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too many shifts and remaining with those on the other side for far too long,” Patricia confessed in a rush of words. Clearly, she had been holding back the truth for some time, or maybe she’d been unwilling to admit that her son had become addicted to life in the alternate plane the Guardians were supposed to protect.
    Rey understood the temptation, but he also recognized the limitations of his powers and Paola’s. “There is a full moon tonight.”
    Patricia nodded, closed her eyes and raised her nose upward, as if scenting the air. “The energies are strong tonight. A perfect night for a virgin shift.”
    When Patricia faced him once more, no words were needed. He understood what she wanted him to do. He just hoped things would not go too badly. Traveling into the other plane was both physically and spiritually draining, especially if it was your first shift.
    Guardians learned to shift when the conditions were right, as they were tonight, or in cases of extreme emergency. Javier Lopes and Rey’s parents had died in one such emergency, trying to safeguard the boundaries of the space against the rogue loggers.
    The main threat tonight was to his heart and Paola’s, but it was a risk he needed to take to show her why she had to remain with them. Why she had to accept her role as one of the Guardians.
    With a nod to Patricia, he rose and headed to Paola’s room.
    Â 
    She had thought living in New York City was noisy. There was the constant hum of traffic and occasional scream of ambulances or police cars. The chatter of pedestrians and music from a nearby bar. The earthquake rattle of the subway passing beneath her feet. The city that never slept.
    But this place was far more alive and decidedly more boisterous than the city, even at this late hour.
    From the jungle, just a short distance away, erupted an assortment of noises. The screech of monkeys and the gossip of birds and other animals. A low growl from a big cat and a repetitive rustle from the underbrush, like the susurrus of waves. That cacophony was joined by the noises from those in the house and the animals in the nearby buildings. The whinny of a horse. The rush of water from a well as someone pumped up a bucket and dragged it into a handmade hut toward the far edge of the compound.
    Paola wondered if the plantation had been like this when her father had lived here and decided that it had. There was a sense of timelessness here that she couldn’t explain. Maybe it came from the stability of her grandmother’s long tenure over the place.
    Maybe that could explain the connection she was feeling to this home and the land. A connection far stronger than what she had felt in New York City. Or maybe it was because she had been placed in her father’s old room. A room filled with pictures of her and her mother, making it almost feel like home. Providing a false sense of permanence considering that her parents’ relationship had not lasted all that long.
    A knock came at the door, jolting her from her ruminations.
    She tucked her robe tight around herself and answered.
    Rey stood there, fingertips tucked into the pockets of tight jeans that hugged the powerful muscles of his thighs. He arched a dark brow and asked, “Are you up for an adventure?”
    Paola peered at her watch and then shot him a disbelieving look. “Seriously? It’s almost midnight.”
    â€œAnd yet you’re still awake,” he challenged with a friendly smile.
    Chagrined, she shook her head and said, “It’s too noisy here.”
    Rey laughed, but then immediately turned serious. “Have you given any thought to what your grandmother explained?”
    â€œNo.” In truth, she had driven that discussion to the back of her mind, trying not to deal with something that sounded much too lunatic to be believed. Alternate planes of time? People who needed their protection? It sounded like something from a 1950s sci-fi