"They know everything that affects our work."
"Only your active work?"
"Mostly active work is all there is. We're friends, though, so we do sometimes talk about other things. I'm not sure what you're getting at."
"If I tell you about my work, will it get back to them?"
I shrugged. "If your team works with ours, it likely will."
"I don't see that happening anytime soon."
"Then no, if you don't want me to say anything, they wouldn't know."
Boone nodded. "Good to know."
"Do you want to tell me about your work?" I asked when he didn't say anything for a while.
"You've told me a lot."
"I've told you what you need to know."
"Nothing you've said has been an issue."
"I'm getting better at control," I said feeling uncomfortable. "It's not like I try to be weird."
"It's good you told me, especially with what we’re facing." Boone sounded like he chose his words carefully.
"We should start to come up with a plan of action," I said with no real conviction.
"Yeah, we should," Boone said.
I could feel my face turn red, but I wanted to get my thoughts out in the open. "And if you want to tell me about your team, it'll stay with me, but don't feel like you have to tell me because I told you something."
Boone looked at me as though calculating his next words. Maybe I had been off base with what I was thinking. I should have kept my mouth shut.
"I'll keep that in mind," Boone said at last. "When we get back, I'll stick with the facts in our report. Nothing personal."
"What's said in gremlin world stays in gremlin world?"
Boone laughed. "Something like that."
"Same here," I said.
"Let's go," Boone said. "We can walk and plan at the same time."
"We should remember how to get here," I said. "We'll want to come back."
"Sure thing," Boone said.
"And by that, I mean you should remember how to get here."
Boone frowned and looked sideways at me while he put on the backpack. "Not you?"
"I have a terrible sense of direction."
His face split into a smile. "Aren't you kind of a tracker with your powers?"
"If I'm reading, sure. Although with the Paths this world makes, I might end up walking in circles."
He chuckled. "We'll put up some sort of markers or signs."
***
By the time we got back to the camp, the sun had begun to sink. We had spent far too long getting clean, but it had been worth it. If I was going to die, at least I wouldn't be stinky.
I'm not sure if you could say we had a real plan. As soon as Boone dropped our bag, he called out to the gremlins. Even though they were out of sight, we knew they were behind us somewhere.
By the time one arrived, Boone had taken out the trap we found on our first day and he waved it at a gremlin. The gremlin ran off and returned a while later with a few friends. They had sacks with a few traps and a few glass bottles of what had to be the stuff they had used to knock me out.
One of them noticed Boone examining the trap, and so they demonstrated how to use it. Before they left, they patted us each on the arm and disappeared.
"I get the feeling they were saying goodbye," Boone said, watching them go.
"I'd prefer to think they were saying 'good luck' or 'go get 'em '," I said.
"Go get 'em?" Boone appeared amused by the notion.
"It's better than goodbye."
"Right. Well, let's go get 'em, then."
"You're making fun of me?"
"I wouldn't do that," Boone said.
"And you're lying to me, too," I said, trying to keep the grin from my face.
"Maybe," Boone said. He grinned at me, and then turned to the woods.
Any sense of jest fell from the atmosphere.
"I'm going to set some traps," Boone said.
"I'll go with you. I want to see where they're at."
"It'll be fully dark soon. I don't want you to accidentally step on one."
"Me either. That's why I need to know where they're at." I tried to keep my sarcasm reined in and I followed Boone into the woods.
"Let's keep them away from the portal," I said when Boone moved toward it.
"We can do that." Boone walked to the left of where the portal had scored through the ground and moved deeper into the woods. He set traps, working his way back to the portal. Then he did the same on the opposite side.
When he finished, I had an idea of where they were placed. Boone stood in front of our would-be portal and stared at the empty space.
"You know," he said. "I can't believe I made it so easy for them to send us into this world."
"How were we to know?" I asked. "Even when you went through, I hadn't realized they were responsible. I thought it was an accident."
"I'm sorry you got caught up in this."
"Do you know what this is?" I asked. "Why they wanted us out of the way, I mean?"
"They sent you here because you were a witness. It's hard to say why they sent me. It might have something to do with the project involving my new team. Not everyone is happy about it."
"Won't it still go on without you?" I asked.
"It depends on what the agency thinks I've done."
"Well, soon we'll get back and set them straight. I'd love to see Dempsey in jail."
Boone sat quiet for a minute. "I shouldn't ask this, but I'm going to anyway. Is it still there?"
Sensing how badly he wanted to know, I closed my eyes, breathed deeply, and made the jump into the Path, preparing to stamp back the flow in an effort to preserve energy.
"It hasn't faded any further." The surprise I felt showed in my voice. I had avoided looking, assuming the Path would have swallowed it up.
Boone let out a breath.
"Do you think Dempsey didn't close it all the way on purpose?" I asked.
"I think that would be giving him too much credit. He put us here—I think he would do what he could to make sure we couldn't return."
"You're probably right," I said. "Maybe he's just not good at what he does."
Boone shrugged. "Maybe it always looks like this from the other side. Save your energy."
Ignoring the hint, I reached out to touch one of the beads of light, knowing it needed to move—and quickly at that—to bore our way into our home dimension.
"Cassie?" Boone said.
"Got it." I closed my eyes to push the Path away. The trickle of power I had allowed free didn't want to leave, but I forced it back. After a short struggle, I extracted myself from the Path.
He looked at me expectantly.
"It's frustrating is all," I said. "I see how it works. Well, I get the gist. Get it open and home is a step away."
"We'll figure it out. For now, though, we should save our energy. Where's the knockout drug?" Boone asked.
"Here." I pulled three thick glass vials from my pocket. "Wait, that's mine." I kept hold of the red bottle and passed Boone the two clear ones.
"Didn't Wyna say to drink that tonight?" Boone said.
"Yeah." I looked through the bottle and shook the liquid around inside. "But I don't really know what it is."
"It's not likely to hurt you. She knows you're the best hope they have at killing this thing."
My face started to heat up, and I was thankful it was dark. "Even if we manage it, it won't be from me alone." I thought about what we were about to do and decided I may as well voice my biggest concern. "I'm not comfortable killing one of the Lost."
"You couldn't kill it? Even a demon?" Boone asked.
I shrugged and popped the top off the vial, drinking the small amount of liquid. "It is what it is. It doesn't belong here, but maybe we can... I don't know, convince it to go home?"
"You said it's intelligent," Boone said. "You want to make a deal with it?"
"I'm not Faust or my old director. I get the impr
ession it sticks to its agreements, though."
"Could we be certain of that? Certain it wouldn't return?"
I sighed. "I doubt it."
"Do we even have anything to offer it?" Boone asked.
I shook my head. "It'll want me, but that won't help us much. It will just want to kill me."
A screech in the forest interrupted our discussion. Over the hill, where our gremlin friends hid, came answering howls.
"That doesn't sound good," I said.
Another loud voice, screaming this time, sounded much closer.
"Did they say how they were luring this thing to us?" I asked.
"They didn't mention. Let’s get back to the camp." Boone ran the short distance to our camp and I followed. He handed me a spear. "You're good with the plan?"
"Yeah," I said.
"Even if it means killing it."
A scream tore through the darkness and I steeled myself. "Let's do this."
"Take this dose of knockout liquid. If I don't get through, you've got to."
"I've got it," I said.
"Okay," Boone looked me over, "get its attention."
I closed my eyes and once again reached for the Path. The jump was smooth, and power crashed over me.
The change in the atmosphere was slight but notable. Like fingers of fog creeping in, an oily residue began drifting over the Path.
"It's close." I hadn't notice I was trembling until I spoke. "I'm going to let it know we're here."
Just like the last time I faced this type of Lost, it didn't feel right to call out. Yells and screeches broke out in the woods—there was no use adding to the din. Intent on our goal, I sent strands of power in the most likely direction of the creature. When the inky blackness of Path grew stronger, I stopped.
Why was I so scared of this thing? No. That was a stupid question. Any sane person would be afraid of a demon. The issue was I allowed it to affect me too much. If fear lived in the forefront of my mind there was no way we would win.
This whole situation sucked, and more than anything, I wanted to go home. To do that, we had to live through the fight. Thinking of what Logan, Rider, and Vincent would do in my place, I rolled my shoulders and shoved all that fear into a tiny corner in the back of my mind.
With a clearer head, I pulled my power away from the creature and urged the energy over a new route. This time, if the thing followed, it would walk straight over the traps. Once I found an impenetrable wall of filth over the Path, I sent a channel of power down, making sure it was enough for the demon to know there were bigger fish to play with.
The noise in the forest stopped. Sounds of scurrying feet continued, but the rest of the noise in the forest had died away. Gremlins, old gremlins, running, using their knuckles on the ground to propel them away faster, ran past us and into the clearing. They went straight over the hill and out of sight.
"It knows we're here," I whispered.
We stood, tension rising, watching the shadows in the woods, wondering which direction the dark shape would move from. I could still feel it out there, analyzing the situation. The ropes of energy I had been using to detect the demon jerked away and I didn't hesitate in dropping the lines of power.
My muscles tightened to the point that, I was surprised they continued to move.
A flurry of movement announced the creature. The motion was followed by snapping traps, though it sounded like they caught nothing but air. I knew it was fast, but fast enough to set off the traps and not be caught?
I readied the energy around us. If I created a sort of shield now, the creature would see it too quickly and the shield would become useless to us.
A hissing noise began to reverberate through the air and a shadow grew into the shape of our monster. It had the same sharp beak, but the wings stayed close to its body. A glossy sheen to the leathery flesh made it look as though it had polished itself.
It limped with one clawed foot wrapped around a shape. When my mind made sense of the figure, I almost lost every recent meal I had eaten. My skin turned cool and clammy. The gremlin it clutched was dead. There was no chance it could be that broken and still breathing.
Please let it be dead and not suffering.
I swallowed hard and ignored the last thought. I broke out into goosebumps as the cold I felt began to be burned away by fury.
"Go," I snapped at Boone.
Boone ran away. The plan called for him to circle around to the side of the thing and drug it, which was strange since Logan, Rider, and I had the same plan the last time we fought a demon.
"Gooo..." the creature hissed, trying to mimic my words
"You're not the one I faced before, are you?" I asked.
"Fassssed," it mimicked.
"Yeah, I didn't think so. How did you get here? Into this world?"
The beak swung up and opened. A hissing screech, sounding almost like a gremlin, rang out.
"You're out of luck," I said. "I don't speak that language."
Wouldn't it be nice if I could, though? Maybe there was a way to talk to this thing. To use it in some way.
The creature kicked out, throwing the dead gremlin in my direction. It missed me, but the following flow of power didn't. Thick bands of blackness struck against me, knocking me back off my feet.
I landed hard on my back. The demon slowly wrapped the power around me and squeezed. It tried crushing me slowly, allowing me time to think about what was coming.
Well, screw that. Instead, I cut off the flow of energy and the bindings fell away before any damage was done.
"Too slow," I said, getting to my feet. "Your friend was a lot faster than you."
The creature stepped out of the woods. It was time. Boone had to have been in place. With barb-liked whips of power, I lashed out at the creature, testing its defense. It cut through the solid Path and began to reel in the energy, straight from me.
It threw me off balance. I dropped the lines and instantly made the Path around the beast solid. The bubble of energy was something the creature could brush away with ease, but before it had the chance to try, I flipped the Path.
My fingers were mentally crossed, knowing this had worked with the previous beast. This one scrambled with its power, and then it physically scratched at the enclosure.
"Now Boone!" I called.
Boone appeared a few moments later beside the creature, his face a mask of grim determination.
The beast screeched again and beat its wings against the glassy smoothness of the bubble inside. Each time it struck the edges, my power wavered, but I managed to keep hold.
This part worried me. Boone had to get into the cage without the creature getting out. And without getting killed.
Boone didn't have a moment of hesitation. He ran at the bubble, which was invisible to him. The creature lifted its head to shriek and I dropped the wall just long enough for Boone to get inside.
It was the only moment the creature needed. Energy shot out of the prison and sank into the exterior. At the same time, the thing’s wings shot out and caught Boone in the chest. He bounced off the inside of the cage. Dropping the protection around the creature, I wrapped bands around it, as it had me, and tried to crush its wings down. It worked, but only for a moment.
Boone rose unsteadily to his feet and the beast ripped away its bonds. "Its mouth," I hollered to Boone.
As the creature won its way free, it poured power into a solid ball. I took that moment to wrench its beak open.
The ball of power rushed at me, but I held steadily onto its beak, prying it open. The beak cracked, which churned my stomach. Boone was on the creature, but I missed what happened next. My world erupted in a ball of black energy. Oily residue poured over me. My stomach tried to heave.
I could hear nothing and saw only darkness. Panic welled up as I started suffocating. I didn't want to die here. Not in some strange dimension. Boone needed me. I was sure of that.
And we had to get home.
The slick tarry trap had t
o go. Instead of making the Path solid or moving the Path, I called to it. It wanted to flow and it wanted all remnants of this creature scrubbed away. Using as much strength as I could muster, I dragged it, not to me, but through me.
As though taking a wave to the face, the Path surged through me.
The inky pool surrounding me vanished, but the scene around me had changed. Things weren't quite right. It took me a few moments and many deep, steady breaths, to figure out why. In pulling on the Path, I had caused the future of the Path to play out before me. The creature stood, wings outstretched. Boone was somehow on its back, gremlins swarming in from all sides. But the bright light behind it all held my attention.
My power dwindled with the Path, and I knew things continued around me in the present. I hadn't moved in time, only the Path had. I closed my eyes to the world around me and concentrated hard, trying to force the flow of the Path to slow its frantic movements and show me the present.
I'm not sure what hit me, but a tight pressure on my chest knocked me back. Once again, I slammed into the ground. This time, Boone was on top of me, blood smeared across his face.
Fear pulsed through me. I couldn't see around the man, but I slammed down raw power around us. Boone rolled off me and, wavering slightly, made his way to his feet. Catching sight of the demon, I jumped up as well.
"What's it doing?" Boone's voice was tight and he looked ready to spring.
"It's getting something ready to attack. I don't know what it’s using." My ribcage ached. I had no idea if the Path I saw was the future or only a possible future, but I didn't care. I needed to set the stage. "Move around behind him, I have you covered."
Chapter 16
Pressing my hand down tight on my ribs, I circled to one side of the beast with Boone on the other. My power declined, but I was ready to use whatever was needed to keep Boone on target.
My own strength couldn't open the portal. Even if I was well rested and I hadn't read the Path in days, I just didn't have the energy to open it.
This creature did, though.
"You need to leave this world," I yelled at the demon.
Talking distracted it, but only a little. As it watched me, it continued to pool power.
I could take power from it. Its tar-like energy would latch itself to me as it had before, but maybe it would work.
AIR Series Box Set Page 112
