Alex follows the trajectory of her sightline. “I’d recognize that blade anywhere.” He strides over to the tub and lifts it out, running his fingers over the Ella Cross symbol engraved in sterling silver on the hilt. “What’s it doing here?” He directs the question at anyone who can give him the best answer.
Jimmy gets there first.
“Silver snuck it past border security.”
Alex flashes Silver a patented why-do-you-do-this-to-me look, and in return, she offers him her best ‘oops’ eyes. She gets to her feet and holds out her hands.
“Can I have it back now?”
Alex waits until she gets close enough to touch it, then tosses it back into the lost and found tub. “Friday. On our way back to the Sentinel District.”
“Are you serious?”
“We’re on vacation. You don’t need weapons on vacation.”
Sensing that little more can be achieved here—and satisfied that he’s cast enough doubt over Silver’s guilt to send Luka off in another investigational direction in search of his gun—Alex checks his watch.
“Are we done here?” He addresses Luka. “Silver and I are late for swordplay.”
Silver’s eyes perk up at the mention of swordplay.
Finally, something interesting. As they all file out of the room, Silver quietly—and deliberately—brings up the rear. She makes one quick stop at their tent, then jumps on a Rec Zone truck with Alex, eager to try something new and exciting.
Unfortunately, the excitement doesn’t last. It’s only about three minutes into class before Silver realizes that the blades are dulled. They couldn’t even cut butter, and that takes some of the fun out of it—the element of danger at least—but it’s still a pleasant distraction from the rest of the day’s events.
Better yet, her shoulders don’t feel quite so stiff anymore, and her arm’s healing faster than she’d expected. It’s only been twenty-four hours since the excruciating staff fighting lesson, but already her upper parries are improving. She’s able to last out through the entire day’s lessons, from basic strike and parry routines to full-on sparring. By the time evening comes, she’s worn out, but not broken.
Collapsing onto the bed in their tent, hot and thirsty, she welcomes the warm cup of tea offered to her by Alex. Even the aroma of it is intoxicating.
“What is it? Lavender?”
“It’ll help you relax.”
She takes a sip. “What else is in here? It tastes sweet.”
“A little honey.”
Another sip. “Mmm, it’s really good.”
“Drink up.” He kisses the top of her head. “I’m gonna go brush my teeth. I’ll be right back.”
He’s gone less than five minutes.
By the time he returns, Silver is already fast asleep. Passed out on the bed with the teacup still in her hand, she’s sleeping more deeply than she has in a long while—especially since they’ve been on vacation.
Alex pries the almost completely empty teacup out of her fingers and sets it aside, then gently tucks her up inside the blankets and kisses her forehead.
“Sleep well.”
And so she does … for a while.
Until …
Hours later …
*************************
At first, the faint feeling of another’s breath against her face doesn’t even bother her. The smell is a little bit off-putting, but some personal hygiene rules just don’t apply when you’re camping.
“I thought you were going to brush your teeth?” she mumbles, her eyes still closed.
In response, there’s a soft gurgling, purring noise.
Silver smiles. “Again? Really? I thought you were tired.”
“I am tired. Are you talking in your sleep?”
Something about Alex’s voice bothers her. Not the tone, nor the deep sigh that came with it, but something else that she can’t quite put her finger on. Then, Alex moves and accidentally elbows her in the back.
The back.
Silver’s eyes dart open. Not three inches in front of her face is a nasty, drooling, heavy-breathing, violet-eyed … thing.
Not Chimera.
Not human.
The creature has a human-shaped head and it’s clearly bipedal. The eyes are Chimeran, but the teeth are something else: not like a human or a Chimera. Sharp, scissor-like incisors line the upper and lower jaws. No molars, no bicuspids—just incisors.
The skin is gray and leathery, and pulsating with veins. The hind feet are indistinguishable from Chimeran feet, except that the toes are webbed. The front feet are … not feet at all. This creature has hands!
Human hands, but webbed and with talons instead of fingernails. It has opposable thumbs. Its back legs are strong and muscular—built for running or swimming—and it reminds Silver of the Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur she’d seen in books. And like the T-Rex, this creature has a tail. A full-on tail. Not the wiggly little nubbin that Chimera have, but a thick, long tail designed for balance.
Silver closes her eyes and opens them again.
It’s still there.
Not a hallucination!
Thank fuck she stole her knife back from Jimmy’s office after their little meeting.
Her fingers instinctively begin to curl around the hilt beneath her pillow. Even after the months she’s spent back in the Sentinel District, and despite Alex’s repeated attempts to banish it from the bedroom altogether, she still feels safer having it there. In fact, she has trouble sleeping without it. Not that she’d ever admit that to anyone.
She’d wanted it there just for comfort; she hadn’t planned on using it. But now …
She pulls it free and takes a swipe at the creature, but she’s too slow. It’s gone and out of the tent before the tip of the blade even gets close, but Silver put too much power into her swing and she has no hope of stopping herself before she hits the next thing in her path.
Alex.
He rolls over onto his back and opens his eyes just in time. He sees the blade headed for his neck and clamps it swiftly between his palms, instinctively elbowing Silver—his supposed attacker—in the face.
It’s instinct.
He didn’t even have time to register that it was her.
“Fucking hell …”
Silver reels back from the wallop, which hit her straight in the eye. It takes her a few moments to recover, but when she does, she’s up and out of the tent before Alex can stop her.
“Silver!” He tosses the knife to one side. “Shit …”
He pulls on a pair of pants and goes after her. Barefoot, and struggling to keep his voice hushed so as not to wake the other campers, he begs her to come back to the tent. It’s the middle of the night and the campsite is pitch black, except for the weak beam of a motion light which now has Silver in its spotlight.
She’s spinning from left to right, trying to see where the creature went.
“Silver!” Alex whispers frantically to her. “Come back here!”
She doesn’t move. She’s breathing fast and heavy, and she’s tensed for a fight. “You saw it. Right? Tell me you saw it.”
Alex begins to shake his head. “All I saw was your blade about to slice my throat.”
“No … you had to have seen it.” Silver is aghast.
Alex puts a hand over her mouth, muffling her protests. “Ssshhh! You’ll wake up the whole campsite.”
She peels his fingers off her lips. “Good! They should be awake. We should all be out searching for this thing before it comes back!”
She turns to walk away from him, but he holds her in place.
“I promise you there’s nothing out there, El. It was just a figment of your imagination.”
“I didn’t have a nightmare, Alex. I know what I saw. It was the same thing I saw the other night in the Cut Off. I’m certain of it.”
“I’m sure it seemed that way, but you know how vivid dreams can be when y—” He stops himself.
Silver detects a flash of gui
lt on his face. “When what?”
“Nothing. Look, we need to get some ice on that eye before the swelling gets any worse.”
He tries to lead her away toward the Rec Zone HQ, but she pulls herself away from him.
“Did you give me something?”
Alex doesn’t say a word, but he doesn’t have to: the look on his face says it all.
Shame.
Guilt.
More shame.
Silver shoves him in the chest. “What did you give me?!”
“It was just something to help you sleep. You need the rest, Silver. Your mind’s been in overdrive for days.”
She shoves him again. “Are you fucking serious? You spiked my tea!”
“I’m sorry.”
“You drugged me.”
“It was only a mild sedative.”
“I can’t believe you fucking drugged me.” She clasps her hand over her eye, the adrenalin wearing off and the pain kicking in. “Ow. Fuck. What did you hit me with? Your elbow or a steel fucking mallet?”
Alex pries her hand away to get a look at it. “We really need to get some ice on that.”
She’s in no position to argue. It hurts like hell and eyeball fluid is streaming down her cheek. She can barely open her eye, much less see out of it.
By the time Alex finally gets an icepack against it in the communal area of the HQ building, her whole face is hurting. The sudden, shocking cold of the ice is such a relief to her senses, she even whines a little.
Alex hates to see her in so much pain, and all that grief he’s feeling is made immeasurably worse by the fact that he was the cause of it all.
Kneeling in front of her, he keeps the icepack pressed to her eye while he strokes her knee tenderly. “I can’t believe I hit you.”
She winces as he shifts position and accidentally applies too much pressure to her eye.
“Meh.” She sighs. “It’s not the first time.”
Ouch.
Instantly, she feels his touch falter. His whole face drops and he looks down at the floor between his feet. If Silver could retract those words, she would.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean …”
“No, don’t. It’s okay. It’s true.”
“Yeah, but—”
“No buts. Just drop it.”
“I can hold my own against you, Alex. You know I can.”
His jaw tightens. “That’s not the point, Silver.”
Silence.
She knows he still harbors a lot of guilt for his past misdeeds, but on this occasion, she thinks he should let himself off the hook.
“I could’ve killed you,” she whispers. “I think that trumps a black eye.”
“But if I hadn’t given you that sedative …”
He’s got a point.
“Was it really a hallucination?” she asks at last. “Or a dream? Whatever.”
Alex feels an unpleasant chill ripple through her body.
He answers carefully. “I think the sedative was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It’s just like I said before: you’ve got a bad case of cabin fever. Your mind’s been galloping in a hundred different directions all at once since we got here, and the fact that you haven’t been getting enough sleep can’t be helping. I don’t think your body knows how to relax anymore. You’re always looking for monsters in the shadows.”
That’s the truth and she knows it.
She’s always looking for something in nothing.
CHAPTER SIX
Ockham’s Razor
Silver awakens to kisses below her waist.
Impossibly, she’s slept in past daybreak. When Alex is done—satisfied that she’s satisfied—he wriggles back up in the bed and greets her face to face.
“Good morning.” He smiles.
Good morning indeed.
He’s been awake for a while and he’s bristling with energy.
Ugh.
Perhaps it’s just a side effect of the sedative, but Silver feels groggy and dozy. She rubs gunk out of her eyes, making absolutely no attempt to rise from the warmth of the covers.
“What’s on the cards for today?” she murmurs, relishing a spontaneous post-orgasm shiver. “Lemme guess. Base jumping? Zorbing? Worm charming?”
“Fishing.”
Silver opens one eye and peers at him. He’s positively beaming.
“Back to Dullsville.” She sighs. “You don’t even like fish.”
“I don’t have to like fish. It’s all about the process.”
Silver makes a fairly non-committal sort of noise and yawns. “When are we leaving?”
“Soon. You get dressed and I’ll go grab us some breakfast.”
Silver flashes him a wry smile. “Didn’t you just eat?”
“I have an insatiable appetite for some things.” He kisses her neck, taking a little nibble on her earlobe. “You should know that by now.”
As he leans over her, looking down on her, his expression melts from passionate desire into concern with a hint of remorse. Her eye is still slightly swollen, the rim around it now an impressive shade of blue and dark purple.
He kisses her eyelid softly. “How’re you feeling?”
“I’m fine, Alex. Stop mothering me.”
“I can’t help it.”
“Start trying.” She shoves him out of the way and heaves herself upright. “I’m nobody’s victim. Least of all yours.”
Alex knows when to quit. She just used her Hunter General tone with him, and there’s no arguing with her when she’s in that mind space. He lies back on the bed, watching her dig through a pile of clothes on the floor in search of something.
Whatever it is, she can’t find it.
She lifts up her pillow and checks underneath.
Still nothing.
Eventually, Alex puts her out of her misery and holds up her hunting knife. “Looking for this?”
She makes a grab for it, but he holds it out of her reach.
“Not so easy.” He keeps her at arm’s length.
“Hey! It’s mine!” she protests. “Get your own shiny things.”
“Jimmy confiscated this from you. How did you get it back?”
“Why does it matter?”
“It matters because I’ve been defending you to Jimmy and Luka. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but your presence here is upsetting the other campers. Jimmy wants you out of the Rec Zone and Luka wants you in handcuffs.”
In more ways than one, Silver thinks.
She says nothing.
Alex sets the knife aside and leans toward her, hoping for an honest answer. “Did you take Luka’s gun?”
“For the hundredth time: no.”
Alex studies her expression, searching for even the slightest hint of deception behind those cranky silver eyes.
“Satisfied?” She glares at him. “Can I have my knife back now?”
“I should return it to Jimmy. As soon as he realizes it’s gone, he’ll be on the warpath. And he’s got you in his crosshairs already.”
“So? Let him try and give me the boot. Enough things have gone missing around here lately that he’d never be able to prove I took it.”
“Unless he searches our tent.”
“You’re the Chief of Police, Alex. He’s not gonna be able to do anything you don’t want him to.”
“You’re asking me to cover for you?”
“I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of this. I haven’t done anything illegal. I just want you to back me up when I say I didn’t take back something that—let’s not forget—does actually belong to me.”
“What do you need it for? Another attempt at mariticide?”
“That’s not a word.”
“I’m pretty sure it is.” He places a hand on her shoulder. “Look, Silver, I know you’re still working out some of your Fringe District issues, but we’re perfectly safe here. You don’t need a weapon.”
Silence.
Silver seems to be about to r
elent, but Jimmy’s on his way over to their tent and he’s definitely not in a good mood. Assuming that he’s coming after the knife, Silver snatches it up, buries it under the blankets, and dresses just in time to meet him at the entrance to the tent.
He has his mouth open to speak, but takes one look at her impressive black eye and completely forgets what he was going to say. “What now? Or daren’t I ask?”
“I had a nightmare.”
“That must’ve been some nightmare.”
“It was extremely vivid,” she insists.
“Uh-huh.” Jimmy mulls that over. “You’ll be glad of some extra rest today, then.”
“You betcha. I’ve heard there’s nothing more boring … ahem … relaxing than fishing.”
“Yeah? Well, you’re not going to find out. Not today anyway.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re not going fishing.” Jimmy folds his arms defensively, ready for a verbal tussle. “You’re not going anywhere. The other campers have expressed their displeasure about you being included in group activities, so you’re going to spend the day here instead.”
“Are you serious? It’s fishing, for crying out loud. How much trouble could I get into doing that?”
“You got a black eye while you were sleeping. I think anything is possible.”
“Technically, I was awake when I got the black eye.”
“And who gave it to you? The boogey monster you were chasing in the woods?”
Alex, having heard every word of their exchange, comes out from the tent looking uncharacteristically sheepish.
For his sake, Silver tries to bury the subject. “Something like that.”
Jimmy shakes his head. “And you really think you should be armed?”
“Excuse me?”
“I know you took the knife, Silver. I’m gonna give you one chance to put it back before I have you forcibly removed from the Rec Zone.”
“Are you talking about my knife? You lost my knife?!?!”
She sells the outrage so well, Alex almost buys it himself.
“I didn’t lose it,” Jimmy spits at her. “You took it. Just like I’m damn sure you took Luka’s gun.”
Alex steps in between them. “Silver didn’t take anything. I thought we established that?”
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