MirrorWorld

26.

Before I can answer, we’re inside the lab where several familiar faces wait. Allenby is there, a look of relief in her eyes. She takes my hand and gives it a pat but says nothing. Next is Cobb. After abducting him, forcing him to care for my kidnapped patient, and putting him in danger, I didn’t think I’d ever see him again. Most men would have run the other way. But here he is, sitting in a chair, eyes on the floor. Not that he looks happy about it. He’s so pale it looks like Dracula had a go at him, but I suspect he’s just been told the truth. Then there is Katzman, the Dread Squad leader who managed to corner and capture me. I can’t remember if that’s ever been done before, but it still impresses me. He’s all business, leaning against a counter. He offers a professional nod. I think my victorious return has earned a little respect. That will probably change when I tell them about the pugs, but I don’t care. Behind Katzman, but towering over him—in scale more than presence—is a new face. Standing at least fifteen inches taller than Katzman, the man’s shaggy face is easy to see, despite his best attempt to not make eye contact. He’s young, lanky, and dressed like it’s still the ’90s—jeans, T-shirt, open plaid flannel. The way his brown eyes dart everywhere but toward me says that he’s like Cobb and doesn’t really belong in this group. Looks more like he should be playing video games than discussing monsters that live just beyond our perception. I decide to spare him some social discomfort and not introduce myself just yet.

Last in the line is Winters, the CIA overseer and my former … what? The tightness of her scowl matches her crossed arms.

“Not happy to see me?” I ask her.

She huffs. “You knocked me out, gagged me, and cuffed me to a bed.”

“The gentlest way I know how,” I say. “And you did try to kick me in the face. And tase me. Do they know why you’re really upset at me?” I motion to the others.

A circle of confused eyes stare at me. Except for Winters. She looks something close to mortified. I think. I can recognize fear, but the subtleties of it are hard for me to pick out. But she definitely looks uncomfortable.

“Was it after Maya lost her mind, or before?” I ask Winters.

Her eyes slowly widen. She’s trying to tell me to shut my mouth without making it too obvious. But the implications aren’t hard to miss. Even the new guy gets it. He’s folding in on himself, trying to disappear.

“Josef,” Allenby says, shaking her head.

“Do you remember?” Lyons asks. He either knew already or doesn’t care.

I shake my head. “She didn’t flinch when I groped her breast.”

“You didn’t?” Allenby says to me, covering her mouth with her hand.

“I lack impulse control,” I say.

Winters pounds her fist into a desktop. “We’re not here to discuss the past.”

“It was just a few days ago that—”

“Josef!” Winters’s use of my real first name somehow confirms that we once had a relationship of some kind.

“The transgressions of your past are not why we’re here,” Lyons says, though I can see he’s not thrilled about the development, either. He might even be hiding his reaction so I don’t learn that we’re family.

I hold up my hands to Winters and offer a peace-treaty smile. “It’s ancient history, right?”

She forces a grin that says it isn’t, but we both move on.

I approach Cobb. “So, did they blow your mind?”

He looks up at me. “You could say that.”

“Still up to being a paramedic?”

His slow nod doesn’t exude confidence, but he’s here, and I trust him. “Great. Paramed me.” I pull off my T-shirt to gasps of surprise. My stomach and back are bruising from impacts with the bull and the tree.

Cobb stands, the cobwebs of confusion cleared. “Medical supplies?”

Allenby points to a tall cabinet. “There.”

Lyons leans in close, inspecting the purple skin. “What did this?”

“The Dread bull.”

He reels back. “It touched you?”

“Hard,” I say. “Is that unusual?”

“It’s rare,” he says, deep in thought. “But it’s not unheard of. Despite their ability to move between frequencies, they seem to avoid moving fully into our perceptual realm. We think it makes them uncomfortable. It might even be painful. It must have fully understood the threat you present. That is, unless…”

I know what he’s thinking and nod. “We weren’t here.”

Lyons seems both surprised and pleased. But he stays quiet, letting Cobb do his job.