Aahz bared his teeth and started forward, but I caught him by the shoulder.
“He’s right, partner. If we want his help, we owe him an explanation.”
We locked eyes again for a moment, then he shrugged and retreated.
“Actually, Guido, the explanation is very simple. …”
“That’ll be a first,” the bodyguard grumbled.
In a bound, Aahz was across the room and had Guido by the shirt front.
“You wanted an explanation? Then SHUT UP AND LET HIM EXPLAIN!”
Now Guido is no lightweight, and he’s never been short in the courage department. Still, there’s nothing quite like Aahz when he’s really mad.
“O-Okay! Sorry! Go ahead. Boss. I’m listening.” Aahz released his grip and returned to his place by the door, winking at me covertly as he went.
“What happened is this,” I said, hiding a smile. “Aahz and I found that door when we first moved in here. We didn’t like the looks of it, so we decided to leave it alone. That’s all.”
“That’s all!? A back door that even you admit looks dangerous and all you do is ignore it? And if that wasn’t bad enough, you don’t even bother to tell your bodyguards about it? Of all the lame brained, half….”
Aahz cleared his throat noisily, and Guido regained control of himself… rapidly.
“Aahh . . . what I mean to say is … oh well. That’s all behind us now. Could you give me a little more information now that the subject’s out in the open? What’s on the other side of that door, anyway?”
“We don’t know,” I admitted.
“YOU DON’T KNOW?” Guido shrieked.
“What we do know,” Aahz interrupted hastily, “is what isn’t on the other side. What isn’t there is any dimension we know about.”