Page 3 of On A Rift's Edge
Lyall opted for changing the subject, even though he knew it wouldn’t work. “Let’s focus on the control object and its threat to the pack. It’s secure right now, but if the technology could be replicated, we need to prepare.”
“Of course, dear.” Gremory waved away the risk that Lyall’s extended family could lose their already limited territory, or worse. “But now that you’ve been touched by the Matchmaker, the first thing we want to know is who has been chosen as your future spouse.”
Lyall drew in a breath. He should have known his mothers could tell the Matchmaker had paired him with someone by smell alone. They were his alphas, after all.
“I can’t accept the Matchmaker’s choice.” Lyall kept his voice level and tried to sound calm and reasonable, which was not something that often worked for him. “The individual isn’t suitable, and he would reject the match in any event.”
“None of our kind should dare to defy the Matchmaker.” Cesmak drew herself up, outrage in her tone. “I will address this with their pack leader, and they will comply or face the consequences.”
Lovely. Cesmak was willing to start a clan war to get Lyall married off, even though she had only grudgingly allowed him to come back home for a brief visit.
“He’s not one of our kind.” Lyall bit the words out. “And he hasn’t defied the Matchmaker. He doesn’t even know he’s my match.”
“Is it Arimanius’s son, then?” Gremory sounded more curious than anything else. “Such an odd choice, but the Matchmaker has been erratic these days. You should go back and abduct him. It would be annoying to buy him from the leader of the Colony.”
“The Matchmaker has already partnered Remi Gatti of the ratkind with the Azdaha drakone Kaveh Salehi.” Lyall had to stop himself from imagining how hilarious Remi would find this entire conversation. He tried once more to deflect his mothers’ questions. “The two of them took possession of the control object, and they’re keeping it safe from both Arimanius and the Saguaro Rift drakone clan.”
“It’s a human, isn’t it?” Cesmak’s ears went back, and her eyes glowed an even brighter amber. Her focus was on one topic, and it wasn’t the fucking control object. “Tell me it’s not.”
“He’s a human, yes.” Lyall stopped there, because there was no way he was telling the alphas who he had been matched with. He kept his mouth shut and prepared himself for the worst.
The fur on the back of Cesmak’s neck stood up as she prepared to roar a command that he reveal more. Gremory rose to her feet. Nude except for a small towel over her shoulder, she gave her spouse a sideways glance that made Cesmak lapse into a sullen silence.
“Come along, my son.” Gremory walked over and put her hand on Lyall’s arm as she steered him away from Cesmak. “You can tell me all about this fascinating control object before the evening clan meal. As for the Matchmaker, it has a way of getting what it wants.”
2
Kat wasn’t usually anxious about visiting Cactus Flower Estates, otherwise known as the Saguaro Rift monstertown. The riftpeople here were friendly and welcoming, and it wasn’t like he was the only human visiting today.
Everything about being here was fine—as long as no one outside the monstertown knew where he was.
“You’re sure I’m not going to be anywhere on this video, right?” Kat directed the words toward the strikingly handsome man standing in front of him. Tall and slender, with black hair and a fashionable five o’clock shadow at ten am on a sunny Arizona day, Remi Gatti had the bad-guy charm Kat always fell for.
Thank goodness Remi was dating Kat’s best friend and mentor, Kaveh Salehi, and was strictly off limits. That is, if being trapped by an alien entity in an arranged romantic pairing could be described as dating.
Remi flashed him a dazzling smile.
“The only thing wrong with this livestream is how early it’s starting.” Remi rolled his eyes at Kaveh.
Kaveh Salehi, or Dr. K as most people at Moon Star Ranch called him, stood guard at a nearby wood grill, ready to do his part for both the live video and the preparations for the celebratory barbecue afterwards. He was as tall as Remi, but with a more rugged build, and exuded a calm confidence Kat had always envied. Kaveh had mentored Kat for years in veterinary medicine and was a world expert in the treatment of Riftworld people, which is how Kat preferred to describe the various intelligent species that had poured out of interdimensional portals over twenty years ago during the Monster Apocalypse.
Everyone else called them mons. That was short for monsters.
Kaveh shook his head at Remi’s eye roll and gave Kat a reassuring smile. He went back to adjusting the mesquite coals of the grill, as more people from the town streamed into the park in the center of the monstertown. Everyone was carrying picnic baskets or coolers full of food—well, except for species like the barista from the town’s saloon, who was part plant and mostly got by with photosynthesis.
“I’m nervous about my family learning that I’m here.” Kat had said a variation of that sentence to Remi over a dozen times. “Some of my younger cousins are big fans of yours, and if they let my parents know I’m in the monstertown—well, my mother and father might get a little anxious.”
That was an understatement. Kat knew his parents would lose their minds if they knew he was hanging out with a hundred or so Riftworld people, their human spouses, and mixed children, plus a collection of alien companion animals. A little less than six months ago, nearby Moon Star Ranch and Tucson itself had come under attack by phantoms—very hostile Riftworld people who looked like giant jellyfish.
Remi dismissed Kat’s concerns with a wave. “You’re behind the camera—or at least you’re behind Bug, which is the same thing. Creating art by not participating in it.”
Perched on Kat’s shoulder, Bug gave a trill of agreement. About the size of Kat’s palm, the alien insect resembled an oversized beetle with a carapace of brass and cobalt blue metal. It could shrink its size and hide inside Remi’s Rolex watch, interface with human technology, and was a living spy camera.
Currently, Bug was ready and eager to film Remi’s first broadcast in months with its biologic visual apparatus. The cyberbug would then upload the data to the internet when they returned to Moon Star Ranch. Less lively, but far safer than an actual livestream.
The Saguaro Rift monstertown existed in the interzone outside of the rift and was ruled sometimes by the natural laws of Earth and on other occasions by the laws of the Riftworld. Electricity, internet access, and other human technology could shut off with little warning, so Remi had agreed to a not-so-live stream that couldn’t be messed up by rift effects. He also had promised he would edit out any reference to or image of Kat before sending the video to his many fans.
Kat was fairly certain Remi wasn’t using his psychic powers to reassure him. A well-known live streamer known for posting videos about riftpeople, Remi was only half human and until recently had been a spy for a Boston-based mafia clan compromised of giant humanoid rat aliens. He had shown up to Moon Star Ranch with Lyall, a hellhound bodyguard disguised as a Scottish terrier. Remi had then used his psychic powers to dazzle Kat into an instant crush that had made him want to do anything he asked.
