A.I.R. Shattered Soul

by Amanda Booloodian

  “The centaur tribe thinks someone is missing, but they aren't sure yet. Centaurs tend to wander, so sometimes it's hard to tell. Humans were spotted in their territory yesterday. The centaurs grew uneasy and had it called in.”

  “Could be a connection,” Logan said. “Who’s down there? What do they say?”

  “Someone from the Ozark hub is with them, but they aren’t saying much,” Hank said. “They're having some language issues. We're sending you down to join up with them and find out more.”

  “When do we leave?” I asked.

  “You aren't leaving,” Hank snapped. “You're on restricted duty, so you'll be staying close to home. Logan is meeting up with agents at the AIR hub. Here's the case file.”

  Logan raised an eyebrow at Hank.

  “Everything okay today?” Logan asked him.

  “I—” Hank had started to sneer in my direction but stopped. He cleared his throat. “Not sure what’s gotten into me.”

  Hank handed the file off to Logan. Logan started to hand it to me, but stopped.

  “Looks like we need to head home so I can pack,” Logan said.

  “I have Cassie's new phone.” Hank moved a stack of papers and uncovered a smart phone. “Take care of this one.”

  Logan turned to go, but stopped short. “Your arrangements made?” He asked Vincent.

  Vincent nodded, but didn’t say anything.

  Hank filled in the blanks. “Nothing is available in the area, but we’ve rented him a room. As for the vehicle,” Hank looked apologetic, “we don’t have one ready for him yet. He’ll have to use the truck for now.”

  “Cassie and I have our own cars. It’ll work,” Logan said. “You’ll have to drop us off first though.”

  Vincent nodded.

  “And stay for dinner,” I added.

  “You want him with you and Margaret?” Logan asked.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Vincent said.

  “Gran’s expecting him.”

  Logan shook his head but then smiled at Vincent. “Margaret’s expecting you. Know ahead of time, I’ll kill you if you make a move against either of them.”

  My partner looked entirely too happy about that prospect.

  With that threat still on the air, the ride home was completely silent. Three could easily ride together in the truck, but having a virtually unknown third person was awkward. I passed the time by examining my new phone.

  Gran was getting ready to go when we arrived home. “It's bingo night! Dee Dee and I are going.”

  “I thought you were staying for dinner,” I said.

  “No, dear, he’s your guest.” Gran spotted Vincent and led us into the kitchen where she had a tray of cookies and some iced tea waiting.

  “Margaret, I have a few concerns about Agent Pironis. What do you get off him?” Logan asked.

  “Hard to read,” Gran replied without hesitation. She shrugged. “He's dangerous, but not dangerous to us. That's all I can tell. With time, I'll get more.”

  A small crease in Vincent’s forehead made him looked uncomfortable. “I assure you that I am no danger to you or your family.”

  “Of course not.” Gran smiled sweetly. “I just said that.”

  “I guess I needed to hear that before I left,” Logan said. “I'm heading out of town, but I'll send Jonathan over to check on things.”

  As soon as Gran headed out, Logan got down to business.

  “Margaret has given this guy a clean bill, but the fact of the matter is, he was sent to kill you,” Logan said. “Now, I trust your grandmother, but he could have been sent here to insinuate himself into our lives.”

  “What reason would I have to infiltrate Cassie's life?” Vincent asked.

  “Maybe you need to get some information,” Logan said.

  “First off,” Vincent started, his emotions flitting across his face, “she should be dead now.” He looked pained for a moment, but pushed on. “I wasn't exaggerating yesterday when I said it was unheard of to stop when someone's essence has started pulling away from them. I was sent here to dispose of a fiend, a demon. That was all.”

  I felt Logan and Vincent's bottled up emotions starting to uncork and pour themselves around the room.

  “Why couldn't you tell she wasn't a fiend right off?” Logan asked. There was no trace of his smile now.

  “You don't look at a person and know,” Vincent countered. Lines of anger were playing across his face.

  “Paperwork?” Logan said. “Someone writes something down on a piece of paper and the Walker just follows along.”

  “I've already admitted it was a mistake. I requested this transfer in order to rectify that mistake.” Vincent's words were low and intense. Anger started seething out of him.

  That was the last push. The world broke around me and the Path opened. There was no attempt on my part to read the Path. It was just there. My breath became raspy as my senses were assaulted. The usual shimmering ripple of the Path had turned into a deluge that poured over me. I squeezed my eyes shut tight, but the Path was still there. I might as well have had my eyes wide open. Looking at Logan, I gasped and nearly fell out of my chair. Logan and Vincent were talking, but the words were not penetrating my reading of the Path.

  Eyes glued to Logan, I saw him like never before. What was once cloaked from me was no longer hidden. Golden hues wound their way around a gleaming core. Seeing the bright sun that was Logan's Path took my breath away. It was beautiful and frightening at the same time. How had this hidden from me for so long?

  As he leaned in toward me, I pulled back. Covered by that brightness, I felt something buried deep in Logan, something that I never wanted to see break out. As I looked at the crushing waves of information, Vincent's Path came into view. I felt like I was drowning. Layers of suppressed emotions hung around him. Other darker spots clung to him. They seemed a part of him, but at the same time alien. One of these strands was deeply familiar to me, but I had never seen it. It wound in and out of his entire being. It was the first time I had ever seen a part of my own Path.

  As suddenly as it came, it was gone. My eyes could barely focus. What was once my bright kitchen was now ashen and dim. I leaned forward at the table breathing heavily, trying to get my eyes to adjust.

  “Cassie, can you hear me?” asked Logan.

  I nodded.

  “What happened?” Logan asked.

  “It--it was the Path. But not like usual, not like—” I took a deep breath and tried to organize my thoughts. “The Path, it opened on its own. It was different, . It poured over me. It was forceful. Stronger.” At the last moment, I decided to leave out details of Logan and Vincent's Paths. I didn't want them to know how deeply I had seen them. “It was a jumble of colors and emotion, a complete assault on my senses.”

  Vincent's blank face gave nothing away, but Logan looked tense.

  “This kind of thing shouldn't happen,” Logan said. “You.” He turned to Vincent. “Do you know what this is about?”

  Vincent looked troubled, but shook his head.

  “Maybe it was a one-time thing?” I suggested. “A side effect?”

  “Things should have settled down overnight,” Vincent said.

  I rolled my head in a few circles to shake off the unsteady feeling the Path had left.

  “Keep an eye on her.” Logan got to his feet. “The sooner I go, the sooner I get back.”

  Once Logan left, it only took a moment for me to realize that I was alone with Vincent. Unease began to build around me.

  Vincent broke the silence. “You don't look comfortable with this arrangement. I’ll go.”

  “It's fine,” I said. “In fact, it will give me time to catch you up on the case.”

  “If you are certain.”

  “I am.”

  “I gather you are looking for missing persons?” Vincent asked.

  “Actually, we're looking for a murderer.” I filled Vincent in on the details while I served up the roast that Gran had been cookin
g.

  Vincent's complete lack of questions meant we spent the second half of dinner in awkward silence.

  My mind raced over different questions ranging from delicate to rude, but I needed to know.

  “You said you know me.” I could feel my face going red. “What do you know?”

  Vincent took a moment to respond. “I took in what makes you, you. I see your stronger memories and how these memories sculpted your personality.”

  “So you know my personality type and a few memories.”

  Vincent's brows furrowed. “There have been great upheavals throughout your life. The most recent was a few years ago.”

  My face grew red with embarrassment. He knew about Zander trying to force me into a mental hospital. Shit, why did I ask the question? Did I want to know what he knew?

  Vincent continued. “The incident destroyed your trusting nature. You want to trust people, but inwardly you do not. This leaves me troubled. You appear to trust me enough to be in your home, but I don't understand why.”

  “I'm not sure I understand it myself,” I said.

  “You shouldn't trust me.”

  “Probably not,” I agreed.

  Vincent frowned. “I know what will affect your psyche, so I could manipulate your every emotion.”

  My insides tensed. “You’re sounding creepy again.”

  He said nothing, but the tightness around his eyes dropped and one side of his lip bent up the slightest bit.

  I narrowed my eyes at him and crossed my arms. “Which is exactly what you intended.”

  For a moment, Vincent looked surprised, but it didn’t last long. All traces of emotion pulled away from his face.

  I rolled my eyes and got up from the table. He had looked smug until I called him out.

  “My intention was for you to understand,” Vincent said.

  A part of me wanted to call him a jerk and ask him to leave. Another part wanted me to tell him that I understood that he meant well, but he was a complete idiot.

  “It’s getting late,” Vincent said. “I am going to excuse myself.”

  I cleared my throat in an effort to keep my voice level. “Do you know where you are going?”

  “Hank gave me the address.”

  I nodded and led him out through the living room, grabbing the keys to the truck along the way.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said holding the door open.

  Vincent stopped on his way out. He stood there until I let out an impatient puff of air.

  “Tomorrow, I hope to find a way to apologize,” Vincent said. Then he walked away.

  Standing in the open door, I watched him go. Had he straight out apologized, I probably would have yelled at him. It would have been completely irrational, but I know myself well enough to realize that I was still aggravated and wasn’t ready to hear an apology. It was an eerie thought that he understood this about me after one day.

  When he pulled away, I shut the door and went to clean up. Apprehension started to build and I began to pace. The itchy spot between my shoulder blades was back, but it was deep under the skin now.

  Logan called on his way down south, but I kept the call short. After the call, my mind started racing through the past two days. Vincent, the fairy, my job, Gran, Logan, the case, my power, they all sprinted through my thoughts.

  When Gran came home, my anxiety was on its way out, but it was leaving a hole sunk deep in my middle. I tried to hide the desolation that was starting to spread over me.

  “Where’s your phone?” Gran asked.

  I forced a smile onto my face. “They gave me a new one today. It’s an upgrade.”

  “I see that. It looks very nice.” Gran gave me a quick hug. “Don’t you worry about a thing. Go upstairs and take a hot bath. You’ll feel better in no time.”

  I didn’t argue. It never did any good to argue with a psychic.

  My bath was short. I floated and stared at the ceiling while my skin turned pink. As the water started draining away, I did start to feel better. The anxiety was gone and the depression washed itself away down the drain. I threw my bathrobe on and went downstairs to talk to Gran.

  She was hovering around the window next to the front door.

  “Thank you, Gran, I feel much better.” This time, the smile was real. “The bath was exactly what I needed.”

  “Don’t be silly, dear. A bath can help ease the blues, but you need something altogether different for what ails you.”

  “What do I need?”

  Gran nodded out the window. Shaking my head, I gave Gran a quizzical look and peeked out the window shade.

  My face fell. “No.” Our work truck sat in the driveway. “No, no, no.”

  “I didn’t think the man would be fool enough to sit in the driveway. Go out there and bring him inside.”

  “What?”

  “It’s good manners. Besides, what will the neighbors think if we left some man in the driveway all night?”

  “They’ll see Vincent, and think those are smart women in that house.”

  Gran crossed her arms. “Cassandra Heidrich, you get out there and bring him in. You’re both being ridiculous.”

  I took another look out the window. “Did you invite him over? Do you know what’s going on?”

  “He was already nearby. I told him to come over and the only thing I know is that the two of you apart is not the best idea right now, for either of you.”

  “I guess I can make up the upstairs bedroom.” I sighed and went to the door.

  “Already done.”

  Stopping, I looked at Gran.

  She gave me a sweet smile. “I fixed it up yesterday.”

  Resigned to my task, I slipped on a pair of shoes and went out. Approaching the truck, I had no idea what to say. I didn’t see Vincent, so I knocked on the truck door.

  “Yes?”

  I jumped and spun around, my hand automatically going to my side. My heart pulsed harder when my hand landed on my thigh and not my gun.

  Vincent stood unmoving at the back of the truck.

  I took a steadying breath. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Margaret told me to come over.”

  “And you listened to her?”

  “She told me what would happen if I didn’t.”

  My curiosity was piqued. “What did she say?”

  Vincent didn’t respond.

  “Did she—” I started to say.

  “She told me what I would do.”

  “What would you do?”

  Vincent sighed and leaned his back and head against the truck. It was the first truly human thing that I had seen him do. I felt like I was intruding on something private.

  Maybe I was.

  “You feel better now though?” I asked changing the direction of the conversation.

  “Yes.” The relief was clear in his voice.

  “Me too.”

  We stood in silence. Whatever this was, it sucked.

  “It’s getting late,” I said, turning to head inside.

  “It is.”

  “Come on inside.” When I didn’t hear footsteps on the gravel, I turned back around. He was standing straight and tall again.

  “I’ll stay out here.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. What would the neighbors say?”

  Vincent didn’t move. “You don’t have to do this.”

  I put my hands on my hips. “What would my grandmother say?”

  There might have been a sigh, but maybe it was just a breath of wind. Vincent walked stiffly to the truck, grabbed his bag, and then followed me in.

  That night went easier than the last. Thoughts of what the hell is going on and what does this mean, kept me tossing and turning, but those were real things. I could name them and I knew where they came from.

  By the time, I dragged myself out of bed the next morning and headed downstairs, Gran was already gone. She left me a note telling me to take the aspirin with me. Not a promising start to the day.

/>   Vincent came into the kitchen and nodded. He looked completely put together and ready for the day. Something that I was not. I reached for coffee when the phone rang. I sighed before answering.

  “Cassie, this is Kyrian. A situation has arisen and we have a job for you.”

  “What kind of situation?” I asked grabbing paper and a pencil and sitting at the kitchen table.

  “We've had a report from over in Linn County. It’s not far. People have been spotted around the area the fairies inhabit for the past few evenings. Normally, they wouldn't have thought anything of it, but the fairies are adamant that the people are getting closer. If someone has spotted the fairies, or has it in their head to catch one, we need to investigate. Can you and Logan check it out?”

  “Um, actually, Logan's translating in the Ozarks.”

  “Oh, yes, I forgot Barry loaned him out. There is a new guy, Vincent Pironis. He’s a transfer and hasn't been assigned anything. Are you up for it today?” It was a last minute question. Kyrian didn't have the full story on what happened yesterday, which surprised me. She was usually not one to be left in the dark.

  “I'm fine,” I replied. “Is there anyone else to ride along?”

  “Everyone's out already,” Kyrian said.

  “Vincent's here, we can take it.”

  “I'll have the information sent to your phone.” She disconnected.

  Hanging up the phone, I looked over at Vincent. “Logan is going to kill me.”

  “I think you're safe. I'm pretty sure he'll aim for me.” If anyone else had said this I would have laughed, but Vincent didn't sound like he was joking.

  I ran back upstairs and finished getting ready in a hurry. My hands shook as I laced up my boots. Logan was my partner and mentor. I had never been out without him. Maybe I should call him.

  Shaking my head, I dismissed the idea. Whatever he was doing sounded important. We could handle this. Within five minutes, we were headed out the door.

  The drive would take almost an hour even if we pushed it. The first few minutes were completely silent. My anxiety level went through the roof. Steady calm waves came from Vincent as he drove. I tried to grab hold of the calm, but it didn't help.

  Reading the reports out loud took up some of our time. After that, the silence started to stretch on. I made the mistake of trying to fill the void.