“You’re the one whose been poking around on the darkwaves about voicelock technology. If you’re curious, you can come join BDL, and I’ll give you unlimited access to all the voicelocks you could possibly want to look at.”
Örim stilled. He’d suspected. But this was confirmation. Raptor was the Aviarist.
“No.”
“Are you sure? I do so miss our chats.”
“All of that was an enormous mistake.” Örim’s chest node ached as he thought of Cassie. Heat built inside his energy core. He was wasting time here. He needed to get to her.
“Ah. I miscalculated.You’rethe one who fell for her. More’s the pity.”
“You aren’t getting access to anyone in my town. Spend the night in one of our cells while I contact the IA to come collect you.” S’samph stomped off with the Aviarist still clutched in his claws before Örim had a moment to catch up.
The cells in a standard jail, like the one in Laurus, weren’t designed to hold a cyborg. But Örim had to get to Cassie. He had to get her hidden away and safe. S’samph could absolutely hold his own against the Aviarist. The latil’e was not a stupid male, he would keep close watch on the human even once he was behind bars. It would at least give Örim enough time to get to Cassie and lock her down behind his extensive security network.
Despite the suns blinding his eyes, he ran to his levibike and jammed his helmet on his head before riding hard to where Cassie could usually be found with the pichari. He saw K’kaen first. The latil’e male was dawdling behind Cassie with a basket in his hands while she collected feathers from the ground.
“Cassie. We need to go home now.” Örim threw off his helmet and rushed to her without so much as a proper greeting. Cassie turned with a frown on her face. K’kaen, however, was not going to let her go without an explanation.
“What happened?” Cassie asked. She reached up to pat Kalai, who had started plucking at her eyebrows.
“Gonna tell me what’s going on?” K’kaen set the basket of pichari feathers down on the ground. “I mean she can go with you if she wants, but you’re not usually so to the point, teösian.”
“He’s here. In Laurus. We have to get Cassie somewhere safe.” Örim glanced over his shoulder. Every second they spent debating was another second lost to get Cassie hidden away. Cassie froze.
“The Aviary man?” Grizzled Ailari appeared with a thresher in hand, trilling murderously.
“He’s here.” Örim affirmed the situation with a single tap to his elbow node.
“F’fret. The Aviarist is here? Does S’samph know?” K’kaen’s tail started to thrash. He reached over Cassie to yank an indignant Kalai free of her hair and then pushed her toward Örim. Cassie had stopped moving of her own accord. Her eyes had that glazed, vacant expression she assumed when she wasn’t mentally present, when she’d gone somewhere far away where Örim couldn’t reach her.
“He knows, he’s handling the situation, but I suspect he might struggle against a cyborg.” K’kaen cursed and hurried for his own levibike. “Cassie. We need to go.” Örim took her hand and gently led her to his levibike. She was wooden in her movements as he propped her behind him on the bike with Ailairi’s help. Gone somewhere else entirely.
They arrived back at their home, and he triggered the lockdown protocol. He’d wanted time to make a few additional tweaks to the system, but this would be sufficient for now. All the lights went dark. It was temporary, just until they figured out what to do about the Aviarist. Or it could be longer. He could keep her here with him, safe. She wouldn’t have to leave. She wouldn’t have to see anyone else or do anything that distressed her. The thought chilled him as soon as it percolated. It would beanother cage. To keep her here forever. With him alone. The last thing he wanted to do was put Cassie in another cage.
Örim suspected pinning down the Aviarist wouldn’t be that simple. Even if he didn’t come into town covertly and was fully open with his intentions, it just signified the audacity that came from knowing you were unlikely to lose. He’d seen it often enough with his colleagues at the research institute. He’d seen it with himself.
CHAPTER 41
Cassie
The client was close, far too close, his heavy body collapsed on top of hers as he passed out after his second dose. The panic button was so far away.
“I need assistance please.” Cassie squeaked under the weight of the unconscious kyrot male. No one came. The door didn’t open.
“I need assistance please.” Her small hand reached for the panic button. She’d never get to it. Too far away. Cassie struggled to breathe. It felt like her whole world was fading into shades of gray and red. She wasn’t sure how long she stayed there; she wasn’t sure how long they left her there. Eventually, someone scraped her off the floor.
While Örim was initiating the lockdown protocol on their home, Cassie stood inside in the dark. She didn’t know.She didn’t know what to do. Lights wouldn’t have mattered. Her whole field of vision was filled with gray and red and Rhea’s face. The Aviarist would find her. She’d go back into her cage. She’d go back. She’d probably die. She needed something. Anything to still the swirling, hungry fog inside of her head. Her fingers found something sharp on Örim’s workbench where he’d been tinkering that morning. The pain was grounding. There was so much blood.
CHAPTER 42
Orim
After triple checking the lockdown protocols, Örim maneuvered his levibike to its charging port while Cassie went inside ahead of him. Once he came in, he removed his dusty boots, initiated the final sequence, and went to go check on her, noticing that she hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights. Örim removed his eyestones in the appropriately dim interior and placed them in his pocket.
Cassie had made it five paces inside their home and then stopped as if her energy core suddenly sputtered out. Still wearing her boots, Cassie sat on the ground staring at nothing. One of his paring blades, the one he’d been using just that morning, was next to her on the ground. And she was bleeding.Sökt, she was bleeding. A deep, red fissure across her wrist. Blood pooled onto the stone flooring below, and Cassie wasn’t even there. Her eyes were glazed and unfocused, and Örim felt nothing but the rising tide of panic.
This was different than before. Before she’d only caused superficial damage. Örim froze beside her, torn between the riskof leaving her unattended and the need to stop the bleeding. Humans died if they lost too much blood. Was that her intention? Was she trying to die? He collected the blade first, pocketing it so she couldn’t get it again. Stop the bleeding. Stop the blood. She wasn’t going to die. He wasn’t going to let her die. Örim tore off his shirt and knelt in front of her. He wouldn’t have her out of his sight now.
