Page 15 of Insidious Monsters
Nandi winced. “Archie…”
“Come on, we’re all thinking it, best to get it out, clear the air and all that. We've got to work together, after all.”
Quentin set down his cup of tea and looked across the table at me. “I’m sorry. I have no excuse for what I did. I followed orders just like I always do. I didn’t think… I didn’t…”
“Didn’t you think it was wrong?” Nandi asked him.
He frowned. “Yes. Yes, it felt wrong.”
“But you did it anyway,” Uncle Fred said. He threw up his hands. “This is the Order for you, recruiting nice little puppets to do as they’re told. There’s no room for autonomy in the Order. No room for independent thought.”
“I wanted to tell you,” Quentin said to me. “To ask permission, but the protocol was clear. No disclosure. Administer the drug to subdue the threat.”
“The threat being Telarion?” Nandi prompted.
“Yes.”
I felt him stir, listening. He’d returned while I was asleep, but he would be alert today because we had mapping duty and he never left me alone for that, which was why it was my favorite time.
It was a shame Quentin would be driving me. He insisted on it. Silent Hill Trail was one of the most dangerous places in the city, inhabited by crime lords and rogue shifters. It had a law of its own outside of the parameters set by the Night Guild and human PD. The Order of Yaga had an agreement with them to allow rift walkers to access the rift on their turf, but there were no assurances that they wouldn’t revoke access if they felt like it.
Quentin was my backup in case that occurred. The fact that we accessed the rifts by day made it less likely that we’d be questioned or accosted by the area’s nefarious inhabitants.
The journey there and back was usually pleasant, filled with light music from the radio and interesting conversation, but not today. Today it would be silent and awkward unless I did something about it.
I’d grown to care about my handler, which was why his betrayal hurt so much. But from what I’d observed, Quentin had no life outside of his job. No friends aside from us. Maybe he needed to be taught what it meant to have a life and loyalties outside of work.
I set down my coffee cup with a weary sigh. “I understand how important the Order is to you, but if you ever do anything like that to me again, I won’t stop Telarion from tearing off your face.”
He nodded curtly. “I understand.”
But I wasn’t done. “I care about you, Quentin, and I think…I think you care about me too. Think aboutthatnext time the Order asks you to do something to me without my consent. We don’t harm the people we care about.”
Something passed across his face, a darkness that made my stomach hurt, but it was gone before I could analyze it further.
I pushed back my chair. “Now let’s go do some mapping.”
* * *
Frost hungin the air and made icicles on the lampposts and railings of Silent Hill Trail. It coated the cement, giving it a white sheen, and crunched underfoot as we made our way to the rift. I’d wrapped up, hat, scarf, and gloves to ward off the chill, but everything would have to come off on the eldritch side, where it was warm and dry.
Despite our conversation at the dinner table, the journey here had been silent. Not an awkward silence, more a reflective one.
The streets were empty again, although I was sure I caught the twitch of curtains and the dart of shadows in the periphery of my vision.
“Do people ever come out of their homes?”
Quentin smiled. “There are peak times and lull times. The markets here open between midday and five p.m., so that’s when it’s busiest.”
And we’d always come super early. Probably deliberate on Quentin’s part, to make sure we avoided confrontation.
I hoisted my pack higher on my shoulder as we approached the breach and then turned to Quentin. “I’ll be back in three hours.”
“I’ll be here.”
“You’re not gonna stand here for three hours, are you?”
He smiled again. “No, August. I’ll go sit in the car until it’s time to get you.” He held out his hand for my hat, scarf, and coat.
