I couldn't let her lose anyone else.
It was the right decision to come back and regroup so we could figure out how to move forward. I was determined to learn as much as we could to answer all the questions we had from our chaotic mission.
"It's an interesting offer," Lyra said calmly. "I'll think about it and let you know my answer after I speak with my associates. Thank you for your time." After they exchanged pleasantries, she ended the call, grabbed her tea, and came over to me. Immediately, I opened my arms and relaxed into the couch. She set her cup on the coffee table in front of us and curled up into me.
"How was it?" I asked. "Did they offer you piles of cash?"
"It was interesting," she said vaguely, and sighed. "Not quite. The government wants Callanish to put our original contract on hold to prioritize a new job."
I searched her face for a reaction and found a twinge of disappointment in her frown. "You don't want that."
"I'm frustrated," she admitted, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face. "I wanted to go back to the search for my parents, of course, but that won't be possible if I want to continue with them as a client. I just feel like the universe dangles an opportunity and the illusion of progress, only for it to be snatched away from us."
"I'm familiar." It was hard. Our entire lives were a progressive adventure, but it was always two steps forward and one step back. Whether it was a government agency or a mysterious new threat, there was always something standing in the way. It made it hard to keep our spirits up. Gently, I brushed the side of her face with my hand. She cupped my hand against her face, sighing against the touch.
"I just want to find them," she said softly. “All of our parents.” Her tiny voice made me sad.
"We'll figure something out." I paused, considering my words carefully. Lyra had to get us a job to make money, but we could reasonably stay afloat for a few months if she didn't want to pursue this new offer. "You know, we don't have to take the mission."
Her brow furrowed, giving her a conflicted look. "The thing is… it sounds important. There's a group of humans hiding out in the Leftovers in Florida, using it as a way to commit crimes, taking advantage of the confusion to dodge the police.”
"Florida," I muttered. "Where is that?"
"South." She pulled out the fancy new phone that Bryce had insisted she buy for business purposes and pulled up a map to show me. She pointed to the southeastern tip of the country. "It's all the way down here."
"I didn't even think the meld went that far," I said, confused. I didn't have the best grasp of this nation's geography, but I generally knew a lot about the central area. The meld being an issue in more southern states hadn't occurred to me.
Lyra shrugged. "I don't know much. Isolated pockets have apparently cropped up in all the states, even in the places that never actually melded. Maybe it's some kind of weird aftershock. The agent on the phone was concerned.”
I considered her idea. Maybe, while the barriers were being deconstructed by the arbiters, it caused some other parts of the continent to destabilize? But why wouldn’t the arbiters have fixed this by now? We hadn’t heard from them since the meld, but I knew they’d lost a lot of energy. Maybe they weren’t in a position to do anything. I explained my theory, and Lyra rested her head against my arm on the back of the couch.
"Your guess is as good as mine. There's also the disturbing prospect of an entirely new Pocket Space between the planes." Her hazel eyes always looked most beautiful when she was puzzling over a problem. I liked the intense look on her face. "There's something else."
"What?" I pressed. If she’d saved it for the end, it had to be big. She never started with whatever was worrying her the most.
"The government thinks the group down in Florida might have revenant vampires on their side," she said. I sat up straighter. That was impossible. All the revenants were gone, as far as I knew. She saw my face and nodded understandingly. "Yeah, it doesn't make much sense. The official I was just on the phone with said that the criminal group is believed to be trafficking humans to the Leftovers for unknown purposes. I find the part about revenants hard to believe, but the government is more cautious." I could hear hesitation in her voice.
"You're worried about the humans," I said. Lyra couldn't hide her compassion. She cared about everyone, and it showed through every part of her life. It was one of the things that attracted me to her the most.
"Of course. I think back to our first case working together on the human trafficking mission. I hate the idea of humans using the supernatural as a way to commit more crimes against humanity. It's sickening." A fire lit up inside her, and I felt her heartbeat pounding more. Her desire to do good was infectious.
"It is," I agreed. "Unfortunately, saving the world never meant completely wiping out crime and creating a utopia."
Lyra gave me a sad smile as she danced her fingers up my arm. "Would've been nice, huh?"
"Very," I confirmed. "Even though I would technically starve, if that ever happened."
She brought a hand to her face. "Oh, I didn't even think about that. I'm sure that you'll be able to help with the bad guys down in Florida, if you can stand the mosquitos."
I snorted. "Luckily, all bloodsucking species are basically family. I'm sure they'll go for you and Cam instead." I paused, thinking about the job offer and everything it represented. It was a pause on Lyra's search for her parents, which concerned me even if she seemed genuinely intrigued by the Florida
