Only the Lost

by Amanda M. Lee

  Aisling didn’t bother to hide her eye roll. “How awesome for you. You really are a magnanimous soul.”

  I had to bite back a chuckle at her dry tone. I wasn’t particularly worried about taking my aunt’s side. She could take care of herself. The same could be said for Aisling. Neither of them needed an assist if they wanted to go after one another. They wouldn’t even draw physical blood.

  Mental blood was another story.

  Maxine ignored Aisling’s dig. “I don’t know that I believe it’s a revenant, but it is an intriguing prospect. Any ideas how we test it?”

  “That’s why I wanted to come with Izzy,” Aisling replied. “I figure that should be your job. I already did my part.”

  “Yes, and it was obviously taxing.” Maxine’s eyes twinkled as she glanced at me. “I’m not sure how to test for a revenant, but I can do some research. I’m assuming you’ve got Cillian on this.”

  “I sent him a text,” Aisling confirmed. “He promised to see what he could find, but I thought you might know more about revenants. You’re supposed to know all and see all, right?”

  If she was offended by Aisling’s flippant tone, my aunt didn’t show it. She remained calm, which I appreciated.

  “I don’t know much about revenants because we so often deal with different things here. In truth, wraiths could be considered revenants. I mean ... they’re kind of dead because they’re soulless.”

  I found the hypothesis fascinating, but Aisling was already shaking her head. “No. Wraiths are alive. They might be soulless, but they’re alive. That’s the whole point of becoming a wraith. You give up a soul to prolong your life.”

  “There are different ways to live, though,” Maxine pointed out. “If Ray Smith hadn’t landed wrong — at least in theory — then he would’ve been alive. I’m guessing the thing inside of him would still have been an issue. I mean ... that kind of explains why he’s back, doesn’t it?”

  She was in the middle of the sentence when something occurred to me and I straightened. My mind was a hodgepodge of possibilities and I was suddenly worked up. “Oh, geez.” I fumbled for my phone in my pocket, several different urges fighting for supremacy in my head. “Oh ... and I can’t believe I didn’t think about this before. Stupid.”

  Maxine’s gaze was curious when it landed on me. “What?”

  “Yeah, share with the class,” Aisling demanded. “You can’t just freak out like that for no apparent reason. We need answers.”

  Maxine smirked and nodded. “Totally. We need answers.”

  They were an odd double-team duo, but I didn’t have time to focus on that. “You just said it yourself,” I reminded them, my stomach tightening as my anxiety built. “Even if Ray Smith would’ve lived, there would’ve been a revenant inside of him ... or whatever it is that we’re dealing with. His experience was unique because he ended up dead.”

  “So?” Aisling made a face. “That still doesn’t explain why you’re so worked up.”

  I feigned patience. “He’s not the only one who came back. Five other people did, too. They were alive when they landed, so if there was a plan, it’s probably still in the works.”

  The color drained from Aisling’s face as realization smacked her upside the head. “Oh, geez.”

  “Who are you calling?” Maxine asked.

  “Cormack.” I was grim. “We need someone to talk to the guys in the hospital ward. I’m starting to think — even though I was against it at the time — that it’s good the reaper council kept them under wraps. At least now we don’t have to look for them.”

  “That’s something,” Aisling agreed. “It’s not much, but it’s something.”

  Cormack picked up on the third ring. He sounded harried. I laid everything out for him in a precise manner.

  We were already too late.

  “If only we’d put this together ten hours ago,” he muttered, his tone dark.

  My heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”

  “They’re gone.”

  “Gone?”

  “They attacked the guards outside the door,” he explained in measured tones. “I don’t know if they transformed before doing it. We’re searching for the security footage now. All five of the men are missing and two of our reapers are down. It was a bloody and terrible death.”

  I felt sick. “So ... what do we do?”

  “I want you over here right now if you can manage it. I want to see if you get a reading off the scene.”

  That made sense. “Okay. I can manage that.” I remembered I wasn’t alone fairly quickly. “I have Aisling with me. Can she come?”

  If Cormack was curious about why I’d teamed up with his only daughter, he didn’t show it. “Bring her. I’ll make sure she isn’t late for work.”

  That was something. “What do you think we’re dealing with?”

  “I have no idea. Just get here. We should have the footage by then and it will provide some answers.”

  “We’re on our way.”

  Thirteen

  The reaper headquarters bustled with activity. Aisling carried herself with an air of authority that I found amusing. She strode right past the security guards, practically daring them to stop her, not stopping until she was next to her father.

  “I was kind of hoping they would give me grief,” she admitted, glaring at the guards. “I haven’t fought with anyone in weeks. I’m starting to get that itch.”

  Cormack was in the middle of a conversation with a man I didn’t recognize, but he took the time to slide his daughter a look. It wasn’t disappointment reflected there. It was fondness and amusement.

  “Track down your buddy Angelina,” I suggested. “She seems the sort who will fight with you.”

  “Oh, that’s still coming.” Aisling’s expression darkened. “I don’t need to seek her out. The universe keeps shoving us together. It will happen when it’s meant to happen.”

  “Yes, and I already have bail money earmarked for when it does,” Cormack said, offering me a smile before gesturing toward the man in front of him. “This is Drake Windsor. He’s the head of the medical department.”

  Oh, well, that was good. I had so many questions I didn’t know where to start. “What were they?”

  Drake appeared surprised by the question. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

  Cormack cleared his throat. “I haven’t mentioned the new premise yet. I thought I would wait until after we reviewed the security footage.”

  I wasn’t in the mood to wait. “The more I think about it, the more I think our revenant idea might be correct.”

  “My revenant theory,” Aisling corrected. “It was my idea.”

  Cormack’s lips quirked. “Since when do you conduct research?”

  “I didn’t do it for these guys,” she reassured him. “I was researching revenants for another reason.”

  He blinked twice and then nodded. He didn’t need to ask why she was looking up revenants. “I’m not opposed to the idea. I’ve never really given revenants much thought. I thought they looked like normal humans … only slightly different. At least that was my assumption.”

  “Our guys did come back looking like normal humans,” I pointed out. “Ray Smith died looking like a normal human. He only changed after ... well, after he died.”

  “I think they were always dead,” Aisling countered. “I think they died the second they crossed the barrier and something was done to them over there to change them.”

  “What?” Drake asked, curiosity etching across his distinguished face. He was one of those men whose age was impossible to guess. He could’ve been forty or seventy.

  “How am I supposed to know?” Aisling asked, agitation flashing. “I’ve obviously never been on the other side of the gate. They’re clearly not the same people they were when they crossed over.”

  “They’re not,” I agreed. “I don’t necessarily believe that crossing the gate results in instant death. I mean ... remember the wraith? I know you
were preoccupied with other stuff at the time, but he crossed over and returned. He was different, but still alive.

  “We’ve already talked about the wraiths,” I continued. “They’re not dead simply because they don’t have souls. We don’t know that these men are without souls either. All we know right now is that Ray died upon arrival — which I’m guessing was an error — and then he turned into a revenant.

  “What if these other men are still alive?” I was starting to warm to my topic now. I’d done a lot of thinking on our drive from Royal Oak to headquarters thanks to the thick traffic. “What if whatever was done to them isn’t supposed to trigger until their deaths? That would mean they’re perfectly fine until the end ... and then we have to deal with the monsters after the fact.”

  “That’s a nice idea,” Cormack countered. “But it doesn’t explain why these so-called normal men killed two guards on their way out. You haven’t seen the bodies yet. They were ... ripped apart.”

  He was grim, which made me nervous. He had seen death his entire life. If he was bothered by this, it had to be bad.

  “So, let me see the bodies,” I suggested.

  “Okay.” He gestured toward a door on the other side of the hallway. “They’re in there.” When Aisling moved to follow, Cormack shook his head. “You stay out here.”

  “No way.” Aisling was instantly on the attack. “I’m an adult ... and you agreed to let me return to work. This is part of my job.”

  “This is most certainly not part of your job. You have souls to collect ... and I believe you have to travel to St. Clair Shores to do it. You should head there now to make sure you’re not late.”

  Aisling’s eyes narrowed to lavender slits. “I want to see them.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “Yes, I do. This is my hunch. I’ve seen death before.”

  “Not like this.” Cormack held his youngest child’s gaze for what felt like forever before heaving out a sigh. “What if I have a cupcake bar for dinner tonight? Will that convince you that seeing the bodies is unnecessary?”

  All of Cormack’s children had a price. Well, at least when it came to things like this. They could easily be swayed with food and I could practically hear the gears in Aisling’s mind working.

  “I want a chocolate fountain, too,” she said finally. “And I want cupcakes with sprinkles ... and gummy worms ... and Twix.”

  He sighed again. “I’ll make it happen.”

  “Fine.” She was morose as she straightened her shoulders. “I guess that means I should head to my charges.”

  Cormack managed a cheeky smile and extended his hand toward her. “It was a pleasure doing business with you.”

  Aisling merely stared at his hand.

  “Aisling, you’re going to work,” he growled. This time he sounded serious. “You don’t want to see what’s in that room. It will give you nightmares.”

  “Oh, I don’t want to go in there any longer.” The smile she let loose was mischievous enough that even I was worried. “I don’t have a way to get to my charges. I rode with Izzy. That means I need a vehicle ... and I’m guessing you have one.”

  The dark look that flitted across Cormack’s handsome features was enough to have me biting the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. I had to avert my gaze because I knew that if I watched Aisling too closely I would start chuckling , which would infuriate Cormack.

  “I brought the BMW,” he complained. “Can’t you take an Uber?”

  “Do you want me to get raped and killed? You’ve seen the stories about those guys lately. It’s not safe.”

  Cormack glowered at her. “You’ve never been afraid of Uber drivers.”

  She merely held out her hand expectantly. I had no idea why Cormack was even pretending to put up a fight. It was obvious he was going to acquiesce to her demands.

  “Fine.” He dug into his pocket and dropped a set of keys in her extended hand. “If you wreck that car I’m cutting you off for life. You’ve been warned.”

  Aisling didn’t look particularly worried. “I’ll see you for dinner. Don’t forget my cupcakes.”

  “I wouldn’t dare.”

  I remained silent for a full minute after she departed. I was just about to suggest we head toward the bodies when he finally spoke.

  “I really have created five monsters,” he lamented. “They’re spoiled rotten, each and every one of them.”

  “I think they’re fine.” I meant it. “They might be spoiled, but they’re giving souls. Besides, you were going to give Aisling whatever she wanted no matter what it was. It wasn’t that you didn’t want her to see death, but because you were afraid Lily would pick up on the horror in her mother’s mind. You didn’t want to point that out to Aisling because that might be more than she can deal with now. You were going to kowtow to her every whim no matter how you pretended otherwise.”

  Instead of smiling, Cormack frowned. “Do you know everything?”

  “Yes.”

  He laughed. “You’re kind of like one of my children.”

  “Although not nearly as spoiled. When am I going to request something special for a dessert bar?”

  “What did you have in mind?”

  “Have you ever had beignets?”

  His smiled. “Only in New Orleans. I’m sure I can make arrangements for them. My children may talk big, but if there’s sugar involved they’ll eat anything.”

  I already knew that. “Let’s see these bodies, shall we?”

  His expression turned grave. “I’m warning you, it’s not pretty.”

  THE BODIES MOST CERTAINLY WEREN’T pretty. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen anything this bad.

  “Wow.” I held it together and managed to refrain from making a face, but it took effort. “That is ... wow.”

  He wasn’t wrong about the bodies being ripped apart. They were on two gurneys, but I wasn’t sure the correct pieces had been put together.

  “I don’t understand.” I was breathless as I circled the first gurney. Meeting the gaze of the dead security guard was difficult because there were a million different horrors reflected in his open eyes. “How did they manage to do this?”

  “That’s a very good question,” Drake intoned. He’d trailed us into the room even though I wasn’t certain his presence was necessary. I didn’t need a cause of death. That was obvious. “It takes a great deal of strength to dismember a body. You usually need some sort of tool. They didn’t have access to anything that would’ve been any help.”

  “How fast did this happen?”

  “We don’t know,” Cormack replied. “We know that at twenty-two-hundred last evening the duty nurse looked in on her patients as she normally did. The ward was locked down at that time, the guards positioned outside the door, and things were quiet. When a different duty nurse returned at six hundred hours, this is what she found.”

  I nodded as I crouched so I was at eye-level with one of the bodies. “Is anyone in this part of the building overnight?”

  “Not normally. I mean ... there are people in the building. There’s never a time when it’s empty. That doesn’t mean there are many people here. We’re talking researchers who are night owls ... janitors ... and a few other people. No one saw anything. No one heard anything.”

  “After killing the guards, they had to make their way through the building,” I noted. “How did they manage that without anyone seeing them?”

  “I don’t know. We’re heading to look at the security footage next. They’re bringing it down. I’m not sure why it’s taking so long.”

  My fingers were shakier than I would’ve liked as I extended them toward the nearest head. I was hoping to catch an image of what had happened. Actually, I didn’t want to see what had transpired, but I needed to see it. Figuring out what we were up against was of utmost importance.

  “What are you doing?” Drake started in my direction, as if he meant to stop me, but Cormack shook his head.

&nb
sp; “She knows what she’s doing.”

  “You can’t touch the bodies.” Drake was adamant. “We need to see if there’s any evidence to collect.”

  That was an absurd statement. “You already know what happened,” I reminded him. “There’s really only one option here.”

  Drake squared his shoulders and fixed me with a pointed look. “We don’t know that an outside force didn’t enter the building, kill the guards, and then remove the men.”

  Strangely enough, I hadn’t even considered that. I’d jumped to the same conclusion as Cormack ... and it wasn’t necessarily the right conclusion. “Is that possible?”

  Cormack looked uncomfortable at the question. “I don’t know. I didn’t consider it.”

  “Can outsiders get into the building?” I didn’t want to think of the men as monsters. It appeared I had no other option until now. The good doctor had just given me one, though, and I was almost grateful.

  “They shouldn’t be able to,” Cormack answered. “The thing is, this shouldn’t have been possible either. I guess we can’t rule anything out. I’ll message the security office and tell them we need footage of each exit and entrance. We need to be sure.”

  I turned back to the body. “I still have to touch him. I need to see.”

  “See what?” Drake’s eyebrows drew together. “I don’t understand what it is you’re trying to do.”

  I looked to Cormack for help. I wasn’t certain how much I was supposed to volunteer about my abilities.

  “Izzy is not a normal reaper,” he replied, choosing his words carefully. “She’s the new gatekeeper on Belle Isle. Her skill set is ... different.”

  The explanation wasn’t enough to placate Drake. “Different how?”

  “Just different.” Cormack was firm. “I’m authorizing her to touch the body. If you have a problem with that, take it up with Renley.”

  “You can be assured I will.” Drake was stiff. “I don’t have the authority to stop you, young lady. Do what you’re going to do.”