Chapter Twenty-two

Morrisey gave his statement, collected his notes, and got as far as possible from the apartment building. He found Farren leaning against the car, ashy and pale. ”Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Those two were sex workers. It was too late to ask the first victim, but a traveler inhabited the second. At least, if that’s why you alerted me to the second victim.”

“It was.” Ask, what a strange word for temporary possession. “How was she not noticed before?”

”I don”t know. Travelers have some strange abilities. Maybe she didn’t want to be found, but in the end, could no longer keep hidden.”

Strange abilities?Like communing with the dying? “What just happened?” Sex workers. Succuba? Should Morrisey try to contact Jessa? Better still, had the time come to tell Farren about her? No. Not after promising not to.

He might have faults, but he at least attempted to be an honorable man.

Outwardly, Farren appeared all cool confidence. Inside? Another matter entirely. But how could Morrisey possibly feel the tangled emotions trapped inside someone else? Even without touching.

The dreams. A connection.

Terrifying.

Morrisey suddenly had an overwhelming urge to take Farren into his arms and offer comfort. He paid attention. The humans they interacted with at work treated Farren with suspicion and contempt, while other travelers kept their distance lest they draw ridicule on themselves.

Morrisey had even heard a growled “corpse fucker” at an agent who’d apparently liked Arianna. Through it all, Farren maintained his integrity, didn’t return the muttered insults, and continued doing a thankless job.

He must be physically and mentally exhausted.

Farren shook his head, then noticed a cop watching them and stilled. “I don’t know. C’mon. Let’s go someplace private to talk.” He gave the cop a withering glare and climbed behind the steering wheel.

Morrisey opened the passenger door, fixing his gaze on his partner. “What about the traveler? We can’t leave it there. It might take over a body.”

Farren shut his eyes, breath coming out in a whoosh.“They couldn’t deal with what they’d been made to do. What they’d seen. They asked to be banished. I… complied.”

Morrisey swallowed hard. Banished. The traveler asked to be banished, equivalent of traveler suicide? The finality in Farren’s tone implied an unwillingness to discuss further.

Morrisey couldn’t blame him.

The sun rode low in the sky. Morrisey’s stomach rumbled as he folded himself into the passenger seat. He wouldn’t have had an appetite after viewing such a scene twenty years ago, but he’d grown jaded with time. He idly filled in details on his sketchpad. “Why don’t we find somewhere to eat?” Something he’d also be unable to do years ago, with the scent of blood still invading his nose. But Farren needed to recharge before he fell down somewhere.

Farren gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Sure. My host body requires nourishment.”

Interesting enough of a comment to distract Morrisey from murder—for the moment. “But what do you eat? You still have to feed the spirit side of you, right?”

Farren didn’t answer immediately, head tilted at a considering angle. “Justice. I survive on justice.”

Morrisey snorted. ”Not much justice in the world, even on the best of days. You must be starving.”

“Tell me about it. The ultimate diet.” Farren turned toward Morrisey at a red light, a wry, fleeting smile on his lips.

“I have another question for you. If you actually need energy to be healthy, and you can get it without hurting anyone, what’s the harm?”

“Humans fear our skills. Think we’re taking from them, violating their rights. So, I do without.”

Telling that he didn’t say We do without. “But you could eat?”

Farren’s eyelids drooped. “Food sounds good. What do you have in mind?”

“You like Chinese?”

Farren stared off at nothing. Kinda freaky. “My host did and still insists occasionally.”

What the actual fuck? “You talk to him? I thought he was gone.”

“I compare it to muscle memory. Sometimes, I want a certain kind at the mention of food, many I don’t recall trying since our merging, so I assume my host liked those things.” The light changed to green. Farren turned left.

“So, you do or don’t like Chinese?”

Farren shrugged. “While in this body, my tastes coincide with the original Farren’s.”

“You know how weird you sound, right? Talking about your body like it’s another person.” Of course, hadn’t Jessa said the same about her host’s drink of choice? In Jessa’s case, the host was still around to ask.

“Sorry. You’re right. I should be more careful what I say to unsuspecting humans. I might let classified information slip.”

“If you can’t be honest with me, who can you be honest with?” What the hell? Morrisey getting all chummy? Even as close as he’d been to Will, he’d kept personal details at a minimum.

“True. And thank you.” Farren flashed a dimple that must’ve gotten the original Farren work as a model. “It’s very hard acting human all the time.”

Morrisey agreed, and he was human. “Are you really so different from us?”

“We don’t have enough time now, but I’ll tell you someday.” Farren sounded totally drained.

Okay. Time to change the subject. “What did you learn from the woman in the apartment?”

“The host wasn’t a volunteer. The traveler dealt with a powerful being from my world who promised her a new body in this realm for a cost.”

“What was the cost?”

“An amount of human money she didn’t understand and never would’ve agreed to. So, she was forced to sell her body and turn over her wages. She’d also had to force a living, healthy human from her body.”

Trafficked. Someone trafficked the traveler, even though she might not come from this realm. Morrisey had dealt with human traffickers before and hated each and every one. If vile deeds could turn one into an animal in Farren’s realm, traffickers proved the phenomena existed in Terra too.

What the fuck? When had Morrisey started thinking of Earth as Terra? ”She remained in the body. Why?”

”For one, only you and I came within reach to touch once her body started to fail, and we”re immune. Also, the traveler wanted to end their existence. Too much guilt and disappointment.”

“Who is this asshole who trafficked her?” Morrisey would use the guy for a punching bag.

”I have no idea. I knew humans trafficked other humans, but one of my ilk is doing the same. Though, from what I learned, he might’ve outranked me in my world. I guess once you get power, it’s hard to give it up, so he’s trying to maintain his status here. I wish I knew how he contacted someone in my old realm, though. Very few can consciously travel both ways.”

”What about the kid who was hit by a train?” Monster didn’t come close to describing the asshole who’d callously killed hoodie guy. Just recalling the superior smirk on the bastard’s face made Morrisey cringe.

Farren expressed disapproval with a shake of his head. “I didn’t get into his mind in time to find anything. Based on what I learned, though, a lesser being from Domus inhabited the kid, a loyal hound doing its master’s bidding. An occisor in the truest sense, having never been more. He must’ve no longer served a purpose after killing the two women who fought back against their fate. They were meant as a warning to others.”

“The older dude touched hoodie guy’s head first, like the asshole did me in the alley.” May the fuckwad rot in hell.

“If the occisor had just finished feeding on the two women, his master could potentially take the energy. He wouldn’t let a good meal go to waste. You said in your official report you didn’t get a good enough look to recognize him if you saw him again, but do you have anything we can go on?”

Images normally imprinted in Morrisey’s brain, which he then transferred to paper. “I’m afraid not. I only glimpsed him from a distance. I’d guess him to be about six feet, with short brown hair. Medium build. That describes too many folks to narrow down.” Morrisey busied himself chewing on a hangnail, a bad habit he picked up when trying to quit smoking. Now, instead of exchanging one bad habit for another, he wound up with two bad habits. Thanks to all the powers that be, I can’t read emotions from a distance. Or the kid would’ve had Morrisey reaching for hard drugs.

He didn’t even attempt to capture the train scene in a sketch, just the apartment.

They rode quietly for a few miles. “I might get a better impression if you let me try,” Farren suggested.

“You can what?” The single moment of side-eye sent Morrisey’s hackles to rising.

“I can temporarily possess you to see if I can get a clearer picture—under controlled circumstances. If you trust me.”

“Didn’t you say I was immune?” Let someone else possess him? Oh, hell no!

“You’re immune to forced entry. If you allow me in willingly, it might work.”

What if Farren possessed him and kept Morrisey’s body? Reality crept in. Not likely anyone would want to trade down from a good-looking model type to a hard-drinking, heavy-smoking couch potato who appeared at least twenty years older than Farren’s current body.

Would the communication go both ways? Give Morrisey access to Farren’s thoughts? “What do you mean by controlled?”

Farren blew out a breathy exhale, tension smoothing from a clenched jaw. “We have a facility at the office. Leary must be present. It’s like the first time at the hospital. We”ll lie down on a bed, touching. The whole thing happens fast, maybe too fast for you to even know I’m there.”

Uh-huh. A likely story. “Are there any lasting effects?”

“No.”

What if Farren got into Morrisey’s deepest, darkest thoughts? And if they were on a bed together, Morrisey couldn’t be responsible for his actions.

“Don’t worry. I’ll have you focus on the moment in question.” Farren patted Morrisey’s arm. “I’ll search there and only there.”

Morrisey whipped his head toward Farren. “You reading my mind?”

Farren gave the tiniest hint of a smile, never turning his eyes from the road. “No. But I’d worry about someone poking around in my private thoughts if the situation were reversed.”

Smart man. “You know humans far better than you think you do.”

“I try. I”ve been doing this for a decade now.”

Morrisey let out a self-deprecating chuckle when he really didn’t feel humorous at all. Not in the least. “A decade? You’ve been around for ten years and I just now found out about your kind.” Of course, finding out things meant leaving the house for more than work, food, fucking, and drink, and possibly time spent researching on the internet.

Farren waved a dismissive hand. “A few travelers have existed in Terra for centuries. Most humans are busy with their lives, never worrying about anything that doesn’t directly affect them.”

True enough. “How about Leary?”

“As I mentioned before, Leary met one of my kind right after I crossed over, then the authorities almost committed him for his outrageous claims. Like you, the right people found out and recruited him for the task force. He can sense travelers, but he can’t see them quite like you do.”

“How long has the task force been around? The information I found said twenty years, but that can’t be right by what you just said.” The old saying went if it exists, there’s porn for it. Hell, there weren’t even any internet hits for FAET.

“The task force came into being during the sixties. My realm began collapsing during the early 2000s to the best of my knowledge, and folks fled. Which accounts, in part, for the increase in violent crimes. It became a ‘there goes the neighborhood’ kind of thing for a while. Which is why the FBI needed Magestra. To take out the trash, so to speak.”

“And now?”

“Right before I left Domus, even the deniers started accepting our end was near. Even though it was forbidden, the animalistic species fled out of instinct. The more advanced kinds fled out of self-preservation. I’ve heard of humans taking money from desperate souls to smuggle them into the United States from other countries. It looks like predators from my world are doing the same thing.”

Morrisey snorted. “Surprising it took this long.” Where there was desperation, there were opportunists ready to take advantage.

“The trafficking has likely existed for hundreds of years. We just didn’t know about it. Didn’t want to know about it.”

Morrisey’s thoughts went to Jessa and any information she might provide. If only he could tell Farren about her—one of many secrets he hoped his partner wouldn”t discover. He’d have to go out looking for her soon, see if she knew anything about the latest victims. “What happens if I agree to let you poke around in my head?”

“You have to sign paperwork giving me permission first, which is then signed by Leary and myself. We establish an optimum time and make preparations. You know nothing happens without paperwork.”

Damned paperwork. Or computer work these days. “What preparations?”

“First, I’ll steep an herbal tea for three days. Know where I can get bloodwort? Then you have to dance naked around a bonfire.”

Morrisey’s mouth dropped open. He stared at Farren in horror. Dance naked? “What the fuck?” Nobody wanted to see Morrisey’s buck-naked ass gyrating out of tune.

Farren looked at Morrisey and released the first hearty laugh Morrisey had ever heard from him. “I’m kidding, but you should see your face!”

Okay. Yeah, Farren scored a point. Morrisey grumbled, “Asshole.”

Farren sobered. “Actually, it’s better if you have an empty stomach, as I’m told it can make one queasy. If you fight me, you’ll get a killer headache.”

“Like I did the night in the alley.”

Farren pulled the car into the parking lot of the Golden Wok. “Precisely.”

“What happens if an agent from our team gets possessed out in the field? Wouldn’t the traveler gain full access to the gray abyss? I mean, the compound? While in our heads, they’d be able to answer any questions we could, right?”

“That’s where you and I come in.”

“How so?”

“We’ll see the aura of both the traveler and the human, and I really don’t think either of us is in direct danger. Like I said, you’ve got a certain immunity, and so do I.”

“Yeah, but who else can do that? If we’re not around, an asshole could get in and do a lot of damage.”

“We have the highest-paid receptionists and security team in the city. There are reasons for that. They’re sensitive.”

“I’ll be damned. They’re all travelers.” Morrisey recalled the older man with the impressive mustache who growled what could possibly have been “Good morning” every day when Morrisey reported to work. Arianna might be small, but he didn’t doubt for a minute she could hold her own in a fight. What about the guy in the guard shack who checked IDs?

Farren switched off the car’s engine. “Hopefully not on the damned part, but definitely on the travelers. Though it’s been tried, no traveler has managed unauthorized entry yet.”

”You keep track of the travelers you are aware of. Doesn’t that piss them off?” Morrisey unfastened his seat belt but remained in the car for the privacy to continue the conversation.

Farren opened the car door, tossing words over his shoulder with a wry grin. “We’re part of the FBI. We monitor many people, in some shape or form.”

More facts Morrisey didn’t want.

Morrisey settled on a gurney in a medical bay beneath the compound, braced for the worst. The fact that they even had a medical bay beneath the compound was enough to raise the hackles of the toughest sonofabitches Morrisey knew. The steady beep of a monitor tracked his heart rate—elevated now through equal parts fear and excitement. On the one hand, this might help him track down a killer. On the other hand…

Even Morrisey didn’t want to see in his own mind some days, a jumbled mess worse than his apartment on a bad day. Probably looked like a twisted, multicolored skein of yarn with something sticky poured over.

“Relax,” Farren said from the other gurney. “Remember, push the thoughts you want to share to the front of your mind.” He squeezed Morrisey’s hand.

Yeah. Thoughts he wanted Farren to see. Maybe five, at most.

Leary and a nurse Morrisey now knew as a Nutrix stood nearby.

“You ready?” Leary asked in bland tones, never taking his eyes off his phone screen. He tried to make everyone think he was super busy at all times, but he probably watched cat videos or Judge Judy or some shit.

A hard swallow didn’t dislodge the boulder in Morrisey’s throat. He nodded instead of answering, heart thumping a staccato beat. Oh, God. What was he doing?

He could take some of those cat videos about now.

Farren’s reassuring smile fell short of the mark. “I’m ready.” He closed his eyes, appearing deceptively peaceful for someone who’d be technically dead for up to two minutes.

Morrisey closed his too, willing yesterday’s memories to the forefront of his mind. The kid in the hoodie. The train. The stranger who’d smirked.

Farren.

Wait! What? No matter how hard Morrisey tried, he couldn’t keep Farren off his mind: his fantasy of a naked Farren at his door, how Morrisey thought he’d seen an angel the night Farren rescued him in the alley.

Morrisey envisioned himself sprawled on the ground in the foul-smelling alley, feeling fear for the man lying before him.

Wanting desperately for him to live. Wait! Those weren’t Morrisey’s thoughts. They must be Farren’s.

The thoughts spun again to a beautiful young man, breathing out his last while his body endured…

The same young man, lost, alone, afraid.

Morrisey and Farren connected in their loneliness. A soothing presence told Morrisey he wasn’t alone. For a moment in time, his thoughts blended with Farren’s. Then there were the tender feelings when Farren looked Morrisey’s way. The magnetic pull.

Morrisey hadn”t felt whole in a long time until now.

His mind suddenly veered back to the scene at the train tracks.

“Morrisey? Morrisey, wake up!” Something hit Morrisey’s face. Huh? He blinked open his eyes, fist ready to fly. Leary and the Nutrix stared down at him, Leary stepping back a cautious few inches.

“What happened?” Morrisey unclenched his fist, dropping his hand onto the gurney. Fuzz filled his brain.

Leary frowned, lines showing around his mouth. He stayed near enough to overwhelm Morrisey”s senses with a blend of soap, coffee, and doughnuts. “We don’t know. You two went for five minutes. I couldn’t wake you up.”

Five minutes? At the hospital, he’d been told to worry at two minutes. Morrisey glanced at Farren, who blinked hard a few times. “Are you okay?”

Farren flung an arm over his eyes. “I’ll be all right. I’m not sure what went wrong since I’ve done this many times.”

Many?

“Did you get what you needed?” Leary asked, impatience showing in his growl. Yeah, so much for concern over his employees.

“Yes.”

The Nutrix hummed, bustling around, checking monitors. “They both seem to be operating within acceptable parameter.” She unhooked the monitors and tugged Leary’s arm. “Just rest, both of you. I’ll check on you soon.” She and Leary shuffled away, heads together.

Morrisey closed his eyes again. His insides churned, and he fought down bile in the back of his throat. For a moment, while connected, he thought he’d been in Farren’s head. Feeling Farren’s attraction—for him.

”Since they”re gone, can you fill me in on what happened?” Morrisey still held Farren’s hand. He intertwined their fingers together. The connection smoothed out the rough edges of his mood.

“I… I don’t know. I was looking into your memory of yesterday, then it’s like I took a wrong turn. I got lost in your thoughts.”

Oh shit. “You read my mind?”

Farren dragged the arm off his face. “No. It’s more like your mind reached out to mine.”

“What the hell?”

“This shouldn’t happen between a traveler and a human.”

“What shouldn’t happen?” Dread seized Morrisey in a chokehold. Whatever Farren said wouldn’t be good.

“I think we tried to bond.”