Neil made a subtle gesture to someone who melded into the party. Neil’s dealer wasn't my target, so I ignored it. A man, maybe in his mid-thirties, drew my eye. Well, not him, but his Path was interesting to watch. It was amazingly clean; he was covered in a shimmering yellow, with no traces of any other color. I'd never seen anything like it from a human.
Stepping away, I found a place where I could watch him without being as obvious.
"Neil, do you know that man?" I asked.
"Sure, man, that's Indian Dude," Neil said without looking.
"Indian Dude? As in, he's from India? You can't call him that. Does he have a real name?"
"Everyone has a real name. It's not always best to know them." Neil bounced to a throbbing base, looking as though he wasn't paying the least bit of attention to me.
"What does he do?" I asked.
"You ask questions that I won't give answers to."
"So he's a dealer?" I said softly.
A flicker of annoyance crossed Neil's face. "Luckiest man in the world. That's what he is. I've seen cops walk right past him to snag someone else. He gets the high payers too."
"Interesting," I said under my breath, lost in thought as I watched him.
A person approached and the dealer's Path welcomed the person in. The shimmering current parted and curled around the newcomer as though giving a welcomed hello.
"Look," Neil said, "I'm getting too sober. If I go find a guy, can you keep yourself out of trouble?"
"Sure," I looked away but kept the Path in my periphery.
"You can't sit here and watch people while doing nothing." Neil passed me a cigarette and a joint. "Smoke one or the other, I don't care which. I'll be a few minutes."
The glassy look in Neil's his eyes faded. Along with his speech changing, he looked more aware of what was around him.
It was the wrong place to ask, but I did anyway. "Why don't you ever stay sober?"
Neil dropped his gaze and ran his hands through his hair.
He looked uncomfortable. "There's only so much anyone should think. Light one of those, I'll be back." He walked into the crowd. Someone instantly sidled up beside him, and the party swallowed them up.
Choosing to keep myself as drug-free as possible, I chose the cigarette. I tried not to cringe at the taste.
People might think that watching one man should be easy, but trying to be stealthy about it was harder than it looked, and I wasn't doing the best job of it. At least the man wasn't moving around.
"Since when do you smoke?" Vincent stepped into my line of sight.
I had been concentrating so hard on my target's Path that I had missed him come up.
I pointedly took another drag. "Why do you care?"
"Cassie-"
Looking around quickly I said, "It's Heather, least you could do is remember my name." It was said louder than necessary in case someone heard my real name.
"Right," he said quietly, "Heather. I'm Will by the way."
"Lovely." I rolled my eyes and tried to look around him. "Well, Will, I'm a little busy here. Besides, I don't hang out with idiots who don't understand the concept of a phone."
He sighed and shifted a little to the side. My target was back in my line of sight, and it looked like I was looking at Vincent.
Someone else approached the man, but instead of the Path welcoming this person, it turned them away. The Path urged the approaching person a few steps to the right where they tripped and fell. When he got up, the newcomer looked confused and walked off.
"Look," I hissed, "it's not the time or the place for a reunion." I was trying to wrap my brain around what I had seen. People and objects affect the Path, not the other way around. Was the dealer even human to have a Path move around him like a sentient being?
"I agree, but you forced my hand."
"Forced your hand?" I blushed thinking of the man Vincent had taken down. "Whatever. You did your rescue thing, now run along."
"If that's really what you want."
"What I wanted was a call, at least to let me know you were safe. Don't worry though. Mutual friends will be in touch."
"Mutual friends? You're not doing this on your own?" he asked.
"Of course not." I jabbed the cigarette into an ashtray harder than necessary.
"They sent you in here?" He struggled to keep his voice low. "Into this?" Vincent's blank mask broke and I saw tiny hints of emotion. His forehead creased and his eyes narrowed as he looked around the room, as though expecting to see Logan or Rider in the crowd.
Ignoring my target, I turned to Vincent. "How long have you been back?" Trying to keep my voice low was a struggle.
His only response was to glare harder.
"They aren't here. How long?" I demanded.
"Dudes." Neil approached walking stiffly and looking around. "Chill the hostility. This is a place of party, man."
"Back off," Vincent said.
"I told you, he's with me," I said.
"Have they lost their minds?" Vincent's muscles tensed. "You've always been reckless enough, but you had someone to rein you in."
I could feel my face reddening. The anger was drawing up a rage that I knew I couldn't control.
The black in Vincent's eyes began to grow. A sure sign of his anger. "By the number of bruises you have, I figured you stepped into this on your own."
Feelings of the minotaur rushed forward, trying to take control. "You have no right—"
Vincent's voice lowered and he leaned in. "That elf made me a promise."
"Look, dude," Neil interrupted, "I'm not sure what's going on, but you need to mellow and back off."
"You're right." Vincent took a step back. The shadows in his eyes were the only indication of anger. "You won't see me again."
My anger was doused with cold fear and the piece of soul that had reared up fell into the pool of others. "Are you serious?"
Vincent's face was pure indifference.
"I..." What could I say? I scanned his face for any traces of emotion. There was a time when I could read him effortlessly.
Apparently, that time had passed.
Chapter 21
"Tell me, Will, who is your friend?" The man with the interesting Path had approached while my attention was on Vincent.
I caught a flash of fear in Vincent's eyes. Maybe I could learn to read him again.
"She's no one." Vincent's voice was as deadpan as his face.
My stomach churned at Vincent's words.
"Nonsense! It's fantastic to know that you are capable of having a friend. Even one that responds to you with such fiery spirit." The interloper had the calm look of someone who feared nothing. The strange Path around him was actively trying to push Vincent and me away, but it was ambivalent towards Neil.
Vincent's Path cut through like a knife. My own Path responded with brute pressure. I was a Reader, dammit, and there were no Paths that could turn me away.
"I am Jinendra, but you can call me Jin." Jin had a thick accent. He spread his arms out wide when he spoke as if trying to draw us all in. His Path persisted in doing the opposite.
"Jin," Vincent said, "this is Heather and her friend..." Vincent looked blankly at Neil who watched the party. "This is Heather. We knew each other briefly last fall."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Heather. Perhaps we will do business in the future. Any friend of Will's is a friend of mine." He turned to Vincent. "I have one last trade, and then we must leave." When he walked off, Vincent went to follow him, but I put a hand on his arm.
When Jin was out of hearing distance, I moved closer and kept my voice low. "I don't know your involvement here, but the others think you're a suspect. This looks bad." I'm not sure I could handle it if Logan and Rider were right about Vincent's role.
Vincent leaned so close that I could feel his breath. "And you?"
"Up until a few hours ago, I thought you wouldn't make me wait months to learn you were alive. You can't ask me to guess about this."
"No one knew, and now you're here." I gestured to the mass of people.
"That's not-" He looked around. "Even if I'm not the one doing this, it doesn't mean I'm not to blame. Go home and stay safe."
"You know I won't do that." Lost were being killed, there was no way I could leave.
"Even though that's who they sent you here with?" He gestured to Neil who was nervously hovering nearby.
"He's harmless."
"That's the problem."
Responding would probably only make things worse at this point. There was no way to tell him everything we were doing, or everything that I wanted to say.
Moments of silence slowly slid by before Vincent broke it. "I wish I could say I'd call."
"I'm not sure I would believe you if you did. We'll see each other, though. Soon." I emphasized the last word. In this case, we were moving towards the same spot. It would have been a comfort to know if he would be on my side when we reached that point.
Vincent took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
A white hot fire of energy bolted through me and Vincent. The small piece of my soul that he carried merged us together. The turmoil of emotion that his appearance brought felt magnified.
My heart raced. I grabbed the edge of the table and jerked myself away from Vincent. Every single spark of soul surged, clamoring, racing, and fighting to move to the forefront.
"What's wrong?" Vincent went to reach for me again, but I backed away.
The chaos inside became a struggle, and trying to grab hold of it was like trying to stop a tornado. My concentration needed to be inward, not with Vincent. Who knew what was inside me, ready to take over?
"Shit." Neil's scared voice came from next to me. "You're you, right? Man, you gotta be you."
"I'm me." The last thing I wanted was for Neil to think I couldn't keep myself together.
"Okay, so like, you got all upset right?" Neil tore through his pockets.
"Does it matter?" I snapped.
"Right." Neil opened a bottle of water and dumped a fine powder into the bottle. "So like, drink this. Fast."
I hesitated and tried to think this over, which caused my attention to waver. A large, dark, chunk of soul detached itself from the rest and tried to take over. A promise of ancient power and control came with it.
But I had power, and I was determined to gain my own control.
"It's all we can do here." Neil's voice was pleading as he put a water bottle in my hand.
"Sure," I mumbled and drank.
"What the hell, Cass?" Vincent's words were an acrid whisper.
"Shit, man, he looks ticked." Neil moved closer to me. "We gotta get out of here."
Before Neil could go anywhere, Vincent grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him up, nearly lifting him off the floor.
"What's wrong with her?" Vincent's voice was low.
I tugged on Neil's shirt. "Doesn't matter. Drop him, we have to go." When Vincent didn't move, I lowered my voice. "You are a distraction that I can't handle right now. Let. Him. Go." A twinge of guilt followed the harshness of my voice.
But it worked. Vincent let go and stepped back. Neil wasted no time dragging me out of the party.
My heart clinched when I reached the frigid night air outside. Once again, Vincent and I parted ways without saying goodbye.
Neil passed a ticket to the valet, my muscles relaxed and more importantly, the clamoring began to slow. My own soul fragments began to move forward while the intruders began to swirl before settling.
Contentment rolled over me like fog, and Pat's car drove up.
Finally able to pay attention to the world around me, I nestled into the seat. "Hmmm." The pleased sigh came with a smile that I don't think could be pried from my face.
"Is it working? It sounds like it's working. How do you feel?"
"Hmmm, I feel... good." Streetlights flickered past. "Where are we going?"
"I don't know what the hell happened in there, but I think it's time to take a step back."
"Take a step back?" My voice came out in a drunken slur.
"Those were some bad dudes. Whatever you needed, I hope you got it, because we can't go back."
Sweat began to pour off me. "Right, take a step back."
Vincent, I thought. He's here, he's alive.
Lights became brighter, or maybe there were more of them as we drove across the city. I watched the skyscraper-sized hospitals blur by us.
"Are we going to the office?" I asked.
"Dude, Taylor is going to kill me for tonight. Unless your partners get there first."
I laughed but covered my mouth to stifle the flow.
Neil gave me a worried look. "I'm not sure they'd be wrong after giving you those pills, but man, it was go with the flow right? I did what I had to do."
"Right." I tried to put on a serious face, and follow what Neil was saying, but the words weren't sinking in.
"It was necessary. They can't fault me for that, right?"
"Right," I repeated, sinking further into the soft leather.
Neil’s anxiety levels were ratcheting up, but it flowed over me.
"Yeah, but the party was intense, man. Besides, Taylor said your own partners had to tranq you in the past."
I nodded and closed my eyes.
"So we agree," he said. "Okay, we can do this. Stand united and all that shit."
"Uh huh." Some of Neil's words finally worked their way through my euphoria. "What are you talking about?"
"I had to chill things out." Neil's concentration on the road was intense. "So I thought some pams would to the trick."
I laughed again. "I have no idea what that is."
"Anti-anxiety. Doctors prescribe it. It's all good."
I went back to staring at the lights.
"And the, uh, amount of heroin in the pills was minuscule. And it worked. I mean we left the party, you're all chill, and no more trouble."
"Heroin?" I repeated.
"I've seen trouble with Indian Dude," Neil continued. "Trouble rolls off him like oil, only to land on everyone around him, and you looked ready to lose your shit. We had to get out of there."
"So, I'm on heroin?" It sounded really bad, but with the drug coursing through me, I couldn't make myself get worked up over it.
"So we're good right? Stay united?"
The intensity of my feel good mood began to gradually fall. "Sure."
When Neil parked the car, I opened the door and let my legs swing outside, but I had no interest in getting up. The cool air soaked into my skin and I became enamored with the sharp clouds that my breath made in the air.
Neil came around and leaned on the car door. "Maybe we should have driven around more. You look like you're flying way too high."
Somewhere in the dark, I heard a car door slam shut. My legs bounced and I looked around, expecting to find that Vincent had followed us. It wasn't until I saw Logan that I remembered we'd been nearby all night.
"Did you see him?" I asked Logan.
Rider appeared and wrinkled his nose. "What is that?"
"What's what?" Neil asked running his hand through his hair.
"That smell. All the smells." Rider covered his nose.
"Always the gentleman," I said. "Did you see him?"
"Let's get inside," Logan said.
"But it's so comfortable here," I argued.
Neil stepped back. "Maybe I should get back. Take Pat's car to her and make sure everything is good at the party."
"No." My voice was sharper than I intended. "I know you saw him. You're coming with us." My mind tried to twist that around. I'm pretty sure I wanted to stay outside, but we needed to talk. In the end, the need to talk outweighed everything.
Taylor met us in the hall and looked Neil and me over. "What did you take?"
When I didn't say anything, Taylor turned to Neil.
Neil tried to be noncommittal. "Nothing much."
/> "Time to sober up," Taylor said.
"Past time," Neil agreed.
Taylor looked taken aback.
Standing was taking way more effort than it was worth, so I meandered down the hall, knowing that the chairs in the conference room wouldn't be too far away.
Taylor sighed. "Grab some water for both of you, and then I need the names. Everything. Cassie, let's go to the infirmary for a while."
"No way, we have to go over stuff." I looked up and down the halls trying to find a familiar door. "Besides, I feel great. Conference room?"
It looked like he was going to argue, but decided against us. Instead, he led the way.
This time, I didn't mind taking the seat closest to the door. I fell into the chair and let it swing back and forth, then, leaning far back, I stared at the ceiling while everyone settled in. As soon as Neil sat the water bottle in front of me, I snatched it up, thanked him, and drank half the bottle.
"What did you all take?" Taylor asked again.
"Look, man, she was drawing attention to us. It was like... intense. It was intense enough for Indian Dude to come over."
"Jin," I corrected.
"I shouldn't know his name." Neil leaned in, put his elbows on the table, and rubbed his temples. "I should walk around unnoticed. Once dealers notice you, bad shit happens."
"We're in the dark," Logan said.
"So we split up at the party, but I kept an eye on her. I watched her to make sure she was okay, but then, all of a sudden, she wasn't okay. She wandered into someone doing X. She reacted like a champ, but it was the other scary dude that saved the day. I'm pretty sure he killed the dude on X."
I rolled my eyes. "He didn't kill him, only knocked him out."
"Are you okay?" Rider asked.
I waved my hand towards Neil to change Rider's focus.
"Where were you?" Logan asked Neil.
"I was on my way over there. Nothing would have happened, I swear. The scary dude beat me to it. At that point, I thought that we needed to check out of this place and bounce. I stuck to her for a while, but then she started eying the dealers. Not just any dealers, though, Indian Dude—"
"Jin," I corrected again.
"Whatever," Neil said. "Point is, I stepped away for a minute to pull myself together, and when I came back, she was fighting with the scary dude who saved her. He looked ticked off, too. I thought things might get rough. Everyone was noticing, but they kept arguing. And that dude runs with Indian Dude."
AIR Series Box Set Page 50
