Page 50 of All That Has Flown Beyond
“It’s…you can do them, if you want. I’ll repay you. Obviously.”
“We can discuss payment at the end. This is just the start,” Kaiyo said. He could see the tension in Ahmik’s body at the words. He never did like being helped. “Don’t be a Gryffindor about this, Ahmik.” The tease just slipped out, an old joke between them.
Ahmik looked at him for a moment before his frown broke slightly into a smile.
“Yeah, yeah.”
Kaiyo looked away. He’d thought the distance between them was difficult, but the suggestion of familiarity was even worse.
“I’ll have to do some digging into this. We don’t have time to lose.”
“No, we don’t,” Ahmik said, his voice turning serious again. There was a pause. “Thank you.”
Kaiyo nodded. He didn’t voice what he wanted to say.
You don’t need to thank me. You might have exiled me, but my bones are still bound to this earth.
**********
The frantic need for answers that took over Kaiyo reminded him of the days in the Garrow pack house, desperate to defend a land and family that had already lost too much. Of those first months with Akiko, when he thought the only thing keeping him afloat was the buoy of his work.
He dived into the land. Into its wounded heart. He followed the trail of clues with his nose pressed against the earth. He called Akiko for guidance, reached out to Clara to confirm his suspicions.
“It’s a necromancer,” Kaiyo explained over the phone to Ahmik. The exchange of numbers had been an awkward interaction, but a necessary one. “Or, well, theywerea necromancer. I don’t think whatever is doing this is human enough to be called that now. Its Ousía is completely corrupted. It must have had a faulty anchor and fallen into the addiction of taking without giving anything back. From the Nunn, no less. The price demanded must be making it necessary for him to steal the Ousía of living beings, and who has more potential life than children?”
“Jesus. So, it’s some vampiric asshole taking the kids’ Ousía?”
“Basically.”
“What do we do?”
“Well, we need to find it first. I’ve tried doing a divining ritual, but he’s a slippery fucker. I’m going to need a catalyst. Something from one of the victims. The last one is still in the morgue, and hair would do best, so…”
“So you’re going to break into the fucking morgue? Jesus Christ.”
“Unless you have a lock of her hair lying around?”
There was a moment of frustrated silence. “Fine. But I’m coming with you.”
“That will serve no purpose. It’ll just be more conspicuous if there’s two of us.”
“Tough. You can use me as a lookout if you want, but I’m going.”
Kaiyo sighed. “Fine. I’ll need until tomorrow night to get everything prepared.”
“I’ll pick you up. When?”
“Midnight will do,” Kaiyo answered. Ahmik snorted at the clichéd time but agreed.
“If you go without me—”
“Ahmik. I’ve already agreed to you coming.”
“Yeah, but I know you. You—”
“No. You don’t know me. You know who I used to be,” Kaiyo said coldly. They both knew who was responsible for that. Kaiyo listened to the silence on the other side of the line.
“Fine. Midnight.”
