EXCERPT:

Chapter One

Imperfect

In a perfect world, I’d have three things: a lifetime supply of Skittles, a part-time job that didn’t include extra-terrestrials, and an unbroken heart.

But I never expected perfect. I did wish for life closer to normal.

I crossed my arms and listened to my friend Arizona. He could charm me into anything and today he wanted me to accompany him to the woods. He’d come alone and that had been a good move. There were things I could handle and things I couldn’t. I could handle Arizona’s current modus operandi: train, capture, and train.

I couldn’t handle facing our team leader, Regulus. The guy had owned my heart once. Then, he’d returned it—fractured in a zillion pieces of bittersweet memories.

“I’ve made a decision,” I said. “I think you need to replace me. I don’t plan on leaving you guys without an option. If my brother and I were born with synesthesia, that’s two of us in Whispering Woods. Two from the same family. High percentage. There has to be more. Statistically, I’m positive that there are more people who have it. I’ll find someone else who can be your portal gatekeeper.”

He cocked his head to one side, presenting me with his sad-puppy face.

“Oh, come on.” I resisted the urge to add ‘pretty please.’ Begging was not my style.

Arizona had the audacity to give me his heart-melting grin. “Now Mia. You can’t be replaced. It’s rare to find a synesthete who can sense portals.” He reached over and placed an arm around my shoulder. “You’re special.” He crushed me in a side hug.

By special, he had to mean that I didn’t have a backbone and could be coerced into this life that had gone from passably comfortable, to life-as-an-extreme-sport.

“Stop with the hugging. I’ll go.” We stood on the front porch. Winter hadn’t made up its mind if it wanted to let fall hang around, or not. My hoodie would be a little warm for Arizona’s favorite class, Torture Mia 101. “I need to put on a T-shirt. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Inside, I grumbled as I went up the stairs to my room. I understood the whole “Slips can be dangerous” and “This is serious business” and “You are more than a dowsing rod for portals” mentality that Arizona kept throwing at me. But I just wanted it to stop. Teens were supposed to say no to drugs. Why couldn’t I just say no to him?

Wait a minute. I had said no.

The problem was that Arizona knew the main reason that I wanted—no needed—to quit. I couldn’t see my ex without my chest squeezing so hard it threatened to implode. He and Regulus worked for the Interdimensional Immigration Authorities—IIA for short. I always shortened the ridiculously self-important name. The IIA had been recruiting me for months.

I changed into a T-shirt, added sneakers, and pulled my long hair into a ponytail. It wouldn’t hurt to practice with Arizona one more time. Maybe I could come up with a plan to find a replacement for me. How hard could it be?

I was a little cheered by the thought and had a pep in my step. I walked outside to see him patiently waiting on the porch swing.

“‘Resistance is futile.’” Arizona read the slogan on my shirt with wide smile.

I looked down at my chest and frowned. There went my good mood. “Let’s get this over with.”

We walked to the area where the portal had taken up residence. The portals in Whispering Woods changed according to moon phases and I had the lucky job of locating where the next one would appear. The identification of a portal had gotten exponentially easier. It pulled at me. Breaking up with Regulus must have helped me to focus my senses on things other than him.

My skin always tingled within a hundred-foot radius of the portal. Not enough to make me break a sweat, but enough to make me feel uneasy. Fifty feet away, I’d taste fizzy cola, the vibrations of the portal seeping into my mouth. Ten feet away, I’d see the shimmer of the envelope around the portal. A beautiful wave of compressed air dressing the portal’s opening.

In different circumstances, it would have been inspirational, vast, or mysterious, like looking into the Grand Canyon with binoculars but with a more powerful lens.

I might even miss this. I sighed and hoped Arizona hadn’t heard it. Portal detection was like scoring extra life points in my favorite video game—easy if you knew the key.