“The light widened. It was a long slash in the air. A tear in reality. Through it, I could see a burning forest. I held out a hand and even felt the heat. I was going to call for my guards to investigate, but the tear shot toward me, pulling me into it. And then I was here.”
“A portal.”
“How do you know about portals?” Kaspian demanded. “Does your human magic create them? Was it you who brought me here?”
“No. We don't have magic. But we tell stories about magic. We make things up. Fantasy.” I motioned at him. “Like how Gromit called your kingdom make-believe. You remember that? Make-believe is the term we use for made-up stories. It's all pretend. Things created in our imagination.”
“All right. All right.” He held up a hand. “I understand. We have stories as well. But we don't have to make-believe. Our stories are true.”
“We're here.” I pulled into the station's parking lot and parked the truck. “We've got to hurry.” I snapped open his seatbelt, then got out. “Come on!”
Kaspian followed me into the station. I took him through the garage and a side door. Not that it mattered. Everyone was gone. Ours wasn't a call station, so when we got a call, we left the station unoccupied. I took Kas to my locker and shrugged out of my gear, then stripped down to my underwear. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. When I looked over, I caught Kaspian gaping at me.
I admit I preened a little. To have a man like that staring at me with admiration—well, to say it made my day would be an understatement. And to say it didn't motivate me further would be a lie. But I didn't have time for more than a few seconds of preening. We had to get moving.
I pulled on my clothes, then grabbed a spare pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt that I kept at the station for working out. “Here. Try these on.”
The clothing was snug, but they would do. Kaspian plucked at the material clinging to his thick thighs and grimaced.
“Sorry. They're better than this though.” I shoved the blanket into my locker. “Come on.” After pulling on my jacket, I got my keys and wallet out of the inner pocket and tossed the station's truck keys on a table. Then I ushered him back to the parking lot. “My car's over here.”
“Another fire-powered vehicle?”
I chuckled. “Yeah. I should get a hybrid, but they don't pay me enough.” I pushed the clicker and opened the doors of my truck.
“This is a smaller version of the last vehicle.” Kaspian looked around the lot. “I'm glad you do not own one of those.” He pointed at a Prius.
I snorted a laugh. It was Tank's car, and he looked ridiculous in it. But no one made fun of Tank. “Yeah, me too. Wouldn't be caught dead in one of those.”
Kaspian's head jerked my way. “You wouldn't what?”
“Oh, it's just a saying. Never mind.”
“How does one be caught dead? You cannot run if you're dead,” he murmured to himself as he got into my truck.
I shook my head, my brain still trying to catch up to the insanity of my actions. Because I was about to do something even more insane than believe a crazy person.
I was about to take him home with me.
Chapter Four
I glanced at Kaspian as I drove through downtown Salem. As much as I appreciated the tight clothes, I couldn't leave him like that. So, now that the audience to his paranormal performance was in the dust, we had time for some normal shit.
“There are so many signs,” Kaspian said. “These are shops?”
I looked over to see some unexpected vulnerability in his face. Kas, like me, was processing things. Which made him seem even more believable. That ferocity in his eyes was gone, replaced by uncertainty. In short, he looked scared. So, he wasn't lying. Either, he really was from another world or he really believed he was.
“Yeah. Can you read their signs?” I asked, just to distract him.
“No.” He looked at me. “Are they in your language?”
“Yup.” I saw a store I liked and pulled into a space in front of it. It helped that it was an off-hour. “Let's get you some better-fitting clothes.”
“I would like that.” Kaspian figured out the seatbelt himself and got out to stand on the sidewalk and stare up and down it.
By the time I came around the hood, he was peering into the window of the men's clothing store while passersby were peering at him. I caught a woman gawking, and she blushed before hurrying past. How could I get upset when I was the one who put him in those clothes? So, I just stepped past Kaspian, opened the door, and waved him inside. As big as he was, I worried that we wouldn’t find anything to fit him. The guy was massive. Slabbed with muscle and taller than me. And I'm six foot.
“Hey.” I nodded at the salesclerk.
