AIR Series Box Set

by Amanda Booloodian

  “That sounds like it could be difficult to deal with.”

  “It gets easier with time.”

  “Is that because you keep a part of each soul you take?” I asked.

  Vincent narrowed his eyes at me. “We don't—”

  “Kyrian said Rider's applying to be a field agent,” Logan said. Startled, I pulled away from Vincent and went back to pressing buttons on the mouse.

  “So that's why he wasn’t upstairs,” I said. Pulling up an incident report related to our attack, I started adding detailed notes.

  “I guess he had a good time rough housing and wants to continue,” Logan said.

  “I'd prefer a little less action,” I said.

  “You have this much excitement on the coast?” Logan asked Vincent.

  “It's usually pretty active. We have more people, which causes more issues, but fewer Lost. It's more active here than I was led to believe,” Vincent said.

  “It's been more active around here, that's for sure,” I said.

  “We've run into some powerful Lost. Have we had any clues about where they came from?” Vincent asked.

  “Kyrian was asking the same question,” Logan said. “So, my guess is no one's discovered anything yet. We should talk to Hank to see if he's found anything in the past month or so.”

  “I think Barry is going to have him closeted up for a while,” I said. We filled Logan in on the overheard conversation.

  “Kyrian is keeping a sharp eye out,” Logan mused.

  “I think everyone is,” I said. “If Hank found anything for us, he'd let us know. It's frustrating to sit still, though. We have to start helping.”

  “Do you have anything in mind?” Vincent asked.

  “Do the same thing we do for any other Lost that slips through,” I said. “Weed through the news to find stories or rumors that match up.”

  “You all don't stand there and wait when they slip through at a portal?” Vincent asked.

  “There are lines of natural energy in the land here like we said before. Sometimes we can tell early when one is about to open, but old power boils up at times,” Logan said. “We don't always get a lot of warning. We usually find those that slip through portals soon enough, though.”

  “If that’s the case, wouldn’t you know if you may have missed something?” Vincent asked.

  I shook my head. “Some things get pushed here, or have been here a while.”

  “What Cassie is referring to is the old ones,” Logan said.

  “The old ones?” Vincent prompted Logan.

  “Been portals here for longer than anyone knows. The human race wiped out most of those Lost that slipped through when they pushed west. Some of the Lost are good at hiding, and let's face it most humans aren't good at looking. They see what they expect and nothing more. The old ones are the Lost that came through before all the electronics and gadgets could notice them.”

  “I don't think we have much of that problem on the West Coast,” Vincent said.

  “It's a population difference,” I said. “The West Coast is more densely populated, as is the East Coast. We tend to sprawl here in the Midwest. Old ones have had a chance to breed and adapt to us. Every now and again, we hear rumors of something, or odd news stories and we find a Lost that we've never seen before.”

  “Essy's family is like that,” Logan said. “Her family was here before we were.”

  I tried to hold back my surprise, but I failed. Essy's family had been here that long? Not Essy herself of course, fairies had a shorter life span than humans did. But I had met with them repeatedly. It was my job to watch over them. Why had I never looked up the history of the tribe? Am I just along for the ride on this job? Am I letting myself be used without jumping in and learning more?

  “We had a spook light in southern Missouri,” Logan said. “Rumors started in the 1800s about a strange light down there. It took us until the 1980s to figure out it was actually a Lost. Little guy only pops out at night because he’s sensitive to light. It likes the moisture of a foggy night but it'll pop up whenever it's curious enough. That spook light had quite the little following for a while.”

  “What was it?” Vincent asked.

  “Will-o-the-wisp,” Logan said, looking around the room. He was done with the subject and ready to move on. He waved and went to meet the doctor as he walked in.

  Knowing it would be better if I made the decision to go back upstairs on my own, I sighed and shut down the computer.

  “Will you ask Logan to grab me a laptop?” I asked Vincent as I stood.

  “I'll grab it. I want to try something anyway.”

  The question must have been visible on my face.

  “I want us to meditate together,” Vincent added. “I don't think the doctor will object.”

  Meditation had fought me since Vincent attacked my soul. It wasn't a process I enjoyed. Instead of arguing, however, I nodded and went upstairs. It was time to stop dodging the problem and start fixing it.

  The doctor arrived on my heels.

  “We need to do another round of tests,” he said. I frowned and sat back on my bed. “Just as a precaution since you are going home soon.” He took a blood sample and looked over my back. He declared it almost as good as new.

  “How is that possible?” I asked as he started popping out stitches.

  “We were lucky. Rider healed pretty quickly, despite having the poison in his system. Something in his blood counteracts the poison.”

  “How does that affect me?”

  “We did a blood transfusion using Rider's blood.”

  My skin turned cold. “Is that safe?”

  “Normally, we wouldn't try it, but Rider is part human. We received his permission and discussed the issue with your grandmother. Something in his blood also worked well with yours and increased your healing rate exponentially.”

  The doctor pulled the last of the stitches out. “You can lie back now. We'll be able to send you home tonight. Rider too. I'll run a few more tests. Get comfortable, and we'll let you go as soon as we can.”

  Vincent walked in as the doctor left. “What's wrong? Bad news?”

  “What? No.” I had been watching the door after the doctor's retreat. Pushing back the thought of Rider's blood coursing through my system, I smiled. “I'm going home, actually.”

  “Already?” Vincent asked.

  “The stitches have been removed and everything. Thanks for the laptop. I'll use it at home instead of the office.”

  Once we were released, Vincent drove Rider and me to my house. We kept quiet the whole way.

  “I'll take Rider home,” Vincent said.

  Rider curled up his nose at Vincent before turning to me. “Mind if I stop by tomorrow?”

  “Sure.” Some of my tension drained away. “See you tomorrow.”

  Once in my bedroom, I opened the laptop, fully intending on doing work, but my bed was too inviting to pass up.

  Two flower arrangements greeted me in the kitchen the next morning. I read the card attached to a vase of vivid sunflowers and saw they were for me.

  “Susan dropped those off this mornin’,” Gran said. “They’re from the whole family.”

  It was nice having Logan’s family live nearby. I had assumed that Gran had picked up the other vase. Daisies, my favorite flower, filled the container. I leaned in and took a deep breath before reading the card. Vincent’s name was written neatly on the tag. A smile tugged at my lips.

  I was consuming my second muffin of the morning and eyeing the daisies on the counter when the doorbell rang. From the other room, Gran shouted that she had the door and returned with Rider in tow.

  “Nice flowers,” he commented. “Why are they in here instead of outside?”

  “Logan sent these and Vincent sent the daisies on the counter. These flowers were meant to be indoors.”

  Rider blinked and looked at each of the vases of flowers and back to me. He cleared his throat. “I missed some sort of social convention.
”

  “Don't you worry about it, Rider. You don't need flowers to let Cassie know you're happy she's home.” Gran placed a plate in front of him. “People give each other flowers for a variety of reasons here: the death of a loved one, when someone gets sick, holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, to cheer someone up, or to let them know that you care. All those are reasons to give flowers.

  “It's also a part of courtin’,” Gran continued. “If a man is interested in a woman, he'll give her flowers before a date, or because he wants the woman to know he's thinking of her.”

  Rider looked thoughtful, but his muffin had been torn to pieces instead of consumed.

  “What would you do, if you were interested in a woman?” Gran asked. If she weren't an old lady, I'd probably kick her under the table.

  “Gran! Rider, you don't have to answer that,” I said.

  He shrugged. “We do it differently.” He didn't elaborate.

  Rider spent most of the day asking questions about AIR. Since he was one of the Lost, I felt comfortable answering most of them. I hedged a few answers, but Rider didn't lose enthusiasm. The phone rang late in the afternoon.

  “Cassie, it's Hank. Logan and Vincent are on their way to pick you up. We have a portal opening south of the city, outside Brookville.”

  Chapter 15

  “How soon ‘til it opens?” I started to pace.

  “You won't make it in time.”

  “Is anyone closer?”

  “No. It’s a new one too. Luckily, it's wooded, away from people. There are some quarries nearby, but they haven't been worked in years.”

  “Right, new portal.” I started chewing on a nail. New portals are rare. No telling what might come pouring out of it. “Do we have a satellite in the area?”

  “It should be coming up as you reach the area.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Good luck and come back safe.”

  Rider wanted to come with me to help, but he hadn't been authorized yet. I asked him to stay with Gran and check in on Logan's kids. He didn't seem convinced, but agreed.

  Logan, Vincent and I, didn't waste any time getting on the road. We didn't use sirens, but Hank had already radioed ahead. Sirens alerted people. Speeders got nasty looks from other drivers. With the call in, the highway patrol would avoid pulling over our government vehicle. You'd be surprised how often this kind of thing happens with police. It's not only our agency that uses this service.

  Even with the extra speed on the highway, we weren’t there when the portal had gained enough power to open. By the time the GPS led us to the anomaly, the portal closed. If someone crossed over, there would be no way to send them back.

  We piled out of the truck. Having no idea what we would be facing, we were loaded down. We each had a backpack of supplies. We had tranquilizer rifles slung over our shoulders and guns holstered on our hips. I really hoped we didn't need our guns.

  The sun went down and a chill seeped into the air. We went through the forest as quietly as possible, listening for anything that might alert us to the presence of something that didn't belong in this dimension.

  I held tightly to the straps of my tranquilizer rifle. Logan motioned for us to stop, which made me grip harder, ready to pull the rifle from my shoulder at a moment's notice. His ears were unfurled, listening intently for any noise.

  He motioned Vincent and me toward him.

  “We aren't alone.” His voice was soft but intense.

  “What do you hear?” I whispered, hoping my voice didn't carry to sensitive ears.

  Logan shook his head. “Not sure if it's a Lost. I hear two people, maybe more, to the southwest.” He looked on the verge of saying more, but stopped and shook his head. “You two stick together. Make your way straight through the woods to the west, southwest. I'm gonna circle around to the south side. When you see people, Vincent will circle around and cover the direction they're walking. We can converge from three points. No flashlights.”

  I had decent night vision, so with the bright moon, I could see the shapes of the trees and branches. Logan's night vision was about as good. Vincent was an unknown.

  Logan slipped silently into the night. Vincent and I crunched our way forward. I felt a bit better knowing that there was at least one other person who walked normally through the woods.

  A few minutes into our walk, I noticed how very alone Vincent and I were. I bit my lower lip.

  I took a deep breath. “Thank you for the flowers.” I thought that would be a good place to start.

  Vincent cleared his throat quietly. “You're welcome. I haven't asked. Are you feeling better?”

  “I can hold up my end tonight.” My voice contained a bit of heat.

  “You know that's not what I meant.”

  I deflated. He was being nice, and once again, I tried to turn it into something else. “Sorry. You put me on edge sometimes.”

  He put out his hand and grabbed mine. Warmth spread out. I pulled in a breath. When I looked at Vincent, he held a finger to his lips and dropped his hand away from mine. He looked ghostly in the dim moonlight. He pointed and I followed his gaze.

  In the trees ahead, lights flickered.

  I nodded and leaned in. “Time to circle around.”

  Vincent took my hand once more and squeezed it before dropping it and disappearing into the darkness.

  I watched the spot where he disappeared, my chest tight. What the hell was I supposed to do with that? I watched for a few more moments before pushing the incident out of my head. I'll agonize over it later. It's time to work.

  Time seemed to slow as I moved forward. After what seemed like hours later, I could make out the voices of two men. I stayed back, giving the others time to get into place. After five minutes, I crept forward again, staying out of flashlight range, but close enough to hear what they were saying.

  “We're almost back to the truck. Quit your whining.” The man's voice sent ice through my veins. It was a familiar voice. The voice belonged to the same man that had held a gun to my head not a week ago.

  “It's not whining. I'm telling you the way it is. I'm out, after this job. I'm not dying 'cause some rich bitch wants a pet.”

  I crept forward further and pulled my rifle.

  “Shut up.” The man with the familiar voice was in the lead.

  He stopped. Had I made a noise? The other man struggled to pull a large bag behind him. He looked as if he were running out of steam.

  “Come out now!” The man in the lead said.

  “Seth, don't—”

  “You asshole.” Seth pulled a gun and moved in close to the other guy. I didn't have a shot.

  I cocked the rifle as quietly as possible and took aim. Not quiet enough. Seth pulled the trigger. I froze. He missed me, but my teammates didn't know that.

  Vincent appeared out of the darkness and moved forward, opening fire on Seth. A tranquilizer dart lodged directly into Seth's chest, and another in his arm.

  Logan charged the area. He announced himself as a federal agent and told the men to drop their weapons.

  Seth's partner raised his gun at Logan. The sound of my own shot was lost among the others. Seth’s partner fell.

  Logan fired at Seth as I emerged from the woods.

  Seth lunged forward going for Logan. He was going to use him as a shield, same as he used me.

  The tranquilizers started to take hold. Seth fell to the ground before reaching Logan, but brought his gun around. He wasn't going out without a fight. I ran forward, knowing I would never make it, but I had to try. No time!

  Seth’s gun fired. Logan dropped. My world threatened to shatter. My partner was down.

  Vincent reached Seth and had him by the arm. It was only a touch, but Seth was unconscious in moments.

  Vincent didn't let go.

  “No! Vincent, stop!” I continued my charge into the area. Vincent looked up, eyes dead black. He had a death grip on the man. I had been on the receiving end of that grasp. I didn't want a
piece of that man's soul inside Vincent.

  “We need to interrogate him,” Logan said. “Let him go.”

  A tightness in my chest released at the sound of Logan's voice.

  Reluctantly, Vincent let go and stepped away. Seth’s body fell like dead weight.

  I ran to Logan. “Are you okay? Where did he shoot you?” My breathing was coarse and loud in my ears. Over and over, I thought, please don't be hurt, please don't be hurt.

  “Dodged most of the damage.” Logan's voice was strong, but he didn't get up.

  When I reached him, I started pulling his equipment away. I grabbed a flashlight from his gear and shined it over him. Blood dripped down Logan's side.

  “Vincent, I need you!” I cried out and Vincent was there. He put pressure on Logan's side, as I fumbled off my backpack and grabbed the first-aid kit.

  My mantra changed. He's okay, I can do this. I can do this. I've been through the training, so I could take care of my partner.

  Vincent held the pressure while I checked Logan's pulse. It was strong.

  “It's not a deep wound. A graze. Bandage me up already, we’ve got a job to do.”

  “I'm checking the injury first,” I snapped. I can do this, I thought wildly. I can do this.

  Logan tried to get up and winced. “I've been stabbed worse than this.”

  “It's deep enough that you're going to need stitches. Logan, you're bleeding out.”

  Logan tried to laugh, but it turned into a groan. “Girl, you have to calm down. We have a Lost out here somewhere.”

  That made me stop. Med kit in hand, I turned to look at the bag on the ground. Whatever lay inside was motionless. Could they have a Lost in there?

  “You first, Logan,” I protested.

  “Vincent's got this, don't you, Vincent?” Logan asked.

  I looked up at Vincent, pressing down on Logan's wound. From the discarded flashlights, I could see that his eyes were back to normal. His skin however, looked pale.

  “He's never had a partner, Logan. I've got this. Vincent, cuff those men and see to the Lost.”

  “The men will not wake in the near future.”