In Between

Chapter Ten: Criminals on the Run

Halfway through the introductions, Jasmine asked Kieran to come with her into the kitchen to get their guests something to eat. He went with her willingly even though this meant leaving Draven, of all people, to plead Apryl and Bri's case to the Alverezes. Kieran thought he would go anywhere with Jasmine—at any time—just to be with her.

They went into the kitchen, and Jasmine immediately closed the sliding doors to separate them from the rest of the lavishly decorated house. When she turned around, Kieran suddenly thought that she looked like a Guardian with her long white nightdress and her fierce expression—for a second, she seemed prepared to summon an entire army to wipe out an entire village in the name of justice.

"Kieran, who are those girls? Tell me the truth, right now," she demanded, grabbing his shoulders.

This single action would've forced him to spill his guts about anything, but Kieran tried to ignore the feeling of her warm hands on him long enough to give her a coherent answer. "They're friends of mine from another dimension called Earth. A portal opened up in the Dark Forest, and I went through to explore. The girls sort of followed me home by accident," he explained breathlessly.

"What? Why did you bring them here?! They need to leave," she said. Apparently, his explanation wasn't what she had been expecting.

"They can't leave, because the portal disappeared. I brought them to my father, but the Warriors stopped us from—"

"The other Warriors know about this, and you brought them to my parents?! Are you insane!" she raged, sounding ironically like Draven.

Kieran thought that she looked beautiful when she was angry, but she was angry at him, so he knew it would be best to calm her down. "Listen," he said, and this time he grabbed her and felt a thrill doing it, "It's my fault that they're here, so I'm responsible for them. I need to help get them back to their own world which means that we need to go to a portal in the Dimension Hall."

"Kieran, that's crazy. No one gets into the hall except the Guardians and—" She stopped herself midsentence as the realization dawned on her face. "—and Warriors. You want my parents to sneak them in, don't you?"

"It did cross my mind," he admitted.

"Absolutely not! Kieran, they can't know about this. My parents won't help you. They'll do their duty to the royals, and they'll hand your friends over to the council. Don't do it," she pleaded.

The look on her face was dead serious; Jasmine really believed that her parents—calm, independent Declan and sweet, motherly Shani—would hand two innocent girls over to be killed. She believed it... And maybe she would know best, he thought reluctantly, sending a quick warning to Draven. Don't tell them who Apryl and Bri are. We can't trust them.

You're sure? Draven asked, projecting the thought from the next room. Kieran sent a mental nod. Then get back in here so we can wrap it up, Draven added.

"Okay," Kieran said out loud to Jasmine, "I'm just going to tell them that Apryl and Bri need a place to stay for the night," he explained, sliding open the kitchen doors. Jasmine nodded and followed him back into the living room where everyone was seated to get acquainted.

"Kieran! We were just talking with these young ladies while we waited for you," Mr. Alverez said cordially.

"Yes, and they're so sweet," Mrs. Alverez told him sincerely. She didn't seem at all inconvenienced by being woken up in the middle of the night, and they were speaking in English as if they did it every day.

"Mom, we're all out of those finger sandwiches you made up," Jasmine lied smoothly. Like her mother she adapted to the new language fluently while inventing a reason for why she and Kieran hadn't returned with any food.