AIR Series Box Set

by Amanda Booloodian

  Vincent tensed behind me. "They'll pull him apart shard by shard."

  "And study each one," Logan said, still concentrating on Rider.

  "Why?" I asked. Then I realized it was a stupid question. "They’ll try to make another one, won’t they?"

  "I've never seen a better soldier," Logan said, "and I doubt they have either."

  The grip Vincent had on my shoulder increased. The helicopter came into view in the distance.

  "He was crazy." As though I needed to remind them.

  "They'll think they can do better," Logan said.

  "What can we do?" I asked.

  Logan shook his head. "It's a long shot, but if the magic were gone and Einar couldn't talk, would there be anything to find?"

  "How do you kill magic?" I asked.

  "What's holding it together?" Logan looked pointedly at Vincent.

  "The souls, but he has..." Vincent started, and then died away.

  He couldn’t seem to bring himself to say that Einar had a part of me inside him.

  I could feel Vincent's eyes on me, but I didn't look away from Rider.

  "Didn't reach him in time?" Logan asked. The elf chanced a glance at me, but returned his gaze to Rider. "Will it be possible to retrieve anything if the agency has him?"

  "No.” The harshness of Vincent’s voice startled me. “I'll take care of it."

  Scrambling for Vincent's hand, I looked at him. My entire being felt indifferent, but I was very sure of one thing.

  "You can't go between the worlds." My voice sounded as listless as I felt.

  Vincent took my hand. "I won't be gone long this time." There was a bleakness to the promise.

  "No. You have to release them here. All of them," I said.

  "We don't-"

  "This wasn't their fault," I insisted. I didn't know a lot about the area between the worlds, but it wasn't a place you'd want to hang out for eternity.

  "Cass, it's not that simple."

  "I'm in there, Vincent. Part of me at least." I didn't think it was possible for him to turn any paler. "Did you really think I didn't know?" The words sounded cruel, but I could feel empty areas inside myself. If he went between the worlds, there would be no chance of being whole again.

  The helicopter started to hover nearby.

  Logan broke the silence. "They need to know it's clear for them to land."

  Vincent let go of me and took out his phone. He started talking on his way to Einar.

  I looked to Logan for reassurance. "Was that wrong?"

  Logan shook his head. "You said what you had to. You've got more to lose than he does. It might not be wise to leave him alone with all the AIR agents around."

  The helicopter started to land.

  I nodded and touched Rider's cheek, realizing that I might never see him again. "You'll look after him, right?"

  "He's in good hands. Go make sure his partner stays that way as well."

  Looking down at Rider, I knew I was doing the things I was supposed to do, but I didn’t have the emotions to back up the actions. Rider didn't have to know that, though. In case he could hear me, I leaned down to Rider's ear. I wasn't sure what I wanted to say, so I stuck with the facts. "Logan is going to watch over you for me. I'm going to help your partner. When I get back to the office, I want to see you awake. Got me?"

  It was unsettling when I didn't receive a response. I didn't realize I was expecting one until it didn't come.

  "Bring Vincent around to the doctor first chance you get," Logan said, "he’s looking pretty bad."

  Gathering my strength, I nodded and stood. There were some feelings of fear and trepidation trying to make themselves heard inside me, but they felt far away. It was easy to thrust them away and focus on Vincent. The exhaustion weighed heavily on me and settled in by the time I reached him.

  "You should go with Rider," Vincent said as I approached. He was crouched down next to Einar, but made no move to touch the clay man.

  "Logan is with him. I'm where I should be. Do we know when the other team will get here?"

  "Soon." Vincent still didn't reach for Einar.

  Getting comfortable, I sat down cross-legged next to Vincent, staying well out of Einar's reach.

  Not that Einar was paying much attention. The clay man was staring at the sky, looking lost in thought.

  Those from other realms of existence have embraced those that have caused significant abuse. This is not my world.

  "Your world has been gone for a long time," I said.

  Were you telling me the truth when you said the Others had their own town?

  "Yes, they run the whole town. There aren't any real roads into the town, so they live out in the open."

  "There are a few other places throughout the world where the Lost can be themselves. There's even an island in the Pacific where they live in the open, although I think it's under British control." Vincent sounded like his mind had wandered far away from the words he was speaking.

  It is time for this to be done. You will release them here? All of them?

  Vincent looked at me before he answered and I silently pleaded with him.

  "Yes,” Vincent said.

  The noise in the area increased as the helicopter took flight once again with Rider and Logan inside.

  We are ready for the peace of home, even if it is far from our time.

  "Is there..." I stopped and tried to reform the question in my mind. "Is it possible to get myself back?"

  Einar looked at Vincent, studying him. She is very much a part of you.

  Vincent glared. "That's not relevant."

  I have seen no part of you, Walker, but I know her well. There are aspects she clings to more than others.

  Vincent said nothing.

  In some small way, I would try to redeem my tarnished soul. When you take us, ensure she stays in contact with you. I make no promises, but there is an intensity between you that will strive to keep you together.

  "So," I said, "you're saying you don't know."

  A very definite sigh came from Einar. That is all I have to offer. As Einar, I am not sorry for the actions I have taken, but I would leave you with parting advice. The necromancer is no friend. Nor is your government. Neither of them are finished with the damage they intend to cause. Einar turned his head and looked over the rolling hills.

  We are ready.

  "Please turn away." Vincent didn't look at me and he didn't demand, but his words left me with a chill.

  A part of me wanted to say that I had seen this before, although I had been on the receiving end. When I looked at Vincent, his eyes had already started clouding over. I realized that it was because I had seen it before that he wanted me to turn around. Without standing, I turned away.

  Using his good hand, Vincent took my arm and laid it on his own. "Don't let go," he said. Then Vincent gripped Einar's shoulder where the clay was unmarred from my destruction.

  There was no noise. Einar was ready for this, although actually, it was probably Henry and the others that were truly ready for their nightmare to come to an end. Where I had fought with my every breath to save my soul from Walkers, Einar was still.

  Beside me, Vincent started to breathe heavily. I could feel him strain under the weight of all those souls.

  I realized that Vincent might keep a small piece of each of those souls. I gripped his arm tightly, knowing it was too late to say anything.

  Maybe it was Einar that he would keep a piece of. I shivered at the thought.

  Mentally, Einar gave a final gasp that sounded like relief. Then the clay man was only clay. Vincent lurched up, but fell back down again. I started to turn.

  "Stop." His voice was steely and cold.

  I froze in the act of twisting around. Instead, I gripped his good arm tighter to provide some sense of comfort. He didn't shake me away.

  Power built around Vincent. I had felt the power of a Walker before, but this was different. Fierce, untamed energy radiated like the sun in a dese
rt. It spread around me, rammed against me, and tried to drive me into the ground. When the strength started to dissipate, individual tightly knotted strands of power wove themselves around my core.

  The Lost had been released. They were all familiar, although some stuck out in my memory more than others.

  Slamming into me, a piece of myself embedded itself back in place. Intense sensations and flaring colors caused me to gasp. The dull edge of my emotions was sharpened to a point. After such a long day, it might have been better if they could hide in the background.

  As the air became lighter, Vincent moved away. Not sure what to expect, I tensed, but when I looked behind me, he was laying on the ground and staring at the sky. This ratcheted up my anxiety since Einar had been doing the same thing before he left.

  When I saw that Vincent's eyes were clear and he looked thoughtful, I tried to let myself relax. It wasn't working. "What’s wrong?"

  "That was..." He appeared to think it over. "Different." Vincent's voice was more serene than I had ever heard it.

  Voices called out in the distance. We both ignored them, knowing that the other team would find their way to us soon enough.

  Uncertainty started to creep over me. Not only did Vincent sound different, but his face also looked more relaxed. Did taking another Walker's soul change things? "How different-"

  "We need to take care of the golem," Vincent interrupted.

  "They're all out of there, right?" I eyed Vincent carefully, but I wasn't sure what I would do if any were still trapped inside.

  Vincent sat up and looked at the inanimate clay. "It's empty, but I'm not confident we should leave it intact."

  "You think someone will try to recreate it?" I didn't wait for a response. "We could smash it."

  Our heads turned to the voices that were coming closer to our hilltop.

  "I'm not sure we have time to destroy it." Vincent looked me over. "But it'll have to do. Look around for a rock, a tree branch, anything that might help."

  My body felt weighed down and I didn’t want to move, but I closed my eyes, knowing what needed to be done. The blackness that had barred my way was no longer an issue, but the memory of Einar still lingered. The jump to the Path took work, but I managed to get there. I grabbed Vincent's hand before he could stand up. A current jumped through us and tingling warmth stretched up my arm. When Vincent inhaled sharply, I knew that I wasn't the only one feeling our connection.

  There was no time to analyze the feeling, even though I wanted to embrace it.

  "I've got it." I broke our contact and turned my attention to the empty shell of Einar. Concentrating hard, I strengthened the Path around the clay, made it solid, and then squeezed it together. With Henry and all the others gone, there was little resistance. The hollow earth cracked and as I compressed it further, it shattered into a million pieces. When I pressed harder, ready to grind the remains into pieces as small as I could manage, something pressed back on the Path.

  Startled, I pulled away.

  Closing my eyes, I dropped away from the Path. "There's something still there." When I opened my eyes, the world looked dull again and I wavered.

  Vincent moved over to the mound of clay. "I know I took everything."

  My stomach clenched as Vincent brushed back some of the clay. That had been someone's body for over a hundred years. Moving it around like a pile of rubble didn't sit right. Then I thought about how easy it had been for me to create the debris and I suddenly felt sick.

  Agents hollered at the edge of the woods on the hill. Thankfully, they had come into the open farther down the tree line. They were rushing in our direction, guns drawn, but not aimed, scanning the area intently as they moved.

  "We've got company," I muttered.

  "I've got it." Vincent stowed something in his pocket and looked strained when he stood. "Can you finish getting rid of the rest?"

  It would take too much time and effort to respond, so I silently moved into the Path. Grinding the remaining clay to dust made my nose wrinkle up. When I was done, I let the Path fall away. Wavering, even while sitting, I wondered how long it would take to get home. My skin crawled and I wanted to scrub away any remembrances of the day.

  Standing didn't seem like my best option. I was worn to the bone and didn't treasure the thought of the long walk to the car. Having agents standing around looking down at me, as though I couldn't handle myself in the field, seemed like a much worse option.

  When Vincent offered me his good hand, I sagged, but took the help. He gripped my hand hard and didn't comment when it took me a while to steady myself.

  A squeak from behind made us turn. The cage laid on the ground where I had dropped it.

  Chapter 30

  "We're clear," Vincent called.

  They were close enough that he didn't have to raise his voice, but I was still glad he did. You can never be too careful when people had guns drawn.

  Vincent moved away from me and I somehow managed to stay on my feet. Before I could do more than blink, he thrust the cage into my hands.

  "What happened here?" The agent put his gun away and pointed at the remains of Einar.

  It took me a moment to put a name to his face. I really needed to get to know people outside my own team.

  "Agent Paulson, we're glad your team got here when you did." I told myself that it wasn't a lie, only misleading. "That's our man."

  "What's left of him." Vincent's voice had returned to flat tones.

  I wasn't sure if that was a good sign, or a bad one.

  "And that?" Agent Paulson asked.

  Clenching the cage in front of me, I wanted very much to hide the rabbit from everyone. "It's my rabbit. He took it, and..." I stopped, not knowing where to go from there.

  Luckily, Paulson had more pressing things on his mind than a pet.

  He nodded at Vincent's hand. "You need that looked at. I'll have someone get you back to the Farm. Agent Heidrich can take us through what happened here. We'll get a statement from you later."

  "We can put it in our report," I said, anxious to get Vincent to the doctor.

  Agent Paulson shook his head. "From this point on, it's our report."

  "What? Why?" This was throwing me off balance. I had never had another team take over a case before.

  "Standard procedure." Agent Paulson didn't look happy. "You can call it into Kyrian or your handler, Hank, but from what we understand at this point, our perpetrator picked you up and took you for a ride."

  Took me for a ride? "It's not like I had a choice in the matter."

  "Which makes you one of the victims. Add that to Agent Wolfe getting shot. The agency thought it best if this case shifted hands." Agent Paulson turned and barked out orders and his people broke apart and began to sweep the area. Once they were out of earshot, he continued. "From what Logan reported, and from what I've seen here, it's pretty clear you've already wrapped this case up." He nodded to the shards of clay. "Just think of us as putting on the final touches. Your team has had a rough go at it. Agent Pironius-"

  "I'll wait for Agent Heidrich," Vincent said.

  "That's your choice, but this could take a while." Agent Paulson scanned the hills.

  "Excuse us a moment," I said.

  Agent Paulson nodded and walked off to talk to his team.

  Vincent looked at me, one eyebrow raised, waiting for me to argue.

  When I knew everyone was out of earshot, he didn't have to wait long. "You need to go back to the Farm."

  "I can wait."

  I shook my head. "But you don't have to wait."

  "Look, you’re exhausted to the point that you can barely stand. I'm not going to leave you alone out here."

  "I'm not alone. It’s not going to take long to walk Paulson through what happened, and I really want someone to check on Rider."

  The fragments of a worried look worked their way onto Vincent's blank face. "Logan's with him. We'll give them some time, and then call to check on both of them."


  "You need…"

  "Cass, today..." Vincent looked pained and took a deep breath. He couldn't manage to keep his voice or his face expressionless. "He was going to kill you. You were taken away from us. From me. When we got here, I wasn't sure what we would find."

  My heart clenched. I hadn't thought about it from their point of view. I could barely comprehend the day from my perspective, much less that of my partners. And Vincent? It was always difficult to fathom what had gone through his head.

  Vincent reined himself in. "I was afraid we would find you dead."

  "But I'm not." I tried to smile. "You should go and get yourself taken care of. I won't be long."

  "Right now, the best way to take care of myself, and everyone around us, is to keep you in sight."

  Looking into his eyes, I knew he wasn't going to budge. If this had happened to him, instead of me, there was no way I would let him out of my sight until it really sank in that he was safe and would stay that way.

  Instead of admitting that I would do the same, I changed the subject. "Did anyone talk with Gran?"

  "Logan spoke with her and Susan is keeping her company at the house until we get back."

  "Not Jonathan?" This came as a surprise since Jonathan was the oldest and most responsible of Logan's kids.

  "He's out of town."

  "Already?"

  "For a few days. He'll be back before the move is permanent."

  Nodding, I looked around for Agent Paulson. He must have been keeping an eye on us because he came right over.

  "I've got the team sweeping the other hills. The cleanup crew is on its way to bag and tag the evidence. It looks like your pet was injured," Paulson said.

  Looking down, I saw the dried blood still on the rabbit's fur.

  "If you want I’ll get someone to take it…"

  "No." I latched onto the cage as though my life depended on it. Knowing it was a strange reaction, I tried to detract attention. “Do we have anything to numb Vincent’s arm?” I asked.

  Agent Paulson also noticed the arm. “Olsen is working on it. Want to walk me through what happened out here? We can try to make it quick.”

  Nodding, I jumped into the day, starting with Einar showing up at my house. I stuck with the facts that I saw, not what Einar had told me, and I didn't add in any of my assumptions. I never once used the word golem, but referred to Einar as a possible Lost that wasn't made of flesh.