I wonder how long it’s been since Avet has eaten. I was always more of a stickler for those things. Without me around to be the boring one, Avet floats away on a series of ambitions and toaster pastries. When he is consumed by something, little else exists.
I lean back in my chair, fighting the urge to let my anger get the best of me. “I’m happy here.”
Avet’s narrowed gaze cuts easily through my lie. “You’re alone here. That’s not the same thing as being happy, no matter how much a hermit you fancy yourself.”
His jabs are honest, so I respect them enough not to bat them away. “Fair point.” I run my hand over my face, cataloging all the ways I am too rusty to pursue this mission with any real efficiency. “This is a bad idea, you realize.”
Avet straightens, hope stiffening his spine. “That’s never stopped us before.”
I offer up an airy, joyless laugh through my nose. “If we do this…” I pause for Avet’s reaction. His neck lengthens while a grin takes over his features. I hold up my hands to stave off his glee, lest it become infectious. “It’s only this once, got it? We find whatever clue you need to get back on this vamp’s trail, and I’m out. I’m not going out to get Cher. I’m not tracking down Tigran to get him off your back. I’m only helping you find where Cher might be.”
I feel like a tool for not going after my surrogate sister. I was pretty much part of their family, yet I am about to leave Cher to fate’s cruel devices.
In truth, I don’t have the stomach to search for a dead body, which I am certain Cher is by now. I don’t want to hunt down a corpse. Cher and Avet are the closest things I have to siblings. It would break me to see her dead.
Avet nods so quickly at the paltry offer; I am surprised his eyes don’t rattle in his head. “Totally fair. I just need your help tracking down the vampire who took Cher, and that’s that.”
I close my eyes, unable to believe I have just agreed to step back into the world I ran away from three years ago. “I’m supposed to be retired, you know.”
Avet leans his elbow on the table. “That’s the vicious rumor.”
“So don’t give me that hurt puppy routine when we find the vampire’s trail and I actually do say goodbye.”
Avet draws an X over his heart. “I won’t even sing you the song I wrote about how your absence broke my heart into little, tiny fragments.”
“Thank goodness for that.” I drink my water, my mind kicking into overdrive to piece together parts of a plan. If I am going to be helpful at all in tracking down the vampire who abducted Cher, then I have to face the fact that I am light-years behind any semblance of being useful. “I’m a little rusty,” I warn him.
Avet reaches over and pinches my unshaven cheek. “That’s okay, Little Rusty. We’ll get you up to snuff before we shove off.”
I am dubious, but Avet is determined.
At least we have fallen back into our old rhythm easily enough, where I am cautious and Avet is cocky.
“Thank you,” Avet says, his dark lashes sweeping shut.
“You can thank me by brewing up that dreamless sleep draught. If I’m going to do this, I need to be on my game.”
Avet and I finish our salads in silence. For a few brief moments, I remember the ease of our friendship, and the blessing it is to be known by someone you love and respect.
I can only hope that this one last mission doesn’t get us both killed.
6
OUT OF PRACTICE
I guess it’s no surprise I am out of practice, but the extent to which my skills have fallen is an embarrassment for which I might never stop apologizing. “Sorry. That wasn’t even close.”
Avet takes a step back from the target he set up in the middle of the field. After I woke up, showered, and forced Avet to eat oatmeal without mini marshmallows in it, we began to prepare for the trip to the storage locker.
It took us twenty minutes to find a field large enough that no one would notice or care if we did a little target practice. We’ve been at this half an hour now, and I am no closer to hitting my mark than I was when we started. I would have thought sleeping a little would give me back my edge, but it turns out that no matter if one is half-cocked or fully loaded with sleep, neglecting the basic skills all trappers tend to pick up isn’t something one can recover in a day.
Avet grimaces when he looks at the scarecrow. “That’s why we’re here.” He slaps his hands together. “It’s like riding a bike, Keran. Head in the game. You’ve got this.”
His pep talk only makes me feel worse and miss more horribly on my next shot. I throw my head back. “Let’s just go. This isn’t going to get any better. In fact, I think it’s all heading the opposite way.”
Avet conjures up a cheery expression, though I can tell he is just as worried as I am about the dwindled state of my agility and aim. “Take your time. We’ll get you there.”
I keep at it, throwing out questions every now and then between knife throws. “The last time you saw Cher was a year ago?”