Dust

XLVIII

         

When the handcuffs are back on my wrist and I'm locked up again, I actually find myself thankful for this fact; I'd much rather be here than under the cold scrutiny of Caroline Hersch, in that extraordinary but threatening room. I'd much rather be here, with Shi so close but so far, than anywhere near that woman.

    My stomach still sore from earlier, I rest my back against the wall and call: "Shi? Are you feeling better?"

    He just groans, his voice hoarse. It's odd, I'm thinking, how you notice a person's voice and the changes in it when you can't see them. Somehow, not being able to see helps me see more. "Not really," Shi manages with a dry cough. "Remember this morning, or at least I think it was this morning, that I told you I felt the crappiest I'd ever felt?"

    "Yeah."

    "I lied," he says gruffly. "I feel much crappier."

    "What did they do to you in there?" I ask, knowing I don't want to hear the answer but not being able to tone down my curiosity, my wrath towards them. Most of all, really, I'm wondering if Shi realized what I realized: just where the vampires of Maris came from.

    Shi takes a shuddering breath before answering. "Lots of silver. Lots of wolfsbane. Lots of punching. And, for some reason, they think it's plain hilarious to keep calling me Fido despite my constant corrections. They must be lunatics, to think we know anything about missing humans, or something or other—"

    "Shi. You do know what the whole missing humans thing means, don't you?"

    There's a prolonged pause, where I can only hear the practically inactive air conditioning. It's stuffy in here, sweat clinging to me. When I finally do get an answer, it's not from who I expected:    

    "I don't think he does, Gem," says a voice I'm all too relieved to hear, and I jolt to my feet to head for the door. Standing in front of the barred door is Gael, his brown hair tousled and his eyes lambent but somber. I'm so surprised and I'm so overjoyed that I don't know what to say at first, until I realize I've just been staring at him for too long.

    "Gael! Oh, thank God! You've come to break us out of here, right?"

    The somberness in Gael's eyes grows. "I can't, Gem. I'm sorry. They've told me that if I try anything, I'll pay for it, and I can't risk anyone I love getting hurt. That means you, too, Gemma...wait, did they hurt you?" he pauses, reaching forward, between the bars, to touch my face. I sigh, leaning into the touch; it's only been hours, and I already missed him. "If they laid a finger on you..."

    I laugh. "Oh, they did more than that. Hersch had one of her officer goons break my arm. Stabbed me right in the stomach, too."

     Gael mutters an expletive under his breath, and both of us slide to a seat across from each other. I ask him: "So, how the heck did you get here?"

    "I had to see you. I was worried sick after they dragged you away from me; I called and I negotiated with them, and they said I can see you like this once a day, at least until you tell Hersch what she needs to know," Gael answers promptly. He crosses his legs, eyes landing on Shi for a second. He then turns back to me. "That's why I came, guys," he says, now speaking to both of us. "Even if Kip is a disloyal bastard of a brother, you can get yourselves out of this."

    "How?" comes Shi's voice from the right of me. "We don't know anything."

    "Shi, you don't know anything," I correct. "I was going to make the connection for you before Gael showed up...but since he's here, he can do it."