Lost Souls (Cainsville 3.6)

GABRIEL

I lost my way.

I need to get back on track.

On their own, those words wouldn't have done more than unsettle Gabriel, as they echoed the very memory he'd revisited the night before. He would analyze that at a more appropriate time and consider the likelihood it was a coincidence. Most people would say it was. To presume otherwise indicated the sort of thinking that allowed his great-aunt, Rose, to flourish as a psychic. People like to see connections in coincidence--it's a way to imagine control in chaos. But while Rose might take advantage of magical thinking, she did have the sight, a gift of their fae blood. So Gabriel knew better than to automatically reject anything beyond the normal realm of possibility. He suspected it was unlikely that he'd just happened to relive that particular memory in the very place where he'd been investigating a man who now repeated almost the same words.

The location had prompted Gabriel's memory for a reason. That, however, could be dealt with later. What kept those words cycling through his head was the rest of it. Lambert speaking without realizing what he was saying. Lambert frantically trying to "fix" his marriage. Talking about having forty-eight hours to do it. Not knowing why he'd been compelled to report the story to the police.

Compelled.

An interesting word.

A fae word.

Compulsion.

As Gabriel stepped from the office building, someone moved into his path. Which struck him as odd. People were normally so much better about getting in the way of others.

Then he saw who it was.

"Patrick."

"Looks like you beat me to it."

Gabriel arched his brows as he steered past the bocan.

"I was going to interview Lambert for you," Patrick said, hurrying to keep up. "Save you some time."

"No, that would have doubled the work. When I say I am conducting interviews, it is not a hint for you to do them yourself."

"Well, since I'm here, why don't we grab a coffee--"

"I've had enough caffeine for today."

"I meant we could talk."

"No need. I will update you when I have..." Gabriel slowed as he remembered what he'd been thinking before Patrick waylaid him. Fae compulsion. "Actually, I would like to speak, though briefly. I have a full schedule."

"Have you eaten lunch?"

"No, nor do I plan to." Gabriel spotted a coffee shop across the road. "I'll have something there while we speak."

"Not that one," Patrick said quickly. "Health violations. I see one farther down."

Gabriel checked his watch.

"It's a sixty-second walk, Gabriel. Thirty at your speed."

"All right. I can spare fifteen minutes."

"How about twenty?"

"I bill in fifteen-minute increments. Twenty would double the price."

"You're charging me for coffee?"

"Of course not. You can buy your own."