Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 3, Portal Guardians Read Free Page A

so."
    He slapped my finger.   "Dat's not nice, Lellamental!   Don't say dat!"
    I shrugged.   "Sorry, little dude, but you kind of deserve it.   Do you have any idea how worried your parents must be right now?"
    "Uh, Jayne, are you sure that's the best conversation to be having with him right now?" cautioned Spike.
    "What?   Why?"
    The wailing started again before Spike could answer.
    "Waaaahhaaahaaahaaaa!! I want my mommaaaaa!!"
    I growled at my own stupidity.   "Grrrr - come on!   Shit.   I'm sorry, Willy.   Listen ... your momma's not going to spank you and neither is your papa.   They're going to be so happy to see you in one piece they'll just cover you in kisses."
    "And honey?" he asked, his crying stopping immediately.
    "Sounds kind of kinky to me, but if you say so," I said, laughing a little.
    "What's kinky mean?" Willy asked.
    I rolled my eyes.   "Never mind.   Just ... think about all the polly balls your momma will give you when you get home."
    "Okay."   He paused for a second and then said, "Lellamental?"
    "Yeah?"
    "I'm hungry."
    "Yeah, I know you're hungry."
    "It's kinky to be hungry."
    "No, it's not kinky to be hungry.   Stop saying that word."
    "Kinky, kinky, kinky," he said, his finger up his nose again.
    Spike snickered.   "I think the first thing we have to do is find the little dude some food."
    "I second that motion," I said, moving towards the opening in the trees again.   "The sooner the better.   And maybe some earplugs, too.   Either for him or us, I don't care."
    We arrived at our destination a few minutes later, most of our journey made to the sound of Willy's new song, most aptly titled, "Kinky Bee Honey Bee."   A light breeze was blowing through the trees, pushing the clouds overhead faster than the ones we'd seen over the meadow.   A buzzing came to my ears from a distance but soon got louder and louder, reminding me of Tim.
    "Papa!" yelled Willy.   He struggled to get free of my fist.   "Papa's here!"
    "No, you're not going anywhere, troublemaker.   Stay with me.   That's not your papa."   I knew his buzzing frequency, and this wasn't it.   Lord knows I'd heard it in my ear often enough.
    Spike moved closer, putting his arm around me to pull me to his side.   "Just hang tight.   We don't know what this thing might be or what it wants."
    A second after he said that, I saw something coming straight for us from between some trees.   It was like a pixie, only ... brighter.
    Whatever it was, it zoomed up to us and started circling our heads, round and round and round, weaving a trail of sparkling light that floated around us like filaments made of diamonds or crystalline snow.   They slowly dropped lower and lower until they surrounded our bodies like tiny lassos.   The bright pixie hovered in place for a few seconds before buzzing away, quickly disappearing into the trees behind us.
    "Whoooaaaa, dat's soooo prettyyyyy," said Willy, ceasing his struggles and staring in rapture at the light show.   He reached out to touch one of the filaments, but pulled his hand back quickly once he made contact.   "Owie!   Pricks!   Mean!"
    I reached out tentatively to touch one, but it disintegrated before our eyes.   I felt nothing.   I looked over at Spike and watched as he did the same; only when he made contact, he jerked his hand back too.
    "Youch!   Damn, that hurts like a mother fuu .... dger."   He shook his hand out as he glanced at Willy, being careful not to touch the other filaments that still surrounded him.
    I took a deep, calming breath and slowly reached out again to touch the ones still floating around me, wondering if I'd just gotten lucky the first time and was about to get the crap shocked out of me too.   But as soon as my finger made contact with the strings, they all just fell away; and I felt nothing at all in the process.   "Why don't they hurt me?" I asked, looking at my finger to see if there was any evidence of pain maybe I'd missed there.
    "I don't