Bryce pressed his lips together in thought. Although he looked fierce, he had a soft spot for animals. He had learned to befriend redbills before anyone else during our first months with the vampires. "We can take it back with us. The government provided Bureau-issue tanks for us to use if we wanted to collect specimens."
Cam nodded numbly, but his gaze hardened. The word “specimen” was unpleasant, but it was all we could do for the creature. At least at the Bureau, someone would be able to set its broken leg. Cam moved forward to grab it, but the beast scampered back. Finally, after two tries with Sike, Cam managed to get the rodent into his arms. Once against his chest, the thing appeared to relax. I could now see where its blood had clotted. I lifted an impressed eyebrow. The healing on this creature was incredible. It should have died in the forest last night, but it hadn't.
We returned to the carrier plane, where Cam and Sike worked on a cozier habitat for the rodent. I hid my smile from them. Their efforts were sweet, and the strange rodents were growing on me… even if this one had managed to scare the crap out of me earlier. Bryce and I might both be softies at heart.
"Let's do dinner," Bryce announced. Dorian helped him prepare it, despite not being able to eat it. Bryce shook his head wildly from side to side, his gray hair flying. "The Bureau office feels like it's becoming a slice of Swiss cheese, with as many holes as it has."
Cam fed a tiny bit of bread to the creature, who gobbled it up greedily.
"We should be careful with our food," Bryce rumbled, referring to the tracks around our plane. "The creatures might get light-fingered once they realize what we have. I hope your new friend doesn't tell his pals in the forest."
Cam grimaced. "He has a bad cut on his throat. I think that's why he can't scream, and why he was doing that thing with his ears."
I winced, eating my rations as fast as I could. The sound was unsettling to remember, more so because the entire forest embodied such odd, eerie acoustics. Thankfully, we were okay right now. Dorian's theory about the creatures and fauna being more active at night was proving right, as the day passed peacefully besides the scare from our rodent friend.
A buzz shook me from my thoughts. It came from Bryce's comm, the newest design from Reshi. Bryce brushed his mouth free of crumbs and grinned from ear to ear. Based on that smile alone, I knew exactly who it was.
"Hello there, fierceness," Bryce greeted on the comm. Cam turned to openly gawk at his uncle. "How are the disturbing horrors of the Immortal Plane treating you?"
I snickered and rolled my eyes. Bryce had become bolder in his flirtation with Arlonne recently. Reshi had managed to improve our comms enough for inter-plane communication, although they still went in and out like old cell phones at times. Arlonne was in the Immortal Plane, working with more Coalition allies to find a nearby gate in order for her team to join us in the Leftovers. We particularly wanted to find a gate in the Leftovers, in case we needed to make a quick getaway and to study the Leftovers’ effects on the gates. Bryce let out a very high chuckle at one point.
I'm not sure Cam will ever recover from this… At least he seems amused.
"Got it," Bryce said after a few minutes and pointed at me, then to his own ear.
I pressed my own comm into my ear, and Arlonne’s voice rang out clearly. The connection was good, for now.
"Lyra, I want you to hear this too," Arlonne said. She was never one for greetings. "We've been getting strange readings in the area lately. And… we found something. We came across the glowing swamp that your father talked about, but it's hard to travel through. We've sensed no human presences and no gates, although we do feel major barrier fluctuations here. There’s no sign that anyone has been here." She paused for a beat. "I'm sorry not to have better news."
"It's okay," I told her. Even though it hurt to hear, I was glad they’d found the swamp. It meant there was a connection between what my dad said and what we were investigating. I had to keep my hopes low, but my trust in myself and my team high. "Thank you for your hard work."
"We'll keep working hard," Arlonne promised, a fierce loyalty and power ringing in her tone. I smiled.
"That means a lot."
I left her to finish the call with Bryce. Dorian leaned over, saying nothing, merely squeezing my knee. I needed the gesture. It had been a long twenty-four hours. I was exhausted, and it was only day two. I took out the compass and the note from the researcher's secret cubby.
"See you later, lovely." Bryce ended his flirty call. Thank goodness I got to leave the call before all that.
Cam blinked. "You were talking to… a vampire?"
Bryce raised one eyebrow, as if to challenge his nephew. "You got a problem?"
"Not at all," Cam said smoothly, and his calm face transformed into a teasing grin. "I can't wait to tell Mom."
Dorian smirked. "Vampire and human relationships are all the rage."
I shook my head at the exchange, laughing helplessly.
"It's none of your business," Bryce said bluntly to Cam. "Keep yourself to that spiky little squirrel thing and you'll do yourself a favor. My relationships are my own, and they're wonderfully private. I'd like to keep them that way." What exactly was private about a flirty phone call in front of everyone?
Everyone else shared a quiet smile, the kind that bound people together. I was thankful for the brief levity. It was a nice change of pace from our journey into the rotting building.
"Oh!" Sike shot up from his bedroll, where he'd
