Sky Ghosts: All for One (Young Adult Urban Fantasy Adventure) (Sky Ghosts Series Book 1)

by Engellmann, Alexandra

  Suddenly, she realized two things – she was holding her breath all this time and had stared at him for too long. She exhaled unevenly and looked down at her feet. They were awfully pale. She should have put something on before coming out.

  “Did you manage to find out anything?” she replied with a question, breaking the awkward silence.

  Ryan shook his head, his lips pursed.

  “Not even one of the Beasts knows why Eugene wanted to kidnap the guys. It’s likely he keeps it a secret. We’ll have to get to him to find out something.”

  Jane pulled herself up to sit on the windowsill and folded her arms on her chest, shivering.

  “Have you reported to Peter already? Do you know we were attacked an hour ago?”

  Ryan frowned and stepped closer, his posture tensing instinctively, his look alert and sharp. It was dim in the hallway at night, and in this light his eyes looked unfamiliarly dark and piercing. He really did look dangerous, she realized with a surprise, with his size, scowl, and that jaguar-like grace of his. She wondered why she had never noticed it before. For her he had always been just Ryan, the guy next door, polite and careful at all times. Once she saw him dispatch three opponents with one blow, but even then she didn’t feel threatened by him. And now she did. Actually, she was more than threatened, but she couldn’t quite define what else was bothering her.

  “What do you mean, ‘attacked’? Here, in the building?”

  She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice and cleared her throat for an answer.

  “Yes. Two Beasts. The guards were killed. Elizabeth…” she broke off with a grimace. “Marco got the Beasts right here, you can ask him about it. Tomorrow we’ll leave. Peter said you’ll walk us through the tunnels.”

  Ryan got even paler than usual.

  “That’s why there are doubled guards,” he said grimly, half to himself.

  He sighed and reached for the doorknob, and Jane followed his movement with her eyes.

  “Good night, Ryan.”

  He turned to look at her and paused.

  “Wait a minute.” He disappeared in the room for a moment, then got back. In his right hand he had his gray sweater.

  “Here, take this,” he wrapped it around her bare shoulders, averting his eyes. It was at least three times bigger than her slim frame. “You’ll catch a cold.”

  She looked up at him, smiling involuntarily, and for a moment their gazes locked.

  “Jane, I…” he began, but then frowned and fell silent, his pale face defined sharply in the moonlight inches away from hers.

  She raised her eyebrows, waiting for his next words, but he just dropped his gaze and stepped back.

  “Good night,” he exhaled finally and disappeared inside the room with an amazing swiftness for such a tall man.

  She blinked in confusion, and only when the door had already closed, did she reply.

  “Good night,” she whispered barely audible and stared at his door. She wrapped herself up in the sweater, immediately getting so comfortable that she didn’t feel like going back to the room at all. No wonder she had always liked this sweater of his, she thought idly, and got back to watching the night city.

  *

  The sorrow for the killed fighters hung over the place the whole day. There was no laughter in the canteen in the morning, no rowdy greetings and conversations, and the line of fighters by the counter moved slowly in grim silence. Chad, Dave, and the sisters woke up later than usual, and they were among the last ones to have breakfast. Nobody joined them this time, and they ate in silence, watching the room get emptier with every minute until they were the last in there, bathed in the summer sun that streamed through the big windows like a warm yellow veil.

  The sisters skipped their usual workout so not to waste their energy in case of probable troubles at night. So at noon, Jane and the guys decided to pay a visit to the cinema hall. Pain preferred to stay in the room, explaining it with a horrible headache and waving away Jane’s concerns about following Peter’s order.

  “For God’s sake, leave me alone for an hour, will you? You’ll be one floor away. Trust me, if anything happens, Curiosity will squeal so loud, I’ll hear it up here. Now get out,” and she shoved them out of the room, ignoring Dave’s resentful glare.

  The three of them, bored and gloomy, headed to the second floor. In a twice smaller room than the canteen, a few rows of chairs were placed, and there was a big screen on the wall, on which “Eight Below” was playing at the moment. There were also small couches for two along the wall, but they were all taken. Jane paused in the aisle, looking over the place. Marco and Ryan were already there, sitting by the wall with soda and popcorn. All three headed to them without a word.

  There were two empty seats by each of them and one more in between, filled with Coke cans and popcorn bowls. Jane took the seat to the right of Ryan, and Dave to the left of Marco. Chad stood in front of the seat between them and looked at Marco, raising his eyebrows. The fighter glanced at him with a frown, but after a couple of seconds took the popcorn with a discontented sigh and put it on his lap. Ryan had already taken away the cans, putting them under his seat. Chad nodded, his grateful half-smile a little ironic, and got seated, seeing that the movie had already begun.

  It was about the middle of it when Marco had drunk most of the soda, reaching under Ryan’s seat and getting the cans from there. And when Ryan found the last one and picked it up, Marco reached out for it.

  “Give it to me, I got popcorn stuck in my throat,” he whispered hoarsely. Ryan drew his hand away, opening the сan and looking at him with his light eyebrows arched.

  “When will you explode finally? You’ve drunk, like, six cans. This one is mine,” he said. “Go and bring some more if you want.”

  “I don’t wanna go!” Marco protested freakishly, screwing his face into a grimace. “Give me that damn Coke!”

  He reached out for the can abruptly, and this time Ryan wasn’t fast enough. Marco grabbed the can and pulled it to him, but Ryan didn’t let go. Between them, Chad pressed into the wall, staring at the can cautiously from above.

  “Let go! People are trying to watch the movie!” Ryan scolded him in a harsh whisper.

  “You let go!” Marco retorted. He squeezed Ryan’s fingers, trying to hurt him. Ryan cursed out loud in surprise – at that, half of the room glanced in their direction – and jerked his hand back. Marco’s huge hand squashed the can instantly, making its contents spill all over Chad’s black T-shirt.

  “Nice!” he drawled sourly, rolling his eyes.

  “Damn!” Marco boomed. “Well, now I have to go get a new Coke!” he gave Ryan an angry glare.

  “You could have apologized at least,” Chad muttered.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, bud,” Marco replied, unashamed, and then wiggled his fingers at him with an impish spark in his eyes. “At least you’re all so sweet now!”

  Chad only waved him away, turning to Jane.

  “I’m gonna go change,” he whispered.

  “You’re not going alone,” she said as she got up from her chair.

  “You sit, I’ll go with him. I was going to get more Coke anyway,” Marco muttered and got up with a groan.

  Chad couldn’t help but wonder how it felt to be as huge as Marco. Did he ever get on a city bus? Did he find any room in there?

  Jane nodded and sat down, returning her gaze to the screen where six fuzzy dogs were trotting through a snowy desert. Chad went to the doors with Marco pushing him in the back impatiently, and when they got to the room, Marco hurried him inside.

  “Quickly, quickly, I just love that movie,” he pleaded. Chad held back a wry smile, disappearing behind the door.

  And then blinked in surprise as he took in the inside of the room.

  Pain was sitting in the recliner, curled up and asleep with her head leaned against the chair’s back. Her legs were drawn up, and a book lay in her lap. The window was open, and the light curtain was flying in the wind like a sail, b
rushing over her knees every now and then. It got chilly outside, and the blue expanse of the sky was covered with thick gray clouds, the sun hidden behind them. She seemed cold in her thin clothes, her posture giving away that she tried to get warmer before she fell asleep. For the first time in these few days, Chad saw her like this, harmless and defenseless, and he froze at the door for a moment, his attention compelled by the sight, his hand still on the knob. Then he shut the door without a sound and came closer, looking at her book so just to tear his eyes away from her face – it was a romance novel, “One Day”. There was a young couple on the cover, a boy and a girl kissing in the middle of a street. Surprising choice for a cold-blooded Beasts-hunter, he thought. He’d expected something more like “how-to-punch-a-hole-in-a-man-with-one-blow-manual” or “where-to-hide-the-bodies-of-those-who-annoy-you” stuff. Well, he guessed he didn’t know her at all, did he?

  He came to her bed and took a bedcover, folding it in half. As he covered her with it, a gust of wind broke into the room, making a loose lock of her hair fall into her eyes. Chad reached out mechanically to brush it back, but at the last moment he paused, and after a second he jammed his hand into his jeans pocket. He didn’t want to wake her up, because she really did seem not quite well that day, and there was a probable fight ahead, and it all was on her shoulders, really. They might have shared the task with Jane, but Pain was the one responsible for delivering them to the corporate apartment safe. Somehow only now, seeing her asleep, he felt the incredible chasm between her appearance and her power. The idea of her fighting someone like Marco or those thugs she finished off so easily in that alley just couldn’t fit into his head together with the sight of her, of these slim scarred arms and small heart-shaped face. And not only the skills and power didn’t go with her looks, but her whole personality, that determination and confidence with which she seemed to have found her place so easily among these people.

  He watched her sleep for some time, hunching his shoulders as always when he got lost in thought, and then turned away and went to the wardrobe. Taking off his wet T-shirt and tossing it onto a chair, he opened the wardrobe and dug in for a fresh one. And just as his head disappeared behind the wardrobe door, Pain opened her eyes a little and looked at him, squinting at the light. She wasn’t fully asleep when he came in, and of course, she could hear the door open, and feel somebody’s presence in the room. She just never bothered showing that she was awake when she didn’t feel like it. She thought it was her sister, covering her with that plaid, but then she realized Jane wouldn’t stand in front of her for so long. For some time, while Chad was putting on another T-shirt and shaking his overlong hair out of the collar, she watched him silently and then closed her eyes and got back to sleep with a quiet sigh.

  Chad picked up the wet shirt and brought it to the bathroom. Taking one last look at Pain, he came to the door and turned the knob. He wondered what sword-wielding girls dreamed of – could it ever be something pleasant? But that she would never tell, he guessed, closing the door behind him.

  Chapter 6

  The same day at midnight, the four of them left their room. Everybody except for Pain had backpacks behind their backs, in which their clothes and bath kits were. Behind Pain’s back was her katana, so her things were in a bag that Dave was carrying in one of his hands. The girls were wearing their gear with loose black sweatsuits over it. Pain had to contrive to hide her sword beneath the sweatshirt, but she managed to do that by loosening her sheath straps a little. The guys had almost identical sweatsuits on them, only a few sizes bigger and without gear and weapons, of course.

  Jane closed the door after they all came out and paused in the hallway to wait for Marco and Ryan. A minute passed, and Pain got impatient. She came to their door and knocked, leaning against it with one shoulder.

  “Hello-ou!” she drawled in a cartoon voice. “Come out, my black princess! Isn’t your hair done yet? It’s time to go-o-ou!”

  She jumped away from the door when it flew open, and Marco showed up at the threshold with a stern face, his frame blocking the light from the room.

  “Not funny.”

  Instead of a jacket, he wore a leather vest over a black long-sleeve and gear bottoms. Apparently, even at their magical sewing workshop it was too difficult to make such big jackets every time the previous one got ruined, Chad thought. Marco was fully armed, just like the sisters under their sweatshirts, and his short sword with a black hilt protruded from his waist sheath.

  Ryan towered behind Marco, following him out of the room. His gear jacket and pants clung closely to his athletic body, making him look like a superhero from comics. He was wearing a black face mask, lowered to his chest now. Just like Jane, he had two swords at his belt, but his were thinner and longer. Ryan looked over the gathering with his watchful blue eyes without a word, as always.

  “What’s with the arsenal? You’re only walking us through the tunnels.” Pain raised her eyebrows at Marco.

  “We’ve got a job after that. You’re not the only one actually working here, you know,” Marco answered irritably, “Let’s go.”

  He didn’t seem to be in his usual good mood. Chad was surprised when Pain didn’t say anything in return and just shrugged, following him to the elevator.

  They got down to the first floor, where Peter was already waiting for them with Jerry perched on the security guard’s desk. Peter sat in the desk chair, a big map unfolded before him. The hall was empty at the moment – the Ghosts had left for patrols a few hours ago – and it was very quiet and peaceful down here, in the room full of moonlight and shadows. The guard stood beside his boss, turned away from them and looking through the glass doors. Dave noticed with astonishment that instead of a sword, which he got kind of used to during these few days, he had a heavy-looking axe at his belt. He swallowed hard. That definitely wasn’t a kind of thing he would want to see in operation.

  Jerry raised his head when Pain came closer; the others stayed to wait by one of the walls, where the couches were.

  “Hi,” Jerry said, his light eyes studying her from top to toe.

  “Hi,” she replied flatly.

  The guard turned his head and nodded, seeing her. Peter waved for her to come closer and take a look at the map. She leaned against the desk, peering into it obediently.

  “Okay, here’s the route that you’re going to take…” he began, tracing his finger along the line.

  Back there, Chad came to one of the black leather couches and flung himself onto it, taking off his backpack. He turned and saw Marco harass Dave in a corner a few steps away from him.

  “I’m gonna miss you so much, little buddy!” Marco brushed off invisible tears from his face and patted Dave’s shoulder. When Dave only stared at him dubiously, he grabbed him in a deadly embrace with one mighty scarred arm. Chad wondered if it was his imagination or if he really heard Dave’s joints crunch. “How are you gonna do without me!” Marco wailed with fake sobs while Dave pushed him in the chest, trying to break free.

  “Let go of me!” he muttered, his face pressed against Marco’s vest. “Chad, help me out here- ”

  “Oh, how rude of me to forget the other little bro!” Marco boomed joyfully, dragging Dave with him as he reached Chad’s couch in two long strides.

  Chad tried to object, warding him off with his hands, but Marco didn’t even notice. He seized Chad’s shirt – he was only able to gasp in surprise and protest – and hauled him off the couch, pressing him into his chest with the other arm. Chad gagged and choked, unable to breathe suddenly. Marco squeezed them both like plush toys, grinning at Jane while doing it.

  “Leave them alone, Marco,” the girl pitied, sitting on another couch across the hall with her arms folded on her chest. “Better pray you see them alive again. And us, too, by the way,” she added with a sour grimace.

  Marco put the guys down without looking at them, and they recoiled from him, catching their breaths.

  “Right, sister. How could I forget about
you in the first place!”

  He advanced menacingly on her, and she jumped to her feet and backed to the exit doors.

  “Don’t come near me.” She was retreating slowly in the direction of Pain, Peter, and Jerry, but Marco continued stalking her with a sneer. A couple more steps, and she walked into Pain, who stood leaning over the desk.

  She whirled with a scowl and shot only one glare to Marco, making him freeze in his spot.

  “Sit!” she commanded.

  Marco flopped onto the closest couch mechanically, blinking at her with an angelic look. She stared at him for a moment with sizzling angry eyes and then returned her attention to the map.

  He turned to Jane and grinned in a devilish way. With a sigh, she returned to the couches and sat as far from him as possible. Dave and Chad watched him cautiously now, leaning against the wall across the hall. Only Ryan didn’t have to bother: he stood in the middle of the hall like a statue, arms folded, only his chest rising and falling slowly.

  Peter finished his explaining in ten minutes, and wishing them luck, walked them to the staircase that led to the ground floor. The six of them walked down the stairs and then through a heavy metal door. The ground floor looked like an empty parking lot, lit faintly by a number of lamps along the walls. Marco headed to the farthest corner, where a big opened hatch was visible, glowing yellow in the gray space.

  He came up to it, peeked inside, and then skidded down the ladder quickly with the rest of them following him. Chad and Dave were surprised to see not some deserted basement, but a civilized room, which had a desk and a chair. A dark-haired guard sat behind the desk with a car-magazine in his hand. He glanced at them with lazy interest and then got back to his reading.

  Marco greeted him with a short nod and reached the far wall. There was a thick wooden door which he opened with a creak, fishing a flashlight out of his breast pocket with the other hand while doing so. Dave pressed into his back, peering into the tunnel over his shoulder: it was dark, and the air there was chilly even at summer. A long black corridor about six feet wide and eight feet high stretched forward, its metal walls disappearing in the darkness where Marco’s flashlight wouldn’t reach. It looked creepy, Dave thought. There was no way he would go through a place like that if he had a choice.