Blood Borne

by T. G. Ayer

  Saleem cleared his throat. "Plus there is the small matter of those blanks in your mind. You still need to have Darcy check you out and I expect you to do that today."

  I lifted one eyebrow. "Giving orders now are we?"

  Saleem shrugged one shoulder nonchalantly. "It's a royal thing," he said, a smile curving his sexy lips.

  I shook my head and sighed, then rested my elbows on the table before dropping my face in my open palms. I pressed my fingers into my forehead and groaned into my hands.

  "What's going on with me? I just need a simple answer. Nothing too complicated. Nothing about saving or destroying the world. Just an easy answer that will put my whole world back to rights."

  Saleem grunted then came to sit beside me. He grabbed my chin and lifted my face so our eyes met. "There's one serious thing I believe you've forgotten."

  "Which is?" I asked, squinting at him. With his face so close that I could see the flecks of flames in his eyes. And I was already beginning to feel warmth flare in my blood.

  Saleem smirked. "That your world was never really to rights in the first place."

  I glared at him then jerked my chin out from his grip. "Asshole," I muttered, not caring that he heard.

  He didn't appear to care either. Saleem's deep laughter filled the kitchen as he disappeared in a swirl of dark shadows and gleaming embers.

  Saleem had gone upstairs to get in touch with Fathima, his rebel warrior cousin who was back in Mithras. He was weak enough that he'd need to be horizontal in the first place in order to make contact with her in the ethereal plane and I felt a pulsing of guilt for having put him in that situation. But, had he not come to Axiat, I would be dead, so I figured he wasn't about to hold it against me.

  I'd reassured him that I'd train my new powers as soon as I was done with my chores for the day, and I'd been serious about it. The sudden conjuring of a doorway to a realm I didn't even know existed was just the sort of thing to give a girl pause.

  And paused was exactly what I was right now.

  Exhausted, considering my next moving. And just a little worried about what Ash was going to tell me about Samuel's tox panel.

  When I'd found Samuel dead on his bed in his home, as though everything had happened the way it ought to have, I'd known almost instantly that something was wrong about the whole picture.

  And I was still glad to be the instantly suspicious type. Because of my gut, I'd left with a vial of Samuel's blood which I'd given to Ash to run some tests on. I'd known Sameul was murdered, so when she'd confirmed the presence of toxic chemicals, I hadn't been surprised.

  What I now waited on from the forensics tech was an identification of the poison which had killed Samuel, who had been both a mentor and a father figure.

  I was hoping that identifying the toxin would lead me to the killer so that I could tie off that particular loose end. I wasn't happy with the thought that Samuel's killer was a loose end-- it sounded like it was nothing more than an unimportant item on my to-do list.

  But when almost everything on that fucking list was deadly to both people and worlds, not to mention fricking entire universes, everything kind of fades to grey.

  And I was getting a little tired of it.

  A voice in my head teased me again. What if the Sharaita chooses you as her price?

  The thought held a suggestion of relief but that outcome had to be avoided at all costs simply because I had to remain alive in order for the Ni'amh to complete their task--whatever that task was.

  Which means there were a few people who owed their lives to the Sharaita for the bargain we made who would readily sacrifice their own lives in order to ensure the universe continued as it should be.

  Aisha, Queen of the Djinn, and Saleem's mom, would be a possibility. She'd do anything to ensure her family remained safe but would she give her life for mine or for Kai's?

  Logan would certainly make the sacrifice for Kai, and Saleem would for me. But neither Kai nor I would want that, so we had to ensure we found another way to satisfy the Shariata.

  I'd have a chance to speak to Kai about that later today but for now, as tired as I was, I sent an email to High Councilman Horner to request a meeting as soon as he was able to fit me in.

  Then I had to get over to the Elite HQ for my update from Ash. After that, I promised myself a few moments to grab a nap and regenerate.

  Man I was so exhausted I could just shut my eyes right this minute without any trouble. Which of course was a bad idea.

  Ash had answers that I needed.

  Ch 13 TG DONE

  Now, as I walked into the forensics lab, I felt my gut twist at the prospect of finding out more about what Samuel’s blood contained.

  A clattering and tinkling caught my attention from the opposite end of the room but I couldn't see Ash anywhere. “Hello, anyone home?” I called, adopting a teasing sing-song tone as I scanned the lab in search of the forensics agent.

  Ash’s voice rang out from near the back wall, rising from behind a long table covered in beakers and burners and brown paper bags of evidence. “Just a sec.”

  Her response was followed by the crackling of glass pieces on tile. The sharp sounds echoed around the room and I shook my head. What had the woman gotten herself into?

  Hurrying towards Ash, I asked, “What did you break? Hope it's not some kind of deadly virus that’s going to wipe out the whole of the EarthWorld. You haven’t given me enough warning to pack.”

  Ash chuckled. “And even if it was, what makes you think I would tell you?”

  I rounded the table to find Ash kneeling on the tiles, sweeping broken pieces of glass into a dustpan carefully avoiding a collection of great splotches of a burnt-orange liquid that splattered the white tiles.

  “Geez, now you've gone and done it. What in the goddess's name is that icky-looking gunk?”

  Ash made a face as she brushed aside hair that had escaped her ponytail. She sighed and said, “It’s an extract from the pollen of a rare flower called Retesn. If you imagine a hibiscus, then you have a pretty good idea of what this flower looks like. The only problem with this variety is it’s only found in the jungles of Abbasinya.”

  “Huh?” I asked, frowning. “I know my realm geography pretty well but I’m not sure I’ve heard of Abbasinya before.”

  Ash smiled, sweeping up the last bits of glass. “Abbasinya is a little-known jungle in the deepest darkest parts of gargoyle realm of Gahalya. They say the jungle itself is seething with magic and that it’s filled with creatures still yet to be discovered. I’ve also heard that it’s the home of the fabled Gargoyle Fae.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “Gargoyle Fae? I must have missed that lesson.”

  “Their apparent existence is not all that well known. Unless you regularly dig around in dusty old libraries, there’s little chance you would have ever heard of them.”

  “Or unless you bump into one?” I offered with a grin.

  Ash shook her head and grinned back, then stood up, dustpan in hand and cocked a chin at a rag sitting on the table. “Enough of the chit-chat. Make yourself useful, tracker. I’m going to get rid of this glass and log an incident report. Shouldn't be too long.”

  With that, she sauntered away, happy with herself probably, since she’d employed free labor. What she didn't know was that I would happily help her in any way that I could, even if it meant providing said free labor.

  Ash had helped me many a time to obtain information and process tests which I had no clearance for. As she tapped away at her keyboard, I busied myself wiping up the orange liquid with the stained rag. At last, task completed, I began to rise to my feet when I suddenly stiffened.

  “Hey, Ash, what exactly does this particular extract of pollen do to a person if they got it on their skin?” I asked, heading for the bright red trashcan marked for toxic waste.

  Ash stopped typing and spun around on her chair. “What? Did you get it on your skin?” she asked, her tone high and almost panicked.

&nb
sp; My heart thudded. Now what type of crap did I land myself in? I seemed to be permanently attracted to messing up. “I’m not sure. I was just asking. And why would you not have warned me if it was dangerous to get on your skin? Don’t you think that’s the kind of thing one tells people before they touch the poisonous orange gunk?”

  I stared at Ash’s now-terrified expression, gripping the soiled rag in my hand. Long moments passed in which I contemplated the prospect of a lengthy stay in quarantine, or worst still, a horribly painful death.

  Shaking the thoughts away, I glared at Ash. “Don’t you think maybe you’d want to hit some kind of button?”

  “What kind of button?” she asked, expression genuinely confused.

  “Maybe one that sets off a Code Blue alarm or something? Maybe Code Black because I’m pretty sure black’s more dangerous than blue. If I’m dying, I’d kind of like for there to be at least one serious attempt at keeping me alive.”

  Ash just stared back at me as though at a loss as to how to react. I was about to yell at her, probably hurl a few expletives in her direction, when she burst out laughing. Her unladylike guffaws filled the space between us as she bent forward, hand half covering her mouth as she spluttered, “Omigod. You should have seen your face.”

  “Bitch,” I snapped at her, then deposited the rag into the trash and stalked over to her. “I’ll be getting you back for that. Just you wait.” I pursed my lips though the movement had far more to do with controlling the urge to laugh than it did with conveying anger.

  Ash snorted. “I’d like to see you try,” she said, still pretty impressed with herself.

  I drew up alongside her and snuck a look at her computer screen to find that she really was filling in an incident report. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You're really filling in an incident report. I didn't think the Elite would be so pedantic.”

  Ash rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You have no idea. Besides, the Elite is still a legitimate corporation and they still have a responsibility to their staff. Let’s say somebody—take you for instance—had to walk all over my crushed beakers and end up with a whole heap of glass stuck in your foot and then you go and make an insurance claim against the Elite, where do you think I would be if I hadn’t made the initial report.”

  I snorted. “You do know I really didn't need the whole explanation, right?”

  Ash let out a soft laugh. “Well, this is red tape. So a girl’s gotta do what a girl's gotta do.” She tapped away at the keys for a few seconds then hit the enter button twice and spun around in her chair to face me. “Now, what can I do for you?”

  I made a face. “You know exactly why I'm here. You know I've been waiting for that tox panel to come through,” I said trying to keep any accusation or impatience out of my voice

  Ash nodded, now serious at the mention of Samuel’s blood tests. She spun around on her chair to give herself a boost off the edge of her desk. Then she went rolling across the aisle to the table that sat behind her, which was currently covered in medical instruments and machinery that beeped and whirred and coughed often enough to earn more than a sideways glance from many of her visitors.

  She peered over at a tiny panel on a silver machine—the name of which I couldn’t—then spun around as the printer began to whine and clunk. Then she was zooming down the aisle, grabbing the paper from the tray and slid back to me with the grace of an ice-skater.

  Ash nodded at the paper and then met my eyes. “These are some of the results. I wish I could give you a definitive result here and now, but unfortunately I ran into a couple of semi-stone walls on the way.”

  Great. There were walls?

  13

  “Walls? Semi-stone ones?” I asked, anxiety bubbling in my gut. Why were their always obstacles when it came to investigations of the personal variety?

  Ash was nodding, discreetly looking over at the paper in my hand in order to give me a moment to blink away the stupid tears that had accompanied the damned anxiety. They were tears of frustration. Nothing more.

  Who are you kidding?

  Ash cleared her throat. “Okay, so you know how I said I’d run every test under the sun?” As I folded my arms and leaned against her desk, I supplied a nod in response. Only then did Ash continue speaking, “So I ran a few extra tests and lo and behold, I hit pay dirt. All the normal tests came back negative, by the way, so I was pretty happy that I’d run the rest as well.”

  I nodded, a little impatient now. I had to force my knee to stop bobbing, and my finger from tapping on my arm. “So all the standard results were clear?” Ash nodded briskly. “So whatever killed him is off-EarthWorld in origin.”

  Another nod. “Yes, and yes. At least we can now tick off this particular realm as point of origin of the substance. Perpetrator, though, is a whole other ballgame.”

  “Only problem is there are a whole heck of a lot more realms out there to check,” I said, suddenly feeling more dejected than I’d expected.

  Forcing a grin, Ash said, “Hey, cheer up a little. I’m pretty sure I’m on the right track here, okay? So don’t lose hope. I did get one hit with a molecule that’s pinging as originating from one of the demon-realms. I have a source helping me track that down, so I’ll have some news in the next day or so.”

  “That’s progress, right?” I said, trying to sound cheerful.

  “Of course, it is.” Ash bobbed her head again then spun around and attacked her keyboard, fingers racing at light speed. Then the monitor filled with a graph, multiple lines drawn in green with one line blinking red then green, over and over. “See that red-green line, that’s my ping. But see those other three? I’m still blank on those. The tests I requested though will break them down into their components so it should be easier for me to find out what they are.”

  I scrunched up my nose. “Breaking the stuff down into pieces helps?” her scientific explanation sounded convoluted to me.

  “Yes, absolutely. Those chemicals will pop up on the periodic table depending on which realm it belongs to.”

  “Huh? I thought the periodic table we learned in school was the periodic table of all the realms.”

  “That’s right. All the elements we learned about behave in essentially the same or similar manner in all the realms, of course depending on the world’s interaction with it. What we’ve learned through years of research is that some of the realms in the DarkWorld contain additional elements that are not on Earth-Realm’s periodic table.”

  “And that’s how you’ll be able to identify where the poison came from.”

  “Yes. Sort of.”

  “Eh?” I scowled. “Are you trying to mess with my head?”

  Ash’s face took on an innocent expression as she shook her head. “No, you’re right, but because many of the demon realms have overlapping elements specific to their realms, we may get a hit that points at a collection of realms instead of giving us a glowing neon sign at one specific origin.”

  “Oh,” I muttered, pursing my lips.

  “Look, I know it’s tempting to be disappointed but really, Mel, but this is a good thing. We’re getting somewhere. Even if it doesn’t look like it. At least we know that whoever introduced that poison into your blood-sample, they aren’t likely to be EarthWorlders. Or, if they are, they’re delving in some pretty dangerous shit. And they won’t get away with it.”

  I snorted. “What? Do we have cross-Veil border control for botanicals now?”

  “Something like that. There’s a way to detect if some of these elements have traversed the Veil. I’ve already suggested to Horner that we send you on the training course to get you caught up. Just in case you run into anything kinky up there.” Ash pointed at the ceiling as though the Ether existed above us.

  “You do know that’s not where the ether or the Veil is, right?”

  She shrugged. “Whatever. It has to be somewhere, and up is good. Up is heaven and angels, so up is good.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t let me get starte
d on angels. I know a few who’d make you prefer down-under just to make sure you never run into them. E-vah.”

  Ash’s eyes were wide as she stared at me, head tilted to the side, definitely trying to figure out if I was actually serious. Or just pulling her leg—which I totally was.

  If you didn’t count Storm—or whatever his name was.

  Ash snickered, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Pants on fire,” she said chuckling.

  “Busted.” I grinned, feeling relaxed for the first time in days. But I shouldn’t be relaxing. There were far too many things to think about.

  “Still, it was pretty good,” replied Ash. Her keen eyes were still on my face and she narrowed them now. “What’s bothering you? You look guilty.”

  I shrugged a shoulder and waved her off. “Just me being impatient. There are a couple other important issues I need to deal with after the whole Mithrasian episode--which I’m sure you got the down-low on. Thing is, far too many things keep falling in my path which has been super frustrating. But…I can’t afford to relax or take things for granted.”

  Ash sighed and leaned toward me, patting my arm. “Mel, you need to take care of yourself as well. You can’t run yourself ragged putting the pieces together only to find that at crunch time you don’t have any steam to actually do the job.”

  I smiled at her, chuckling at her ability to hit all the nails on the head. “Thanks. I need to remember that.”

  “And don’t feel guilty every time you relax or spend a moment thinking about something other than saving your sister and Samuel. Unless of course your thoughts are focused on a certain sexy-ass djinn.”

  A choked sound left my throat. “What are you now? A mindreader?” I asked, hoping she wasn’t. Because then she’d know that saving wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when it came to Ari. My kid sister had way too much to answer for.