"Are you leaving us?" Taylor asked, noting my bag.
"For a day or two, but I'm sure you all can keep my partners on their toes while I'm gone. Before I leave, who, or what lives out on the property you sent us to?" I asked.
Taylor tried to make his face unreadable, but after spending a few days with Vincent, I could read Taylor's hesitancy. "Is this an official question?"
"Off the record."
He looked at me appraisingly before answering. "Well, now we know leprechauns are there."
I hadn't even thought about the fact that MyTH would now know about them.
"Not that we'll let that get around." Taylor was fast to assure me. "To the south, a few elves live at the edge of the property. There's a pixie refuge and another gnome hole. A witch lived there for a while, but she moved out. I think that's all."
"That's a lot of woods for no fairy homestead," I said.
"There was one, but they asked to be relocated. I think the pixie population aggravated them. They left not long before the witch."
"So there's not a man living out there?" I was hesitant to ask. I was unsure who to tell about the crazy man in the woods without looking crazy myself.
Taylor looked alarmed, "There's someone living out there? I'm pretty sure Neil did a sweep recently. There was nothing we didn't expect."
"Neil did a sweep?"
"Infrared satellite." Taylor was suddenly very interested in his paperwork. "I hope everything else went okay out there. How's your arm?"
I didn't let him change the subject. "I think we should have Neil do another sweep."
Taylor led the way reluctantly, and we found Neil exactly where we expected to find him, in his lab. He was lying on the sofa staring and doing nothing.
"Dude, get the hell out of here." Neil's words didn't have any heft behind them.
"Fairies have more self-control than you," Taylor grumbled. "Time to wake up and earn your paycheck."
"What do you need?" Neil asked.
"Infrared," Taylor said, "of the south-central property. Our campers spotted someone out there."
"Dude, the campers must have been smoking something good," Neil said. "There's nothing out there."
"The campers weren't smoking anything. We need you to check." Taylor kicked the couch to rouse Neil.
"Dude, don't diss the furniture."
"Get up." Taylor's fuse was getting shorter.
"Look, man, I snagged satellites while they were out there. I watched them the whole time. They ran into nada." Neil stood and loped over to his computer. He brought up satellite imagery onto a wide screen monitor on the wall.
"You checked on us while we were out there?" I asked.
"Dude, you're like my partner and stuff. Gotta catch your back," Neil said.
I blinked and looked at Taylor. He looked as surprised as I felt.
"The whole thing was recorded. There's like nothing there." Neil brought up the recording and fast-forwarded through. There was nothing but us on the tape.
"Strange," I said.
"Did it do anything to you all?" Taylor asked.
"Nothing," I said.
"I wouldn't be concerned," Taylor said. "No one else out there appears to have seen anything out of the ordinary."
Fairies and a witch moved out, I wondered why they left, but I kept the thought to myself. I had bigger things on my mind. I'd have to ask Gran about the man.
"Thanks, Neil, I'm going to be gone for a day or so, but I'm sure I'll see you around again," I said.
"Drive safe, I'll be in the clinic if anyone needs me," Taylor said.
After Taylor had left, I turned back to Neil. "I'll see you in a few days?"
"Dude, what about the jewelry, I got that shit unraveled." Neil got up and paced.
"What do you mean unraveled?"
"Okay," Neil said, "this Walker Dude snags someone's soul. That's some nasty shit right there. But instead of getting rid of it, he shoves it back into the person's body, and leaves it all cut to pieces. But Walker Dude doesn't stop there. He pulls out the pieces. So like, there's a bunch of them. He puts the shards in jewelry to keep hold of it."
"The jewelry holds on to it somehow, but we assumed that part."
"Man, it can be anchored to anything, not only this. You could anchor that shit to a Ho-Ho if you wanted to. Not that a Ho-Ho would do you much good. You'd eat the thing and the shard would go into you all at once. Not great for a long term high." Neil left his computer and went to a small fridge under a table. The table was covered with chemicals and beakers. "Damn, I'm out of chocolate. Chocolate would like, be the shit right now."
"Neil," I said snapping my fingers at him. "Focus. How are the souls anchored?"
"Oh yeah." Neil left the fridge open and went back to his computer.
I closed it and joined him.
"This stumped me at first, but it’s so simple." Neil opened a file with enough symbols that I had anxiety flashbacks about college chemistry.
"That doesn't look simple," I said.
"But it's o-natur-al," Neil said. "It's plants and shit. I gotta admire the man. He even has hemp in the mixture. Anyway, this stuff mixed together anchors the soul but allows the effects to slip out. When the soul isn't whole, it gets used up. When it is whole, like Indian Dude's-"
"Jin," I corrected.
"Right, Indian Dude's was whole. A whole soul doesn't get used up, because it's like, a living thing on its own. Kind of its own perpetual energy source."
"So when you anchor a whole soul, it can be stored indefinitely?" I asked.
"In theory."
"You said it could be anchored to anything?"
"Yeah, the plant mixture was found in my research. They've used it for ages. There's even a little stone dude in the basement display of the art museum. I took a field trip to see it. There's a soul trapped in there. Someone must have ticked off a Shaman dude and got shoved into the little stone statue. I took some pictures, but he comes out all blurry."
"Can you put together an object for us? One that could hold a soul?" I asked.
"I'm already a step ahead of you," Neil said, grinning. "I did a trial run to test the theory. I picked up a few statues, but the dude at the shop didn't have much of a selection. Most of his stuff was concrete. But when I found this beauty, I knew it was the perfect one for us." Neil beamed and held out an oblong mound of greenish tinged rock with a carving on top of the stone.
It was cute and I wanted it.
"It's a sea turtle!" I wanted to sound professional, but there was a bit of girlish squeal in there. "And this little guy would hold a soul?" It fitted easily in the palm of my hand.
"It's solid granite, which is what the little statue dude in the museum is made out of. From my research, it's a good choice of stone. It sat in the herbal bath while you were gone; now it's good to go. The turtle's yours to keep, though, soul or not. I made another, but it's kind of boxy. Good enough for the others."
"Thank you, Neil, I love it!"
Chapter 32
"Morning, Gran." I turned the granite sea turtle over in my hands, feeling the smoothness of its shell and the rough underside.
"Mornin', sugar." Gran's familiar southern drawl lifted my mood, even if it was over the phone. "It's good to hear from you."
"Then you'll like my news. After spending some time in the woods, I was thinking about coming home for a day or two. Sleeping in my own bed sounds wonderful."
"That is good news. Did that old coot bother you in the woods?"
"I almost forgot about him. He didn't like that you called him that." I thought about that a second. "Oh, wait, that was the dream. I did bump into him, though."
"Dreams." Gran half-snorted half laughed. "That old man is full of tricks."
"Was that part real then?"
"I wouldn't put it past him."
"Who is he?"
"Someone I knew a long time ago."
"Oh. He said to tell you hi. At least I think he did. He was a little, um,
off. I told Logan not to worry about him, though."
"Well, I knew he wouldn't be a bother out there. Any other place or time and Logan would have the right of it."
"How did you know him?"
"We went out a few times." Gran hadn't even hesitated.
I stopped in the hallway. "If Logan was right to be worried, does that mean he's dangerous."
"Darlin', I wasn't always a grandmother or even a mother." Gran sounded almost wistful. "Like your Walker, he was never any threat to me."
"He's not exactly my Walker." I didn't immediately notice that I sounded as wistful as Gran.
"That man will always be your Walker. Speakin' of Vincent, did you take him to the Palm Reader?"
I dropped my bag and leaned against the wall, eying the exit a few yards away. "No, I thought I'd tell him and give him directions. He can find the place."
"Things don't end well that way." Gran sounded serious this time. "I don't know what you've been up to in the city, but I know you've had a rough week. I think a few more days there will be good."
"You really think so?"
"At least take him to see that Palm Reader and decide from there."
Not what I wanted to hear. I slid down the wall and once again found myself sitting on the floor. "The man in the woods said I should take him there too."
"Oh." Gran sounded almost embarrassed. "I didn't expect that old fool to be helpful."
I turned the turtle over again in my hand, but my thoughts were on Gran and her old friend. "After all these years, do you think about him?"
"There's somethin' about the wild ones that stick with you." Gran was quiet, and I could tell she was thinking about him, or at least who he had once been. "Still," she added, more strongly, "I loved your grandfather, and we had a good life together. Shorter than I would have liked, but good all the same."
"You should look him up some time. I could take you down to meet him."
"Well, now, I'm not exactly the woman I was back then."
"I think he'd like who you are now."
"I'll have to think on that." She said the words, but it sounded more like she was dismissing them. "But for now, you take your Walker out."
"Maybe I'll see you in a few days then?"
"You take care of those partners of yours. They're going to need you."
It wasn't until we hung up that I realized she had avoided my question.
The thought of a few days off was nice, but maybe work was better. Vincent wasn't taking time off, and he'd been through as much as I had, and maybe more. He'd been on his own for months. If he could forge on, so could I. The past was the past, and whatever had happened could stay locked away, besides, seeing what had happened this past week, tomorrow could only be better, right?
Holding the sea turtle up at eye level, I looked at the glints of green and the intricate pattern on the shell. It's hard to believe that this little turtle could hold a soul, but then, Jin's necklace had been smaller and it had held the leprechaun. That small bit of power Jin was using had constantly renewed itself.
It hadn't been his power, though. What if it had been his soul on the outside?
"I have been looking for you." Rider was striding towards me.
Looking up, I swallowed hard, thinking about what I had done earlier in the hall. Before Rider reached me, I scrambled to my feet. "I’m so sorry for what happened earlier."
Rider stopped in front of me looking worried. "Is that why you are leaving?"
"Logan thought I might need a break."
"Do you need a break?"
I ignored the question. "Gran says I need to stay."
"That is settled then. She is not wrong." Rider picked up my bag and waited for me.
"I really am sorry about earlier."
Rider shrugged. "It was not you."
"I wish I could believe that. So, is the team meeting?" We walked back to the room I was using, but without being in a rush to get there.
"Not now. What is that in your hand?"
"It's a present from Neil." I held it out for Rider to see.
"It is a good carving."
"I thought so too. What are we doing if we aren't meeting?"
"Logan is speaking with Hank. Vincent is meeting with Taylor."
"Oh, is Vincent okay?"
Rider seemed to think about this for a minute. "Vincent is troubled and worried."
"So normal?"
"Yes."
I grinned. "Well, Gran said I need to take him somewhere. When we get back, though, maybe we can see if the conference room is free."
"I will find Sable and ask." Rider's words came out in a rush.
"Thanks. You, uh, take your time." Rider and Sable? Good for him. "Vincent and I may need a while."
After returning my bag, it was easy to find Vincent. I went to the clinic and knocked on a few doors before someone answered in Taylor's office. Behind the door, Taylor looked harassed, and Vincent showed traces of disapproval.
"I can come back later," I said.
"No," Taylor said the words too quickly. "Mr. Pironis and I have reached an impasse in our discussion. Would you like to see me?"
"Vincent actually," I said. "Gran wants me to take him somewhere."
"He's all yours." Taylor was practically throwing Vincent out the door.
Vincent's mood didn't change after he followed me out.
"Everything okay?" Realizing it was a stupid question, I was fast to clarify. "With you and Taylor I mean."
"Yes." It was Vincent's only reply.
"Okay." If he didn't want to tell me, I wasn't going to pry further.
We walked outside and it was strange to see that the day was only getting started.
"I thought you were taking time off," Vincent said, his voice staying level and unbothered.
"That has to wait."
That appeared to agitate Vincent more.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I don't think I said there was anything wrong," Vincent said.
Moving around to the driver’s side of my car, I frowned at Vincent. "You don't have to say anything when you scowl at people."
Vincent didn't immediately get into the car. "I do not scowl at people. At least not to anyone that you might notice." He settled into the seat and kept his eyes forward.
"Since when does that bother you?"
"Where are we going?" Vincent said, ignoring the question.
I rolled my eyes and drove out onto the empty street. "Gran wants me to take you to see a Palm Reader I met a few days ago."
"A few days ago we were in the wilderness."
Gripping the steering wheel tighter, I worked to keep my voice steady. "I met the Palm Reader the day before I ran into you."
"You should be taking time off. If Margaret had any idea what happened in the past week, she wouldn't have you on this errand."
"Have you met my grandmother?" It wasn't even worth keeping my voice steady. "If she knows it's for the better that we do this, she's going to have us do it. Besides, why should I take time off? You've been right next to me the whole way, and you're at work."
"I have not been next to you the whole case. It seems there are large chunks of information that no one has decided to fill me in on."
I pulled off the road and into an almost empty parking lot. "What are you talking about?"
"We should go to wherever you are taking me and get this meeting over with."
"No." Either he wanted to start a fight or he really didn't want to be around me. "Not until you tell me what's going on. Everything was fine this morning."
"Except it wasn't, was it? How could you not tell me you're taking in souls?"
"Oh, for pity's sake. When should I have told you? When should any of us have told you?"
"We spent three days wandering in the woods with not a lot to say."
"Oh, right, one day after being kidnapped and-" I shuddered, but barreled on, "and everything. Yet, I'm supposed to think about all you might have missed i
n the past six months?"
"This is different, Cass. What you're doing shouldn't-"
"What I'm doing? Are you kidding me? Do you think I'm actively absorbing these things?"
His fury might as well have been etched in stone and naked for the world to see. "Since I have no idea what's happening, how could I know one way or the other?" Oddly, for once, his eyes were crystal clear while he argued, no darkness crept in. "When you took the void in, you had to work hard to make that happen."
"That one was different. I have no idea why, but I told you that night that it was playing well with all the others."
"Was I supposed to guess based off that? That night, of all nights? There were other things on my mind."
"You and I haven't worked alone on this case. If we had, I assure you, everyone would have made sure you knew. You were completely uninterested in anything else that might have happened since you left, why should we pinpoint this one, unless you needed to know?"
"That's not fair. I was working while I was gone."
"And the world stops because you're working? You're working so you can't call and let us know you've made it back?"
"Amy was supposed to let you know." His voice held a burr that I would expect from Rider, not him.
"Who the hell is Amy and why should she have told us? Why wouldn't she tell us if she was supposed to?"
Vincent dropped back into his seat and stared out the window. "She's someone from my old office."
"If she's with AIR, why wouldn't she have told us?"
He let out an infuriated breath but didn't say anything.
"Vincent, why wouldn't your office tell us? And did you call them?"
He didn't say anything for a while, but when he spoke, it sounded like he was choosing his words carefully. "The night before I left, you and I had gotten close. I knew how I felt when I met you, but I assumed it was because of what I had done. It wasn't a feeling that I had expected you to reciprocate."
His words broke apart some of the anger that had been building around us.
When I prompted him to continue, the venom was gone from my voice. "What does that have to do with your office?"
"Before I came here, Amy and I had gone out once or twice." His words were wary. "It was nothing serious, but it was a relationship of a sort. I wanted to call to end things appropriately with her before contacting you."
Broken Paths (AIR Book 2) Page 27