by Ayer, T. G.
The redhead had mentioned the Hunter. Had they been aware that I was coming? Or was I just that famous?
CHAPTER 28
I CONCENTRATED AS NERINA LEANED forward and opened her mouth. A stream of grey smoke poured out. The cloud rose and swirled before turning and diving into the mouth of the dead man.
She bent closer so that her lips hovered over the agent's mouth and drew the grey smoke back into her lungs. As weird as it looked, it made a kind of sense.
Then she sat back, her face was serene and expressionless, and when she opened her mouth again it was the dead man who spoke.
"Where am I?" he asked.
Neither man's body nor Nerina moved, so and I was forced to answer. "You're on your way to the Graylands."
As the words left my mouth, I realized how harsh that may sound especially to someone so recently dead.
"Oh," he said.
My words hadn't frightened him. "You're not going to panic?"
"Why should I?" he said. "I knew this was likely to happen."
Resignation, not fear. "You expected to die?"
"Not expected. More like I knew it was a hazard of the job."
"And what job are we talking, exactly?" I asked.
"I work for Division Seven."
"What is Division Seven? Government?"
"Yeah. Off the books."
I'd bet it was. "What does Division Seven have to do with Omega?"
There was a pause. "What's Omega?"
Okay.
"What's your name?"
"Daniel Chou." He didn't say more so I left it at that.
"Who was the fourth agent? Not the young one who ran, the older man."
"Oh," Daniel said. "That's Blake. He's on loan from another agency. Inter-divisional cooperation or something like that." His voice faltered, becoming hollow as if echoing through a long dark tunnel.
"Blake?"
Daniel nodded. "Agent Blake. He's an odd one but he keeps to himself." He fell silent for a moment. "He ran?"
"Yes, he did."
"So much for interdivisional cooperation." Daniel sighed and even the sigh seemed to be getting fainter.
I had to hurry. "So what does this off-the-books division of yours do, exactly."
"We eliminate paranormals."
What could I say in response to that? It was very much cut-and-tried. "On whose orders?"
"That's need to know."
"Well, I need to know, and you're dead so nobody will care that you told."
He shook his head. "I'd tell you if I could. But our section leader just passed on the orders. Orders come from above. We followed them. We didn't need to know who gave them."
I didn't understand this attitude. If I was ever told that I didn't need to know where an order came from I'd make finding out my first priority. "And those guns?"
"Don't start me on those things," he said. "I hate them. Way worse than using normal bullets for humans." He paused. Seemed to struggle to speak. When he began again his voice had grown fainter. "Like using hand grenades to kill a herd of deer. Cruel and unnecessary."
This interrogation wasn't going to last much longer. "So what exactly were you doing here? We thought you were Omega agents."
"We were supposed to watch the site. Eliminate any intruders. Eliminate any paranormals."
He seemed to accept the existence of paranormals easily for a human. But there wasn't any time to get into why. He was probably trained well.
"Who killed the Sentinel watch?"
"Blake."
"Why?"
Daniel shrugged. "Don't know. We asked but . . ."
"Need to know?"
"You got it." Then he paused, his voice tinny now, fading. "Sorry I couldn't be much help."
"Sorry we shot you," I said, feeling a little stupid even as I said it.
"We did our jobs. Mission complete."
"You mean 'mission successful?"
"Mission complete," he repeated, his resignation clear even as his voice faded to nothing.
Nerina shuddered, lifted her head, and opened her mouth. The smoky gray tendrils wafted from her lips, rising, roiling on the air until they gathered together as if compelled by some invisible force, and swooped to the boy's mouth.
The smoke plunged between his lips and disappeared, leaving Nerina shuddering. She bent over, sucking in great gulps of air.
"You good?" I asked, a little worried.
She nodded. "I'm fine. He seemed . . . okay with his death."
"Too okay if you ask me."
"Yes. I agree."
Footsteps crunched outside on the concrete floor of the hallway and Logan came in.
"Anything?" he asked, even as he scanned the room and the hole in the external wall for potential threats.
"Not much." I said softly. "Agent Daniel Chou, Division Seven. Off-the-books government agency. He was a drone who did what he was told, never asked questions, never knew where his orders came from. But he'd never heard of Omega, and your friend was on inter-departmental loan and his name is Blake."
"Blake, my ass," muttered Logan through gritted teeth.
Nerina cleared her throat. "We should speak to the second agent before her time passes."
Nerina was right, but I wished we had more time for her to recover. She looked tired and strained. Saying so, however, would hurt her feelings--or her pride--so I stepped aside so she could access the redhead.
Logan remained at the threshold, gun in hand, his attention focused on the door and the hole in the wall.
Nerina sank beside the woman's body and performed her smoke exhalation/inhalation procedure. Despite having just witnessed it I found the process just as fascinating the second time, and just as gross.
When the death talker finally lifted her head, her face was expressionless. And, unlike Daniel, this one wasn't talking.
"Can you hear me?" I asked.
Nerina's body stiffened. Then her lips stretched. It wasn't a nice smile. And she remained silent.
I glanced over at Logan to find he'd moved so he could cover Nerina as well as the other threats. And he was right. Something was definitely wrong with her.
"Can you hear me?" I repeated. "What's your name?"
"You think you're so smart," she sneered. "But we are smarter."
Nerina began to shiver. The pale whites of her eyes began to go black and a cough ripped through her like a dull scream.
"Let her go, Nerina," I yelled, hoping she would hear me and pull free from whatever hold this dead girl had on her.
Nerina's shivers changed to shaking and then to convulsions, as though a terrible fight was taking place within her. I leaped over the redhead's body and grabbed Nerina's shoulders, supporting her through the convulsions, praying she wouldn't break bones, wouldn't die.
"Nerina," I shouted. "Logan?"
I looked up at him, terrified now that we wouldn't get Nerina back. That we'd lose her.
He was looking at the redhead. His face darkened. And I saw it too. The dead woman smiled.
The bitch smiled.
Logan didn't wait, didn't flinch. He chambered a bullet and shot her straight in the heart.
The sound of the shot thundered in my ears and Nerina again convulsed in my arms. Once. A second time, weaker. A third time, weaker still. Then she stopped moving, her skin paler, her eyes wide open.
I sucked in a shuddering breath. Nerina's eyes were slowly returning to normal, her skin beginning to warm to its usual simple paleness instead of a porcelain death-face.
I grabbed my jacket from the pile of rubble beside her and folded it before dropping it on the ground. Then I lowered her to a lying position, her head on the jacket.
Just in time. She gave one last, massive shiver. It lifted her head inches off the jacket and then dropped it back so hard that it bounced.
I winced. How would I explain a death talker with a cracked skull to Kira?
"I'm fine." Nerina took a deep breath. "I'm feeling better now."
&
nbsp; As she inhaled again, the air beside us shimmered and Jess arrived. "Cassandra Monteith let me know you needed transport back home."
I blinked and shared a worried look with Logan, wondering what he'd say about his superior officer now knowing he was investigating a case off the books.
But he didn't miss a beat. "We'd better get moving," said Logan. "We've been here long enough. Their backup will be arriving shortly." Logan kept his eye on the doorway.
I put an arm around Nerina and Jess helped her to her knees, then to her feet.
"I'm fine," she said again. "I can manage to walk myself."
I glared at her, refusing to let go. "You don't look fine to me. The last thing I'm going to do is to let you kill yourself on my watch. I like my head on my shoulders, thank you very much."
Logan snorted and Nerina laughed, too.
"So, Lady Kira scares the shit out of me. I admit it."
Nerina patted my shoulder. "I really am all right. You will be able to get out of here faster without me." She took a step away. "I can't take you with me, but I can get myself to your apartment safely enough."
I nodded. "If you're sure."
"She's sure," said Logan. "Go now, Nerina."
"You don't have to tell me twice," she said, and disappeared in a cloud of gray smoke.
Jess didn't say a word, just held out her hands. Logan and I took a hand and Jess took us home.
CHAPTER 29
JESS LEFT US ON THE landing outside my apartment and left after a quiet word with Logan that I pretended not to hear.
When we walked into the apartment, Grams and Mom were sitting in the lounge having a heart-to-heart with Nerina. Thankfully, she looked fine, alive and well.
I was safe from Kira.
The women of my family had plied the death talker with tea and cookies, and seemed to have had much success, judging from the satiated smile on Nerina's face.
I dragged my feet as I stumbled into the room, dropping my bag on the floor as Logan closed the door behind me. My limbs trembled and though Logan attempted to grab my waist for support, I shifted away and sank into the nearest chair, exhausted, both mentally and physically. I leaned forward, and unzipped my boots. Too late, I realized the impending danger of keeling over. I blinked and swallowed hard before flinging the boots at the coat rack behind the door.
One landed at least a foot from its destination and Logan shook his head. He toed the errant boot back to its partner and frowned as his phone began to buzz loudly. He tugged the device from his pocket, but by the time he answered I'd already lost my concentration. I closed my eyes, squeezed them tight, then opened them again.
Everything was blurry.
"Kai, honey. You look awful," said Grams, rising from the couch. She didn't even ask, just went into the kitchen and put on a kettle. My grandmother's answer to everything was a nice hot cup of tea.
And at that point I couldn't think of anything better.
Wait a goddamned minute. Hadn't someone taken Grams away? Like arrested her or something?
Nerina got up from the sofa and glided towards me. Funny how she seemed to float on the air, her gray skirt flowing in an invisible breeze.
Get a grip, Kai.
I glanced up at Mom who was close on Nerina's heels. Before I knew what was happening, my mother knelt beside me and opened the buttons of my blouse to inspect my bared chest.
Not that anyone here hadn't already seen said chest before, bared or otherwise.
Despite the trickle of gleaming neon-blue liquid that escaped the wound, the single bullet hole beside my sternum had already begun to knit together. The bleeding had stopped a while ago, thankfully. I didn't need to hear Grams nag about blood on the polished wood floor.
Mom surged to her feet. "Stay right there," she said, pointing sternly at me as she hurried off to my bedroom. I heard her rummaging inside the secret space behind my closet where we kept our guns and ammunition and an assortment of other weaponry.
"If you insist," I said, unable to hide the fatigue from my voice. The poison, though not fatal, seemed to be having some sort of effect on me. I never felt this tired.
Mum returned, holding a tube which looked like something she could have stolen from one of Uncle Niko's chemistry labs. She came to stand beside me and place the tube against my chest, holding it close to my skin as the liquid dripped slowly into the container.
As she worked, I turned to Logan. "The djinn?"
He gave me a nod. "Sleeping on the couch." I shifted my gaze over Mom's shoulder and was satisfied to see his sleeping form draped across our sofa.
At last, when Mom had gathered enough of the neon liquid, she lifted it to the light and stared at it.
Grams clicked her tongue from the kitchen. "Staring at that damn stuff isn't going to help you figure out what it is. I'll get that to the lab as soon as possible. You hold down the fort.
I laughed softly, more a giggle than anything else.
"What's so funny," asked Mom, coming to sit beside me. She used the side of my shirt to wipe away the dried blood from my wound.
"You holding down the fort."
Mom frowned.
"When you're AWOL it's hard to hold down any forts."
Mom grinned. "Very true." Her eyes glittered. "But, now that I'm back I can, can't I?"
I gave a nod, finding my head very heavy. Strange.
"Have fun," I said, with a drunken wave.
Then I began to slide down the chair as my body went totally numb.
The last thing I recalled was Logan grabbing a hold me before I slammed face first into the wood floor.
I woke, sitting bolt upright in the silent bedroom. Sunlight streamed into the room and I could hear the clink of cutlery against plates outside my door. I shoved the blankets aside, ignored the decidedly heavenly feel to my room, with all the golden sunlight and white sheets, and padded to the door.
When I swung the door open, all conversation stopped and I was pleased, surprised and taken aback at the scene at our dining table. Saleem was gone, and my parents, and Grams were eating Sunday lunch with Logan.
Well, knock me down with a feather, why don't you.
I blinked, opened my mouth, then closed it again.
"Honey?" Dad pushed his chair away and dropped his napkin on the table. Here too, the sunshine streamed into the room, making everything bright and little unreal. When I felt Dad come to a stop in front of me I had to accept that I wasn't dreaming the whole scene. "You okay? You up to having lunch?"
I nodded, then rubbed my eyes. "How long have I been out?"
"Just overnight." He smiled, placing a hand at my back and guiding me to the table. "We let you sleep in."
"Now you change your mind?" I teased as I sat in the vacant seat beside him.
The tight lines at Logan's eyes told me that he found the whole meal a strain.
I glanced across at Logan where he sat bracketed by Mom and Grams. Poor guy. I hate to think of what he'd been through in my absence. Iain was one thing, Grams and Mom alone with him was a totally different form of torture.
Dad cleared his throat. "What do you mean?"
I had to force my thoughts back to his question. "All our lives you've insisted that sleeping in was a form of inherent laziness, and now you say it's okay?" I asked as Grams placed a plate of eggs and bacon in front of me. Logan forked a sausage into my plate and I caught Mom giving him a glance that was on the 'oh so cute' side.
"It's a scientific truth, Kai. The one thing one finds most in common in successful people is that they are early risers."
"Is that a fact?" asked Mom, a knowing grin on her lips as she focused her attention on him. She propped her elbows on the table and threaded her fingers in front of her. Seeing her fiddle made me more aware than ever that I'd missed out on years of learning her habits and mannerisms.
I chewed eggs and bacon as I watched Dad shift his gaze to his wife and I was struck by the tenderness in his eyes. The man who'd keep himself distant fro
m us, who I'd thought cold and unfeeling, seemed to overflow with love for his wife. Or was it his estranged wife now? Or lover?
My head hurt.
"Yes, that is a fact," he said firmly.
"Then explain to us how it's possible for you to be so successful when you aren't an early riser?" She smiled pleasantly.
Tea appeared at my right hand and a piece of warm toast hovered in front of me. Everyone was taking care of me. I could so get used to this.
Dad grunted, then threw Mom a sharp warning look.
"Mom, we all know Dad never sleeps in." I frowned as I stabbed a piece of bacon.
"Another secret to successful men," said Grams with a short laugh. "Secrets."
"Not you too," said Dad leaning back again his seat as if that small distance gave him some safety from this onslaught.
"Grams, are you saying Corin Odel is a slacker?" I asked giving Dad a glance.
"I should know. Mothers know these things about their children." Grams popped a piece of sausage in her mouth and chewed around the grin that remained emblazoned on her face. She was enjoying this way too much.
"Mother," said Dad, the warning clear in her voice.
That set everyone laughing.
"Dad, just accept it. Your secret is out." I snorted. "And your scientific facts are BS."
He laughed ruefully. "I guess it is, then."
I ate, listening to the banter around me, feeling at home and relaxed for the first time in a while.
At some point Grams' cellphone buzzed and she picked it up. Seconds later she cleared her throat. "I do hate to destroy the happiness and light at the table but there has been news."
Everyone looked at her, waiting, dread darkening the bright midday sunbeams that danced around us.
"Sentinel's just informed us that there's been another killing. This time a cluster of goblins in the Alaskan forest."
I'd never met a goblin before. Said a lot about my upbringing though, considering I'd never know my own mother was human until I'd walked headlong into the fact not that long ago.
Mom made a strangled noise in her throat. "Why the hell would they want to attack the goblins? They've lived in peace for centuries. And they keep to themselves. Why target them?"
