the doorway closed, simply an empty arch. The medium slid one on each arm and leaned heavily against one pillar of the arch, her breathing just shy of outright panting.

“Welcome to a reality bubble outside of the normal world,” Kayla said brightly. “We now have lots of time, because time is running here thirty-two times as fast as it is at home. Bad people previously owned it and they kidnapped our missing seven, among others. Our missing seven, in turn, teamed up and thoroughly kicked the asses of the bad guys, but now we have a lot of cleanup to do, and that includes getting you up to speed. Which is going to be a little tricky.”

“Kay, what the hell are you talking about?” Max demanded. “Nothing about that made sense.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. You would just not believe the day I’m having. Have been having, in fact, since Riley showed up at our yard gate. Oh, yeah. Riley, that’s Theo’s husband Max, that’s Zach’s wife Heather, that’s Suzi’s husband Levi, and that’s Alison’s boyfriend Wade. Guys, this is Riley. Remember the old lady at the barbecue? Her great-grand-daughter hired Riley to find us and try to minimize the damage. Since she found our missing seven and got us here and all, she’s definitely earning her pay. She’s cool and I trust her.”

Still leaning on the archway, Riley looked at her, eyebrows raised, and smiled. “Thank you. I’ll try to live up to that.”

“Minimize what damage?” Wade asked in exasperation. “Where’s Ali?”

“Safe, now,” Kayla said. “They’re okay, I promise. I have personally hugged all seven. Emotionally, they’re a tad bit rattled and they need to be handled gently and kindly. Physically, they have changed rather drastically, which is why they’re going to stay out of sight until we get through this whole narrative exposition bit. Riley? You okay?”

“Yes, of course,” Riley said, straightening. “But it’ll take me a bit before I can open it back—a couple of hours, at least. We might as well head for our chosen comfy quiet spot and talk.”

“Can we start the explanations while on the way there?” Max asked. “Because after the past eighteen hours or so of hell, I really would like answers as quickly as possible. I’d actually prefer to have my Theo to hug half to death even faster, but for the moment I’m going to take your word for it that there is a good reason.”

“What does ‘changed drastically’ mean?” Wade asked.

“Where are we?” Levi asked, eyeing the starless sky above. At least the pillars along the path out could pass for some kind of electric light, although their glow was identical to that of the faux moon on the fountain.

“Everyone chill,” Kayla said, as more questions started, all overtop of each other. “Answers are coming. I promise, I swear to you on anything you like, they are safe and they’re here. Partly, they’re busy trying to help out some other victims who are in worse shape. Which should not surprise you in the least about that bunch. Partly, they’re trusting me to handle this bit for them, so they don’t give you a major shock.”

“This is not a psychological thriller or body horror,” Niko added, ushering them all into motion. “No torture, scars, surgery, or otherwise grisly grim gore. What you’ve all stumbled into, believe it or not, is more like fantasy. Possibly with the odd erotic element. I suggest you consider ways to suspend disbelief and listen with an open mind. This will go much more quickly and we can get to the reunions much sooner.”

“You have got to be kidding,” Wade sighed.

“Explain that doorway,” Heather said tartly. “Without using the word ‘magic’ or any synonym. I rather doubt we’ve been beamed up to the mother ship, having us step through a door would be very odd construction. Nothing I know of could have done that. If it’s something I don’t understand, I’ll go with whatever the local terminology is for the time being and try to find an expert to break it down for me later.”

Kayla looked at Riley. “Levi and Suze are Christian... um, Anglican?” Levi nodded silently. “But, and I’m sorry Levi, not trying to be rude, they’re not the annoying type that are certain the rest of us need saving.”

“Some of us,” Levi said mildly, “can believe in something without thinking we know how God thinks or that everyone has to believe the same thing. Our church is a very laid-back and welcoming one, that’s why we like it. Why does that matter?”

“Angles to approach this from,” Riley said. “Terminology to use. Context. That sort of thing.”

“I think I’m in the extreme minority. How about you try for a secular approach with whatever science basis you can?”

“I can do that,” Riley said, and started.

It was similar to the speech she’d given Kayla about the existence of aether, wizards, and fae, although not identical. The more ground she covered, the more it diverged. Customized for audience and situation, clearly.

Kayla steered them towards Alison’s stable, while adding occasional comments of her own, and reassuring them several times that it was true, or at least consistent with what she’d experienced so far. While the house was currently dark, and there was nothing else with its own light, Niko had found a setting that added glowing lights suspended over the inner and outer doors of the stable to go with the single automatic one within and on posts spaced around the pasture. The doors were wide open, and the wagon was nearby but outside.

Within the pasture, near the stable doors and so well away from the wintery bit outside the walls, a collection of blankets had been spread on the ground, and in the centre were two large plastic trays. One held two condensation-beaded clear glass pitchers of ice water and twin stacks of cups, and the other held a plate of crackers, one of sliced cheese, and multiple bowls of fruit cut into bites.

There was no need to point out that here, a single one of the faelings could keep watch on the door, and otherwise, no one and nothing could reach them.

By that point, Riley had explained, gently, that their missing septet all had fae ancestry that was semi-active until the blackout.

“This is all very, very strange,” Max said to Kayla. “You do realize that it is utterly insane.”

“Yep, I do,” Kayla said, settling herself on a blanket. “Come have a seat. Everything is safe to eat and drink. Anyway, of course I know. I mean, I was at our picnic table about to bang my head on the wood when Riley showed up and gave me the rundown. Honestly, things haven’t really slowed down enough since then for me to get to the struggling-with-disbelief part, and at this point, I don’t think I’ll be going there. You know I can read people. I haven’t once had any sense of Riley lying to me or having ulterior motives, and I’ve seen lots of evidence. Theo and Zach and all are going to confirm it all, I promise. Just listen to what the girl’s telling you, ‘kay?”

“Right. If I trusted you less... but you’re saying time is moving differently here? How long have they been here?”

“Over three weeks. Which gave them plenty of time to adjust to a whole new reality.”

“Three weeks!”

“Yep. And they spent it determined that we wouldn’t have to wonder forever, and that it would stop with them, no one else, ever.”

“They’re much stronger than they probably would have believed,” Niko said, calmly filling a cup with water and helping himself to a strawberry. “Especially with each other to lean on. Much more clever, too. They turned the strengths of the bad guys back on them to win when the bad guys thought they had everything covered.”

“And you’re a wizard,” Heather said to Niko.

Niko shrugged. “Yes? No? Depends who you ask, I suppose. I dabble a bit. Primarily I’m a collector. I come across rare books and items and materials, and I sell them to wizards and mediums and, occasionally, to fae or faelings. That means I have lots of contacts but very limited power of my own. I enjoy the world and interacting with people too much to isolate myself for long stretches to gain the real kick-ass kinds of power. Possibly I’m also a bit lazy and a bit reluctant to skimp on pleasures like delicious meals. I had every intention of setting up a safe place and scooping them up, giving them a chance to adapt without anyone having to panic. Our bad guys moved in first.”

“This doesn’t compute,” Levi said. “You said they kicked the bad guys’ tails. Suze doesn’t fight. I don’t think she’d even know where to begin.”

“Two things,” Kayla said. “Take my word for this one: you don’t know what you can do until you genuinely have to. Other thing: there are more kinds of effective resistance than physical violence.”

“We’ve gotten as far as their being kidnapped,” Heather said. “And a general overview of this fae genetic thing. Could you please continue? I have no trouble imagining Zach fighting very directly, especially to protect his friends, but the others are harder to visualize doing that. Or impossible.”

“None of this sounds all that probable,” Wade said. “You’re claiming Ali and the others aren’t human? Seriously? And even if they were, how is that supposed to help against wizards who make a place like this—assuming that’s actually true, because aside from the sky looking weird, this feels pretty real.”

“Listen,” Heather said. “No night-birds, no insects, no sounds of civilization... it’s weirdly quiet. And the air tastes cleaner than I’d expect.”

“Would proof help?” Kayla asked. She hadn’t really wanted to do that yet, but if they were stalled, it was the best and most readily-available proof they had. “I can go round up one or another so they can show you just how serious we are. But I need a promise first.”

“Which is?” Wade asked warily.

“You will behave yourselves. Being startled, fine. They’re going to understand that. But the first person who screams like they’re in a B-movie or points and yells ‘Monster!’ or otherwise behaves in any way that will hurt them, I will personally drag by the scruff of the neck back to the Gate for Riley to send home. And tie to a tree, if necessary, until she can. They’ve been through a lot in over three weeks, and they need us to work with them on that.”

“I promise,” Max said promptly.

Heather nodded. “Absolutely.”

Once Levi and Wade had also promised, Kayla got up. “Right back.” She figured there’d be at least one right outside the stable.