He took a deep breath and looked back out the window looking exhilarated. "I don't think she liked me much. But wow!"
"Don't take it personally." I took out a knife to open the package. "Even Logan gets dusted from time to time, and I'm pretty sure he speaks her language."
"Pretty sure?"
"Pretty sure," I repeated without elaborating. Logan could be cagey when he answered some questions.
"So," Ethan smiled wide, "did I pass the test?"
I laughed and sat down the knife. "You faced the fairy. That means you passed." Tilting my head up, I kissed him.
It was a long, slow kiss, that made my toes curl.
When Ethan's phone rang, he groaned and put his forehead to mine. "Hold that thought," he said.
Ethan took the call and I snatched up the knife thinking wistfully about how tingly the kiss had made me. I cut the tape off the box and put the knife in the dishwasher. Ethan smiled at me from the just outside the kitchen as he talked on the phone. It sounded like work, but thankfully, it didn't seem urgent.
Watching Ethan, I opened the box. My hand felt something soft and I looked down. Mounds of soft white fur topped with long pink ears. A rabbit? I leaned closer and saw that blood was coming out of its little pink nose.
Chapter 20
I screamed and clapped a hand over my mouth, backing away. Ethan frowned and came into the room. Seeing where my panic was aimed, he looked into the box.
"I've gotta go," Ethan said into the phone. "Yeah, tomorrow morning."
It took me backing into the table to realize that I was still moving away from the box. Tears fell freely. My stomach started to heave, but thankfully, I hadn't eaten anything. My lips were locked tight and covered by my hands anyway.
Ethan was a bit pale, but all business. He took out a pencil and moved it around inside the box. I didn't get close enough to see what he was doing, but I was hoping it would somehow end up with a stuffed bunny and a bad joke.
From the look on Ethan's face, I knew it wasn't a joke. Once that realization settled over me, I couldn't take my eyes off the box. There was nothing special about it. Brown, with brown packing tape.
"Cassie, do you have gloves?" Ethan asked, trying to look at the underside of the cardboard flap without touching it. I had a feeling he had said something else as well, but the words lost their meaning before they got to me.
My cell phone rang, but the noise sounded like it was coming from far away.
"Cassie?"
My eyes were still glued to the box. Ethan must have stepped out of cop mode, because he moved in front of me, breaking my eye contact with the box. My house phone rang as Ethan gathered me into a silent hug. My tears ran unchecked and my mind was full of this high-pitched screech.
"Let's go into the other room," Ethan said.
I nodded, but started to tense when we neared the box. Ethan shifted and put himself between the counter and me.
In the living room, I sat on the couch and stared at the wall to the kitchen. It was there, not thirty feet away.
"Want me to call Logan?" Ethan asked.
I sniffed and tried to pull myself together. "That's...that's them trying to call." My cell phone rang again in the kitchen.
Ethan stood and went for my cell when his own rang. I wasn't sure who it was beyond AIR calling. He moved into the kitchen, talking quietly. My mind was full of nothing but white fur and that loud buzz. Scrubbing the tears from my face wasn't doing any good. New tears arrived to take their place.
I took my hands from my face and looked at them. Panic welled up. My hands, one of them at least, had grazed the soft white fur.
Throw me out a window, drug me, or take away my powers, and I have something to get angry about, or pain to propel me forward. Dead bunny? Sent to my house? To me? The only pathway my brain seemed to want to take was to freak out, and it's always better to lose it alone.
Trembling, I went upstairs, closed the door to my bedroom, and then locked myself in my bathroom and scrubbed my hands until they were bright red. After that, I sat on the floor next to my tub and let all the fear and trepidation fall on my shoulders. For the next ten minutes, I was a sobbing wreck of a human being.
There was a soft knock on the door.
I cleared my throat and said, "I'll be down soon."
"It is me," Rider said through the door.
Maybe they voted him most likely to succeed or something. "I need a few minutes."
"Certainly."
There was movement behind the closed door and I thought for a moment that he would go back downstairs. Instead, he had chosen to sit down. Then I heard him lean against the door.
There needed to be a manual on how to be friends with a werewolf. Would asking him to go away be a horrible thing to do? In the end, I wasn't willing to take the risk. I slid across the floor and leaned my back against the door as well. It was comforting to be back-to-back with Rider, but still alone in the bathroom.
My tears started to dry up and that high-pitched noise, surely a defense mechanism to give my brain something else to concentrate on, quieted down.
Minutes ticked away and Rider let me take them in silence.
"How did things go at the house after we left?" I couldn't muster the energy to speak loudly, but I knew Rider would hear.
"The cleaning team picked up all the smears of blood and any evidence from you, Logan, Felicity, and Einar. All blood and fibers are gone."
"That's good to hear." I sniffed and laid my head back and stared at the ceiling.
"Why were there so many females in one house?"
"It's a sorority house. They have them for guys too, that's a fraternity. It's a place to live...well, I guess it's a place to live with people that think in a similar way to you. It's like a club, but sometimes it comes with room and board."
"There were no males in the house, although I could smell that they had been there."
"A werewolf would either make the best house mother or the worst," I said, "depending on whose point of view you were looking at. I think there are areas of the house that are out of bounds for men. Probably the bedrooms and anywhere else upstairs."
"That doesn't seem to work well."
"Heh, yeah, I suspect it doesn't."
"Why would Einar search through a house made for women?"
"I think he was looking for Felicity. Well, maybe not specifically her, but she is one of the closest Lost around."
"Do you believe that he is targeting the Lost?"
I thought that through. "He seems to think that the Lost have some information he wants."
"Did he say that?"
"No, he said that he didn't understand. He's trying to find meaning in something. He said he wouldn't hurt the Lost, although he called them Others."
"Yet, he seems to have no issues in harming humans."
"He said he had caused enough harm to the Lost, er, Others. Actually, he said that he and I had both caused them damage."
"I do not understand what that means."
"Me neither," I said, which was sort of a lie. I didn't directly hurt anyone, but each time I didn't work hard enough or fast enough on a rough case, more Lost were put at risk. "I think he was the one that trashed the Palmer's house as well."
"What makes you think that?"
I shifted uncomfortably. "The few times I've been around Einar, I haven’t been able to reach the Path. Anytime I've been around the Path he leaves I’ve also been unable to reach the Path. It's blocking me somehow."
"I am sorry. It is not a necessity, but I know that you want to read to work."
It felt pretty necessary to me, so I didn't bother to reply.
"Should we warn other Lost?"
"That's a good idea,” I said. “There aren't too many more living in town, but the smaller towns and surrounding areas have quite a few. Maybe we should set them up with alarm systems or something."
"Maybe, although some of the Lost will have better methods than the electronic alarms an
d surveillance systems that buildings use. For instance, humans think that the Farm is secure. But I believe it would be a mistake to assume so."
I mulled that over.
"Oh, sorry, Logan has asked me to never repeat that message."
I grimaced, knowing that Logan was listening in. "The secret is safe with me. Um...did he...with downstairs..." I stammered unsure of what to say that didn't start or end with fluffy dead bunny.
"He and Vincent are processing the box. Dr. Taylor is in the area and he will assist this evening."
"Ethan?"
"Watching and helping where Logan has allowed."
"He brought in Dr. Taylor. I guess that means Logan doesn’t think it should go through AIR?"
"They are trying to decide if it is part of a case. If it is, AIR should be involved. If it is personal, AIR and Ethan may or may not need to be involved."
"Do they think that Einar did this?"
"I do not think so. I am starting to associate some trace element scents that might be related to Einar. His smell is not in your house."
"He said he was made. He wants to get revenge on the people who built him. He thinks they created me too. That's why he wants to kill me. He thinks he's going to be doing me a favor by killing me."
"Einar is targeting you?"
"The way he talks, I'm on his to-be-killed list. He said he would end my suffering, but he couldn't leave this world until he's finished with whatever it is he's doing."
Moments later, I winced as a burst of rage exploded from downstairs. If Vincent couldn't keep himself in check, my whole house would turn into one great blight of anger that the Path would have trouble moving away.
"Logan seems to think you should have mentioned this before now."
I rolled my eyes, even though I knew no one would see. "You mean while we were chasing Einar earlier today? Logan knew last night that he had tried to kill me. Last night we would have needed Gran to know that he actually intended to make my death a priority."
Rider sighed.
"What is it?" I asked.
"They are arguing over the best course of action. My partner is extremely agitated."
"Your partner is confusing."
"I am glad I am not the only one that thinks so." Rider shifted. In the silence, he moved again as though uncomfortable.
"You think we should go downstairs." It wasn't a question, but more of a glum statement.
"Not yet."
Knowing I didn't need to face anyone for a little longer was a relief. "Downstairs, did you...around the rab-uh...box. Did you notice anything familiar?"
Rider was silent for a few moments. "I did not have much of a chance before I came up here. I did not smell Einar and I did not find anything familiar, but I cannot be certain yet."
My face was fully dry now. With Rider to distract me with the case, it was becoming easier to adjust to and accept what had happened.
"Who would do something like this?" Rider asked. "They said this was not for food. I am afraid I do not understand."
"Don't try to understand it." My heart broke for Rider while he tried to grapple meaning from an insane act. "Whoever did this is sick. Their mind doesn't work right."
"So there was no reason?"
"Nothing that will make much sense. The person could be trying to scare me, which I guess worked." I wasn't even sure if I was scared, freaked out, or just lost as to how someone could do this sort of thing.
"It has managed to upset a lot of people."
For that, I had no reply. Rider and I sat in silence for a few minutes.
I listened to the muffled sounds of voices downstairs. Signs of my tears and distress would surely be gone by now. Maybe it was time to leave my bathroom.
"Did Ethan help you with the cuts?" Rider asked.
"Yeah, but he might have overdone it with the bandages. What did you say to him?"
"Downstairs?"
"You know where I mean. When we dropped you off at the sorority house."
"Oh, I asked him to look after you."
"That's it?"
"That is all."
Before the rabbit, I had it in mind to ask Rider what he told Ethan about our last case, but it didn't seem necessary anymore.
"Things sound a little quieter down there," I said, letting the subject drop.
"They are discussing the case now."
I peeled myself off the floor and stared into the mirror. Thanks to Rider's intervention, I looked almost normal again.
"May I come in?" Rider asked.
Chapter 21
"Sure." I unlocked the door and opened it, then went back to the basin to wash my face. "I shouldn't have stayed up here so long."
"There is no need to be down there." Rider leaned against the frame of the door and watched me.
Rider was starting to look more confident than he had when we met. He was growing and settling into the dimension and the job.
"How are you doing?" I asked.
"The animal is unsettling. Einar is as well. What kind of person smells like an object? And kills?"
"I'm not sure. The only thing I can think of is an android, which doesn't actually exist. Not one like Einar anyway. Maybe we'll find something when we finally get the chance to do some research." I brushed my hair to stall for time. "What about outside of work? How are things going elsewhere?"
Rider shrugged. Something so human that he picked up quickly. "There does not seem enough for a life at work and one outside of work. I do not know how you and Ethan manage it."
"We're not doing too well at it. Our last date ended up with Einar trying to kill us and Ethan...well, we didn't exactly argue. He wants to try keep dating, though. To see if we work well together."
"Is that how it works with humans?"
"Sometimes it's less complicated. Sometimes two people meet, fall in love, and then promise to spend the rest of their lives together. Most of the time that's for TV and romance novels. The real world is messy. Humans tend to make things more difficult than they need to be. I know I do."
"You and Ethan are not friends?" Rider asked.
"Not like you and I are friends. Most humans, lots of different types of people really, have temporary friends. Even families don't always stick together."
Rider looked troubled. "It sounds very lonely. How do you decide you want to be with anyone?"
"Sometimes, you have to take a leap of faith. People throw around the words friend and love pretty freely. When you're ready to take the plunge, make sure their definition of friendship is the same as yours."
"But we are friends?"
"We are your type of friend, the kind that doesn't go away. At least as far as what I understand our friendship to be." I hated saying the last part, but I wanted to make sure Rider knew that I didn't have all the answers.
"That is the core of any friendship with my people. We assume that the other person will always do whatever they can to help. Even if it is help that the other does not want to have."
"That sounds ominous."
"Not everyone knows what is best for them."
"That's true. Just be careful out there. Dating here doesn't mean you have to be friends with the other person, just friendly towards one another. Once you date, you see if you’re compatible and decide if you want to move on from there."
"Are you and Ethan friendly?"
"We are firmly under the friendly-towards-each-other category. Every now and again, I don't know if we've made it even that far."
Rider appeared lost in his own thoughts.
"If you ever have any questions, or need anything, I'll help where I can."
"Yes, we are friends."
"Yeah," I said, unable to stop a small grin. "Thank you for coming up here and keeping me company."
Rider nodded.
"Are they still talking about the case?" I asked.
"Mostly," Rider said.
"Did I miss anything?"
"Frustration, aggravation, and many questions."
"Well, at least we know that going in. We should probably join them. Maybe we can give a few answers."
On the way downstairs, the doorbell rang. I froze on the steps. Thoughts of a deliveryman with multiple packages popped into my head and chilled me to the bone.
Logan came out of the kitchen and saw us. "We ordered up some grub."
"Oh, good. Thanks." I could breathe again.
When I walked into the kitchen, my eyes went immediately to the counter, but the box had been removed. I should have asked where they moved it to, but I decided I really didn't want to know.
No one looked very happy, except Logan when he returned with the pizza. Ethan appeared worried, so I forced a smile on my face when I sat down next to him.
Ethan looked like he wanted to say something, but worried about the subject, I steered the conversation to safe waters. "What do we know about Einar?"
"He's stronger than anything I know of," Logan said.
"He's fast," Rider said.
"He wants you dead," Vincent said, his voice flat. I noticed a bit too much black in his eyes.
"Also, he thinks he's made," I said, "and Rider only smells an object, not a person."
"But he’s obviously a person of some sort," Ethan said. "He moves, thinks, and acts like a person. A monster, maybe, but still someone that's alive."
"Can something be made that is alive?" I asked.
Logan shifted uncomfortably. "It sounds like we're nearing Walker territory again."
"A Walker can remove a soul and put it into something else," Vincent said, "and we saw this a few months ago. But the objects made don’t come alive."
"Could they have, though?" I asked.
"No." The finality in Vincent's voice was clear.
I changed gears, leading the conversation away from Walkers. "Is there anyone else we know that could create something and make it alive?"
Vincent's phone rang and after checking the screen, he left the room to take the call.
"Not that I can think of, not alive," Logan said.
"Is it possible that Einar is not alive?" Rider asked. "Could he be a representation?"
"Like a puppet?" Ethan asked.
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