Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [126]
Everett shivered. ‘She wasn’t like us. She had life in her, more life even in death, more than any at ASSIST, Sector Six. Fecund she was, so I took a chance and removed it. Why let the child die? I didn’t know about the devices. I didn’t have the requisition forms. How could I? She had no ID. We didn’t even know where she was from. But I faked one. I got it, stored it, before I knew.’ He pulled on his earlobe while he talked, his words a stream of thought. ‘Then I saw the slides. The technology was banned. Demon technology. How could she have it? I didn’t know what to do after that. Would it pass on? Did it pass on? I don’t know. The thief came and took the child. Took them both.’ He grabbed his head and rocked back and forth. Regina placed her hand back on his shoulders but he didn’t notice. Suddenly he stiffened, slamming his fists on the table. ‘The thief came and took them before I had a chance to know.’
Grayson swallowed. ‘The thief took them?’
‘One moment they were here and then they were gone.’ Everett drummed the diagram with the palm of his hand. ‘We’ll never know. I wake up and it’s too late. I can’t catch the demon. She’s looking for more, smells for them. I can hear her scratching about the bungalow. I can see her at the edge of my mind trying to worm her way in.’ Everett’s body shook. Sweat dripped into his eyes but he didn’t blink.
‘It’s all right,’ Regina said. ‘The demon’s gone.’
‘Not gone!’ he shouted, knocking his chair over as he stood. ‘Not gone like the infants!’ His eyes were searching—a lighthouse, unseeing. ‘The thief followed me here. She hunts for more. I have to track her down!’ He ran out of the bungalow, his screams drowned by the pouring rain.
CHAPTER 16
PRIETA FOOTHILLS & DUMARKIAN WOODS, GAELA & BORDERLANDS, EARTH
Xane rubbed the grey mare with liniment, a mixture of snow root and peppermint tincture, butcher’s broom, rue and witch hazel. She had swollen tendons along her cannon bones and the pitting oedema was getting worse. The ride had strained her; she wasn’t in condition for it.
He straightened, letting her hoof drop gently back to the ground. ‘Snow root?’ He scratched his head, the vision of the black temple cat and the beautiful young witch coming to mind. Symphytum Officinalia. He was certain that was the correct name for the herb. He was also certain he’d never learned it. ‘How can I know that?’
The mare rubbed her forehead on his shoulder.
‘You two seem to be getting on,’ Willem said, cutting into Xane’s thoughts.
‘She’s learning fast, but not in fit condition for these mountain passes.’
Willem ran his hand down her front leg, pressing his thumb into the swelling, waiting to see if the indentation refilled. It took some time. He sniffed his fingers.
‘Snow root liniment?’
‘It’ll help but I can’t see how she’ll stay sound.’
‘And the others?’
‘No problem.’ Xane was going to elaborate but reconsidered. Every time he opened his mouth, he found himself using words he could tell others didn’t recognise. They were getting suspicious. He was getting suspicious. He put his hands behind his back.
‘Lead her as much as you can tomorrow. There’s a river to ford…’
‘The Goregan River? Near the Dumar Pass?’
Willem frowned. ‘Had a look at the maps, have you?’
Xane had never seen the maps, but he could picture the terrain clearly in his mind. It was like he’d been imprinted with detailed topographical renditions of the known lands of Gaela. More than that—he could see the entire world. The entire world? The unknown lands? Impossible. ‘I had a glimpse of the maps, sir,’ he lied. ‘Fascinating.’
‘They are.’ Willem sniffed. ‘We’ll camp tonight along a tributary. Make sure you stand her in the shallows for an hour or two.’
‘That should help the inflammation.’
Willem’s eye twitched.
Xane kept his face calm though behind the mask he kicked himself. Inflammation? Where was this coming