Shadows on the Border

Chapter 3: Will’s Flat-3

It hadn’t occurred to any of them that there may have been spawn involved. Lew spoke first. “s**t,” he said, pithily, rubbing his face on his hands. “I thought we were done with this until it popped up again. That we just had to practice, then catch it and kill it.”

Fenn looked at him, sadly. “No-one is ever done with this, Lewis Tyler,” she said, voice soft. “Tell me about your friend. What happened to her?”

Lew looked at her woodenly. “She Pulled energy back from the Creature when we were trying to kill it. We think it tried to Pull from her, but she managed to turn it around. And although it mauled her, she survived. She’s been in the hospital since, drifting in and out of consciousness. Her ability to Work is completely gone.” He blinked. He didn’t like to talk about it at all, even to Alec, although Alec knew he was there every day he could manage it. “Her body is healing, slowly. But her skill hasn’t come back.”

Fenn looked down at her hands and then back at Lew. “May I see her? I may be able to help. And I may be able to sense something about the Carnas—if there were eggs—if I touch her. Because she was so close to it.”

Lew glanced over to Alec. “Alec? What do you think?”

Alec had been quiet, watching them all and listening to the conversation with as blank a face as he could manage, thinking furiously. “How do we know you are what you say you are?” he asked finally. “You could be anyone for all we know.”

Fenn leveled an equally assessing stare back at him. “Your friend has touched my kias. He can tell you what I am and am not.” They looked at Grant. “Tell them what you felt, Will Grant.”

Alec looked at him too, arching one eyebrow in an excessive parody of patience. “We met down in the warehouses earlier today,” Grant said.

Alec felt his eyebrow rise even further, which should have been impossible. “And you didn’t think to report this when you came back in this afternoon?”

Grant coughed uncomfortably. “I didn’t remember.”

“I smoothed Will Grant’s memory of our encounter,” Fenn interjected. “He did not remember until I arrived here this evening.”

Alec eyed Fenn warily. “So, you could blank this meeting out of all of our minds when we’ve finished it?”

“No. No! It does not work like that.” Fenn seemed distressed. “It is hard to do and it is uncertain whether it will work. And not something I can do to more than one person at a time.” She grimaced. “I only did it to keep myself safe when I met with Will Grant by chance this morning. I have been seeking the Carnas for a few days now and have had no luck. When I realized he was a man of the law, I wanted to ask for his help. But I needed to make sure it was safe for me first.”

“And you think it’s safe for you now?” Alec felt his face set.

Fenn returned his steady gaze. “I have taken that risk, whether it is safe for me or unsafe. It is in your hands, Inspector Carter.” She drew a breath. “I am tasked with finding the Carnas and the young and bringing them home. I would like your help. And I may be able to help Mr. Tyler’s friend.” She turned toward Lew as he spoke.

“What do you mean?” Lew’s face was blank.

“I have a certain amount of skill at healing wounds made by kias. And helping repair damage to kias itself, come to that. If your friend is not recovering as she should, I may be able to correct what has gone wrong with her kias, if that is the cause of the problem.” Fenn raised a hand. “But I cannot say for sure until I see her.” Her eyes were kind on Lew, the nictitating membrane drawn all the way back. Was that a show of good faith? Allowing someone to see into his eyes properly? Alec wasn’t getting anything but a genuine feeling from Fenn. But he’d been wrong before. Occasionally.

Grant clearly couldn’t take his eyes off the strange person. He was transfixed. And Fenn kept flicking her eyes toward Grant, too, almost for reassurance. Alec supposed that Grant was the first person Fenn had met…perhaps she could read Grant better than the rest of them and was checking to see how he was responding to what they were saying.

Grant stepped forward, filling the conversational space. “That might be a help, Tyler. If we can get Miss Fonteyne back on her feet again and at the same time pinpoint where the Creature is?”

Lew was eyeing Fenn cautiously. “Yes. It would be helpful. But we only have your word on this.” He looked at Grant and Alec. “I want to check a few things, first.”

Alec looked back at him. “What sort of things?”

“I’ll tell you later.” Lew was inscrutable.

Fenn was watching all of them now, carefully. “I need your help,” she stated again. “I am not used to the territory here. I do not want to cause worry or damage to property. My Ternants…my Council…do not wish for me to cause distress or come to the notice of the people here. I am to carry out my task and either bring the Carnas and the eggs or young back to them or destroy them both, as quickly and quietly as possible. The Shimmer must hold. It must not be used by individuals for their own profit. The Ternants control the Carnas and use them to police the Shimmer.”

She looked around at them all. “I do not know how your world works. I do not know how you use kias. I am adrift here and I need your guidance.” She looked at Grant. “Teach me these things, Will Grant. Help me capture the Carnas and take the eggs back to the Ternants. Perhaps we can learn from each other?”

Grant looked at Alec, who looked at Lew. Lew looked back for a moment, biting his lip, and then nodded. Alec turned to Grant and included Fenn in the look. “Very well. We’ll make inquiries about taking you to see Miss Fonteyne. It depends upon her health, which is frail. Until then, you stay with Detective Sergeant Grant. Yes?”

Fenn blinked her third eyelid. “Yes. Very well.” She looked at Grant. “If that is agreeable to you, Will Grant?”

Grant glared at Alec. “Very well. We can try and search some more of the docks, if that’s where you think the eggs might be. And I can keep an eye open for Reece at the same time.” He glared at Fenn as well. “Unless I already found him, and you erased my memory?”

Fenn did that rueful half smile again. “No. I did not. You appeared to be searching for something when we met. I thought you were looking for the eggs.” She reached down to the sword-harness on the floor. “Let us begin again.”