AIR Series Box Set

by Amanda Booloodian

  Holding the sea turtle up at eye level, I looked at the glints of green and the intricate pattern on the shell. It's hard to believe that this little turtle could hold a soul, but then, Jin's necklace had been smaller and it had held the leprechaun. That small bit of power Jin was using had constantly renewed itself.

  It hadn't been his power, though. What if it had been his soul on the outside?

  "I have been looking for you." Rider was striding towards me.

  Looking up, I swallowed hard, thinking about what I had done earlier in the hall. Before Rider reached me, I scrambled to my feet. "I’m so sorry for what happened earlier."

  Rider stopped in front of me looking worried. "Is that why you are leaving?"

  "Logan thought I might need a break."

  "Do you need a break?"

  I ignored the question. "Gran says I need to stay."

  "That is settled then. She is not wrong." Rider picked up my bag and waited for me.

  "I really am sorry about earlier."

  Rider shrugged. "It was not you."

  "I wish I could believe that. So, is the team meeting?" We walked back to the room I was using, but without being in a rush to get there.

  "Not now. What is that in your hand?"

  "It's a present from Neil." I held it out for Rider to see.

  "It is a good carving."

  "I thought so too. What are we doing if we aren't meeting?"

  "Logan is speaking with Hank. Vincent is meeting with Taylor."

  "Oh, is Vincent okay?"

  Rider seemed to think about this for a minute. "Vincent is troubled and worried."

  "So normal?"

  "Yes."

  I grinned. "Well, Gran said I need to take him somewhere. When we get back, though, maybe we can see if the conference room is free."

  "I will find Sable and ask." Rider's words came out in a rush.

  "Thanks. You, uh, take your time." Rider and Sable? Good for him. "Vincent and I may need a while."

  After returning my bag, it was easy to find Vincent. I went to the clinic and knocked on a few doors before someone answered in Taylor's office. Behind the door, Taylor looked harassed, and Vincent showed traces of disapproval.

  "I can come back later," I said.

  "No," Taylor said the words too quickly. "Mr. Pironis and I have reached an impasse in our discussion. Would you like to see me?"

  "Vincent actually," I said. "Gran wants me to take him somewhere."

  "He's all yours." Taylor was practically throwing Vincent out the door.

  Vincent's mood didn't change after he followed me out.

  "Everything okay?" Realizing it was a stupid question, I was fast to clarify. "With you and Taylor I mean."

  "Yes." It was Vincent's only reply.

  "Okay." If he didn't want to tell me, I wasn't going to pry further.

  We walked outside and it was strange to see that the day was only getting started.

  "I thought you were taking time off," Vincent said, his voice staying level and unbothered.

  "That has to wait."

  That appeared to agitate Vincent more.

  "What's wrong?" I asked.

  "I don't think I said there was anything wrong," Vincent said.

  Moving around to the driver’s side of my car, I frowned at Vincent. "You don't have to say anything when you scowl at people."

  Vincent didn't immediately get into the car. "I do not scowl at people. At least not to anyone that you might notice." He settled into the seat and kept his eyes forward.

  "Since when does that bother you?"

  "Where are we going?" Vincent said, ignoring the question.

  I rolled my eyes and drove out onto the empty street. "Gran wants me to take you to see a Palm Reader I met a few days ago."

  "A few days ago we were in the wilderness."

  Gripping the steering wheel tighter, I worked to keep my voice steady. "I met the Palm Reader the day before I ran into you."

  "You should be taking time off. If Margaret had any idea what happened in the past week, she wouldn't have you on this errand."

  "Have you met my grandmother?" It wasn't even worth keeping my voice steady. "If she knows it's for the better that we do this, she's going to have us do it. Besides, why should I take time off? You've been right next to me the whole way, and you're at work."

  "I have not been next to you the whole case. It seems there are large chunks of information that no one has decided to fill me in on."

  I pulled off the road and into an almost empty parking lot. "What are you talking about?"

  "We should go to wherever you are taking me and get this meeting over with."

  "No." Either he wanted to start a fight or he really didn't want to be around me. "Not until you tell me what's going on. Everything was fine this morning."

  "Except it wasn't, was it? How could you not tell me you're taking in souls?"

  "Oh, for pity's sake. When should I have told you? When should any of us have told you?"

  "We spent three days wandering in the woods with not a lot to say."

  "Oh, right, one day after being kidnapped and-" I shuddered, but barreled on, "and everything. Yet, I'm supposed to think about all you might have missed in the past six months?"

  "This is different, Cass. What you're doing shouldn't-"

  "What I'm doing? Are you kidding me? Do you think I'm actively absorbing these things?"

  His fury might as well have been etched in stone and naked for the world to see. "Since I have no idea what's happening, how could I know one way or the other?" Oddly, for once, his eyes were crystal clear while he argued, no darkness crept in. "When you took the void in, you had to work hard to make that happen."

  "That one was different. I have no idea why, but I told you that night that it was playing well with all the others."

  "Was I supposed to guess based off that? That night, of all nights? There were other things on my mind."

  "You and I haven't worked alone on this case. If we had, I assure you, everyone would have made sure you knew. You were completely uninterested in anything else that might have happened since you left, why should we pinpoint this one, unless you needed to know?"

  "That's not fair. I was working while I was gone."

  "And the world stops because you're working? You're working so you can't call and let us know you've made it back?"

  "Amy was supposed to let you know." His voice held a burr that I would expect from Rider, not him.

  "Who the hell is Amy and why should she have told us? Why wouldn't she tell us if she was supposed to?"

  Vincent dropped back into his seat and stared out the window. "She's someone from my old office."

  "If she's with AIR, why wouldn't she have told us?"

  He let out an infuriated breath but didn't say anything.

  "Vincent, why wouldn't your office tell us? And did you call them?"

  He didn't say anything for a while, but when he spoke, it sounded like he was choosing his words carefully. "The night before I left, you and I had gotten close. I knew how I felt when I met you, but I assumed it was because of what I had done. It wasn't a feeling that I had expected you to reciprocate."

  His words broke apart some of the anger that had been building around us.

  When I prompted him to continue, the venom was gone from my voice. "What does that have to do with your office?"

  "Before I came here, Amy and I had gone out once or twice." His words were wary. "It was nothing serious, but it was a relationship of a sort. I wanted to call to end things appropriately with her before contacting you."

  What was I supposed to do with that? We weren't dating last fall, but we were definitely toeing that line. Then I thought about the whole thing together, then and now.

  "Did you tell her about me when you called?" I asked, pulling out a few more details.

  "I was honest with her." Vincent avoided looking at me.

  Should I be upset about this? I mean, yes, a part
of me hurt, and a part of me was angry, but did I have a right to be?

  Maybe. "Are you telling me that you asked your ex to call us and tell us you were back after you told her, what, that you wanted to see me?"

  Vincent didn't say anything.

  "That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard." My voice was a mixture of anger and laughter.

  He frowned. "Amy and I had barely seen each other. It was nothing serious, and we were both very clear on that up front."

  "Yeah, right. Judging from her reaction, I'm pretty sure you were clear, and she agreed."

  Once again, he didn't say anything for a while. "Is that what you did last night?"

  Well, I may as well tell him, right? "That's different. I'm seeing someone."

  "Oh." He looked like he was trying to think of what to say. "Is it serious?" His voice was flat, and for once, I was glad for that.

  "We haven’t seen each other long, but yes, it's getting serious."

  "That's good." It sounded like the last of his anger had slipped away. "You deserve to be happy."

  "I was happy with you."

  He finally looked at me again. "I'm sorry, Cass, but that can't happen."

  "So you said." I hurried on before he could read too much into that. "I'm good right now, though. I'm not sure how this got so turned around, but tell me why you're upset. I promise you that had you and I worked alone, you would have been told. I mean, once we actually started working together."

  "What difference does it make if we're working alone, together, or with Logan and Rider?" It sounded like he was struggling to keep the edge out of his voice again.

  "Together, Logan or Rider would have dealt with it if anything happened."

  "Dealt with it how?" Vincent asked.

  "I don't know. Tranquilizers seem to do the trick, although Neil figured out that anti-anxieties and heroin work well." I meant it to lighten the mood."

  "Christ, Cass, what are you letting people do to you?"

  I slumped back in my seat, tired of the whole thing, with Vincent, the job, everything. "You don't know what you're talking about. I was joking about Neil. He didn't know what else to do and being around Jin scared him."

  "That I understand at least. But if people are drugging you, then we have a problem."

  "Would you rather I hurt someone? They only had to tranq me the first time anyway. And before you suggest differently, they absolutely did the right thing. Not only did I attack them, but I also did it in public." I had attacked my partners. What the hell was wrong with me? I sniffed and tried not to tear up.

  "So they're not drugging you?"

  I looked out the window. "If they need to, they will. I've asked them to."

  "You can't let people do that to you."

  I glared at him. "We do what we do for a reason. You make it sound like I'm blindly going around and saying drug me, please." Flashes of Jin's doctor jabbing me with a needle flashed through my mind, but I clenched my eyes and drove it away. "It's not like a stranger on the street. It’s Logan and Rider. I trust them."

  "What do you think I would have done to them if they drugged you in the woods?"

  "Nothing!" I yelled. "Do you have any idea how furious I would be if you ever did anything to either of them?"

  "I have some idea, yes."

  "You're only aggravated because we didn't tell you right away."

  "Do you know how infuriating you are?"

  This was getting us nowhere. We were quiet for a while. I tried to see things from Vincent's point of view, but I got nowhere.

  "I shouldn't have said that." Vincent's words were grudgingly said, at best.

  "I'm sure you're not wrong."

  "Huh." The response was sarcastic, but I guess that was better than him being so angry.

  I took a few meditative breaths. "Is this really what you're upset about?"

  We sat in silence. After two minutes, I let out an exasperated sigh, which turned out sadder than I intended, and started the car again.

  "I've made things worse again," Vincent's voice was monotone.

  "Because we argued?" I asked, leaning back in the seat again.

  "No, although I'm sure that doesn't help matters. Cole is tearing apart souls because of what I told him, and now, I see what it's doing to you."

  I turned that over in my head before I responded. "You're not accountable for what he does. You have to know that."

  "It's not only that." The corners of Vincent's eyes and mouth tightened and his voice dropped. "I let Jin meet you. It never should have happened."

  "I was there to find Jin. He would have met me with or without you."

  "He wouldn't have taken you and used you the way he did."

  I really wanted to tell Vincent to stop talking about it, but he obviously needed to. Instead, I ignored my instinctive reply and took his hand. "I've done the same thing, blamed myself for tracking you down, knowing that neither of us would have been caught if I hadn't."

  Vincent squeezed my hand hard. "You know that's not-"

  "My fault? It's no more my fault than it is yours."

  While the minutes ticked by, he held onto my hand like a life preserver.

  Eventually, he put his other hand over mine and held tight. "I keep wanting to ask you if you're alright, but it's a stupid question."

  "I don't think either of us is okay." I thought about that, trying to find a way to soften the sentiment. "But I think we will be." It would be so easy to sit like this with Vincent all day, but that wouldn't be right or fair for either of us. "What do we do now?"

  "Now?" Vincent appeared to think about the question. "I should apologize for not calling, for getting angry, and for about half the things I said."

  "Only half?"

  The corners of Vincent's mouth twitched up. "Fair enough. Almost everything."

  "That sounds better."

  "And you?" Vincent asked, relaxing.

  "Me? No, I'm pretty sure I meant everything I said." The whole atmosphere felt lighter, and it was easier to tease.

  "Did you call me stupid?" Vincent took one hand off mine and loosened his grip with his other hand.

  He was leaving it up to me if I wanted to take my hand away. "No, I said what you did was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I could get second opinions, but things don't look good for you there."

  "You're probably right." Vincent looked less weighed down.

  Smiling, I pressed my hand more firmly against his. "I don't think I said it before, but I'm glad you're back." Then, somewhat reluctantly, I let go and looked around. The day had run away from us.

  "Next time, I'll call."

  "Promise you will, no matter what?"

  "I promise."

  "I'm holding you to that."

  I had forgotten how long the drive was, but we had plenty to talk about. By some unspoken agreement, we avoided any topic that was too serious. We talked about Rider, Gran, Logan and his kids, and a few other people from the office. It felt good to take a step back and think about other things. Sometimes, it was hard to remember that life existed outside of work. Moments like these helped.

  Chapter 33

  We found a parking spot about a half block away from our destination.

  "Did Margaret say what we need to do here?" Vincent asked, getting out of the car.

  "No, but I had my palm read last time, and I think the woman’s authentic."

  "I didn't know there was such a thing." Vincent held the door open for me.

  I lowered my voice as the sunlight was cut off. "Neil seems to think that everything exists somewhere."

  "I'm not sure I like that kid."

  "He's not so bad," I said. "He's young and seems lost, but he's a good person at heart."

  "So, I should get a reading?" Vincent asked.

  "Maybe. She also sells the same jewelry that Jin was using." Seeing the look on Vincent's face, I hurried to add details. "It's empty, though. Nothing in there."

  "Good day," said someone helping
another customer. "If you have an appointment with Fatima Jain, the Palm Reader, she will be with you shortly."

  "Thank you," I said.

  "There's so much stuff in here," Vincent said, keeping his voice low. "How did you find anything?"

  "It's at the front counter." I led the way and squatted down to look at the shelves. "I bought a few of them at random and they were all empty."

  There was no response. When I looked around, I saw that Vincent was standing, looking behind the counter, instead of the case.

  I saw that he was focusing on the photos on the wall.

  "What is it?" I asked. When I looked back at Vincent, his eyes were flat black. "Vincent?" I couldn't keep the worry out of my voice.

  "It's Cole." His voice could drop the temperature. "We're leaving now."

  I looked at the picture of Fatima and her fiancé and then left the store.

  Back in the car, I sat there, not wanting to believe it.

  "We need to go," Vincent said.

  Noting that his eyes remained flat black, I sighed and drove off.

  "She was so nice," I said. "I don't want to believe it's him."

  "Who is she?"

  "Fatima, the Palm Reader. The way she talked about him, I know she loves him." I sniffed. "Her family had finally given them permission to get married."

  "She might be a good person, but that is definitely Cole, and we know he isn't."

  "How could she not know what he's doing?"

  "You know what I do, and you continue to work with me."

  My mouth fell open and I looked at him. "Are you serious? You are nothing like him."

  "You don't-"

  I saw the signs that he was going to argue with me, so I cut him off. "If you dare try to start an argument with me again, especially about this, I'm going to douse you with honey and leave you in a pixie field until the case is over."

  He opened his mouth and shut it again. Shaking his head, he tried again.

  "You heard me," I said. "You are nothing like him. There's no way you would kill for money or power or whatever kick he's getting from this."

  When I next looked over, Vincent's eyes were mostly back to normal, so I relaxed. Back at the office, we met with everyone in the conference room.

  "He is seeing the Palm Reader, and we know where she is. It should be easy to find him," Rider said.