I was baffled, but the idea of monsters enjoying pain kind of made sense, now that I thought about it. In fact, I’d kind of enjoyed pain, too. Who was I to judge?

  “Okay, we’ve established that you like him in spite of those things,” Bloodsong said, “and probably in spite of him not having a tail, only one tongue, and—

  “Positive?” I interrupted.

  She smiled. “Right, so in spite of all that, what’s the plus for you all?”

  “I happen to like my eyebrows,” I said, just to get the ball rolling. That at least got some laughs. Hey, my eyebrows were thick and strong, almost like Tom Selleck. Nothing to scoff at.

  “I like his eyelashes, while we’re on the face,” Jalee said. She took a lick of the vanilla, eyeing me. “But it’s what’s behind those eyes that really gets me. Monsters don’t have that look, that… purity? Like he genuinely wants to see us happy, see us pleased.”

  “A smooth soul to match his smooth cock,” Kinara said, nodding. “And honestly, when I take it in my mouth, I’ve learned I prefer smooth. Not the soul, as I’ve never tasted a soul, exactly. But… yeah, it’s kind of fun being able to take it fully in, and also not have a hairball after.”

  Jalee laughed, eyeing Milkshake as she said, “Yeah? I’m the only one who has yet to do that, so… thoughts?”

  “Oh yes. So fun, so delicious.”

  Now they were making me blush, as well as squirm in my seat.

  “So it’s both internal and external,” Bloodsong said, nodding and eyeing me. “And you? I should tell you, most humans aren’t as enthusiastic to jump into the sack with our kind as you’ve proven to be.”

  “Seriously?” I scoffed. “I’m in fucking heaven. Literally, fucking-heaven. Each of them has opened me up to a whole new way of living, but yeah, like them it’s not only physical.”

  “But you barely know them.”

  I frowned, eyeing Kinara first. “I know she’s kind, a bit wild, and… fun.” Then Jalee. “This one, sort of mysterious, eager to take charge when needed, and… caring.” Next, I turned to Milkshake—the most recent addition to the group. “And Milkshake, she seems both silly at times, and very serious at others. I like that she’s not afraid to show both sides of herself—”

  “Or inside herself,” Kinara added with a wink, referring to the way Milkshake had sat, spread-legged, when we had only just met.

  “Sure, none of that hurts.”

  “And the way I went down on you,” Milkshake suggested. “You definitely liked that.”

  I laughed. “Of course, but it’s not what I like about you—just something you did that I very much enjoyed.”

  She sat a little taller, as if proud of her awesome blowjob skills. Hell, she had every right to be.

  “What I like about all of you,” I said, “is the way you seem to enjoy what we’re doing. That we have fun together, none of you really doubting my sincerity, and seemingly not trying to betray my trust. It’s like, we’re best friends even though we pretty much just met.”

  “Aw.” Kinara reached out for my hand from across the table, and I took it.

  “Maybe it’s because I’ve been here longer than these gals,” Bloodsong said, “but that was corny as fuck.”

  I laughed, then turned the tables on her. “Your turn. Why don’t you and your mom get along?”

  “She has her ideals, I have mine. She is a bit of a loner, preferring to do her thing. Me, I like to belong to a team.” At my look of curiosity, she said, “When the time is right.”

  This was all new to me. So far, each of the ladies had joined in without the others expressing any concerns. No jealousy, only fun and encouragement. But this cop seemed to be asking to join, at least insinuating that she might want to at some point, and that wasn’t as easy of a transition. For one, I knew her mom’s name and had been nude in front of her. Ahlaksiz even seemed to possibly be open to being a true part of the team. Maybe she already was, and was simply waiting for me to make a move?

  “I… see,” was all I could say in response.

  A tense moment followed, during which all ice-cream eating paused, and everyone watched one another. With all of the dating I’d watched Alex and Arturo go through, memories of their arguments, women shouting at them and throwing things, keeping me up at night, the last thing I wanted was drama.

  Bloodsong finally started laughing, then nudged Milkshake to her right. “Can you all lighten up?”

  It was Milkshake’s turn to laugh, a bit nervously at first, then more. She wasn’t quite as clear on what it was that made the moment so awkward.

  “A topic of conversation for a future time,” Jalee said, coming to my rescue.

  “What I mean, is,” Bloodsong clarified, “not that I mean to join your pack. Only, that I’m open to joining one again, someday.”

  “Ah.” I leaned back, finally able to relax. Although, dammit, now my hormones were kicking in again and I couldn’t help but imagine ripping that blue uniform off her, watching her breasts bounce out of there.

  I had to look down at the table, not wanting the others to see the desire in my eyes.

  “What’d you think?” I muttered, then finally looked up. “About the movie, I mean.”

  “To be clear,” Kinara said, “the eels weren’t real. How about the rest of it?”

  “Real people, pretending,” I replied. “It’s called acting.”

  They processed this, then finally Kinara smiled wide. “I fucking loved it.”

  “That giant—I knew a guy that size back home,” Jalee said, shaking her head. “Never seemed quite as nice as that man, though.”

  “Andre?” I asked. “Yeah, everyone says he was amazing. Super nice.”

  “I’m not sure I get it,” Jalee admitted, and Milkshake nodded.

  “Maybe on the fifth or sixth viewing,” I said. “But who knows—my neighbor doesn’t get it either, and he’s from Earth. Crazy, but true.”

  Bloodsong laughed. “For shame.”

  We turned the conversation back to Bloodsong, and she told us that she had to report back that evening to a station down toward Anaheim. That she had been in the area for the last thirty years, and overseas before that.

  “So, you’re like a real cop?” I asked.

  Her eyes narrowed, finger on her uniform. “This is one hundred percent legit. But I have to move around, to avoid suspicion. Before this, I was overseas on a Luxembourg assignment—not with the police. That was the last known crossing over I was aware of, until now.”

  Processing that, I turned to Jalee, who I knew had reasons to return related to her sister, then to Milkshake. What was her story? I wanted to know more, but just then my wrist device with the coin on it vibrated, indicating that Ahlaksiz was trying to get back in touch.

  Bloodsong’s eyes darted to it, and she nodded. “I should go. You have my card?”

  “Yes, but I’ll need a new cell soon, as mine got busted.”

  “That right?” She eyed me, skeptically, then took out a cell phone and handed it over. “A sign of my loyalty. I have a work one, but this one’s for personal use. Until you get a new one it’s yours.”

  “Thank you, again.”

  “My number’s in there,” she said, tapping the nametag that held her fake name. “I’ll tell those who want to know that you check out, and I believe you’re not going to be a problem.”

  “And if we are?” Jalee asked.

  “Find me first, so that I can decide at that time which side I want to be on.”

  She stood, flicked her little spoon into the garbage, and walked off. Her tight cop pants did a nice job of showing her ass move from side to side as she walked—even with the strangeness of the tail.

  It was time to meet back up with Ahlaksiz and hear about what she had discovered.

  6

  We weren’t sure where to meet Ahlaksiz, so we headed for the car with the thought that it would make sense to meet her at my place. Instead, she was already there at the car, leaning against it and grinning. She’d changed her clothes, now wearing an entirely different outfit, to the extent that I almost didn’t recognize her. With tan slacks and a sky-blue blouse, a sports jacket on top, if that’s what they were called when worn by a woman. I had no idea, but knew for sure that it looked damn hot. Like a professor, sort of. She wore a wide-brimmed hat that matched the sports coat, and had a leather purse draped over her shoulder.

  “This is different,” Jalee said.

  “After seeing you all in your new outfits, I figured it was time to dress to impress as well.” Her eyes darted about, apparently wondering if her daughter was still with us.

  “She had to run,” I explained.

  “I’m sorry for… that. I shouldn’t have lost my cool, not in front of you all.”

  “Forget about it,” Kinara said.

  Jalee pointed at the purse. “What’s that?”

  “Normally,” Ahlaksiz held it up, “women keep makeup and money in these. We have ourselves something else—the code needed to break through to the other side, and one-half of the device needed to get through.”

  “I don’t follow,” I admitted.

  She glanced around, then patted the car. “Inside.”

  Good thinking. We didn’t want anyone listening in. Possible spies reporting back to their evil monster bosses. Once we were inside, Ahlaksiz opened her purse to reveal the code as I’d printed it out. She had sketched what looked like a small piece of metal beneath the writing with a hexagon on it. Next to that, a broken disc that had small parts on it.

  “My understanding is that the hunter could return with just this,” she said, indicating the first piece with the hexagon. “He was able to use your summoning point and follow it through to get here, as they leave some sort of trace behind. And since he came through, this would take him back.”

  “And these?” I asked, indicating the other disc.

  “The sun disc seen on ancient gods, especially in Egyptian times. It wasn’t a representation of the sun, or not exactly. A representation of a sun, yes. Ours, from the monster worlds. And it wasn’t merely a representation, either, but a coordinate system, one that I’ve been tracking down, but seems to be in two halves. From my understanding, the stories of the Egyptian god Ra and Aten splitting up shouldn’t be taken literally. It refers to the original travel methods between the lands, with Ra being an ancient monster who had come through. Aten, then, was the sun disk, the means of travel which he lost. People back then began wearing a protective talisman in the form of the Aten, which they incorrectly interpreted as a symbol of creation, light, and rebirth. In a way it was related to rebirth, in that crossing over to the other world was a form of starting over.”

  “And the real Aten?” I asked.

  “I believe it was stolen by lesser monsters, or gods… And at one point ended up in Greece to bring in others. There were other beings back then, too. Creatures from places that weren’t the monsterverse, and I understand there was a war. Humanity thought of us all as gods at times, monsters at others. Sometimes angels and demons.” She paused, noting our looks of impatience. “Long story short, it was split. Since then, less of our kind have been able to make it through, on our own at least. Humans have still been able to summon us from time to time, as evidenced by you.”

  “Clearly.”

  “So we find the two halves, then we’re through,” Jalee said. “Let’s get to it.”

  “Almost—I believe we also need the first item, this one here,” she indicated the hexagon on the metal, “to activate the gateway.”

  “So we’re fucked?” I asked.

  “No, we simply have to go back and find it on the hunter’s body.”

  “At the bottom of the lake,” Milkshake said.

  “Precisely.”

  “And then to the disc.” I frowned, trying not to let all of this overwhelm us.

  “The two halves, you mean. But first, to the hunter.”

  “What exactly would we be looking for?” I asked.

  “I’m guessing something small, some sort of item he could have easily accessed. One that allows for a three-point travel system, created by the travel device and the two halves of the disc. Lucky you, I know where it is.”

  “Great.”

  “Unlucky all of us, it happens to be in enemy territory.”

  “Shit.”

  She nodded. “I don’t know if they are even aware of its presence, but the second we step foot in their land, they’ll be notified. Worst case, we lead them right to it and your world is in trouble.”

  “But if we don’t go, just let the status quo go on…?” I shrugged. “Is that so bad?”

  “For one, you’d leave my sister back there,” Jalee spoke up.

  “I have reason to return as well,” Milkshake added. “Not a rush, but… I do have to return, at some point.”

  “And if you ask me,” Ahlaksiz said, “the monsters I worry about, those enemies of mine, they’ll make a move before too long. This status quo you speak of can’t go on forever.”

  What she said added to my determination, but it was really Jalee speaking up that did it. The look in her eyes when she spoke of her sister told me there would be no living with myself if I didn’t try to help her.

  “Let’s go find it,” I said, revving up the car so that we could once again go back to Big Bear, this time to do some diving, apparently.

  We had a blast driving through the spiral that led us out of the parking lot, then down and out of there. Having a destination in mind and goal thereafter left us all in good spirits, but I had certainly enjoyed the down time. I wouldn’t have minded in the least spending more time showing them around, maybe going to Disneyland or Six Flags. A smile crossed my lips at the thought of these monster girls screaming as a roller coaster threw them about, or at the final drop-off at Splash Mountain.

  As soon as we’d left the city and were on a spot in the road where no cars were nearby, we cloaked and then shot up into the sky, driving over everyone. It was a good thing, too, because not far into the drive we would have hit nasty L.A. traffic.

  “This is convenient,” I said, wanting to laugh at all the suckers in their normal, non-flying cars below but trying to avoid the bad karma.

  We drove for a while, mostly in silence with the ladies occasionally drifting off to sleep. Monsters seemed to sleep more often than humans, but in quick naps. My mind went to ancient history and myths, wondering how much of what I’d thought was only stories actually held truth. And more modern monsters, such as the Chupacabra? Some of it had to be made up, surely, but so much more seemed to plausibly be based on a part of our history I never would have considered a few days prior.

  “Bigfoot?” I asked.

  Ahlaksiz laughed. “Sure, there’s a group of monsters out there who resemble what you’d call a bigfoot.”

  “No shit?” I shook my head, remembering the time my dad showed me Harry and the Hendersons, an old movie about a family who take in a bigfoot.

  I opened my mouth to ask about others, but decided that maybe I didn’t want to know quite yet. Maybe I wasn’t ready.

  “The problem is that we can’t corral the monsters,” she explained. “At least on Earth you have governments, systems in place to try to get humanity to work together in groups. The individuals might not always follow the rule of law, but it’s so much more advanced than what we have back home. Monsters mostly run on their own, sometimes with families, sometimes in packs. There are some groups who have formed organizations, tribes and all that… but nothing like governments.”

  “So when they come through, there’s no way to control them?”

  She shook her head. “That’s right. Some of us who saw what was happening worked together to put an end to it. Humans worked with us to try and stop monsters from coming through. While others worshipped us, new religions helped dispel the old ways so that more turned against the monsters.”

  “And wrote them out of history, and instead into myth,” I said.

  “Myth indeed.” She chuckled. “Making humanity believe that we never truly existed… now that was an accomplishment.”

  I nodded, mind still reeling and not at all sad to find silence again, lost in thoughts of all this. Before long, I saw the familiar hills and mountain, then the road that we had taken in earlier. Night wasn’t far off and the sun was setting behind us, but we still had at least another thirty minutes of daylight, I figured.

  We came to a stop near the island with the plan of following our previous trajectory out to where the hunter’s body had been left behind. Only, we couldn’t advance, because other monsters had beaten us to it.

  7

  “What’s going on?” Kinara asked, waking first, the others starting to open their eyes and stretch as well. “Are we there yet?”

  “One problem,” I said, pointing.

  There on the lake, the fog had settled again as it had when the hunter was there. Two monsters with large horns stood at the back of what looked like a mid-sized yacht, while a creature moved in the water. A long neck rose up out of the water, seemed to convey something to the others, then the entire being went back under.

  “How long can you hold your breath?” Ahlaksiz asked me.

  I frowned. “Like… thirty seconds?”

  “Not enough, I’d think.”

  “For?”

  She leaned forward, indicating the nearby water. “To enter here, swim over without being noticed, and try to search when they aren’t looking.”

  “We could attack them, no?” I suggested, holding up my metal wrist device that controlled the drones.

  “Not the best idea,” she countered. “I’d guess they might have expected us. Not exactly us, but someone strong enough to kill a hunter. And they might have reinforcements nearby.”

  “Well, damn.” I eyed my teammates, feeling positive we could take those fuckers. Still, if that was too big of a risk, better to look at our other options. “How close can we get without them seeing us? Cloaked, that is.”