Page 11 of Fallen Star

"But they did pay you to find Nirandel's Star, did they not?"

"To find what?"

He sighs, clearly exasperated. "The artifact you were after. They sponsored the dig, yes?"

"Yes, but I was using them. I was never going to give it to them. Unfortunately, that was also my partner's plan. He betrayed me at the last moment, leaving me for dead."

"I figured something along those lines when you turned up with a knife in the gut," he says.

I wince at the memory of that moment. Of the pain, but also, the betrayal.

"What do you know about Global Tech? About their plans?"

"Come," he says. "Let's go inside. You might want a bath and some food. There is much to discuss. It's a pity you lost the piece you had. That's a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands."

My mind snaps back, pulling out of the haze the Mother Tree put me in, as his words sink in and take hold and the truth of what he's said hits me hard. "Wait. Hold up. You're talking about this place like it isn't part of earth. Like it's a different world entirely."

He grins, winking at me as if this was a bar and not… well, whatever it actually is. "Did you really believe earth was the only inhabitable world? There's a lot you don't know about the universe, Doctor. And Earth isn't the only game in town."

He's walking at a brisk pace, and I have no choice but to keep up or be left alone in the grove, not that I would mind. But my breath hitches when we move out of the trees and onto a cobbled, moss-covered path that leads to… "Is that a castle?"

He nods, clear pride glowing on his face. "Welcome to my realm," he says. "One of seven in Inferna." He gestures to the towering castle before us. "And that is the Pleasure Palace."

"The Pleasure Palace? Are you for real? That's the best you could do?" Corny name aside, it's extraordinary. Made of what looks like quartz crystal with hues of peach and pale pink, with rounded towers at each of the four corners It glistens under the bright gaze of the moon—correction, moons! I look up and am astonished to see two moons hanging heavy in the clear sky.

"We really are on another world," I whisper, all doubt erased even as my mind boggles at it all.

"Is it really so hard to believe?" Dr. Vane asks. "You clearly know about the paranormal on your world, so you already have a more open mind than most people—especially in the sciences. Don't you think it's the height of hubris to believe you're the only world, the only people, in the entire galaxy of existence? Doesn't that belief seem more absurd than the reality of many worlds?"

I've never talked about it in professional circles—for obvious reasons—but it's long been a wondering of mine. What else—who else—is out there. But this… this is just… "Many worlds?"

He nods and leads me down a path lined with trees hanging with glowing fruit. In the distance, what I assume is the main town is alive with lights, sound, smells. As we near the area I see scantily clad men and women, some with pointed ears and unusual hair color, dancing, drinking, laughing, eating. Indulging in all the carnal pleasures without any worry, it would seem. Anyone else might blush and look away at the spectacle before us, but I have been to cultures all over my own world and seen how different people live, celebrate, worship, love. Bodies are bodies. Sex is sex. I'm not embarrassed by nudity or public displays.

"Is it not late in the evening?" I ask.

"It is. Or likely very early in the morning. Perhaps two or three in the morning, if going by your sense of time. My kingdom never sleeps, especially at night."

We come closer to the crowds as we head up the main walkway to the palace, and as the people see us, they begin to bow before returning to their festivities.

"You have returned, my Prince," a woman with green eyes and matching hair says, cozying up to Dr. Vane. She wears nothing but a few silk scarves strategically tossed over her body. Her pointed ears are studded with gemstones and she gestures to a group of women in similar garments. "Care to join us?"

"As much as I'd love to, I have business to attend," Dr. Vane says. "Another time perhaps."

She sighs, pouting a lip, then returns to her friends.

I glance at the man I thought was a stuffy old archaeologist in wonder. "Prince?"

He nods. "Indeed. Dr. Vane is only one of my many identities in the Nine Worlds. Here I am Prince Dean, son of the former King Lucian, brother to the current King Fenris and brother-in-law to Queen Arianna Spero, Midnight Star of Avakiri."

There's a sadness when he speaks of his brother and sister-in-law, and I sense a story there, but I have too many other questions. That one will have to wait.

"So you're royalty. You have a kingdom, but you come to Earth to dig up bones?" This is stretching my credulity.

"Would you stop doing what you love if you became a princess?" he asks.

My mouth snaps shut, as I have no good response to that.

"I know you mistrust me, and you should. But not because I'm a vampire, though I understand your hesitation in that regard," he says.