“This comes back to that whole soul walkers thing we were briefed about, right?” Renee pressed. “I saw the memo, but I didn’t read it from start to finish. I didn’t think it would be important given where we were stationed.”
“I don’t know that you missed all that much,” Braden said. “Basically, wraiths are a byproduct of humans trying to soul walk. People were trying to live forever, but the process they chose caused the souls to fragment. That’s how wraiths were born, and it wasn’t the end result the soul walkers expected.”
“How do you know all that?” I asked the question before I thought better of it. I wasn’t trying to be rude — no, really — but he didn’t seem the bookish sort to me.
As if reading my mind, Braden’s lips curved. “My brother is the scholarly type.”
“And he laid all this out for you?”
For a split second Braden’s expression shifted into something profoundly sad. He collected himself quickly, though, and covered. “We had a little inside information. It was eight months ago. My brother has continued digging deep since. He’s the sort of guy who wants answers.”
“He’s also the sort of guy who looks like a movie star,” Renee enthused. “He has long hair — like Kylo Ren hair — and he’s ridiculously hot.”
Braden made a face. “I’m way hotter than him.”
“But he’s got movie star hair,” Renee countered. “You’re cowboy hot. He’s action hero hot. Both are great.”
Braden didn’t look convinced. “We look alike other than the hair. Do you have any idea how long he spends primping that hair? It’s ridiculous. My hair is hot and practical.”
I’d had enough. “I’m sorry, but ... why are we talking about hair when a wraith managed to breach our security and jump through the gate? Shouldn’t we be focused on that? We can discuss haircare products when we have answers.”
The statement came out shriller than I expected, but it was too late to back down, so I merely folded my arms over my chest and waited for Renee and Braden to show some embarrassment. Neither bothered.
“I’m awesome at multi-tasking,” Braden drawled, shaking his head as he returned his odd-colored eyes to the gate. “I don’t know what to tell you. How did the wraith even get into this part of the building?”
My cheeks flamed as karma caught up with me. I wanted him to be embarrassed, but I was the one feeling the burn. “That was my fault.”
“It was nobody’s fault,” Oliver interjected. “That door is funky. You have to tug on it to make sure it latches. It’s Izzy’s first day. She couldn’t have known.”
Instead of reacting with sympathy Braden turned smug. “Oh, so you did this.”
I wanted to smack him. Hard. He wasn’t wrong, though. “Yes. I understand you have to report it to the home office. It’s on me. I take full responsibility.”
“It was an accident,” Oliver repeated hurriedly. “She couldn’t have known. They didn’t tell her anything before shipping her here. She didn’t even know about the explosion in our wraith population.”
Surprise evident, Braden drew his eyebrows together. “Why would they send you out here without telling you what’s going on?”
I shrugged, noncommittal. “I’m sure they had their reasons.”
“I’m sure they did, too.” Braden was thoughtful as he snagged gazes with Oliver. “You’ve been around for a long time. What were their reasons?”
“No one wants to stay in this post long term,” Oliver answered automatically. “It’s not one of the prime positions. Izzy volunteered to take it, but the job description was severely lacking when it was posted. Despite that, she was the only one who applied so ... here she is.”
“Uh-huh.” Braden rolled his neck until it cracked, causing the whispering from the other side of the gate to increase. His expression didn’t change, reinforcing the idea that I was the only one who could hear it. I knew that from childhood, but somehow I thought that might have changed. Apparently I was wrong.
“It’s still my fault.” I was big on personal responsibility, so I refused to back down. “I expect to be reprimanded for my actions.”
Braden’s eyes lit with mirth. “Somehow I think you’ll be okay. If the home office puts up with Grimlock shenanigans, a genuine accident won’t cause a stir. It sounds to me as if anyone could’ve made the mistake, although it does make me wonder if a wraith was hiding in the shadows to take advantage of the door situation or something. How else could it know?”
That hadn’t even occurred to me. “But ... how would it get into the aquarium?”
“That is a very good question.” He ran his tongue over his lips as he stared hard at the gate. “I’ve never seen it before. Does it always look like this?”
“As opposed to what?”
“I don’t know. I guess I expected more shiny stuff, like glitter. We were taught about the gate at a young age. I expected something fancier.”
I was offended on behalf of the gate. “Well, we’ll try to teach it some tricks for your next visit.”
Instead of being offended, he snickered. “You’re funny. I hope you’re not wound this tight on a normal day. I get that this is your first day and pretty much the worst thing possible happened, but this is not the end of the world.”
His tone grated. “Oh, really? What’s the worst thing that could possibly happen?”
His eyes flashed with sadness before he caught himself. “There are definitely worse things. Let’s just leave it at that.”
I considered pressing him further, but the look Oliver pinned me with caused me to change course. “So, what do we do? I mean ... do we ignore it? Do we try to lure the wraith back out? Do we try to send something to the other side to find it?”
“All excellent questions,” Braden mused. “I don’t have any answers for you.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I’m an excellent conversationalist.” This time Braden’s ready wink was aimed at me. “You need to chill. I don’t have answers. That doesn’t mean we can’t figure it out. It simply means we need a place to start.”
“No offense, man, but you’re a lot more chill than I remember,” Oliver noted. “You used to be the one who was wound tight in your family. What happened?”
“Life happened.” Braden reached a tentative finger toward the gate surface. “I wasn’t wound tight, no matter what you think. That was my sister.”
“And you,” Oliver pressed. “But it’s not important now.”
“Definitely not.”
Braden’s finger continued moving toward the gate surface and instinctively I took three long strides forward and grabbed his hand before he could touch the magical ripples.
“Don’t,” I ordered, shaking my head. “The barrier isn’t meant to be crossed. You could hurt yourself.”
Braden wrinkled his nose. “Will it hurt?”
“It will sting,” Renee answered. “You really shouldn’t touch it, dude. It’s frowned upon.”