The Other Side Read online

  The Other Side

  Book Five in the Undraland Series

  Mary E. Twomey

  Copyright © 2015 Mary E. Twomey

  Cover Art by Humble Nations

  Author Photo by Lisabeth Photography

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  All rights reserved.

  First Edition: July 2015

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  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

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  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  ISBN-13: 978-1514121399

  ISBN-10: 1514121395

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  http://www.maryetwomey.com

  For Saxon Boaz-Danger Twomey.

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  I can’t imagine I’ll be able to catch you every time you trip, but I’ll happily bang up my knees trying.

  Contents

  1. Crossing Over to the Other Side

  2. Magical Land of Commerce

  3. Eating Alone at a Table for Four

  4. Nightly Habits

  5. Hotel Misery

  6. Coming to Blows

  7. Road Trip

  8. Stina’s New Pet

  9. Foss’s New Personality

  10. Crazy Town

  11. Flight, Not Fight

  12. Stealing Moments and Cars

  13. The Circus

  14. Bits of Normal

  15. First Date

  16. Tonya in the Flesh

  17. Painless

  18. Snatsafrigga

  19. Elsa’s Baby Doll

  20. Basil Cubbington

  21. Off-Roading

  22. Staying Alive

  23. Jamie’s Sleeping Bag

  24. The Magic of Headlights

  25. Calm Before the Storm

  26. Gunning for the Portal

  27. Killed Me First

  28. Doctors with Dilated Pupils

  29. Foss with a Gun

  30. Limbo to Limbo

  31. Monster Mom

  32. Burn and Scream

  33. Reasons

  34. Impossibly Less

  35. Formaldehyde and Fiddles

  36. Beautiful Blood

  Epilogue

  Lucy at Peace

  1. Jeneve

  Other books by Mary E. Twomey

  1

  Crossing Over to the Other Side

  Emotions are the strangest things. They hit us in waves, each person experiencing a different decibel of agony or elation, which makes it easy to judge others on their reactions, whether acceptable or not. Uncle Rick crossing over of his own accord into the Land of Be hit us each in varying tones of sadness, denial and confusion.

  Britta turned her sadness inward, crying occasionally on our trip over to the Other Side. Jamie swallowed his reaction as best he could, displaying a supportive front to his fiancée, Jens and I. When I tapped into the psychic link we shared, I could feel his emotions swinging like a pendulum from one extreme to the other. I really had no idea how deeply men felt things until getting a peek into Prince Jamie’s mind.

  After a hushed conversation with his sister as we waited in a small hut that served as the office to the Other Side, Jens was quiet. He made sure our paperwork was filled out correctly, and pushed us through the turnstile with no hint of the personality I loved so much.

  After the sucking sensation landed us in the creepy carnival I’d come over to Undraland in, I reached for Jens’s hand. He squeezed it for a second, then dropped the connection. Though he’d forgiven me for kissing Foss, I could tell he was still nursing a pretty open wound.

  Rickety organ music piped a dismal and irksome tune through the park. Cutouts and murals of terrifying clowns grinned at me, their razor-like teeth sharpened and jagged like broken glass bottles. I dropped my gaze to my toes, only to find their painted faces trying to grab at me and swallow me whole from the floor. The mirrored maze multiplied my heartrate, but when I heard a squeak, I realized it had not come from my mouth.

  Britta and Jamie were pressed up against one of the mirrors, aghast at the horror that was the carnival entertainment even I could not muscle through. Jens was so distracted by the emotions he’d stuffed himself to the brim with, that only his sister’s yelp and drawn knife brought him somewhat back to the moment.

  “Oh, it’s okay, Britt. They’re fake. They won’t bite you.” He held my hand and Britta’s, nodding Jamie forward. “Almost there, guys.”

  When the normal noonday sun greeted us, I breathed in the air of a world I had been missing. A hint of pavement, hot dogs, garbage cans, dirt and the rust of machines were all sucked in through my nose, filling me and pushing out the purity of Undra’s natural landscape. The rides around me were in various states of disrepair, some missing carts and whole bits of track, but I didn’t care.

  There was nothing to be done about Uncle Rick, and I’d made my decision about Foss. My family, Nik, Tor and Henry Mancini were enough of a loss to carry. The past would be put behind me, and I would start over. With every step, I began the process of shedding Undraland from my weary bones.

  I ran through the amusement park, a burst of energy hitting at the sight of civilization. It was a concrete lamppost that called out to me first. I wrapped my arms around it and kissed the dirty green beauty. “I love you, electricity! I missed you so much!” So grateful was I at being reunited with my world, I did not care about the few carnival attendees who happened to look my way, judging me as a bigger freak show than the one advertised onsite.

  Jens watched me with a sad smile. It was as if something big had been at the tip of his tongue since I’d escaped the Elvage prison, but he’d been purposefully keeping his mouth shut. “Cheating on me already, are you?” he questioned, forcing levity into the shtick that just didn’t suit. I could tell he was faking humor to attempt a normal disposition, but I thought it was polite not to call him on it. He was hurting.

  I kissed the peeling army-colored paint again, running my finger up the slope of the pole. “Only with inanimate objects. Isn’t it gorgeous? Look at it, Jens. How many people do you think have kissed this magnificent minx? I might just be the first.”

  “Lucky lamppost.” Again with the impression of a smile.

  Britta kept her head down, knowing that she stuck out a little in her Amish-style dress. Jamie’s curiosity overpowered his sadness at losing Alrik. His eyes drank in the sights Jens had described to him over the years. His mouth dropped open at the enormity of it all. I checked into our link and smirked at the half-sentences that exploded in his brain in pops and fizzles. How could that… But the lights with the… The way that moves… I… I…

  I grinned at Jamie, watching the prince come undone at the magnificence of my kingdom. “Pretty great, huh?”

  “There aren’t words,” he mumbled, his mental musings tumbling around his cranium, knocking proper conversation out of his brain.

  Jens led us to the ticket booth, where Matilda greeted us warmly. “Hey, Mattie. I need the usual, but for four of us.”

  Her wrinkled smile faltered when Jens did not offer up a harmless flirt. “What’s got you down, James Dean?”

  He cast her half a smile, but again, it was hollow. “Alrik crossed over to Be.”

  Confusion and concern swept over her before she produced an intelligible response. “Be? Are you sure, dear? Alrik? Our man who isn’t all that fond of Pesta crossed over to Be? What about his boy?”

  Jens was suddenly overcome with a wave of grief. It was fascinating
to watch his masculinity suck it down by the gallon until all that was left was a despondent shrug. “Dead. He was a good kid.”

  I was confused, but waited until Jens finished up with Matilda to inquire about my uncle. “Why does she think Alrik had a son? He was a bachelor, big time.” My hand fell into Jens’s, but his grip was slack.

  Jens swallowed a thick lump before speaking. “Alrik adopted a boy a while back, but he died.”

  My nose crinkled as I stopped walking. “What? No. He would’ve mentioned something. I mean, I’m his niece. I think I would know if I had a cousin somewhere, right?” A link clicked in my mind. “Is she talking about Alrik’s ward? Charles Mace? Did Alrik adopt Charles Mace? Why wouldn’t he tell me something like that?”

  Despite the possible onlookers, Jens wrapped me in an unexpected hug, resting his chin atop my head. His heart felt heavy as he leaned some of his burden on me, so I tried to shoulder the weight with grace to let him know I was strong enough for such conversations. “Let’s go find a place to sleep, babe. I need to process everything we went through in Undraland. I’ll explain everything once I have more answers.”

  “Okay.” Though I had questions aplenty, I leaned up on my toes, cupped his sad face and kissed him. “I just can’t believe Uncle Rick would keep something like that from me. I always wanted a cousin. And he’s really dead?”

  “Please, Loos,” Jens begged, and I noticed his eyes moistening. “I can’t talk about it yet. Give me some time. We can talk about everything when I figure it out myself.”

  The sight of Jens in almost tears sent a ripple of shock through me that rocked my worldview. Jens was unshakable. Jens was ninety percent shtick and ten percent mystery. I didn’t think there was room in that equation for emotion so thick, it would lead him to tears. I traced under his eyes with my finger, gathering up enough moisture to form one whole tear. “Let’s get you somewhere you can rest. Undra was rough on you. I can’t imagine how exhausted and sore you must be from all the saving the day you do.”

  People walking by us either scoffed or pretended not to see us when Jens kissed me. His lips were slow, carrying too much meaning for me to understand. I tried to interpret his affection, but the emotion was heavy, laced with confusing notes that had something to do with Alrik and the secrets my uncle always had up his sleeve. Trust was a funny thing with Uncle Rick. You trusted him with your life, but you knew parts of his truth were lies told right to your face in plain daylight.

  Alrik was the only family I had. My sort of uncle and recently adopted kind of dad. Plus, there was the whole strangeness of this deceased mystery cousin.

  Jens pulled away and led us to the park’s exit. I tried poking around in Jamie’s brain for details about Alrik’s adopted son.

  I don’t know, Lucy.

  What the crap, Jamie? What gives? Did I really have a cousin? Did I just meet my cousin in that cell minutes before he died?

  I don’t know. I heard Jamie’s mental sigh as we passed through the park’s gate. I just lost Alrik, too. And Foss. And Nik and Tor, for that matter. I need a moment.

  I respected Jamie’s space, but the questions kept building inside of me.

  2

  Magical Land of Commerce

  It was entertaining to listen to Jamie and Britta rattle off all the things that amazed them about my normal universe. Britta screamed – actually screamed – when an airplane flew overhead. That took some explaining, leading to a discussion in aeronautics neither Jens nor I were qualified for.

  Jens drove us for hours in a black SUV he did not have to hotwire, and finally landed at a mega grocery store. You know, the kind that has food, pharmacy, clothes, toys, hardware and pretty much anything you need to start a new life.

  “Time for a breather,” Jens declared, stretching as he exited the car that was on loan to Toms fresh from Undraland. For all the seat of the pants, fly by night relocating our family did, the Undra officials were very organized.

  I let myself out and was smacked in the face by a blast of slightly chilly winter air. Undra was so warm all the time. It felt strange to be cold again. We weren’t far enough north for the weather to really give us a good freeze, but just far enough from the south to warrant a solid shiver in the mid-forties. The parking lot was your typical vast expanse of gray, dotted by trimmed bushes that looked like they’d seen better days. Just enough nature to remind us we were outside, but not enough to where we actually had to come into direct contact with it.

  I shivered, hugging my bare arms under the tall light in the parking lot that was missing two of its four bulbs. “How come you get a car? My family never got one just handed to us.”

  “That’s because your mom’s Huldra. They were exiled. You parents got fringe benefits, not full benefits.”

  “I think you can guess my opinion on that,” I glowered. “So what kind of full benefits do you get as an actual Undran, and not the bastardized version my family is?”

  “Easy, sister suffragette,” Jens teased, touching his toes. “They’re not my rules, and I donated many a car and more to your parents when they had to move.”

  “You’re a saint. Does a place to sleep come with the Tomten transition package?” I inquired, hoping a bed was in my future at some point. It was twilight, but the long drive made me a mix of stir-crazy and tired.

  Jens smirked. “Well, the elves filled out your paperwork as Queen Lucy, so you get quite the deluxe package. However, if we want to stay off Pesta’s radar and actually have some kind of a life, we can’t use Undraland’s resources for long. Pesta’s Mouthpieces will find out where you are, and she’ll come for you again.”

  “Mouthpieces?” I inquired, noting the plural. “But Jamie killed the Mouthpiece.”

  Jens nodded. “He sure did. He only killed him because it looked like he was about to shank you or gank you. Pesta’s allowed a Mouthpiece, so she’ll be looking for the next person who crosses over to inhabit. It was good of Jamie to kill him, but it puts us on the defensive, because now we have no idea who the next Mouthpiece will be.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the giant store. “We’re stocking up now. Get anything you need to start a new life. After that, we’re only using the card they gave you in an emergency.”

  “Card?” I asked, new life lighting my eyes.

  “Shop away, Cinderella. Think of the Undraland office as your own personal fairy godmother.”

  “How much can we spend?” I asked, making several calculations on how to get the most bang for my borrowed buck.

  “There’s no limit. Buy whatever you want. You’re a queen to them, Loos. They want you to be comfortable after your visit. Plus, it’s standard. I have one, too. Toms need money to get their charges out of jams sometimes, so I don’t have a limit, either.”

  My mouth dropped open as I recounted all the resale shops I’d bought a new wardrobe in when we had to relocate over and over again. The only things I bought new were my shoes, underwear and like, a toothbrush and stuff like that. My parents were always on the poorer side of the Joneses, so Jens’s logic of an unlimited credit card seemed ridiculous to me. “Why didn’t my parents get money? My mom was forced over here. Do they know how we were living?”

  Jens shook his head. “Your mom stayed off their radar because she had the rake. She needed Pesta not to find her. Using plastic? Quickest way to track a person. We won’t be using yours after we get enough stuff to lay low for a while. Plus, Huldras didn’t get unlimited funds. They got a stipend for the initial crossover into the Other Side. The other Huldras didn’t need to keep moving like your mom did.”

  “I guess that makes sense,” I grumbled.

  “I used my allowance to buy whatever your parents needed when she would let me. Too much pride, that mom of yours. And your dad.”

  I opened Jamie’s door, but he did not get out. Instead, he shuddered against Britta in the backseat. “You alright, guys?” Neither of them looked like they wanted to leave the car.

  Britta huddled nex
t to Jamie. “Is your world always so cold?”

  I gave her a simple smile. “Some states are colder than others. This one isn’t too bad, you’re just catching it at their colder time of the year. Jens, why don’t we head to California? It looks like you’re bent on Canada or somewhere north. That might be too cold for them just yet. They’re still adjusting.”

  Jens helped his sister out of the car and rubbed warmth into her arms. It was probably only around fifty degrees, but that was a steep drop for them. “Less wildlife for Pesta to possess in the snow, Loos. We’re home, but we’re still on the run from Pesta. She’ll be bent on finding you, and I’m still your Tom.”

  My heart sank. “I don’t want to move from place to place anymore. I didn’t realize we’d have to keep running from her.”

  Jens tried to encourage me with his steady smile. “I figured you overlooked that part. But that’s why I’m taking us somewhere cold. Not much fun, but we’ll have a better chance of staying in one place longer if it’s harder to find us.”

  “Makes sense.” I reached for Jamie and dragged his rigid body out of the car. He shivered as he wrapped his arms around himself, trying to keep the heat from escaping his body. “You want to go invisible or something? We can wait in the car if it’s all too much.”