"And you won't now," Hank said. "Goblins are... tricky. You're going to visit the pixies nearby."
My face fell. The last time I had visited a glen of pixies I ended up tied to a tree and covered with honey. Pixies really liked to play, but their games weren't much fun for anyone but them.
"Stop by the office in the morning and I'll have more for you," Hank said.
***
Later, on the way home, I remained huddled in Rider's jacket. The werewolf seemed completely unconcerned with the cold. I wouldn't exactly say I was cold to the bone anymore, but winter was winter after all.
Logan drove the large SWAT-style truck to my house, and we all went inside where the aroma of caramelized sugar greeted us. Our noses led us to the kitchen, which radiated warmth from the oven.
"How was the big day?" Gran asked as we entered the kitchen. When she got a good look at me, she added, "You look like you've been rolling around on the ground."
"It wasn't too bad," I lied, snagging a cookie from the counter. "Mostly the usual."
Gran gave me a knowing look. "Go get yourself cleaned up. I've got mini apple pies for everyone. There's a few for the kids, too, Logan. And some cookies."
"Thank you," Logan said, sitting at his usual spot at the table.
"I think I will take a quick shower," I said. And find another bra. I kept that part to myself though.
Upstairs, I stood under the hot shower, soaking in the heat until my skin turned pink. My first day back in the field couldn't have gone much worse. It had been a year since I finished my training. Shouldn't I be good at this by now?
Sulking, I threw on some warm clothes and joined the others downstairs.
"Thanks for the jacket," I told Rider, putting the jacket on the back of his chair.
"I hear your coat got torn up," Gran said.
"Yeah," I fell into a chair at the table, "but I have another somewhere. I'll dig it out. You didn't, um, see any of today, did you?"
Gran was a world-class psychic and never got things wrong. It would be embarrassing if she had predicted the spectacle I made of myself.
"No," Gran said. "It sounds like I missed a doozie of a day. Day after tomorrow, though, you're going to want an extra pair of socks and gloves, and Rider, you're going to need a warmer coat."
"Do you know why we need them?" I asked.
Gran shrugged. "That's all I know."
"I do not think I have anything warmer," Rider said. Like the rest of us, he knew Gran was right, but for some reason, the comment seemed to make him nervous.
"I don't think I have any of my husband's old clothes," Gran said. "Maybe Vincent left... well, maybe Logan has a coat."
"I'm sure Jonathan has something to keep the cold out," Logan said quickly. "It's all for show, but he works hard to be as human as he can."
An awkward silence hung in the kitchen. No one had gone into Vincent's room since he disappeared months ago. My chest felt heavy when I thought about his last night here. We had one amazing kiss and the next day he was gone.
"He should be back by now." I hadn't intended for the words to come out, but once they did, I couldn't stop. "Aren't Walkers just supposed to be able to step from one side to the other?"
"Hard to say," Logan said. "There's more rumor and myth about Walkers than any actual facts. Maybe it depends on the Walker."
I nodded morosely.
"The gremlins were very interesting," Rider said. "I hope we get to work with them again."
He was trying to change the subject, which was nice, but gremlins were a sore spot, so I said nothing.
"I suspect that portal will be popping open again before long," Logan said. "Hopefully it’ll give us enough notice to send the ones we have back."
"What do you know about the goblins?" I asked Logan.
"Oh," Gran said, "they can be nasty little critters."
All eyes turned to Gran, surprised.
"Well, they can be," Gran said defensively.
"You're not wrong," Logan said. "They're territorial and don't take kindly to anyone stepping on their land."
"Why are we going to see the pixies about the goblins?" I asked.
"The pixies don't live far from them," Logan said. "They’re probably the reason the goblins are riled up."
"In the winter?" Gran sounded surprised.
"So Hank says," Logan said.
"It's supposed to snow soon," Gran said. "I'm not sure if it starts day after tomorrow or later that night, but we're going to be knee deep." Gran looked at Rider, taking in his towering height. "Well, Cassie and I will be knee deep, anyway."
Logan looked somber, which didn't seem natural on the elf's face. "Not good for the goblins. Or the pixies, for that matter."
"Won't they stay inside?" I asked.
Logan shrugged. "Hard to say with pixies. The goblins usually would, but if they are on the defensive, they won't stay put."
"But they'll be okay, right?" I asked, feeling worried. "I mean, it's snow. It's not like it's a rare occurrence around here."
"The pixies will be fine," Logan said. "The goblins will be if they keep indoors. Getting that much snow, though... well, maybe we can make them see sense."
***
"I need Rider for a few minutes," Hank said, when we approached his desk the next day, "but I'll meet you all in conference room 3B in an hour."
Yawning, I nodded, wandered over to a random desk, and then tossed down my backpack. I never bothered with a purse. In this job, I used pockets and a duffel bag. Anything else was left behind. Although, the utility belts that we sometimes wore could hold quite a bit.
Between walking from Hank's desk and the desk I claimed, Logan had wandered off and began chatting with another agent. It was quiet in the command room. Checking my watch, I could see why. Seven am.
There was only myself to blame. After the debacle last fall, being at work seemed better than not. It kept me busy. Still, being a morning person was a skill I didn't possess. For that very reason, I left my computer to boot up while I followed the smell of coffee.
When I got to the small kitchen area off the large room, two other agents were there already. When I entered, they stopped talking. It was a common occurrence. Maybe it was because they didn't know me well. People were polite, but tended to be distant.
That was probably my doing as well. They'd gotten used to the off-putting aura my shattered soul created, but even though it had been more than a year, I still didn't know anyone in the office.
Maybe it was time to make an effort. "Morning," I said, trying to smile.
"Morning," the remaining agent said. "Coffee's fresh."
I wracked my brain trying to remember the agent’s name. I was sure I had heard it before. "That's the best news of the day."
He smiled. I hadn't realized he was anxious until he started to relax some.
"You all get an early start," he said.
"You too. Or is it a late night?" I asked. Was I supposed to know if he was on the night shift? Maybe not—those things tended to shift around. I poured my coffee and decided that sugar was going to be a necessity this morning.
"Both," he said. "A portal opened up late yesterday. It was a few hours away and my team was closest."
"Anything get through?" I asked, suddenly interested.
"Not that we can tell. Red didn't spot anything on satellite, and we searched but found nothing."
"That's good." What else do agents talk about? Logan seemed to have something to say to everyone.
"I heard you had a tough day yesterday," he said.
Trying not to blush was futile. "It was my first time with the gremlins." How much do other agents know about what happened with the gremlins yesterday, and who told them? Distraction was key. "Being back in the field was good, though." I drank my coffee to try to hide my reddening face.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot. Medical desk duty is the pits. I got stuck in quarantine last fall. That was almost as bad, but shorter."
"I've co
unted myself lucky in that area," I said.
"Well, I'll see you around."
"You too." I refilled my cup and mentally patted myself on the back for chatting with someone I didn't know. I really needed to find out his name, though.
Rider was standing by the desk I had claimed. He dropped a pile of papers, and looking confused, picked something else up off the desk, held it up, and inspected it.
His confusion spread to me. It was a bra. The bright pink and lace stood out like a beacon.
"What are you doing?" I hissed in a low voice as I approached.
"Someone appears to have left you something," Rider said.
I snatched it out of his hands and looked at it. Why the hell was there a bra on my desk? I looked around the room and saw a few heads turn away with grins far too wide.
Crap. It had to have been one of the other agents. What do I do with this?
"Who left it?" I asked.
"Too hard to say," Logan said from behind me, keeping an eye on Rider. "I imagine there are too many smells in here to find out something like that."
Rider didn't seem to take the hint. "No, it is easy to trace."
Logan sighed, and I glared at him. I think I understood what Logan was trying to get at, although he said nothing. We shouldn't try to find out who did it, even if it was possible. Just because I knew that Logan didn’t want us to dig into who left the bra, it didn't mean that I had to like it.
"It obviously wasn't meant for me," I said, raising my voice slightly. "It's not my color."
"I can give it back to—"
"No." I cut Rider off. "I'll leave it here." The desk had a drawer and I shoved the hot pink bra inside. "Whoever wants it can claim it later."
"But—"
"What's with the paperwork?" I asked, once again cutting him off.
Chapter 3
Rider looked morosely at the stack of papers. "Rules and regulations. I have to read them and sign them."
"I thought you already did that," I said.
"So did I," Rider said. "The gremlins are downstairs. Would you like to go see them?"
"You just said you have stuff to sign," I said.
Rider looked at the stack of papers. "I will take them home tonight to review. We have time before we meet to go downstairs."
"Um." The truth was that I had no interest in seeing the little green guys after yesterday. It was bad enough everyone seemed to know what had happened. "I need to look over some reports and check our schedule."
"I'll mosey on down with you, partner," Logan said. "Let's see what they can do with a box of paper clips."
Watching them go, I second-guessed my decision. Maybe it looked bad to avoid them. In the end, I decided it didn't really matter either way. I spent the next thirty minutes looking at email and reviewing reports. It didn't actually need to be done, but it never hurt to double check.
Ten minutes before our meeting, I realized I should have been using my time more productively and did research on goblins. The agency had files and files of documents on them. The computerized records were extensive, and I crammed as much knowledge as I could into my head for five minutes.
That gave me five minutes to get coffee and go to the conference room.
When I arrived, only Hank was there.
"How's it going?" I asked, trying to make conversation.
"Besides this goblin situation, not bad. We have some new equipment coming in," Hank said. "We're all getting an upgrade."
"Didn't we just get new equipment?" I asked.
"We had new-to-us equipment." Hank grinned broadly. "Kyrian managed to push through a whole office refit—not just replacing the stuff that got smashed up last fall. We're going paperless."
"How does that even work in an office like ours?"
"Much better," Hank said, turning in his seat as Logan and Rider entered the room. "Right, let's get down to business. We've got an issue with the goblins and we don't know what it is."
"How do we know there's an issue with them?" I asked. "Did someone call it in?"
"Not exactly," Hank said, sliding a file folder over to me.
I opened the folder to find printed photographs, which I studied, having no idea what I was looking at.
"We don't visit the goblins often," Hank said. "They're territorial, militaristic, and quite frankly, they're mean."
That had been all the facts I had gleaned from the files I read.
"They mainly stay inside in the winter. They can handle the cold temperatures for short periods of time, but mix the cold with wet weather and they start to have problems."
"Why are they here if they can't handle the winters?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"They can handle the winters here better than the heat of the south," Hank said. "It's hard to find the right area for goblins. The amount of land needed is tricky, as well as the climate."
"So, what are we looking at?" Logan asked, taking some of the pictures from me.
"Teams of two to three goblins are patrolling," Hank said. "It's not completely unheard of, but they're traveling farther than normal."
"Where do the pixies come into play?" I asked.
"The goblins are concentrating on patrolling in their direction," Hank said. "Pixies won't show up on satellite, but if they're trying to play with the goblins, it would explain a lot."
"So, we're off to see the pixies," I said.
"Yes," Hank said. "But listen, Rider hasn't worked with the pixies yet. He needs to stick with one of you at all times."
I grinned. "I think Rider will like the pixies."
"Maybe so," Hank said. "But no one's first trip to see the pixies ends well."
"Anything else we should know about?" Logan asked.
"Everything else looks good," Hank said. "Get the pixies to stop playing with the goblins. That's all we need."
"Are these the same pixies I met last year?" I asked as we stood and began to file out of the room.
"No," Logan said. "These are outside of Brookville. I know the spot."
I had been to the area before, a few months ago with Logan and Vincent. It wasn't something I wanted to dwell on, but I did all the way to the truck. On the drive, I tried to make small talk to take my mind off our missing partner.
"How were the gremlins?" I asked.
"They are very interesting," Rider said. "Not what I expected at all."
"What did you expect?" I asked.
"From the descriptions of others, I had expected something more akin to an animal than a person," Rider said.
"I hadn't really thought about that," I said. "Where are they staying at the moment?"
"They are downstairs in a large room," Rider said. "They appear to be comfortable."
"It was specially made for them," Logan said. "The gremlins that came through last fall started in a metal room. Figured it would be the best thing since they like metal. They liked it a little too much, though. They had a hard time sleeping."
"Did they try to take the room apart?" I asked.
"Got it in one," Logan said. "Then they tried plastic. Plastic has a strange effect on them. It's almost as though they were stupefied by it."
"The zip strips have the same effect," I said. "It doesn't hurt them, though, does it?"
"Not that we can tell. They were... docile. They didn't act much like real gremlins."
"Poor things," I said, momentarily forgetting the fact that they had taken all my clothes the previous day. "What's the room made of now?"
"Wood," Logan said. "But it’s temporary."
"Did we find a way to get them home?" That idea had some appeal. I couldn't imagine getting trapped in another world.
"Twice, the portable has given us plenty of warning that it was opening," Logan said. "I'm sure it'll do the same in good time. For now, we are building a better place for them while we learn more."
"Is there any way to keep them near the portal?" I asked.
"We can get them closer than they are now," Logan said, "bu
t we're having trouble getting hold of the land where the portal opens, so it can't be too close at the moment."
"I guess closer is good." My thoughts flowed around what it might be like for them—stuck in an unknown world and caged. Knowing AIR, though, their next cage wouldn't be recognizable as a cage. It was one of the reasons the Farm was so big. The entire area was fenced in, and small communities of Lost lived there.
Some of them thought it was almost as good as home.
Logan hummed under his breath, and Rider stared out the window. Both had come to this world by choice. Rider, because he was born here originally. His mother had been from this world, which made it a natural decision to come. Logan had brought his whole family here after his wife died. Elves mated for life, and he had lost his wife at an early age. Early for elves, anyway. That was fifty years ago.
Was there anything that could make me leave this world?
Thinking of Gran, my friends, and my mother, I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. A week wouldn't be complete without Cici throwing something at me when I ventured out back to walk to Logan's house. A morning wouldn't feel right without Gran's cat hissing when I walked by.
The strangers I met, I could do without. They either ignored me or looked at me with contempt most of the time. Nevertheless, even if I was stuck seeing them every single day, I didn't think I would be able to leave my world.
"I have reviewed information on pixies," Rider said. "Is there anything I should know before I meet them?"
"We have at least one friend in the group," Logan said. "A pixie got hurt last fall and spent some time at the Farm. She's with this group. Hopefully we'll find her pretty quickly."
"And if we do not?" Rider asked.
"The pixies will try to play," Logan said.
I couldn't repress a grimace.
"But we'll get one of the leaders to talk with us." Logan turned off the highway. "It could take a while, though."
"Let's hope not," I muttered.
Logan laughed.
"Why do you not like to play with the pixies?" Rider asked.
"Their games are only fun for them," I said. "Usually, anyway."
"It helps if you know the language," Logan said.
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