Vincent stared at the man on the ground. "If he can't die between the worlds, at least his soul will."
"And you?" The need to leave was crumbling. I was pushing my luck too far. "You will always carry a small piece of him with you."
"It's a small price to pay."
"How do you think that will make me feel?"
Vincent turned to look at me. A joist twisted and cracked before falling free. Another followed while he stared, the blackness in his eyes retreating.
"We may be too late already. I'm going to be seriously upset if I die down here next to him." I was trying to make light of the situation, but in truth, I was convinced we were about to die.
Vincent backed away from Jin and his hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly.
Water and worse flooded the room from broken pipes. Something sounding like a wall hitting the floor above us was followed by drifting dust. Sirens could be heard in the distance. My luck stirred when Vincent moved beside me. He reached for my hand but stopped before touching me. Remembering what had happened when we touched in the club, I understood the hesitation, but things couldn't get much worse. I took his hand and it nestled warmly in mine.
Luck urged us to the stairs, but even fighting through the pain, I was moving slow.
"You're going to hate this," Vincent muttered. He picked me up, trying to be gentle. "Tell me where to go."
Every part of my body that was pressed into Vincent felt like spikes being driven into my skin. The nightmare I held, fighting with the new soul, managed to spread through me and dull my senses once again.
Directing Vincent upstairs, we found a perilous jumble of falling walls and debris. He maneuvered us through the back door and into the cold night air. Vincent slowed when we were out of the house, but I urged him further away.
So many things could happen in earthquakes. The house was on fire and gas lines could be burning, but I had a nagging suspicion that this was different.
When I told him he could stop, I leaned my head against Vincent's chest as we watched the house sink into the ground. Emergency crews in front were yelling to move back as the ground cracked. Their lights lit up the night and reflected off the white houses along the street.
When everything stalled, the house was nothing but a tangled heap of sticks, shingles, and stone. In front of the house, someone talked loudly about sinkholes, and they began evacuating the rest of the street. I was confident that everything else on the street was safe.
Chapter 26
"We shouldn't stick around here." My mind was fuzzy, but dealing with the police right now wasn't high on my to do list. "We can go through a neighbor's backyard and circle back around to the street."
Vincent didn't move. "I don't think we should be seen around here."
"I'm not sure what time it is, but most of the houses look dark. No one is going to help us if we wake them up to use their phone. There are people here, and maybe we can borrow a cell phone to call."
Vincent moved into the neighbor's backyard.
"I can walk." I didn't relish the idea, but I didn't want Vincent packing me around after what we had been through.
Vincent didn't even slow down. "When we're further away."
Listening to his heart beating steadily was a distraction. Right now, I think the worst thing for me would be to think about what had happened. The rhythmic thump helped me let everything fall away and allowed my mind to float in an exhausted haze.
We moved quietly between houses. Vincent put me back on my feet, and we watched the flurry of activity from the darkness between houses.
"Are you sure you want to go out there?" It looked like he was focusing on the emergency vehicles.
I scanned the people that had come out of their houses. "I'm sure. I want away from here the fastest way possible."
Vincent put a hand on my face and looked into my eyes. For this rare moment, his face looked soft. Worried, but real. The real Vincent.
Mesmerized, my foggy mind clutched at this new distraction. Vincent's hand moved up, and he ran it through my hair, his gaze followed, so I shut my eyes and concentrated on his hand moving over me. It snagged in my hair. I whimpered. Whatever drugs they gave me should never have been made.
Did I seriously whimper? In front of Vincent?
Avoiding everything was apparently not the right answer. It was time to let my brain move again.
"Sorry." Vincent kept his voice low, but it was tinged with concern. "But I need to get this accursed thing off your head."
"It's okay. You caught me off guard." For once, I succeeded in keeping my voice level and normal when I wanted to.
Vincent took away a hair clip, with a small jewel sitting among beads. He turned it over and over again in his hand.
"It's gone." Vincent looked down the street at the remains of the ruined house. "I need to go back."
"Don't." I ignored the sensation of my heart being squeezed.
"Even that small fragment could wreak havoc in this world. I'll borrow a phone on the way and call Logan. I'll let him know where you are."
"You don't have to go back."
"It has to be done." Vincent's face was already hardening and looked as though his mind was focused on the task ahead.
"I have it."
"You have it? Where?"
"It's inside me."
Vincent frowned and took a step back. "I don't know what you mean, but I am sure you're mistaken."
"You said I couldn't move past it. So I... I don't know, absorbed it."
Vincent's face went blank. "You took that into yourself?"
"It is. With all the others."
"Others?"
"Do we have to do this now?" I was standing, but only brute force and stubbornness kept me on my feet. There was also fear about lying down. With the drugs running through my system, it sounded like a nightmare.
"It's not having any effect?" Vincent asked.
I gritted my teeth. "It's minding its own business right now. Now, can we please get out of here?"
"If it's safely contained-"
"It is," I snapped.
Vincent grinned. "You still get cranky when you've worn yourself down."
"I am NOT cranky." I cleared my throat and tried to keep my voice level. "And I've worn myself down saving our asses from a collapsing house, and..." I wavered, my thoughts taking turns into bad places. "Did that really happen?"
"We can't think about that now." Vincent took my hand gently. "We're not through the night yet."
Right, don't look back. "By now, Logan and Rider are probably searching the city door by door."
"And you know how much they're going to love seeing me again." Vincent's eyes were darting from one shadow to another, and I sensed his apprehension.
"They will," I said. "Well, once they know you're not a crazed killer."
"Let's get you out of here."
We drifted out of the darkness and out into the street. With each step, I moved slower. I hung back and let Vincent borrow the phone. Someone kindly stopped taking video of the burning house long enough for Vincent to call.
Vincent took a few steps away from the phone owner and made the call.
He didn't look thrilled when he was off the phone, but he looked polite and thanked the person for their phone. Instead of taking his hand, I took his arm, using it to help support myself, and we walked away from the house of nightmares.
There was nothing for either of us to say. As bone weary as I was, with phantom pains springing up each time I touched anything, or even when my clothes pressed too tightly to my body, I could say nothing.
I made it almost two blocks before stopping.
"Let's go to the corner," Vincent said. "We can meet the others there."
It looked like such a long way. Forcing one foot in front of the other, I made it to the corner on my own steam. I wanted to sit down when we got there, but I knew if I sat down, I wouldn't get up. At least not on my own. So I stood, leaning against Vincent, a
nd watched the sky grow light with an early morning glow.
When I felt Vincent's body tense, I knew my partners were in sight.
I looked up, and almost cried when I saw them. It was over.
Logan came around from the driver’s seat and Rider rushed out of the passenger side and dragged me into a hug.
I didn't have time to phrase the word no, but my scream sent the message, and Rider let go. Vincent grabbed my arm as lightly as he could when I stumbled back.
"What has happened?" Rider was putting of waves of unease.
My teeth were clamped together, trying to quell the agony, but I managed to shake my head.
Vincent looked strained trying to help me stay on my feet without holding me too lightly. "They called it 'central sensitization'."
"Are you certain of that?" Dr. Taylor had a bag in his hands.
I had never been so happy to see a doctor.
"I don't know what it is," Vincent said, "but that's what they said the drug caused."
"Move her into the back," Taylor ordered.
I tried to protest when Vincent lifted me off the ground, but I only managed to wince and grit my teeth.
When I saw the emergency hospital bed strapped down in the back, I managed more. "Seriously? Is this necessary?"
"More than I thought." Taylor looked impatient standing by the truck. "Put her on the bed."
"At least set me down in the truck and let me do it myself." It was the only way to keep a touch of dignity.
Vincent hesitated, but sat me down and moved to get in the back.
"Oh no you don't." Logan grabbed Vincent's shoulder. "You're going to tell us exactly what happened."
Taylor put a stop to any argument that Vincent might have made. "She'll be better off, and I'll work better with only myself back here."
Logan kept his hand on Vincent's shoulder, but he was watching me. "Is she going to be okay, Doc?"
"We need to get back to the office as soon as possible." Taylor had dodged the question, which left me unsettled.
When they closed the door, the sounds of the world became hushed, and I laid back in the bed. The only thing that kept me awake were the bolts of pain that ran through my back.
"I need to know everything that happened." Taylor was already checking my heartbeat. "This is going to hurt, but I'm afraid it's a necessity. We don't have the equipment to cover this." He strapped me down so I wouldn't roll off as Logan sped away.
I closed my eyes hard, trying not to scream again.
"Details, Cassie." Taylor had a needle, ready to start an IV.
I cringed away. "It's what Vincent said. A drug that causes pain." If ropes could feel like knives, what would a needle do?
"Did they say what the drug was?"
"No." I closed my eyes.
"Cassie, I need you stay awake a little longer. Where did they inject you?"
I looked down to my arm.
Taylor looked over the injection site. "I'm going to try to numb your arm for an IV. What did they do after they injected you?"
"They went away for a while."
"Tell me when it hurts." Taylor wiped a liquid on my arm that started cold but then turned my skin to putty. He pressed my skin in a few areas to test the pain, and then inserted the IV.
"And when they came back, what happened?" Taylor asked.
There was no way I was going to take myself back to that place.
"I'm sorry, Cassie. Try to think about what they did that might have caused any trauma."
When I moved my thoughts back, I started crying and shaking. Why did he have to do this? Breathing became difficult.
"Okay. It's okay. Stop. Your friend knows what happened?"
God, he did know, he had seen it all. My cries were on the verge of sobs.
"Calm down, Cassie, you're safe now. I'm going to give you medicine that's going to dull the pain, and help you sleep."
Swallowing hard, I tried to get myself under control. My only comforting thought was that my partners couldn't see me here, at my breaking point.
Taylor gave me a shot through the IV. The pain was there, but I began to relax bit by bit until I fell asleep.
Chapter 27
As far as I could see, there were flecks of broken glass twirling through the air. Each piece was its own dazzling color, and they appeared to be playing roughly, or maybe fighting, but without smashing one another. Some of the larger pieces moved out of the way, as others approached and refused to take part. I sensed another piece, larger than all the others combined, but I couldn't see it anywhere.
Logan was always humming a song. I had no idea what it was, but it had been beautiful, and I tried to hum it now while watching the glittering display.
The recklessness they displayed began to die away and everything slowed. Like dandelion seeds, the colors moved lightly, but steadily.
A few changed course, and before I could react, they slammed into me.
Bolting up, I expected to feel the shards, but they were gone. Taylor was there, already trying to get me to relax and lay back.
Logan had been sitting next to the bed, but now he was standing next to me.
"Howdy, partner. It sure is good to see you awake."
I frowned and looked around the room.
"The doc said he'd have you on your feet in no time."
I closed my eyes. The pain was gone, my muscles felt like a knotted mess, but even that was a huge relief. Dull aches I could manage.
"Can you tell me how you feel?" Taylor asked.
The question took some contemplation, but in the end, I opened my eyes. A large part of me had wanted to ignore him and stay insulated behind closed lids. However, the world doesn't work like that.
After clearing my throat twice, Taylor gave me some water.
"I feel much better." Even after the water, my throat felt raw.
"That's good to hear. I'm going to put pressure in different areas. Tell me when you feel pain."
Taylor went to work. He squeezed my arms and legs, and put pressure on my stomach and face. In each spot, he pressed lightly, then harder. In a few spots, I told him about the muscle aches but assured him it was nothing like before. The only exception was the injection site, which caused spasms of pain to radiate out when touched.
"Vincent filled us in on the case." Logan kept his voice level, but no trace remained of that musical tone that elves usually have. "He didn't give too many details about what happened in the house."
I didn't even acknowledge Logan's unasked question. "Where is he? And Rider?"
"The doc didn't want us crowding you. Do you want me to send Vincent in?"
My heart jumped into my throat and I shook my head. Little beeps I hadn't noticed before sped up.
"Don't worry. You don't have to see anyone you don't want to." Logan sounded like he was extremely careful with his words. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"
I looked at my partner for the space of a few heartbeats, and then I looked away. "They made him watch." I swallowed hard. "I mean, I got in the way, everything went to hell, and because of that..." I stopped. "I don't want to see anyone."
"It's raw now. It'll get easier with time, but you know he doesn't think that way. We did our jobs and did them well. That's all we can do."
Taylor interrupted and asked more medical questions, well, if you can call questions about swallowing a piece of the void as medical. Who knows, maybe it was for Taylor. Once he was assured that I wasn't being eaten alive from the inside, he wrapped up for a while. He didn't have any questions about the leprechaun, only the void, which had settled down. For the short time I'd been awake, the leprechaun soul was what gave me trouble.
Once the doctor was done, Logan picked up where he left off. "We might want to discuss what to put on the official reports."
Work. I could latch onto that and move forward. "Yeah, I can do that. If you bring me the tablet, I can work on it."
Logan grinned. "I didn't mean right now. It can wai
t ‘til tomorrow."
"I don't want to sit here all day and do nothing. My mind needs to work."
"Ethan's called a few times. Might be good to hear another friendly voice."
My heartbeat ratcheted up again. "He doesn't know that I was... gone, does he?"
"I didn't tell him or Margaret anything.”
"Maybe I can call him back tomorrow."
"Okay, how about some company? Rider's pretty worried. Maybe he could come in and visit? No work talk. And nothing about the past few days."
"What day is it?" There had been no sense of time in the basement.
"It's been about 36 hours since we found your car in the parking lot. You spent a good chunk of that here, though. Resting up."
I felt behind, which didn't sit well with me. "You need to fill me in with what's been happening. What have I missed? Have we moved any further in the case?"
Logan raised a hand to stem the flow of questions. "You haven't missed anything. We'll fill you in tomorrow. For today, though, no work talk. I'll make sure Rider sticks with the same."
Seeing Logan's resolve, I agreed.
"It's good to have you back," Logan said. "I'll send in Rider."
Rider was a giant bundle of nerves, but those fell away after a few minutes of talking. He stuck to Logan's rules, so we mostly talked about what we were going to do after the case. There were lots of hikes we could take, we talked about renting a kayak, though neither one of us had ever tried one. I explained the concept of an amusement park to Rider, and when he understood the concept, he was geared up to go. We moved the conversation to families, Rider wanting to know if Gran and I could teach him to bake something. He didn't really seem to care what. Around that time, I closed my eyes.
***
Images of Jin, Cedric, and Vincent were mixed up and thrown through my brain. My eyes flew open and I bolted up in bed. The room was dim, but I searched every corner until I found that I was alone.
At least almost alone. Vincent was in a chair, moved far enough away from the bed that someone might say that he wasn't sitting with me. I watched him sleep, looking uncomfortable in the chair. He had to be as tired as I had been, although, with Logan's probable interrogation, he may be even more worn out.
Broken Paths (AIR Book 2) Page 22