Blood Hunt

8

Garreth made his last visit to Harry an evening one, so he could leave straight from there and drive in the comfort of night. He sat telling Harry how much he looked forward to spending two weeks with his family and son. Feeling wretched every moment for lying.

“I’ll miss you,” Harry said. Finally talking in a normal voice. Though still in ICU, he looked better every day, less like a cyborg with some of the tubes gone. “But I’m glad you’re finally getting away from everything here for a while.”

Lien walked him not just to the elevator but out to his car. “I didn’t want to talk around Harry.”

His gut lurched. That sounded serious. “Is something going wrong?”

“Not with Harry.” She looked up at him. “Are you really going to Davis?”

“Of course.”

She peered into the ZX’s back seat, at his suitcase and an ice chest there. “For how long?”

That caught him off guard. Surely she did not guess the ice chest held ice and jugs of rat blood.

Before he answered, she said, “You’re going after Lane Barber, aren’t you?”

He considered denying it but her eyes turned knowingly toward him. “I have to. I’m the only one who can find her.”

She frowned. “Why?”

“It’s complicated.” Make that: impossible to explain. “Please don’t tell Harry.”

“Not until he’s stronger.” She paused. “I consulted I Ching this morning.”

His gut did another lurch. “Did you get the maiden is powerful again?”

She punched his arm. “Hush and listen. Never forget that one…but today’s hexagram was number twelve, Standstill. It says that heaven and earth are out of communion and that all things are benumbed. Confusion and disorder prevail.”

He grimaced. That was certainly true for him.

“Inferior people are in ascendancy but don’t allow yourself to be turned from your principles. There are change lines in the second and fourth places, advising that a great man will suffer the consequences of a standstill and by his willingness to suffer, ensure the success of his principles. However…” Her eyes bored up into him. “…acting to re-create order must be done with proper authority. Setting one’s self up to alter things according to one’s own judgment can end in mistake and failure.”

That sounded like a warning against vigilantism. But he had no plans to take the law into his own hands, just find Lane and see she was arrested. “What else? The change lines make a new hexagram.”

“The second one is number fifty-nine, Dispersion. It suggests success, especially after journeying and, of course, perseverance.” She smiled sadly. “That’s when I knew what you were going to do. Persevere, Garreth, and be true to yourself.” She threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely. “Stay safe, please.”

He buried his face in her hair, throat tight. “I’ll do my best.”