I didn’t argue, but was still glad to see Vincent pull out zip strips for cuffs. I turned my attention to Logan and put pressure on his side. The blood flow was already slowing.
I pulled back Logan's shirt. The wound slashed straight across his side. “You're definitely going to need stitches.” I poured alcohol over the wound, wincing as Logan sucked in a shuddering breath. I set to work putting on butterfly sutures to hold the skin together. I maybe went a little overboard bandaging his side. “I think that's the best we can do out here.”
“Nice work. I can get to my feet.”
“Maybe you should wait till we're ready to leave.”
“Vincent's going to need our help.” Logan nodded toward Vincent.
The bag the men had been carrying lay open on the ground. Vincent checked the pulse of the creature inside. At least that's what I think he was doing. There were no arms, only legs. Four legs and a long tail. The creature looked like a large cat, except his head. The head was mostly feline, but had some cranial aspects of a person.
Logan sighed deeply. “Poor kid.”
“Kid?” I asked.
“Go take a look,” Logan said.
Spellbound, I moved forward. The creature was larger than a bobcat, but smaller than a mountain lion. His coat was a sandy color. His eyes were closed, but his chest rose and fell. Alive, but unconscious.
Knocked out and dragged around in a bag. I wanted to kick the men on the ground. Looking over at Seth, it was hard to see if the man breathed.
“That guy's alive, right?” I asked.
“He'll survive.” Vincent's voice was monotone. All emotion pushed away. “The other man did not.” He had the creature's paw in his hand and checked his watch.
“He’s dead?” I asked.
Vincent didn’t answer.
“Is the Lost okay?” I asked.
“He's going to make it. He's been drugged,” Vincent said.
“Do you need any help with him?” I asked.
“We’ve done as much as we can from here,” Vincent said. “I’ll continue to monitor.”
Turning my attention to the other two men wasn’t easy. Vincent had both men cuffed with zip strips. I checked the pulse of the man nearest to me, but I knew what the result would be. His face was purple and the body was already starting to turn cool. My nose curled when I checked on Seth. I was loathe to touch the man that had held a gun to my head. He had a pulse and he wasn’t shot.
“How long will this man remain unconscious?” I asked Vincent.
Vincent didn’t look up from the Lost. “Not as long as I would like.”
“Will he stay down for transport?” I asked.
“Yes,” Vincent said. “We need to find a way to get this kid back to the truck.”
“I'll carry him.” Logan moved to his feet.
I started to protest, but the elf started stretching without wincing. Still, we needed more than one elf to take care of this mess.
I pulled out my cell phone and called Hank.
He cut out any preamble. “How'd it go?”
“We've got a—” I paused and looked at Logan.
“A sphinx.” Logan had a half smile.
“We have a sphinx and two guys down. One dead, the other, well, the other is down. Logan's injured.”
“Define injured.” Worry crept through Hank's voice.
There had never been a day in the office that I didn't see Hank and Logan talking. I should have thought about that before I called.
“Just a graze, but he was shot.”
I could hear Hank’s strained breath through the phone. “Another team is en route. They should be meeting up with you in twenty.”
The sphinx began to stir.
“Give them our location,” I said. “Our newest Lost is waking up.”
Chapter 16
The sphinx mewed like a kitten. Immediately, my heart melted. I wanted to cuddle up to the cat and let it know that everything would be okay. Then his claws opened wide in a stretch. They were long and sharp. His eyes popped open. He looked stricken. Terrified. Before he could talk, Logan touched his paw, spoke a few words, and injected the kid. He fell asleep in no time. The terrified look sank away into a peaceful purr.
The new team loaded the sphinx into the back of our truck. Vincent and I managed to get Seth into the back of the second truck. We left as the second team started to sweep the area to locate where the portal had opened and check for evidence of other Lost. We made our way back to the Farm.
Hank met us at the door. Once he confirmed that Logan was on his feet, he went back to work. Logan's wounds were superficial, but I hovered outside the room while the doctor stitched him up.
He stretched on the way out the room, showing no concern over his side. “You should be downstairs.”
“I was heading that way,” I lied.
We met up with Vincent and Hank in the main control room. Our case had finally gotten a break. We had someone in custody.
“Have they gotten anything out of the guy we picked up?” asked Logan.
“He won't be up for a few more days,” replied Vincent. He shrugged. “They're trying to revive him, but they won't have much luck.”
Logan said. “Does anyone at the office have any theories yet?”
“Everyone is waiting for the guy we picked up to regain consciousness,” Hank said. Hank seemed about as concerned as Vincent did. “They'll have to wait a bit longer.”
Logan glared at Vincent. “Did you have to knock him out for so long?”
“It felt necessary,” Vincent said.
Logan looked at me and I shrugged, not wanting to add details. It would be nice if we could interrogate him, but the man was brutal. He was ready to use my partner as a shield, so I wouldn't be shedding any tears for him.
“How's the sphinx?” Logan asked.
“He's sleeping off the shots,” Hank said. “There's a natural portal that opens in Egypt. The Egyptian government is being contacted now.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “They'll be able to get him home?”
Hank smiled. “It'll take some time, but he'll make his way back home.”
Hank pulled us into a nearby conference room.
Logan sat down at the table. “We have a few more details to work with now.”
We all joined him.
Hank booted up his laptop. “Talk me through what happened.”
We walked him through our night in the woods. When we made it to the conversation the men were having, Hank paused, his fingers no longer flying over the keyboard. “He said that someone wanted the Sphinx as a pet?”
Vincent cracked his knuckles, his face unreadable. “His exact words were, 'I'm not dying because some rich bitch wants a pet’.”
Hank shifted in his chair. “This changes our approach to things. We've been expecting an organization ready to expose the Lost to the world. We've had other theories, but that was our most probable lead.”
Logan looked disgusted. “Sounds like they're selling the Lost.”
“But tonight was different,” I said. “As far as we know, they've been picking up Lost that live here up to this point. Tonight, they were at a portal.”
“They've stepped up their game,” Logan said.
“With so many Lost missing—” I started.
“And from such a wide area,” Vincent interjected.
“The operation must be large. There has to be a way to track them,” I finished.
Hank cleared his throat. “We can start with infrared satellite sweeps. If the Lost are being kept together, we might be able to pick them up. We'll start locally and spread out our search from there.”
Logan smiled. “I like your optimism.”
“That'll give us some place to start,” I said. “While we're waiting for that, Logan and I can talk to the sphinx. I'd like to know what took place before we got there.”
Logan agreed and we broke apart. Logan and I entered a viewing area and found the sphinx pacing in
an interrogation room whipping his tail around in agitation.
“Before we go in there, we need to go over a few things,” Logan said.
I nodded, watching the sphinx.
“Most importantly, sphinxes tell riddles. It's like a sign of intelligence and good breeding in their world. If the kid is highborn, he may try a riddle. If he does, do not respond. Do not acknowledge that you heard the riddle.”
“Why wouldn't I acknowledge it?”
“Since we're outsiders, most sphinxes will kill the person who doesn't answer their riddle correctly. That usually doesn't apply to juvenile sphinxes like our friend in there, but it's better to be on the safe side.”
“And if we know the answer?”
“Then he may feel compelled to kill himself for being outwitted by an outsider.”
My eyes widened. “He'd kill himself for that?”
“The young ones usually don't, but again, better safe than sorry.”
“Anything else I should know?” I asked.
“Remember that he's scared. Kids can lash out without thinking and this one is almost as big as you, and has bigger claws and teeth.”
“Will he recognize our language?”
“He may not know much of it. If he doesn't, concentrate on reading his Path.” Logan walked into the interrogation room.
After taking a few deep breaths, I followed. Concentrate on the Path. Easier said than done.
We entered the room. The sphinx stopped pacing and sat down in one corner of the room. His agitation was evident by the twitching of his tail. Logan sat in one of the chairs and I followed suit.
“I'm sorry you got wrapped up in the mess,” Logan started. “We're working on a way to get you home.”
The tail slowed for a moment. At least he could understand Logan. Logan smiled his infectious smile. I folded my hands on the table in front of me, trying to feel at ease in the room.
“Can you give us your name?” Logan asked.
The sphinx stood up and started pacing once again.
“We need something to call you by. We could call you kid.”
I winced. Most young people did not like to be called kid. The sphinx was no different; his tail started to swing faster.
“We are trying to help you,” Logan said.
The sphinx pawed at the ground and sat back down. His face scrunched up. He looked much younger than I first thought.
“Iuput,” the sphinx said at last.
“It's nice to meet you, Iuput. The men you met out in the woods, they were bad men. They shouldn't have done what they did.”
Iuput looked like he was going to cry. I breathed deeply a few times and did what I could to help the situation. I pulled on a feeling of safety and trust. Once that feeling welled up inside me, I let it pour through the room. I blinked a few times. The feeling filled the room. I could feel it stretch past the walls. The influence had never been so wide spread before. Another side effect, but it did the trick. The sphinx's tail stopped twitching.
“What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon, and three feet in the evening?” Iuput asked.
Thankfully, Logan provided the warning against answering a riddle. The answer, man, was on the tip of my tongue, ready to spill out.
Instead, we waited. We sat in silence, ignoring the riddle that Iuput gave us.
Iuput pawed the ground a few times. He began to speak. Unfortunately, I had no idea what he said. Logan nodded and made encouraging sounds. Since I couldn't understand him, I concentrated on the Path instead, letting a trickle of power through. The room grew a little brighter. It was closer to how the Path had looked before I met Vincent.
Logan and the sphinx continued their conversation. The calming effect I produced swirled around the room. The sphinx produced similar shades of blues and yellows. Logan's Path was the usual blank slate. It would take more power to see his Path.
The sphinx stood and came over to Logan. Logan took his paw in a sort of handshake. I beamed. I wasn't sure what happened, but I thought it was a good sign. Logan led the sphinx out. After giving Iuput a short tour of the office, Logan led him upstairs.
Vincent joined me in the control room. I beamed. Vincent's blank face loosened into a brief look of happiness. Before I could say anything, Logan joined us.
“We had a good talk with Iuput. The men appeared in the sphinx world. They went through the portal, found him, shot him, and he woke up here.”
My good mood drained away. “Iuput seemed to understand English. He even gave his riddle in English. Does he know if the kidnappers said anything?”
Logan shook his head. “Not a word. The kid was out before he knew what happened. He did say there were three men, not two.”
“No one else was found in the area,” Vincent said. “The second team finished their sweep. The satellite showed only two men and the sphinx.”
“They left a third man in the other world?” I asked.
“Hank said something else showed on the images.” Vincent said. “It was moving too fast to be a person and it was well away from the others. We assume it was some sort of animal; a deer or something.”
“Let's take a look,” Logan said.
Chapter 17
We went over to the main consoles in the room. Large displays filled the wall. The night tech brought up the recorded images. We could clearly see the bright energy as the portal snapped closed. Two men dragged a body behind them. In the far corner, an image flashed out of sight. It appeared to be an animal, as Hank suggested.
We watched the images again, slower. Nothing new was revealed.
Logan yawned and stretched. “It's almost morning. I think we call it for the day.”
“Is there someone else who can talk to Iuput?” I asked.
“Someone's coming in. The kid knows a few languages. Hank found someone from the city that's going to help us out.”
“Another agent?” I asked.
“Ex-agent. He runs MyTH now,” Logan replied.
MyTH is a non-profit that works with Lost. It advocates for those who need it. It would have been interesting to meet the man, but the reminder that the next day was getting started made me realize my exhaustion. Too many late nights and not enough sleep. Getting back on a regular sleeping schedule seemed impossible at this point.
As the three of us made our way home, the sun broke over the horizon.
I was surprised to find Rider crashed out on the couch. He woke up as we entered. Logan gave me a look and went to talk to Gran in the kitchen. Vincent frowned and immediately headed upstairs. I watched him go before turning to Rider.
At first, I was puzzled as to why he was there, and then I remembered that he kept an eye on Gran for me.
Rider beamed at me. He was definitely a morning person. I apologized and thanked him for watching over Gran. We chatted for a bit. I yawned and Rider decided it was time to leave and let me sleep.
When I entered the kitchen, Logan was already gone.
“Is it weird that Vincent's staying with us?” I asked her.
“In the beginnin’, I think it was a necessity, but he wants to fix up his mistake,” Gran said. “You should eat something before you head to bed. You look worn out, but I bet you haven't eaten all night.”
Gran gave me a plate of warm toast and eggs. She joined me with a plate of her own.
“Vincent thinks meditating might help.” I yawned.
“It might be nice if you two meditated together.”
I raised an eye at her. “Do you think it will help me get my power under control?”
“I can't say for sure, but it wouldn't hurt to try.”
Sleep that day didn’t last as long as I would have liked. When I woke up later that day, Vincent was waiting for me in the living room. His stoic face gave a hint of a smile.
“Is Gran around?” I asked.
“She went out.”
“Did work call?” I asked.
“I talked to Logan a few minutes ago. Hank said that
Seth, the man we caught, isn't awake. He also said they couldn't find anything on him in the system.”
“He didn't have any identification on him?”
“We think he's a professional kidnapper, but he has no record. For now, we should return our attention to you.”
“To me?” I asked.
“We need to start meditation.”
I took a deep breath. “We've been putting off meditation for work, but I guess there's nothing standing in the way now. Let's get this mess fixed.”
Vincent's hint of a smile disappeared. His eyes tightened slightly. “This may not do anything to help.”
“At least it may help me get my power under control. I need to be useful in the field again. I've had limited success in the past few days. If I only use a trickle of power at a time, I can manage to read and affect the Path.”
“Are you able to do that all the time?”
I shook my head. “The slightest distraction makes things spin out of control. It feels... It feels like I'm drowning.”
“Have you told anyone at the office about this change?”
“Only you and Logan know,” I admitted, “and Gran of course. Do you think I should let them know?”
“No.” Vincent's voice was sharper than I thought necessary. “I don't suggest telling them anything about what you are capable of.”
I nodded thoughtfully. “Let's give meditation a try.”
We found comfortable positions on the floor facing each other. I looked at Vincent and immediately closed my eyes. Once again, I became aware of the fact that we were entirely alone. It wasn’t an uncomfortable realization.
Vincent led me through the meditation. At first, I struggled to empty my mind. I even opened my eyes a few times to see if Vincent had his eyes closed as well.
He did. I sighed and closed my eyes again. I took a few deep steadying breaths. Thoughts of the case rose. The murder of the fairy, the kidnapping of the centaur I had never met, the troll, the sphinx. Having my soul ripped out.
My eyes popped open on the last thought.
“You're too anxious,” Vincent said. “Put thoughts of the case out of your head.”
“Easier said than done,” I mumbled.
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