Page 50 of In Your Light

“And he said to hold off on sending any reports for the foreseeable future, right?”

“Yep. I’m guessing until I hear from him again. I’m also assuming I’m still employed by the state police, but...”

“But what?”

“He’s not human, right?”

Ciaran raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Cern has him on speed dial, so.” He made a face. “And Cern sure as hell isn’t human, and Hadeom knows all about you guys, and I’m assuming he knows about the mountain faun. So, if he knows all about the non-human world, dealt with Lusca, is best buds with an old god, fixed the jail cell bars with some weird alien technology, then odds are, he’s not freaking human.”

“Again with the alien technology,” Ciaran mumbled.

“Yes. And Tobin saw into his mind. He said it was weird as fuck, remember? And definitely not human.”

Ciaran got a gleam in his eye. “To be fair, the only other human Tobin’s ever done his telepath thing on is you, and I’m not entirely sure your mind is the yardstick for normal.”

Sawyer gasped, mouth open, eyes wide with disbelief. “The fuck?”

Ciaran burst out laughing, quickly pulled Sawyer in for a hug, and kissed the side of his head. “I love your mind. Your funny, mostly freaky, always fabulous mind.”

Sawyer laughed and swatted Ciaran’s shoulder, but Ciaran had him wrapped tight and his tentacle hand was now slithering up under his sweater.

“Sawyer?” a voice called out from somewhere outside.

Sawyer froze. “Is that Fyn?” He extracted himself out of Ciaran’s hold and made for the door. “He shouldn’t be back yet.”

He opened the front door and found Fyn coming out of the police station, clearly looking for him. He sagged when he saw Sawyer. “Oh,” he said, hands on his hips, trying to catch his breath. “There you are. And Ciaran, good. I need to tell you both something.”

“Are you okay?” Sawyer asked as he walked over to him. “Did you sprint here? Do you need a drink of water?”

Something crossed his face, like a stab of unpleasantness. “I’m okay. Yes, I ran.” He drew his hand through his hair. “There were humans.”

Ciaran bristled beside Sawyer. “Humans? Where?”

“At the old bridge. On the human side of the river. Zaq and I saw them,” he said. “They didn’t see us, I promise.”

“What were they doing?” Sawyer asked.

“They had equipment. One was scanning the gorge and the old pylons. I don’t know what it was. I’m not familiar with human things.” He shrugged. “They had a vehicle.”

“You saw all this?” Ciaran asked.

“Yes.”

Ciaran’s eyes met Sawyer’s, and he gave a nod. “I’ll go get Tobin,” he murmured before ducking across to Fray’s place.

Sawyer smiled at Fyn. “Come with me.” He led him into the police station and offered him a seat. “I’ll grab you a water.”

He ducked into his flat and poured a glass of water. When he took it to Fyn, he was staring at the jail cell. “What’s that for?”

Sawyer handed him the glass. “It’s an old jail cell from about a hundred years ago. For locking people up. Probably the old miners who’d had too much to drink, I reckon.”

Fyn sipped the water. “It’s a cage,” he said quietly. “I don’t think I’d like to be in there. Have you ever put anyone in there?”

Sawyer gave him a sad smile. “I actually put myself in there once. It’s a long story, but Lusca tore through the bars and—” He held up his arm with the plaster cast. “—that’s where she did this.”

“The one who hurt Salem,” he said.