“Good, you are here. I don’t have to track you.”
“Is everything okay?” Örim asked, slightly panicked at S’samph’s unexpected appearance. “I didn’t have it in my calendar that you were coming to my home today.” He didn’t see Cassie on S’samph’s levibike, and the plasma shield wasn’t activated around their domicile, which meant she hadn’t gone inside.
“The IA sent news about one of the others rescued from the Aviary. A female named Rhea." S'samph’s frill rippled along his neck. “Your mate is distraught. She ran off. I don’t know where she went.”
“What kind of news? You let her run off?” Örim was torn between wanting to better understand the situation and wanting to rush to start looking for her. “Is someone with Cassie? Where is she?”
“She disappeared. I have Arz out looking for her. She’ll let me know when she’s found.”
“No. I need to go to her now.”
“You know where she is?”
“I have suspicions.” Örim grabbed his levibike helmet. “What made her run off?”
S’samph glanced at a notification on his wrist interface before returning attention to Örim. “Rhea was taken. The community around her did nothing to protect her, and now she can’t be found, despite the IA deploying resources to get her back.”
“Sökt,” Örim cursed, finding more eloquent language abandoning him. He knew who Rhea was. The younger female with blue hair. “You told Cassie.”
“I told Cassie.” S’samph’s frill pressed low along his spine. “I did not anticipate how distressing she would find the information. My intention was to reassure her that we won’t allow the same thing to happen to her. Cassie seems to think Rhea won’t be found.”
“I need to go.” Örim started his levibike.
“Do you require accompaniment?”
“No. I’ll go myself.” He started to rehearse things to say to her in his mind, but they all felt horribly inadequate. But first he had to find her, had to see for himself that she was safe.
“Wait. She may be injured when you find her.”
“Injured? You said she was safe.”
“Talk to your mate. If you don’t know about Cassie’s behavior now, that is a failing on your part.” S’samph’s frill fell flat as he gestured to his own arms. “Talk to Cassie. Don’t be an idiot.”
“I’m leaving.” Örim kicked his bike into gear. It wasn’t fast enough to manage the mounting dread he felt as he approached the canal. Cassie might be injured. S’samph had been vagueabout Cassie’s physical wellbeing multiple times. The closer he got to the dock, the more he suspected he was missing.
He saw Cassie’s dark hair and slight frame between the slats of the dock. Her body was shuddering. He had failed. Cassie didn’t feel safe. He had let her suffer again. Alone.Sökt, he shouldn’t have left her alone. As soon as he had the opportunity, he would go to Pyo and request personal leave from his teaching responsibilities until this had all blown over.
“Cassie?” Örim got down onto his knees to get closer to her. “I’m here, Cassie.” Words failed him when he saw her arms. Deep red grooves scored into her skin, welling with bright blood in some places and scabbed over in others.
“Tell me what happened to you. S’samph said you were hurt.” His voice was filled with gravel as he reached for her hand.
Rhea. Rhea is gone.She snatched her hand away from him.
“Tell me how to help. Do you need to go to the clinic? My knowledge of functional medicine is limited.”
Cassie pulled her arms tighter to her body.Nothing.Not safe.She repeated the same sign.
“You’re safe as long as someone else is with you. This, what you’re doing here, isn’t safe. Either K’kaen or S’samph needs to be with you when you’re not home. The Aviarist is a being like any other. He has no power to harm you as long as you are protected.”
Rhea had people around her. Rhea is gone.
“I’m sure they’ll be able to find her. The IA has considerable resources.” Örim could taste the lie as soon as he said it. Cassie didn’t know about the two other passeri the IA had found dead. But he did. He knew, and he hadn’t told her.
Cassie fixed him with a blank stare.They won’t find her. She’s gone. The same way as Dove. Robin. Lark. Canary.Her fingernails dug hard into her arms, spilling more blood from the wounds. He tried not to recoil. He failed. Cassie flinched.
Now he understood. Cassie was unwell. He knew of some teösians who could not cope with high pressure to succeed and would bash themselves into surfaces until their bodies cracked. This seemed similar. But Cassie wasn’t teösian. Her body couldn’t restore itself. The pieces started to fit. Her preference for clothing that covered her arms. The bandages on her arms after he’d nearly killed her. Her excuses about falling during practice. The old wounds she hadn’t been able to clearly explain. S’samph’s repeated warnings and oddly coded language. But he was as much at fault. He’d accepted her excuses. He hadn’t pressed. When it mattered most, he hadn’t noticed her drowning.
“You did this to yourself. Because of Rhea?”
