“There have still been interesting heat signatures around the mountains,” Rex says. “And generally, when that happens, hot spots light up on the rock as well.”
“How are the science guys going on that front?’
“They keep giving us a whole bunch of mumbo jumbo that basically means they have no fucking clue.”
“Right,” I mutter, chuckling. “How about the heat signature, then? Have we investigated it?”
“It keeps moving,” Luke says. “We sent out a team, but the satellite marked it flowing through a cave system, staying ahead of us. It moves like a…well, a…”
“Snake?” I say, laughing.
“Yeah,” Daniel agrees. “It really does, but if the heat signature is anything to go by, this thing is fucking huge.”
“Is it solid?” I ask, concerned. “Is it giving off life signs, or showing up as dense matter in the scans?”
“No,” Rex answers. “Just intense heat. However, it doesn’t leave scorch marks or anything like that. It’s like a ghost. The science guys can’t figure out how it can be that hot and not burn everything in its path. Very occasionally, we find a burnt trail, but not often.”
“Damn,” I mutter. “So, what can we do?”
“Nothing,” Rex answers with a small grin. “Sloan is practically tearing her hair out.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, she’s got an army and nowhere to show it off!”
All of us laugh a little, and I feel tension rising in my gut. These guys are my best friends, my brothers. I’ve bled withthem, shed tears with them. If I don’t tell them about Alisha, it will feel too much like a lie.
“Look, Rex,” I say, running a hand nervously through my hair. “I’ve got to tell you something.”
“What is it?” Rex asks, looking at me with concern.
“I, uh, I have a mate, now.”
“When did this happen?” Rex answers, looking pleased.
“Last night, actually.”
“Fast work,” Luke remarks with a low whistle.
“No, it’s not like that,” I hurry to explain. “I met her a few years ago, on the mission outside Vegas.”
“Oh,” Rex mutters, and all of us shoot nervous looks at each other.
“That was a hairy one,” Luke says.
“Yeah, it was,” I reply. “I was stupid to get involved with her. It was when I was undercover at the dive bars, and I ended up crashing at her place a few times. I didn’t compromise the mission, though.”
“I know you would never do that,” Rex says. “We got out of there clean with the intel we needed, and shut down a black market ring that was in danger of exposing us all. It was a job well done.”
The thought strikes me again that I met Alisha in the bar I was casing. It was full of nasty types and magical creatures doing stuff they shouldn’t. I had always wondered what a defenseless human was doing there.
“So, how did you end up together?” Luke asks. “Did she just drop out of the sky?”
Maybe. I hope not.
“I found her in the woods south of Eccles,” I answer, leaving out the part about how she could see the town, even though it’s magically shrouded. “She had some troubles and was hiking out to get away from them.”
“That’s an amazing coincidence,” Daniel remarks.
“Yeah,” I agree. “I thought I’d never see her again, so I was pretty blown away. The thing is, she needs to lay low for a while, so I’m going to be keeping her by my side until the whole thing blows over.”
