“Here we are,” Five said, skipping up the steps to a tall building.
Eight gave a squeal of delight and followed.
The building was old and smelled kind of weird. I’d be glad when this was over. My thoughts dashed to the beautiful dress in King David’s bedroom. It had to be worth a fortune. He was definitely planning something tonight. I sighed deeply as I climbed the stairwell. I didn’t care about the dress or where he was taking me. I just wanted another night with him, and I didn’t want to wait another second for it.
Five was opening a door when I got to the landing, Eight huddled behind her as if she was afraid to go first. They looked so strange in their glamours. I supposed I probably did too. I couldn’t wait until all of this was over. I wanted to be alone with my King.
“Is this him?” Five had disappeared inside, but I could hear her clearly as I approached the doorway.
Eight squealed, and I arrived in the apartment just in time to see her fling her arms around a tall Animate with hair that was on the long side for a guy. He totally wasn’t my type. He was raising his eyebrows, not embracing Eight back like she clearly expected.
“What the…”
“Oh!” Eight backed off and dropped her glamour.
He stared. “Eight? Is it really you?”
“It’s me, Cal. I came out here for you.” She kissed him with enthusiasm and what sounded like a lot of tongue.
I couldn’t help screwing up my nose at their PDA. Dead guys did not have a lot of saliva. Kissing them like that was like Frenching a roll of sandpaper. Yuck.
Five glanced at me and did a double take. “Um…” She motioned up and down as if I should know what she was trying to say.
I frowned, glancing down. My hands and legs were more familiar than they should have been. I touched my face, cursing when I realised for certain that my glamour had dropped. I had assumed hiding my identity under the guise of a black girl would be an easier facade to manage than the tiny changes of the glamour that turned me into Britt. Apparently, I was wrong.
I sighed. “When did this happen?”
Five blinked. “About five seconds ago.”
Trust the robot to take the question literally. “What’s going on with me?” I held my hands out and tried my damnedest to change the skin tone again. My magic was working, but the change didn’t seem to want to stick. “Damn it.”
“There’s one explanation,” Five told me, smiling as she dropped her own glamour. “This is so exciting.”
Eight and her dead boyfriend quit making out just in time to catch Five’s bombshell.
“Well, what is it?” I couldn’t handle the suspense, not the way Five was grinning now, as if she’d lost the plot completely.
“You’re having a baby.”
Okay, I so did not expect that. Eight shrieked, making me jump.
“What? No… we only slept together once. That doesn’t make sense…”
You sound like a dumbass kid, my internal Eight told me. I only did it that one time. Please.
“Holy cow, that’s amazing!” The real Eight was a whole lot less sarcastic about it.
“That can’t be the only explanation.”
“It is now,” Five told me. “I wasn’t sure until this glamour broke. The baby must be disrupting the flow of your magic.”
“It’s not been long enough for there to even be a baby,” I argued.
“Users conceive in strange ways,” Five told me as Eight pulled me into a hug.
“That’s true,” Eight told me. “Since you’re both Users the process speeds up. I read that somewhere a while ago. You’ll carry to term in three months, maybe less.”
I felt my jaw drop against her shoulder. All of this was too much. I’d just met him, and okay I was insanely attracted to him, but that was all. They were talking about me, a clone, giving birth to a human baby. This was not something I’d ever thought I’d have to deal with.
Eight sobbed suddenly and let me go to wipe at her eyes. Her gross boyfriend put his arms around her from behind.
“It’s not like I’m dying,” I told her, kind of wishing it was that simple. A baby? Me? Seriously?
Eight smiled, shaking her head. “It’s just so amazing. My best friend is having a baby.”
I finally found my smile. “I guess this makes you an aunt.”
Her shocked eyes shone as her face lit up with the news. “I love you, Nine.”
“I love you too,” I told her.
She sighed. “So, what now?”
There were still too many hours to count down until my date. I bit at my lip. Eight and Five were amazing friends, but I needed help now more than ever. I thought of Timmy and made a decision. I took the hands of my friends and Eight held on to her lover tightly. I closed my eyes and took us all to where Timmy was. When I opened them again, we were inside a hotel room. It was almost like being back in Vegas, in one of the Animates bedrooms, not Britt’s suite, but still, it was nice.
Timmy was standing by the side of the bed, buttoning his shirt. He smiled wryly at me. “This is unexpected. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
I smiled, hearing the sound of the shower and raising an eyebrow at him. “Company?”
“You can meet him later. You brought an entourage?”
“I have kind of a problem,” I told him, letting go of Eight and Five to move towards him. “Can we talk?”
He nodded slowly, his gaze never leaving my friends. “In private?”
“That might be an idea.” I glanced back at them. “We’ll be right back.”
The MGM Grand was the safest place I could think of. He didn’t seem surprised when I took him there.
“I’m surprised you’re still alive,” he said. “The King locked me up when he realised Britt was dead.”
“He did?” I tried to make sense of that. It didn’t seem to reconcile with the man I’d been with. “Why?”
“Because I hid it from him. He scheduled me to die tomorrow,” he said, tugging at the cuffs of his shirt.
“He’s mad because you lied to him,” I said, realising I could do something to help Timmy now. I bit at my lip. This wasn’t something I could take lightly. But Timmy was the reason I had everything so good now. I had to help him if I could. “I’ll speak to him.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “He’ll kill you.”
“He wouldn’t kill a woman who is carrying his child.”
His pale eyes widened. “Are you saying…”
“He spoke to me. He knew I wasn’t Britt. We’re lovers now. I can talk to him. He won’t have you put to death.”
He stared at me. I didn’t like that look. It was as if his eyes were calling me crazy.
“What?” I couldn’t stand his silence. “Can’t you just be happy for us?”
“He can’t be trusted,” Timmy told me. “Please, please, be careful.” He sounded so worried.
I swallowed a lump that formed in my throat. “Why can’t he be trusted?”
“He doesn’t care about anyone,” he said it with a wince. “You deserve so much better than that, Nine.”
“He cares about me, I know he does.” I couldn’t let myself doubt that. Not for a second.
“Just, be careful. Promise me,” he said. “He’ll get into your head, and he’ll mess with you. It’s what he does. He might seem wonderful right now, but…”
“Stop!” I couldn’t stand to hear anymore.
He was getting too close to the truth. It hurt too much to hear it. I couldn’t lose my King. Not now.
Timmy went quiet. He brushed a hand through his bright red hair. Minutes ticked by before he turned his beaten blue eyes on me. “Don’t ask him to spare me. It’ll only make things worse for you.”
He disappeared. I trembled as I stepped out of my shoes. My magic felt crackly and cold as I got ready to teleport my friends back home. I worried over Timmy’s words as I returned my friends to my suite. My next move was tainted and uncertain now. I threw on a smile as
Eight gazed into her returned lover’s eyes.
“We’re home,” I told them, ready to dismiss them, when I suddenly realised I couldn’t. “Five, you can go back down and tell the others Eight failed in our mission and was killed.”
Eight’s dead boyfriend grasped her hand tighter and frowned at me deeply. I fought back a shudder and shrugged at them both. “They can’t know you’re here. As of now, you’re dead. Take one of the old Animate rooms.”
Eight pulled away from him to hug me. I didn’t want to let go. She pulled away. “Thank you, Nine. Thank you so much.” She ran off with him, just a few steps behind Five who was already at the door, ready to follow my orders without asking any questions. I fought back tears as the doors banged shut behind them.
I had plenty of time left to get ready for my date. The thought left me hollowed out. Timmy’s words settled in my brain and refused to go away. “I can’t trust him.” Tears rolled down my cheeks. I knew there was truth in his words, no matter how badly I wanted everything he’d said to be a lie. I hoped that Five was wrong about my condition. I moved into the bathroom in a daze that made me stumble into the wall. My clothes were on the floor before I even realised I’d taken them off. Running the water, I brushed a hand over my flat stomach. A child born to two Users developed at least three times as fast as a normal baby. It may have only been a couple of days, but that was practically a week to this little embryo. I didn’t hope Five was wrong at all. I didn’t want her to be wrong about this baby. I didn’t want Timmy to be right about the King. Deep down, I knew they were both right. I bit at my lip as I watched the bathtub fill. I added bubbles and got in, relaxing as the warm water welcomed my body. All thoughts abandoned me as I laid my head against the rim of the tub. Sighing, I tried to stop any of those thoughts from coming back to me. I had a feeling it was going to be a rough night.
Thirty – Pete
Kit’s tease that there was a way we could touch drove me crazy all the way to her sister’s house. Her flirting was something I’d only ever seen directed at Mickey in the past. It used to make me roll my eyes and down another shot. Right now, it was making me desperate. I wanted to do more than just flirt back, and I couldn’t. We were drowning in innuendo by the time we got to her sister’s front door. If I’d been alive I’d have had a raging semi after about two seconds of our banter. Just as well I was dead then. She glanced at me and smiled as she knocked on the door.
“You’d better not be lying about this making out on the couch thing,” I warned her, only half-joking. “I’ll haunt you for life if you are.”
She snorted softly as he sister answered the door. The girl was a knock-out, which didn’t surprise me. They were sisters, after all. Facially, there was no mistaking them as family, but where Kit was all curves, Kat was kind of wiry and boyish. Kat let us in, well, okay, she let Kit in and I followed before the door could slam in my face.
“So,” Kit said, sounding less pleasant than she had all the way there. “You had something to tell me?”
Kat’s body tensed up. She managed a smile but it was one hundred percent fake and all the red lipstick in the world couldn’t conceal that. “We should sit down. Through here, Sam’s just gone down. I don’t want to wake him up.”
Kit didn’t glance at me once as we moved through the living room and into the kitchen. Her sister didn’t seem to share her ability to see ghosts. Or if she did it she had some sort of ‘ignore them like they’re not there and they’ll go away’ policy.
“It’s kind of exciting and scary at the same time,” Kat said, brushing imaginary crumbs off her skin-tight skirt as she sat down.
“Go on,” Kit prompted, folding her arms and staying on her feet.
“Like you know, I met a guy.”
“Uh huh.”
“Well, things got kind of serious. He asked me to move in with him,” Kat said. She didn’t seem to be impressing Kit any. I wondered what the hell all of this was about. “I’m having his baby.”
“That’s so…” Kit relaxed. “Are you happy about this?”
“Of course,” Kat said, gasping as if she was insulted. “It’s just a little bit faster than I would have liked. And I can’t even think about moving out of here until he puts a ring on my finger. It’s got to be marriage this time,” she said, her gaze glazing over. “I won’t put Sam through all that upheaval for anything less.”
“Well, good,” Kit said, still seeming dissatisfied somehow. I couldn’t quite figure out what the problem was, no matter how hard I stared at her.
I turned and watched her sister get up. “Hot chocolate?”
Kit nodded. She glanced at me, and I wondered what she was thinking. Something was still bothering her. I could see it in her eyes; I just couldn’t tell what it was.
“So, this thing about a job at a strip club…”
Kat turned briefly while she was filling the kettle. “Oh, that. Don’t worry about it. I’m quitting.”
“Your sister’s a stripper?” The words fell out before I could stop them.
Kit scowled at me, but she didn’t say a word. Right, aye, Kat can’t see me. She probably doesn’t want her sister thinking she’s a nut-job. I shrugged by way of apology, not wanting to annoy her with more talking.
The smell of the hot chocolate made me groan. What is it with death enhancing my senses to the max? I’d give just about anything to taste that stuff right now. I leaned over and got a deeper sniff. Kit frowned at me, but her sister was too close for her stare to settle on my transparent form for too long. I stepped back and shoved my hands into my pockets.
“So, who is he?” Kit asked after she took a sip and teased me with an appreciative look on her face. Damn, it tasted as good as it smelled then. I kicked at the ground and was left unsatisfied with that too. Kicking something is really kind of pointless when your foot isn’t solid.
“I work with him,” Kat said, shrugging as she took a sip. Her gaze dropped as she spoke, her body tensing in the chair. Somebody’s hiding something, I thought, glancing at Kit and wondering if she noticed it too. “He’s just a guy.”
Her lips tightened in a straight line. It reminded me of a look one of my old teachers used to get, right before she lost the plot and shouted at the class loud enough to burst eardrums in the front row. Kit apparently had a little bit more restraint. She sipped at her drink, and it was only vaguely obvious that she was fuming underneath her calm demeanour.
“So, you let some random guy get you pregnant,” Kit finally snapped, putting her mug down half-finished. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“It’s not like that,” Kat said with a sad little woe-is-me sigh. “I love him.”
My knee-jerk reaction to her confession was to snort and roll my eyes. Kit didn’t even glance my way. I was kind of glad about that considering how pissed she seemed right now.
“Oh, really? Then tell me about him.” There was a hint of threat in Kit’s voice.
Kat bit at her lip. “I can’t. It’s just…” She shook her head. “Look. After I speak to him tonight, I’ll tell you everything. Okay? There’s just something I really have to do first.”
The tension that hung between them as Kat waited for Kit’s answer was like a ghost in the room, invisible, but absolutely there and slowly being driven crazy by the smell of that hot chocolate and the thought of Kit’s lips on his… Okay, I might be a tiny bit distracted. I waited for the fall-out, but Kit was restraining herself nicely and rattling Kat’s cage thoroughly in the process.
Kat got up, shivering visibly and I imagined it was not because of the silly little dress she was barely wearing. “I have to go. I promise, I’ll tell you everything later.”
Kit didn’t speak as her sister left. I have to admit, I was kind of afraid to talk once we were alone. No matter how much I’d wanted us to be alone, this wasn’t anything near what I’d been picturing.
Kit got up from the table. “I can’t believe her.”
Which part, I felt like asking. �
�Families can be hard work.”
“She did this on purpose. I don’t understand it.” She shook her head.
I didn’t have any answers so I just shrugged. Then my big stupid trap decided to start flapping. “She’s lying about her job.”
Kit’s single raised eyebrow made me regret the comment instantly. “How would you know?”
“She got all tense whenever she mentioned it.”
She stared at me for a second before she nodded. “You’re right, she did.” She sighed. “I wish I knew what she was up to right now.”
“I could follow her if you wanted,” I suggested, reluctant at the thought. She was probably just teasing me about the getting off with each other thing, but if there was the slightest chance…
“No,” she said, softly. “You’re with me.” She lay down on the couch and closed her eyes.
I watched her mouthing something. Leaning closer I realised it was a chant. The reddish tint of her magic spread from her hands outwards, covering her body quickly. A hint of panic set in as I remembered the way the death magic had spread to infect Mickey. I tried to calm down. That wasn’t what was happening here. I didn’t think.
“Shit,” I whispered. Slowly Kit became consumed by the red glow, her mouth slackening and her body going still. I felt a familiar tug at my centre, and I knew someone was summoning me. Really? Of all the times for Angie to get pissy…
Restless Spirits (Raised Book 3) Page 9
