The geese formed a small mob around us, impatient and squawking as they demanded bread. Tearing off a small piece, tossing it forward, and watching the small feeding frenzy.
“When I first moved here, this was the closest thing to nature near my apartment. I couldn’t shift into my fox form, but I liked being here… however, the geese did not appreciate me, so I had to bribe them. This is the first place in Ashvale I felt comfortable.”
So that was why we came here.
There were people walking to apartments or out for a walk in the distance, not so close their presence worried me and yet we weren’t so isolated that I felt uncomfortable. The sun felt nice on my skin, glinting off the water of the pond.
Due to my physical issues I didn’t get outside enough, a damn shame considering I already spent too much of my life indoors in darkness. There was an easy kind of joy in feeding the geese. Making them happy made me feel happy too.
“Having a quiet place to think was also very helpful.” Temple kept talking while he fed the geese. “Not too long ago, two men told me the same story. One, a fox like me, trusted by other foxes who vouched for him as someone who’d never betray another fox. And a decorated former member of the agency I dedicated my life to. The other, a detective like me, trusted by other detectives as the current head of his agency.”
Oh. I ended up giving a goose nearly a whole slice of bread, dropping the piece hastily as he began telling me the story he promised to deliver.
“Two people told me the same story, they just cast each other as the villain. If I chose the wrong person to trust, my brother would pay the price. We hadn’t met in the beginning, not yet, but he had the same blood as me, the same father, and nobody deserved… he was an undiscovered fox shifter.”
Adults with unknown supernatural abilities usually fell through the cracks and had no knowledge of their true natures. That left the door open to manipulation when the wrong people found them first. In the case of Temple’s brother, it seemed obvious who had found him.
“One of these men was involved with the auctions?” I filled in. He just hadn’t known who, the fox or his boss.
Temple nodded. “He shielded the Brokers for profit and then attempted to buy my brother.”
Huh. Yes, it was a little uncomfortable that he’d been uncertain on the very case that involved my whole future and well-being… I also understood that he chose to volunteer this information promptly when he could have easily concealed that part. He told me anyway, even knowing the information might upset me and I might stop listening or demand he take me back immediately.
Being all too familiar with the Brokers and even having some understanding of their clientèle by having a front row seat to the horrific operation, his confusion seemed understandable enough. Several extremely wealthy people bought mates over the years that the supernatural trafficking ring and auctions operated. The buyers were people who lived seemingly ordinary lives, some in positions of power or in the public eye. They were good at being deceptive and hiding the darkness inside them. So many people had conspired and willingly took part to make it all work. I blamed them, not the man next to me.
When I had enough time to process the information, I nodded for him to continue.
“All I had to do was figure out who to trust,” Temple continued. “So I started with whatItrusted most, the evidence. But very little was freely available. There was a side Iwantedto trust but without corroborating evidence… I decided I had no choice but to keep both parties in play until one side revealed their true colors. So because of me, the guilty person almost escaped.”
So Temple played both sides, worked with them both, and waited for one to incriminate themselves, and it nearly all went wrong.
“Did you end up trusting the wrong people?” They had rescued us, so it had to have worked. He did the right—
“No, I suppose not,” Temple said. “Because somewhere down the line not knowing who to trust turned intonot trusting anybody.I convinced myself going it alone was the only choice.”
The sudden implication there to my own situation hit me unprepared and I stuttered. “B-because if you were wrong your brother would pay the price.”
“He’d also pay the price for my inadequacies, which he nearly did. Taking matters entirely into my own hands was only one choice, the wrong one. I wish I’d just had the strength to ask for help and trust someone earlier.”
“So you’re saying I should trust you now?” I was supposed to learn from his mistakes and do what he said, not what he did.
A goose honked near my right side. I held out an impatient hand towards the agent, out of bread.
“No, whether you trust me or not, whether you trustanyone,that’s up to you. I’m only saying that I understand how incredibly tempting it is to decide the safest option is keeping everyone away.” He faced me, his grey eyes hypnotizing and impossible to look away from. “I understand how tempting it isandhow impossible.”
Whoa. I jumped when he touched me, no, he only put the requested slice of bread in my hand.
“Right or wrong,” Temple continued. “That terrifying leap of faith must be taken sometime. No one person can handle every single thing the world might choose to throw their way, not even someone as strong as you. If you are thinking about placing any measure of trust in me, John, I can only tell you this. You’ve had to be braver and stronger than anyone should ever have to be, but if you can find the strength to be brave one more time, then I’ll do everything I can to prove I deserve that trust.”
All of it hit me like a punch to the gut. Whatever showed on my face probably gave away too much, though he didn’t look, like he knew I already felt too exposed. He just told me he’d wait for me by the car and left me with the sated geese and the sun’s pleasant light that now chilled my skin.
No matter how tempting—uh, no matter howwellhe stated his case, it didn’t matter. Right? Even if I could trust him, nothing had changed.
I still had to leave. I needed to go home.
7.When Bad Plans go Bad…er
Lysander
