Page 16 of City of Love

“You mean your combustion-engine vehicles?” Vik shook his head. “No ma’am. Not worth all the noise and muss, as far as we’re concerned.”

“So besides walking, you get around by horses and bicycles?” She remembered the man she’d seen floating earlier. “Or levitating?” Just how extensive was their knowledge of psychic skills? She’d already witnessed telepathy and telekinesis. How freaking common was levitation in this universe? “What about longer distances? Do you travel to Europe by boat?” She stopped walking for a moment, a big question dawning on her. “Do you even have a Europe? I know you said you were raised in London, and your mother is from India, but in which—”

He laughed as they continued down the sidewalk. “Yes, we have a Europe, and all the other continents too. I grew up in the London of this universe. Our world is not so different from yours. Only our technology and the choices our civilization has made. And to answer your question about travel, we have several ways of getting around besides boats and bicycles.”

They’d crossed over Second Street, heading closer to the river, a threatening bank of grey clouds moving in overhead. A doozy of a storm was on its way.

Vik glanced up too, but seemed unconcerned. “The big difference between our worlds is that millennia ago our people developed powers of the mind. As we moved forward in time, we too found ourselves with the possibility of an industry revolution around the same time as your world. But we realized we didn’t need it, and decided the benefits it might have offered weren’t worth the many ills that would come with it. It seems our two worlds diverged rapidly at that point in history.”

“So, other than the portals, you don’t have any kind of advanced technology?”

“I suppose that depends on how you define advanced technology.” A twinkle lit his dark eyes. “Long ago we learned to manipulate many of the physical forces of the world using our thoughts and the energy of our bodies. We also have the advantage of the physics of our universe, which are slightly different than yours.”

“Gideon was telling me something about that earlier.”

He nodded. “Much of the infrastructure of our society is achieved using these methods.”

“You’re powering a world on, what, telekinesis?”

He smiled. “Once you learn how to control pressure, temperature, and friction, you can do almost anything. You can move mountains.”

As they reached the corner of Market and Front Street, Vik started to turn left, guiding her along as he spoke, but she looked straight ahead and halted, her arm pulling away from his.

In front of her was a straight shot to the Delaware River. At home, I-95 would’ve run right in front of her, but here the highway didn’t exist. Just the road all the way to the boat docks at the river’s bank. Nor were there ugly tankers or enormous commercial ships. No waterside condos blocking the view.

But what really caught her eye was the sight of a grand paddlewheel boat, draped in red, white, and blue, and strung with glowing lamps, moving past at just that moment. She’d seen that boat, from that very vantage point, numerous times in her visions. It was always a bit unnerving whenever she was confronted with something she’d seen in a dream, and tonight she’d come face-to-face with a whole world of them.

Her legs became a little wobbly.

Vik moved back to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong, love? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I’ve seen that boat before. In one of my visions.” She turned back to him. “In several of my visions, to tell the truth. I’ve been seeing your world for months now—that boat, the horse carriages, the clothing you all wear, even Gideon. Oh, and a beautiful redheaded woman I’ve yet to meet. I had no idea what the images meant until tonight.”

Vik now looked like he’d seen a ghost too. For the first time since she’d met him, he was speechless. Then his lips slowly spread into a knowing, satisfied smile.

“What is it, did I say something—”

“No, no. Nothing’s wrong.” He took her hand again and, more quickly than before, led her north up Front Street. “I’m just anxious for you to meet my wife.”

There was something other than that, and the weight of the atmosphere pressed heavier on her shoulders. She shuddered as they walked, knowing it was caused by more than just the winds whipping up from the approaching storm.

“This is the place.” He pointed to a quaint seafood restaurant tucked in an alley off Front Street. “I’ve heard they catch the fish right over there on the shore of the river and literally toss them across the distance to land in the chef’s frying pan.” He grinned. “Very fresh.”

Lexi laughed, but something had changed.

She suddenly felt that her future, for better or worse, was slamming toward her. Now that she was here in this world, bumping into her visions one right after the other, she sensed that her life was about to take a major turn whether she decided she liked what she was seeing or not. It was too freaking hard to change her destiny once it got up a good head of steam.

It was possible, of course, that none of it meant anything of importance. She was, after all, having a seriously unusual evening, and the images she’d seen in her dreams may simply have been portents of this crazy night. But often the visions showed her a place and time that would be a significant turning point in her life.

And something told her she was rapidly approaching a train track junction and the engineer had his hand on the switch.

Vik looked around for his wife. “Let’s grab a table outside. I’m sure Alana will be here any moment.”

As he pulled out a chair for her to take a seat, the heavens let loose. A crack of thunder announced the downpour only a second before it hit.

Yelps and laughter erupted from the other diners seated outside as they rushed into the restaurant, and she pushed her chair back to do the same, but Vik stopped her. “Wait.”

He looked up to the sky with outstretched arms, his fingers wiggling in the air, and even in the gray of the storm the gemstones on his fingers caught the light of the streetlamps and torches. The rains parted above their table like the waters of the Red Sea. They sat in a cone of dry calm.

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