AIR Series Box Set

by Amanda Booloodian

  "I think something was here," I said. Looking into the hole, I could see the palest of gray leading inside. I stood up and scanned the area for evidence of what had made the marks. "But it doesn't make much sense."

  "Is something buried down there?" Ethan asked.

  I looked at the Path leading away from the hole, seeing that the gray grew darker. The sight of it made my stomach clench. Closing my eyes, I pressed the Path away. The shimmering colors melted away leaving the dullness of the real world behind.

  "Um…" I looked at Logan, unsure of what to say in front of Ethan.

  "Why are you standing in a graveyard?" Rider’s voice came from close by.

  I looked up, thankful for the distraction. My best friend and sometimes partner was standing well away, looking uncomfortable.

  "It's a construction site," I said. "They could be digging holes for buildings."

  "Ethan," Logan said, "I'd like you to meet our colleagues. You've met Rider, and that fella over there is Vincent."

  Oh shit. That single thought filled my brain for a few moments before I plastered a smile on my face and moved toward the group. Vincent was the man that had wrecked my soul. It had been an accident, and he had only been doing his job. Now we partnered up together from time to time while he tried to figure out how to fix what he had broken.

  Not that I held any of that against him. The oh shit sentiment had more to do with Ethan and Vincent meeting. Ethan had no idea that Vincent and I had almost dated. Vincent, however, knew about Ethan. To know was one thing, to see it may be altogether different.

  Since Vincent was an agency-sanctioned assassin, I had been hoping to keep the two apart.

  Vincent's eyes were tight when they were introduced, but when Ethan put out his hand to shake, Vincent didn’t avoid it. The moment their hands touched, fury and misery slashed across the landscape. Even without opening the Path, the strength of the emotions felt suffocating.

  Vincent and I almost became a couple, and it wasn't fair that he still felt this way. We resonated together like nothing I had experienced before, but before we came together, he had pushed me away and decided that we wouldn't see each other.

  This was his choice.

  Then Vincent took a step back from Ethan and watched me. I could see the concern lining his face and the feeling began to lift. He must have bottled up his feelings again.

  Rider watched his partner carefully. Besides me, he was probably the only other person that noticed. As a werewolf, sometimes he could sniff out things like that.

  Ethan looked from Vincent to me. Maybe Rider wasn't the only one that noticed.

  "Let's saddle up and get this show on the road," Logan said. "Cassie, what do you have for us?"

  I looked at Logan, confused for a moment as my worlds collided. "Right. There was definitely something in this area. No idea what it was. I'd have to follow it to see if it's related at all."

  Logan raised his eyebrows at my succinct wrap-up. "Anything more specific?"

  My partner wasn't going to let me skate by on this one.

  "I've never seen anything like it. The Path leads away from the hole, but I don't see anything leading to it beyond the police, crewmen, and us. I'm hoping Rider can help us out further," I said.

  Rider's nose flared. "There are workers, policemen, and objects. Workers for days, over and over again."

  "Can you tell if there was anyone out here last night?" I asked.

  Rider began to walk carefully over the area. His nose wrinkled by the hole. "Your smells are most recent. Several humans from earlier this morning. Yesterday, late day, there were people as well. In between, I can sense nothing else. There were objects only."

  "Do we know when the victim died?" Logan asked.

  Ethan shook his head. "We assume it was sometime last night. With the remains being the way they are, we can't know for sure at this time."

  "Do we have anything that links this site to the death?" Logan asked.

  I shook my head. "I can follow what I see here. I won't know until then."

  "Then let's check out the crime scene we know we have so the lieutenant can get moving on this," Logan said. "Rider, we need you up there. Ethan and I can stay with Cassie."

  "I'd like to, but I need to be at the crime scene since I brought you all in." Ethan didn't look happy saying no.

  "Alright, Vincent, you're with Cassie," Logan said.

  The fact that I needed a babysitter at all pissed me off to no end.

  I gritted my teeth in frustration and walked back over to the scattered rebar. The faster I started, the faster I could get back to the real crime scene. I could hear the others walking away as I closed my eyes to reach for the Path.

  Again, there was a struggle. I was used to the Path fighting me, but this was altogether different.

  "You appear to be having more difficulty than usual," Vincent said, keeping his tone even.

  "It's fine," I said, urging my mind to make the jump.

  Finally, the Path locked into place. I let out a breath that I didn't realize I had been holding. My eyes opened to the scene similar to the one earlier. Vincent's released agitation marred the Path with black and red that seemed to resist the flow of the energy, but it was nothing that wouldn't smooth over with time.

  "What are we looking at?" Vincent asked.

  "I'm not really sure. Something came out of this hole. It may not even be related."

  "An animal?"

  "I don't think so. The Path starts out almost non-existent. It's like a gray puff of smoke, but with something else wrapped around inside."

  "Starts that way?"

  "Yeah." I began to follow next to the Path. "It starts to get darker as it moves away."

  "What leaves a gray Path?" Vincent asked.

  "Anything can leave gray. It's the stuff threaded throughout that is more interesting."

  "How so?"

  "All Paths left behind are distinct, but if I followed Rider's Path, it would shift and move as Rider does. With his moods and actions. This..." Finding the words to describe what I was seeing was a struggle. "This is something I haven't seen before. The colors look like they are actively covered up by the main Path."

  Vincent was silent and I started to lose track of time. We followed the trail as it wove through clumps of trees. We continued to move through some of the buildings under construction.

  "It's starting to turn almost black," I said, "and the lines of colors are more distinct."

  I reached out to touch the Path, intrigued by the twists of color, but hesitated. I'm not sure I wanted that strong of a connection with what I was following.

  "Tell me about the lines of color," Vincent said, keeping his voice light, almost soothing, as if we were meditating.

  "It's like a cobweb of reflected color threaded throughout the center of this Path. At least, I think it's only the center. It twists and moves as if the gray is trying to drown the color."

  "Here," I gestured to an area invisible to anyone but myself, "it's actually almost entirely black at this point." Once again, I reached out to the color, but paused short of making a connection.

  "I think this is related to our crime scene," Vincent said.

  "Is it?" I asked, watching the swirls of black glitter overtake a vivid string of teal engulfing it. That color was gone, but a brilliant blue made its move to break away, only to be absorbed again.

  "We're almost to the others."

  "It's like the other colors are trying to escape. Maybe if I put some more power into it—"

  "No." The words came out like an order.

  "Did you by some stretch of the imagination think that I was asking for permission in any way?" I asked. I was only half paying attention. The swirling river of the Path held too much interest.

  "Cass, what’s going on?" Vincent asked.

  "That’s what I’m trying to figure out." I moved on. I was starting to feel light-headed. Something inside of me wanted to call out to those little threads. I'm not
sure if I wanted to join with them or take them away.

  I started to feel like I was floating. Maybe flowing away on the river of the Path.

  A hand clasped my shoulder. My shoulders dropped. Time to come back to earth.

  Looking ahead, I could see a turbulent mass. "What's that?"

  I started to move forward, but another Path moved in and blocked my way.

  "Cass, time to come back."

  Those swirls and curls of color stretched away from the inky cloud and became more vivid. They seemed to call to me.

  "Cass?"

  Chapter 3

  "Right," I said, trying to look away. There was almost a pulse to the cloud. I reached out again, but something blocked my hand. "Sure, coming back."

  When I closed my eyes, the Path was almost as vivid as it was with them open. Still, it helped me concentrate. I could hear someone talking, but I shut it out. The Path fought. It wanted to be seen. Those little strips of color wanted recognition. The dam I built up to stop the flood of power strained. Emotions boiled up around me, making me feel smothered.

  "Not helping," I muttered. Or at least I think I did.

  Another hand settled on my arm. I looked up and Rider loomed next to me. No matter where I was in the Path, it seemed like he could follow me. His own Path shifted from instinctive animal to intelligent person, which was beautiful to see.

  "You are taking your time," Rider said.

  "Do you see it?" I asked him. I had never asked him what he saw when I was in the Path, but I know that it affected him in some way.

  He shook his head. "Others are worried."

  "I'm trying," I said, getting aggravated.

  "Maybe we should move away," Rider suggested.

  I glanced at the black mist. "Maybe," I said with reluctance.

  He kept a firm grip of my arm as we walked away. The lure from the Path behind me caused me to look over my shoulder a few times.

  "Is it easier now?" Rider asked.

  When I took another step, my world lurched. Exhaustion poured over me like bags of sand. I wanted to close my eyes and sleep, right then and there, but other things started clamoring around my skull. Like unruly children, shards of souls rushed forward.

  "Not now," I muttered, driving them back. The last thing I needed was to have the soul shard of a raging minotaur mucking up my day.

  The Path, the soul shards, the exhaustion, everything. I shoved it down. I blinked in the dull light of the world and swayed.

  Rider steadied me.

  "I'll be good in a minute," I murmured, hoping that only Rider could hear. "This is embarrassing."

  He looked puzzled. "You have done nothing wrong."

  I shook my head. How could I explain? My own powers were betraying me. Even now, I wanted to see the swirling black mass. I’d had a hard time opening the Path, and had an even more difficult time forcing it away.

  Looking back at Logan and the others, I found my partner trying to keep Ethan's attention. Vincent was nowhere in sight.

  "I hope the others feel the same way you do," I said. "Where did Vincent go?"

  "I think he was worried that he might have been making things more difficult."

  "That may be my fault because I think I said something I shouldn’t have. I don’t think it was him, but he’ll blame himself. Will you keep an eye on him for me? Make sure he's okay?"

  Rider smiled. "He is my partner. I will look out for him."

  "What did you all find?"

  His smile died. "It is a horrible sight. Ethan is having it cleaned up now."

  I nodded. "That's good. Did you get anything from the area?"

  "I found nothing. The man was torn apart by nothing and then part of him left. Logan has called it in to Hank."

  "What?"

  "I smell no other person. No human, no Lost. Only objects."

  "But you said the man left."

  "Logan said that it might be because of the bones. His bones left."

  I shivered at the thought.

  "They are finishing their conversation. Should we join them?" Rider asked.

  "I think so."

  I began to lose balance after only a few steps. My body was worn.

  "Do you need assistance?" Rider asked, looking worried.

  "What? Oh." I hadn't noticed that I stopped moving. "No, I'm good. I was just thinking."

  Rider didn't look convinced, but I straightened my back and kept walking. No way was I going to let Ethan see me any worse off than he already had.

  Logan looked me over, but didn't say anything when we walked up. Ethan’s expression appeared to be a mixture of worry and leery. Not a good combination. I couldn't say that I blamed him, though.

  "You alright?" Ethan asked.

  "Yeah, I'm good. Rider says you all didn't find anything," I said, changing the subject.

  "Nothing we can use to help. Hank said we need something solid to dig deeper. How about you?" Logan asked.

  "I'm not sure what it was." I gave them a quick recap of what I saw.

  When I looked at Ethan, he looked uncomfortable, but he tried to cover it up. Swallowing hard, I concentrated on Logan as I finished filling them in.

  Logan shook his head. "Sorry, Ethan, it looks like we wasted a bunch of your time. I'm not sure we can help further."

  "Maybe," Ethan started, and then stopped. He cleared his throat and tried again. "You see movements that people make?"

  "Yes," I said, wondering where he was going with this. My stomach started twisting in knots when he paused for a while before responding.

  "Is there any way to see what carried parts of him away?" Ethan asked.

  "I'm fairly certain it was whatever was heading towards him," I said carefully.

  "Did you see anything in the trail leading away?" Ethan asked.

  I shook my head. "I only saw the approach."

  Gran was the psychic, not me. Still, I could see his question before it formed.

  "Can you check for us?" Ethan asked.

  "Sorry, she can't do that," Logan said flatly.

  Ethan's eyes roved around the site. He looked as worn as I felt.

  "Well, I appreciate your time on this," Ethan said. "Sorry to drag you out here on a wild goose chase."

  I started to say something, but Logan beat me to it.

  "I'm sorry we couldn't help further," Logan said.

  "I guess I should get back to it then," Ethan said. "Thanks again."

  Ethan went back to the group of people who were loading up coolers. I really didn't want to think about the coolers.

  I watched him go and felt wretched about not being able to help further.

  "Let's mosey on out of here," Logan said. He smiled at me, but I could tell it was forced. It looked wrong for an elf to fake a smile.

  "Yeah," I said to Ethan's retreating back, "we should go."

  I made it to the car without assistance. Once I sat down, I stopped moving altogether. Sleep took me before Logan drove away.

  When I woke up, it was almost dark outside and I was in my own room. I moaned and tugged the blankets over my head. Maybe it hadn't been as bad as I thought it was, although remembering Ethan’s retreating back wasn’t helping that argument.

  It hadn’t been all bad. Sure, I had left without actually being able to help him. After wasting so much time staring at one Path, I had exhausted myself to the point I couldn’t check the departure trail, but Ethan had believed me. That was an outcome that I hadn’t expected.

  As a bonus, I was wearing my clothes. Either Rider was over his boundary issues or someone else brought me to my room. Since Rider was still terminally confused as to why friends don't see each other naked, I was betting Logan brought me home.

  How embarrassing is it that my partner had to carry me to my room?

  Voices carried up the stairs. At least I could thank Logan for bringing me back. I tossed the covers off and went downstairs to the kitchen.

  Seeing Ethan at the table with Gran, I froze.


  "There she is," Gran said. Her southern accent dialed up to eleven because of company. "I told you she'd be along shortly. I'll just scooch on out of here so you two can have some privacy. Coffee's ready if you want some."

  Gran was out the door before I could protest.

  "Hi. Um, I wasn't expecting to see you," I said awkwardly.

  "I came to apologize in person. When you didn't return my calls... well, I wasn't sure you'd see me in person either."

  I poured myself some coffee to look busy. "I guess I didn't hear the phone." I took my time adding cream and sugar before sitting down opposite of Ethan.

  "Are you okay?" Ethan asked.

  "Only tired. I'll be good as new after a good night's sleep and plenty of caffeine," I said.

  Ethan frowned.

  "I'm glad you called, though," I added. "I would have called you back later tonight or tomorrow."

  He shook his head. "I'm not going to pretend I know how any of this works."

  I slumped back in my chair. It was going to be one of those kinds of talk.

  "But," he continued, "I'm feeling out of my depth here."

  That was no surprise. "Don’t worry about it."

  "Asking you to the crime scene was one thing. Then, I mean, I could tell there was something wrong and that you were tired, but I asked you to do more."

  "It's no big deal," I said.

  "I felt like an ass then for asking and then I walked away, back to work."

  “You were doing your job,” I said while fiddling with my coffee cup to avoid looking at him.

  "I should have taken the time to see what was happening."

  "We were both at work," I said. "You did your job, and I did mine. End of story."

  Ethan shook his head. "Do you know what time it is?"

  I looked around for the clock. "It can't be too late. The sun isn't all the way down yet."

  "You mean up," Ethan said.

  The clock read 6:04. Frowning, I glanced out the window.

  Shoot. The sun was coming up, not down.

  Ethan was quiet for a few moments. "I'm sorry I pushed," he said at last.