'I'm not sure. I’m trying to get in contact with Aurealis, but the shifter I know as an Envoy contact says she can only pass on my request. Even if Aurealis deigns to talk to me, she cannot tell me when that might be. I'm having Meredith follow up a few tenuous leads, I'll let you know if anything comes of them. When can I expect Amelia?'
'Mmm, close to midnight, I think. Yushoki is taking her through her paces. Hand-to-hand combat. They will both want to freshen up afterwards and take time to get some sustenance.'
I wouldn't mind some sustenance myself, but I’d wait until Amelia arrived before I went hunting. 'How’s she doing?'
'At training? I try not to attend. Amelia is a little uncomfortable if I observe. I saw the end of a session a few nights ago. She looks confident, handles herself well enough.'
But could do better, I could almost hear him say. 'She will improve given time to practice.'
Thomas made a murmur of agreement. 'I will bid you farewell, unless there is anything else?'
I found myself shaking my head as I said, 'No, no. Good hunting.'
As I hung up, I heard movement downstairs. Once in the atrium, I determined it was a human, female. It was by far the wrong time for Yu to be here. Yu was diligent and dedicated, but she'd left after six, and it was now past eight. She could have forgotten something and returned for it, but as I entered the café's kitchen, I could tell the scent was not Yu's. It was familiar though.
I crossed into the café to meet blue eyes that changed, as she moved into the moonlight, to silver-grey. The light through the window haloed blonde hair. She seemed unaware of me as she hefted a bag to the counter. Then I felt it.
Pain. Searing pain, like a lance shoved up next to my spine.
I was prepared this time. It was Jay's friend, Alyssa. The one Therion said was sharing her vessel with a fire elemental. I narrowed my gaze as I observed her. I could not discern spirits or auras like Therion, but fire elementals often give off a light that shimmers like an aura, which occasionally burns bright enough for me to see. It took a minute, but finally I saw a shimmer of orange that changed to a blue that was almost white and then disappeared. That was most certainly a fire elemental.
Alyssa was using a cane and was trying to manoeuvre a second bag to the counter. Mid move she looked up, her eyes meeting mine, despite my being in the shadows and completely silent. The elemental must have subconsciously alerted her to a potential danger because, this time, she realised I was there.
'Hi…' she greeted uncertainly. 'Is Jay here?'
I moved out of the shadows and finished lifting the second bag to the counter for her.
'She's upstairs. Sleeping. I'm Bastien, I believe Jay would have mentioned I'd be around.'
Alyssa smiled. 'The bodyguard.' Her tone suggested that she knew I was a lot more than a bodyguard.
'Of sorts.'
'I know she doesn't want me knowing too much. She's worried about her friends getting targeted by the Archmore lot. I promised Yu I'd bring over some things she'd forgotten to reorder. I was just going to put them in the kitchen, peek in on Jay to see if she needed anything, and then head off. But if you're happy to put these on the counter in the kitchen, I can just go.'
I nodded, then asked, 'You have keys?'
'Yes. Jay said for emergencies, but sometimes she lets me stay after closing and, well, with keys, I can let myself out and lock up. I think she feels sorry for me, not in a pity kind of way, just the fact that I sleep so little and, well, she's seen how hard it can be.'
I frowned. 'I think I've missed something, how hard what can be?'
'Oh, I have nerve pain, constant, so I don't sleep, and well, there's a bunch of challenges.'
With a fire elemental embedded in her spirit, that was an understatement. Therion had wanted to help her. Him, a therilgalen, had felt compassion for this human he hardly knew. Aurealis had failed my friend. I gestured to a booth near us. 'Would you mind telling me a bit about your condition, I've not heard of it before.'
She sighed. From pain, not reluctance, I felt it flare through her mind. That's when I realised— her thoughts were completely free of pain right now. It flared through her mind occasionally, but she had the pain in a kind of mental box, locking it down tight. It must require immense and determined control. It would take a lot of energy too and she was flagging, I could see that in her posture, her free arm trembled and her grip on the cane tightened.
'Perhaps, though, another time, when you are not as exhausted.'
Another flash of pain, then another. They seared through her mind, but she reined it in.
She shook her head. 'That's about never. It's called Neuropathic Pain Disorder,' she said as she moved over to the nearest booth and sat. 'My nerves continually send pain messages to my brain. Science debates whether it's real pain or just perception, but I can assure you, it feels real enough. Many people get it from some kind of trauma, and it can be mistaken for repetitive strain injury, but it's different, although there’s plenty of muscle pain, nerve pain is very distinct and I know the difference between the two.'
'How long have you had it?'
Another shake of her head, the blonde hair was fine and thin, 'It feels like forever. At least so long that I cannot remember what it feels like to not have it.'
There was more of a story to it, but she didn’t have the energy to tell it. The elemental must have got in when she was vulnerable and, for some reason, it had decided to stay. It was such an unusual thing for an elemental to do. Perhaps that was what had intrigued Therion.
'You're like Therion,' she said unexpectedly. Then she frowned. 'No, not quite, no wings.'
I tilted my head, 'You're like Jay, you can see—'
'Angels and such. Yeah. Jay makes me feel more sane. It's nice to know someone else is having the same hallucinations. Is she alright?'
'She will be. Therion… he had to leave and…'
Alyssa frowned, alarm showing in her expression. 'I take it from your tone that his leaving wasn't voluntary.' At my nod, she swore under her breath and then murmured, 'Why do these things have to happen to good people like her?' Heaving another sigh, she rose, the flashes of pain were getting more frequent, she wanted to leave before they got uncontrollable. No, that was not quite accurate. She wanted to leave because she didn't want to let me see just how vulnerable she was.
'Can you let her know I was here?' she asked.
I nodded, rising with her and walking her to the door.
'I'll be here tomorrow, I'll come up and make her coffee if she likes,' she paused and looked up at me, 'and lend a sympathetic ear if she needs one.'
'I will let her know.'
I watched her as she made her slow way down the side of the café. I could see what had attracted Therion's attention, her resilience, her selflessness… That strength was being eroded by the elemental. Eventually, it would consume her. That is, if someone did not aid her. Therion had seen that, I was sure of it. And now I could see it too, not through her spirit, like Therion, but through my telepathic ability.
I had no idea how to separate an elemental from another spirit, but I was going to find out.
Em's house was in darkness. It was empty, well, aside from Leya, the matagot Therion had brought back from the Dark Realm. I had tracked down the shape-shifter who adopted Leya's partner, Wren, when I had rescued him from the Dark Realm some time ago. I'd tried to take them both, but Leya had stayed behind to slow down those pursuing us. It turned out they were siblings, not mates. At some point the pair planned to reunite but seemed happy enough in their new homes.
Right now, Leya was in the kitchen, sitting on the bench, looking out the window. Her ears had not twitched since I shifted in, and I had a feeling she did not realise I was here. As I watched, she rose and moved closer to the window. Getting to her hind feet, she reached forth a paw to unlatch the window. The movement was very human-like, I hadn't expected that. She poked her nose out, inhaling the fresh breeze wafting in through the opening.
As I stepped out of the corner, Leya jolted with fright, turned, and leapt towards me. Somehow, as her body moved between the moonlight and shadows, she became tiger sized. The growl she emitted rumbled about the room, her cobalt-blue and teal eyes glowing with a magical light.
'Leya, it's me.'
She pulled up suddenly, almost sliding into the dining table and then started grumbling.
'I do apologise,' I said. 'I forget that sometimes I need to give warning.'
More grumbling, but lower and somewhat mollified by my apology.
'Have you need of any assistance with food? I gather Em has not been back today.'
No, Em hadn't been back, according to Leya, who did not speak by placing thoughts in another's mind, but by placing knowledge. Which is how I knew Em had not been back since the day before yesterday and that getting food for herself was not a problem. Em left her favourite roast in the fridge and Leya was happy enough to eat it cold.
To demonstrate, the panther-sized cat shrank to her former size and then rose up on her hind legs, her front paws somehow developed a more thumb-like appendage, which she used to open the fridge. She used her teeth to draw a slice of roast beef off a platter and walked it over to a plate on the floor and tore off a bite. In the meantime, I was informed that there'd been no intruders, aside from myself. I made a second apology, which was received with more grace. There had been, I discovered, two gingaji; the bat-like scouts of the Dark Realm. On two separate occasions, Leya discovered them on the property's boundary. Both times she killed the scouts. None had reappeared since.
Why, I wondered, was Ceri-talen still sending scouts here? Did I need to worry about Em and whether Ceri-talen might try to take her spirit as part of another strategy or simply through spite? Ceri-talen often sent shadow-mares to haunt potential victims. These were not actual horses, but spirits, like elementals, that took various forms in the earthly realm. Plague a person with nightmares, deprive them of sleep, and fill them with dread, and there was an increased possibility they would take their own life. Jay was already emotionally vulnerable, her nightmares, guilt, and sadness were all understandable reactions to recent events, but if she lost her mother, it could undo any progress she made. In protecting Jay, I needed to ensure Em was also protected. Just how to do that required some thought. We had connections in law enforcement, but would I be able to get one on to the taskforce? And what about when she was away from the office? It wasn't like Jay's situation where she could have a bodyguard follow her around.
Why was I here? Leya wanted to know.
'Good question. I wanted to ask a favour of you.'
Yes, she would go to the Dark Realm, find my friend, and give him the pouch in my pocket.
I had completely forgotten what it was like to communicate with them. It was a little disconcerting.
'I do not know where in the Dark Realm he is?'
If I got her to a portal mage, she could find him. What of Em's safety?
'I was just considering that. I will have Thomas assign some sentries here full time and have someone watch her when she is away from home. I will have to put some more thought into how to have someone who can go into her workplace with her, though.'
Wren, her brother, could be Em's bodyguard. He would do this for Leya.
I looked down at her, she was still eating. I didn't think she quite understood what I meant. I crouched and then sat next to her. 'Forgive me, Leya, but I do not understand how Wren can do that. In this world you are considered pets and Em is not allowed to take a pet into the office.'
Leya raised her bright, cobalt-blue and teal eyes to me and I could swear she smiled. Then her body blurred and dissipated into shadows.
I frowned in confusion. 'Something tells me you are not just a simple matagot.'
Wisps of shadows gathered and formed back into a cat. Well, what do you know, even after all this time, I could still be thoroughly surprised.
What she was did not matter, Therion had helped her and I had helped Wren. Thus, she would do my favour and Wren would protect Em.
'We could go now. Once,' I added, 'you have finished your meal.'
That was acceptable.
While I watched her eat, I pulled the pouch from my pocket. There was a hand-written note telling him that Jay was okay. I figured the reassurance would at least ease one of his many worries. I'd also included several thirlmeer. The crystals held sunlight from Aurealis's Sunlit Meadows. It had not been easy getting hold of them, but they would prove invaluable to Therion if he found himself in a position where he needed non-spirit sourced energy. I had debated quite a lot about then next items. The smallest MP3 players I could find with a long battery life, a half-dozen of them, along with some headphones. All loaded with Therion's favourite music. I reasoned that even if he couldn't recharge them or fried them trying to use his own energy charging them, they would, for a time, give him a source of comfort. They might also remind him of who he had become and stop him from forgetting that person while he was in the Dark Realm. The last thing I included was a photo of Jay.
Leya finished her piece of beef and padded up to me. I gave her a scratch behind the ears and then she nudged the pouch. I hung it about her neck.
'After you go through the portal, I will return here until the sentries arrive, just in case Em returns before they turn up.'
This was highly satisfactory. I picked her up and shifted to the portal mage.
Em
I let myself in through the front door, dropping bags of shopping supplies on the floor so I could close it and lock it. It seemed so quiet. Too quiet, in a way. It was early evening and this was the first time I'd been home for a while. I mostly wanted to make a new roast for Leya. When I first found out Therion had brought back a cat from the Dark Realm, I'd been apprehensive, not just at having the unexpected responsibility of a pet-like animal, but one from another realm. Leya exceeded my expectations that she would not be your usual cat. It was disconcerting how she placed knowledge in your mind rather than speaking and even her more direct form of mind-speak, as Therion had called her communication style, was disconcerting. But I got a feeling of reassurance having her around. Therion told me she was very capable of protecting the place and Leya had indicated she was content to hunt for her own food if necessary. It made me feel a little silly; coming back on the weak excuse of needing to cook a new roast, but I was also tired and felt like a quiet night in my own house. I hadn't expected it to feel so… lonely. I guess I'd very quickly gotten used having Jay around again.
'Leya?'
She should have greeted me as I came in, she usually escorted me from the car to the house, although I had no idea how she was getting in and out of the place now that Jay had moved back to her apartment. I walked through to the kitchen a little more cautiously than I would normally. The house was in complete darkness, but as I'd already announced my presence when I called Leya's name, I started to turn on lights.
I checked the whole house. It was empty. When I got to the sliding door leading from the dining area to the back veranda, I hesitated, remembering the huge bat-like creature that had attacked us. I decided to stay indoors. Perhaps Leya was out hunting. Opening the fridge reassured me of this as the plate that had the sliced roast on it was empty.
I went back for my shopping bags and unpacked them, leaving the roast out and pre-heating the oven. After making myself a cup of tea, I went about prepping the roast. It was while I'd stopped for a sip of tea that I heard it, the soft sound of a window sliding open and then closed again. It was coming from one of the bedrooms backing on to the back veranda. I straightened up, tensing. I'd taken off my jacket and gun but left the gun on the counter. Slowly, I reached over and drew it from its holster, flicking the safety off as I stepped back to place my back against the cupboard doors next to the oven. I could feel the heat of the oven radiating against my right arm. I pushed it out of my thoughts and concentrated on listening.
A soft mewl sounded from the hallw
ay. Then a slightly louder meow-like sound.
Wren, Leya's brother was no danger to me.
Wren? Then I remembered, Leya had a sibling.
I lowered the gun as a large, black cat with cobalt-blue and teal eyes emerged from the hallway and into the kitchen-dining area.
My roast beef was delicious. My preparation of another was a most auspicious scent, Wren told me.
I put my gun back in its holster as I fully relaxed. It was just like communicating with Leya. But where was Leya?
On a task for the vampire.
I presumed said vampire was Bastien.
I felt confirmation of my thought from Wren.
'He could have let me know,' I grumbled aloud.
At this, Wren jumped to the dining table and pawed at a note partly under an empty fruit bowl I kept there.
I hadn't noticed it. I retrieved it, noting that Bastien's writing, while neat was very flowery, lots of scrolls accompanied the slanted writing. Yep, there it was. His note said he'd asked Leya if she could seek out any sign of Therion and if she found him, deliver some things to him. Leya had suggested Wren take over from her in protecting me. There was a post script:
P.S. I have given Wren a memory to share with you. It is one of Jay's. I have Jay's permission. As Leya and Wren can place knowledge in your mind, they can also place memories. But it is no light thing you will accept. You will hear Jay's emotion, see her crying as if you were there. Although it is propitious that Wren can do this, you must understand, his ability is limited— you will not be able to differentiate the memory as one you have not actually experienced. It can be confusing. If you accept the memory, take a seat before you do, it is an emotionally unsettling experience. Jay finds the memory too painful to repeat, but she asked me to tell you what happened to Therion. You can wait until I have a chance to come see you and relate it in person, but I give you this option as I understand, that, as a mother, I have taken liberties with your trust already as well as asking of you the most difficult of things: to distance yourself physically from your daughter until I am able to ascertain the level of danger she is in. Had you not heeded my request, Jay would have probably shared this with you. This is the best I can do to make up for that.
Soul Taker's Redemption Page 55
