Free Seeing Spots by Zenina Masters Page A

plenty of good advice.”
    She inhaled and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. “I wanted to tell you that I am going to the Crossroads.”
    He sat for a moment. “Does Khris know?”
    “He does.”
    “Does your mother know?”
    “She does.”
    “Who did you tell first?”
    “Khris then Mom.”
    He smiled weakly. “You did that in the right order at least. Are you sure about this? Brendan—”
    “Is gone. He got drunk and crashed his car too young, but I don’t need to be relegated to a life alone because he had bad judgement.”
    Her father sighed, an echo of her own. “What about Brendan’s family?”
    “If I marry outside the coalition, then it ceases to be an issue. If I find a match in another species, they will have no call at all to complain.”
    He made a face. “Are you sure that this is what you want to do?”
    “If it was one of my brothers, you would have mailed them there with a condom in their wallet and two hundred bucks.”
    He cocked his head. “You are my little girl. This is a big step. No matter the outcome, your actions are creating a rift between you and your community.”
    “And yet you are neglecting what I can gain.”
    Her father smiled. “Good. I haven’t seen optimism in you for quite some time. Do you need anything from me?”
    “No. I have already gotten what I needed. My final appointment with the transporter is tomorrow.”
    She smiled when her father got to his feet.
    “Then give me a hug, fuzzy, and get a good night’s sleep. We wish you to do nothing but find the man that is right for you.”
    Sable grinned as the hug got tighter and tighter until she squeaked. “All right. I feel the love, Dad.”
    He sighed and let her go. “I want you to come home the moment that you feel it isn’t right for you. I will get Khris to put a caveat in the contract.”
    Sable didn’t roll her eyes at the doubt that her father had. He didn’t want her to find someone. That much was clear. He hated change and this would be a big one.
    “I am going to tell the guys. Did you want to sit here for a minute?”
    Her father nodded. “I need to process this.”
    Sable went out and made the general announcement. Her sisters-in-law forced their husbands into enthusiasm, and when Sable left, Dean came up to her.
    “I am happy you are looking for someone, Aunty. Don’t lose the list.”
    She hugged him and ruffled his hair. “I will keep it with me the whole time. I promise. I don’t know if he will be everything on the list, but I will look very closely.”
    Dean was satisfied with that. “Good luck, Aunty.”
    Between her mother and her nephew, she had enough good wishes to see her to her appointment.
    In the car, she checked her phone and the flashing of a message got her attention.
    “Sable, this is Timothy. I don’t know what is going on, but the Crossroads is shifting. It is coming much faster than I anticipated. If you don’t get here by midnight, we will have to wait until the next pass.”
    She sent him a text and put the car in gear. I am on my way. She had two hours for a forty-five minute drive. A ten-minute stop for her bag and she would be on her way to the Crossroads, or at least the transporter.
     
    When she arrived, he was flustered. He quickly processed her, sent the communications ahead and arranged the portal that he would send her through.
    “Predators have a harder time. You might want to kneel.”
    She knelt on the icon on the floor and light sprouted around her.
    “The link is here. Here we go.”
    The flare under her knees crawled upward, and the light eventually embraced her completely. With her bag on her back, she held onto her awareness of self as she was sent from one world into another.
    She was jerked, yanked and tugged through the portal, finally ending on her knees on a mat over wood.
    A woman was at her side. “Oh my dear, we didn’t think you were going to make it. The moment you came through, we lost the connection.”
    Warily, Sable