Chapter 1427 (1/2)

After their meeting with Naffur for a debriefing regarding the findings of their interrogation, Hydie rather blindly trailed after Derek Moss as they left the building. It was somewhat of a relief when they walked out into the sunlight, but the current climate meant that even in the afternoon, the sun’s rays were pale and weak. The light was as weightless on her skin as the light from a bulb. And Hydie felt…

Well, Hydie’s worries seemed to be multiplying by the second. Despite her best efforts, she-

Hydie’s lowered forehead impacted Derek’s back. Derek had stopped and he turned around to regard her when she bumped up against him. He tilted his head to the side as he looked at her. “Why are you being so depressing? Did you really think we would get a confession about some grand conspiracy from just a single interrogation?”

Hydie swallowed back down a ‘well, it would have been nice’ as soon as it rose and marshaled itself to parade off of her tongue. Although Derek had a fine sense of humor, he never laughed regarding work. Instead, she grimaced and gathered her thoughts. When she saw the patience in his expression, Hydie carefully released the secret fear that had been growing in her heart. “He… he was so nervous and beginning to ramble about why he came to Kharon… and then you pointed out the inconsistency in his story… he froze… but then I sneezed and it-”

“You have really gotten yourself worked up over a sneeze?” Derek asked, his mouth quirking up in amusement.

Hydie abruptly frowned to see him act so flippantly about the situation. “It was a high-stress scenario. We tightened the screws and had him on his back foot. He was panicking, and about to reveal the truth. Then I sneezed due to my damned luck and broke all the tension. It wasn’t just a sneeze.”

Snorting, Derek turned away from Hydie and continued walking forward. Rather incensed, Hydie stomped after him. “What? What is it? What’s so funny?”

“I don’t think this was about you at all, Hydie,” Derek continued. His serious eyes flicked side to side along the streets. Even now, he was weighing the surroundings for threats. “That man… he was sent here by someone, but he doesn’t seem like he was given a mission. It just feels more like he is an alcoholic that was maneuvered into walking into a bar… the rest happened organically. He had the propensity for violence and the opportunity triggered him. Some people find the spirit of Kharon quite off-putting, you know.”

“AND we could have learned that secret from his own lips, rather than relying on all this conjecture,” Hydie huffed. They proceeded off of Kharon’s main commercial thoroughfare and toward the large bridge between Kharon and the outskirts of the Orchard. “Next, time, I promise you I won’t let the bad luck hanging around me get in the way-”

As if on cue, Derek’s hand shot out and snatched an icicle that had been falling toward the head of an oblivious pedestrian in front of them. Derek scrutinized the surrounding roofs but found that this was basically the last remaining icicle large enough to be an inconvenience. It was a stubborn holdout from the storm two days ago, finally succumbing to the sun’s influence.

Despite the fact that even Hydie would admit that the System largely made humanity powerful enough that such an icicle was harmless, she pulled quite hard on Derek’s shoulder to turn him around. Then she jabbed her finger at the pick of ice in his hand. “See? This is why I’m worried! Maybe I shouldn’t be involved in these investigations… I could normally focus my abilities on our enemies, but we don’t know who our enemies are! So the bad coincidences keep piling up around us and you-”

“This?” Derek waved the forearm sized icicle in front of Hydie’s face. “These things happen. You don’t have a monopoly on accidents, Hydie. Bad things happened before you were born.”

Hydie’s glare was vicious as she slapped Derek’s arm to get the icicle out of her face. “How can you be stupid about this? Just because you have reacted well to the hex so far, doesn’t mean you always will. And what will you do if you are injured or killed, huh? What will your son Tim think of that?!? Suddenly an orphan, like all the other brats on this Wandering City. All because you are too proud to admit…”

Suddenly, Hydie ran out of steam. She licked her lips and then bit them. The pale light of the sun filtered down on them, while people walked past the duo. The people eyed the two Order Ducis operatives that stopped in the middle of the walkway but didn’t give their presence much thought. The wind was cold as it whistled past. Abruptly, Hydie flushed. I… probably shouldn’t have thrown his son in his face.

O-o-or… said that bit about orphans...

The rather blank way that Derek was staring at her seemed to energize all of Hydie’s insecurities. People continued to walk past in both directions. Her heartbeat began to quicken. Derek’s eyes were dark and heavy as he looked at her. Was he… realizing that what she said about the inherent risks of proximity to her was true? That the two of them shouldn’t be partners any longer?

Eventually, Hydie couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “Hey, Derek, I-”

“We have work,” Derek interrupted in a rough tone. Then he turned away and flexed his hand, crushing the icicle into harmless snow powder. “With the police force gone, we are standing in for the patrol officers. Besides… can you feel it in the air? The people of Kharon are angry. Looks like word of the attack has spread. Our job is especially important at the moment.”

Derek had taken several large strides forward before Hydie blinked and scrambled after him. For whatever reason, her heart was still uneasy as she looked at his broad shoulders. But Hydie knew that now that he had brought up work, he was absolutely done with the prior subject. So Hydie could only bury her anxiety and ask, “Would people getting angry be a problem? Sometimes… sometimes people get angry, but it really doesn’t mean anything…”