by Gary Jonas
I made it to the doorway as the first three rows of Sekutar ghouls went to their knees simultaneously. A storm of throwing stars flew over their heads and I managed to block and dodge all but half a dozen of them. The back rows passed swords forward in a wave to the ghouls in front. The advance team rose and moved toward me. Bonnie’s eyes burned orange as she led the attack. I swung my katana to take off her head.
Before the blade made contact, strong arms wrapped around me, pinning my arms, and pulled me backwards into the disorienting world of shadow.
“Brand, what the hell?” For a second I thought the Sekutar warrior had decided in a lame show of chivalry to save me, but how could he travel through shadow?
Then the familiar cologne hit me.
“Jiggs?”
“None other, sweetheart.”
I arched my back to try and break his hold as we tumbled through shadow and light, moving through solid walls and debris faster than I could make out details. I tried to see where I’d come from but all sense of direction was gone. Disoriented, I struggled against Jiggs but he held me tightly until we stopped in a dimly-lit room that looked like an old mine.
What the historians say about the tunnels below Denver is true – they stretch like black webs from building to building as they radiate out from under the capital’s dome, and they are haunted.
Years had passed since they’d been used to deliver coal, or smuggle alcohol, or conceal politicians and men of wealth as they visited prostitutes while their wives slept in fancy hotels. Many of the tunnels have collapsed or are filled in with blocks of concrete and railroad ties, crossed with barbed wire for good measure. It stops most urban spelunkers, but it doesn’t stop the people who know how to use the tunnels. Not even the ghosts stop them.
Those people are ghouls like Jiggs.
As soon as his grip loosened and he set me down, I turned and slammed him against a wall. “Take me back! I was doing fine – I could have slaughtered them!” I drew my fist back to punch him.
Jiggs closed his eyes in anticipation of the pounding he was about to get, but he kept on talking. “I know you would have slaughtered them. That’s why I grabbed you.”
Confused, I lowered my fist but kept Jiggs pinned to the wall. “Why the hell would you do that?”
“Don’t you get it? They’re the ones we need you to save!” Jiggs’ breath came heavy and ragged. “They’re our children, and they’ve been taken from us.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“What children? I didn’t see any kids.”
Jiggs opened his eyes and glared at me. “I’m going to start calling you Jon Snow because you know nothing. They were all kids.” He shook his head. “I told you to stay put until I got back to you for a reason. I didn’t want you to kill our children.”
I tightened my grip and Jiggs gurgled and squirmed, then relaxed when he realized he wasn’t going anywhere.
“You should have told me the truth from the start. I don’t wait around for orders. I figured out where Jessica was and I went after her.” I looked around the room and realized we were in some sort of tunnel with both ends blocked off by tons of construction debris. The light came from an electric lantern, something you’d take camping if you were into that sort of thing. Larger objects had been placed around the lantern so that their shadows fell on the walls. We’d just come out of one of them and had our choice of five others. Grand Central Station for ghouls. I realized I was trapped.
I pressed the edge of my katana against the ghoul’s no-kill button. “Now take me back while I still have a chance to save her.”
“Number one,” Jiggs stuck out his index finger to make his first point, “if you kill me here, you’re screwed. Even if you don’t starve to death trying to dig your way out and find your way home, more ghouls will come through eventually and finish you off. And number two, your friend’s safe for now, I promise. She’s not ripe yet.”
“Ripe? What the hell does that mean?”
“That means you’ve done your job, Kelly Chan. You gave her a backbone and she isn’t as easily frightened as she once was. They want her scared, really scared, filled to the brim with good juicy fear before they kill her.”
“Why?”
“Why do they want her full of fear?”
“Why does DGI want her at all? She’s a mundane. Is it because of me?”
Jiggs looked around, scanning for other ghouls. “No, not because of you. I doubt it’s even about DGI at this point. This is a rare case of pure coincidence. My wayward Kin had no idea she had any ties to you, but they sure do now.”
“Which is why I need to go back.”
“Which is why she’s safe for now, unless you go back.” He squirmed under the blade, and a trickle of blood ran down his neck. “They’ll kill her outright as soon as they’ve got you back where they want you. Please, I don’t want to see anybody else die, human or Kin. Let me help you to help her.”
I let Jiggs go but kept my blade pointed at him. “How?”
“Now that they know who you came for, I’m sure they’ll use Jessica as bait to draw you out. But first they have to find you. I only know one place safe enough to hide you, but it’s too risky for my…” Jiggs sighed. “If it were just me, it might not matter. But I have others I gotta take care of. I’m not the only one calling the shots, so I don’t really have a choice.”
“Who’s calling the shots? The other ghouls you’re representing?”
Jiggs smiled and shook his head. “Not all of them. Only the most important ones.”
Keeping my katana pointed at him, I plucked an errant throwing star out of my right shoulder. The wound bled too much for my liking and was slow to close. “But you’re all Kin. From what I’ve seen, you’re all pretty important to each other.”
“No, it’s more than that. I’m … well, you’ll see.” Jiggs looked around the room again. “We aren’t safe here. We can finish arguing later. Just let me take you somewhere secure to talk.”
Against my better judgment, I lowered my katana and nodded. Jiggs reached for my arm. I jabbed the back of his hand with the throwing star.
He yelped and brought his hand to his mouth. “Ow! What the hell did you do that for?”
“I told you never to touch me again without my permission, Mister Must-Have-A-Whole-Dead-Girl-For-All-The-Parts.”
Jiggs drew his whole body back like I’d turned into a rattlesnake. The ghoul balled his fists and breathed in and out through his nose for a few beats. “You don’t know anything about me. You’re just like them.” He jutted his chin back the way we’d come. “You think we’re the scum of the earth and you don’t bother to learn the truth. This is why my Kin are divided right now, and why we’ll probably all end up dead. Or worse.”
Then he got a hold of his anger.
“Fine. Ms. Chan, may I please have your permission to take your arm so I can lead you through the otherwise impassible shadows to a safer destination in order that you might have a fighting chance at saving your friend and my Kin?” He bowed with mock respect.
I held out my hand. “I hate you.”
“Ditto.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Jiggs took my hand and we resumed our nauseating trip through bricks and stone and god-knows-what-else, until we came to another chamber. This one had no passageways, whether open, blocked off or made of shadow.
Jiggs wiped sweat off his forehead. “Almost there. Look, I don’t care what you think of me. I don’t care what you think of any of us. But please, try to show some respect for the ones you’re about to meet. They deserve it.”
Jiggs felt along one of the brick walls until he came to the brick he wanted. He knocked on it and it sounded hollow. As soon as he did, the light in the chamber changed. It seemed to come from everywhere and cast no shadows.
“Secure!” he shouted.
A rectangular section of the wall darkened, then grew wavy, like a mirage. Jiggs took my arm again and said, “This is gonna hurt.” He walked
forward through the wall. While I felt no pain, there was tremendous pressure. I could hear Jiggs cry out – he obviously felt more than I did.
Then we were on the other side. We stood in another chamber lit with the same ambient light that cast no shadows, but that’s all it had in common with the other room. This place was warm and inviting, the walls painted white, the wooden floors covered in Persian rugs. Overstuffed chairs and footstools, fresh-cut flowers, even a small gas-lit fireplace made it feel like a cottage.
A woman rushed past me and into Jiggs’ arms. He buried his face in her hair. Then he looked at me over the top of her head, his eyes full of warning.
“Are you all right, my love?” she asked him.
He smiled down at her. “I am now.” He brushed his fingers down her cheek. And how is…?”
They both glanced at me before she answered. “Fine, just fine.”
“Kess, you remember Kelly Chan.”
She turned her face to me, and I now recognized her as the server from the steak house, the one who delivered my retainer without me realizing it.
Kess smiled and held out her hand. “Of course. Welcome to our home, Ms. Chan. I hope it suits you.”
“You’re here by virtue of my wife’s invitation.” Jiggs said through a tight-lipped smile.
“Behave, Jiggs.” Kess bumped him with her hip.
I tried to be polite. “It’s very … homey. Cozy, I mean.” I never said I was good at polite. I reached out to shake Kess’s hand and noticed the blood covering my own. Kess didn’t seem to mind as she gripped my hand. She was a ghoul after all. She didn’t seem to mind my katana either.
“Thank you, Ms. Chan.” She glanced at my torn and bloody clothing. “Goodness, I should let you get cleaned up before we talk. Let me get you a blanket. I’m a better hostess out in the world than in my own home.” Kess went to the sofa and picked up a tartan throw. “You can borrow a shirt and a pair of pants, though they might fall right off you.” Kess lightly slapped her rounded hip and draped the blanket across my shoulders.
“Thanks, I’d appreciate that. And you’re fine, Mrs. Jiggs.”
She laughed. “It’s just Kess, but that’s adorable. Mrs. Jiggs, ha!”
Under her good humor ran a current of tension that she carried in her tight shoulders and quick steps. Kess showed me a bathroom complete with a walk-in shower. She disappeared down the hall and returned with some clothing.
“Plenty of hot water. Take your time. We’re just so grateful.” Kess beamed at me and closed the bathroom door behind her, leaving me to wonder why nice women always end up with jerks.
While I showered, I thought about Liz. I wondered if Amanda knew her boss and friend had been turned. The water poured out hot but my blood ran cold. When I called Amanda earlier, she was on her way into work. She sounded distracted, upset. She must know. Maybe she went in to stop them. What if she…?
No. Amanda was fine. She had to be. And I had to make sure.
I turned off the water and changed into a loose shirt and yoga pants with an elastic waist that were a little full through the thighs. In the hallway, I smelled something sweet baking. I figured hot chocolate and cookies were next.
When I walked back into the living room, Kess stood beside the table. She’d put on a ruffle-trimmed apron over her dress. Another ghoul sat at the table across from Jiggs. She looked like a slightly younger Kess, but with more makeup and a cream-colored, exquisitely cut business suit lightly smudged with dirt. She didn’t have a no-kill button. Her eyes grew wide when she saw me.
Jiggs laid a hand on her arm. “It’s cool, Lee. This is—”
“Kelly Chan, yeah I know. Jiggs, we don’t have time for this. You are so fucked.” Lee looked at me. “So are you.”
“I doubt it,” I said. “Jiggs, we’re leaving right now.”
Kess twisted a hunk of the apron skirt up in her hands. “Kelly, this is my sister, Lee. Jiggs, could you get the teapot from the other room? It should be ready. There’s a plate of cookies, too.”
So I was close with the hot chocolate and cookies.
Jiggs practically jumped out of his seat. “Sure, Sweetheart.” He disappeared into another room through an actual door instead of a shadow. I started after him, but Kess blocked me by pulling out a chair. She smiled and gestured for me to sit.
I remained standing. “I hate to be rude when you’ve been kind, Kess, but I need to get out of here right now and save my friends.”
Lee nodded enthusiastically and looked at Kess. “We all do. That’s what I’ve been saying. You’re too optimistic, Kess.”
“We’re safe here.”
Lee rolled her eyes. “We’d be safer in—”
Kess ignored her sister, cutting her off to speak to me. “I understand you want to save your friend.”
“Friends.”
“Okay, friends. We can help you, with that, if you’ll help us. Just let me explain. You’ll have to forgive Jiggs for being secretive. He’s a good man, but he gets a little over-protective.”
I thought back to the day in Tally’s, the argument over the dead girl in the box. The parts he really wanted. Good man, my ass. If she only knew.
Jiggs came back carrying a tray holding a plate of cookies, a teapot, and only one cup. I thought that was strange until I remembered I was the only person in the room who ate actual food.
He set the tray down on the table and looked at the three of us – me still standing, Kess clutching the chair she’d pulled out, Lee glaring at Kess like only a sister can. “Well, it looks like things are just peachy in here.”
“Actually, Ms. Chan and I totally agree that we should leave now.” Lee gave me a thin-lipped smile. “I’m questioning my sister’s motives for staying.”
Jiggs put his arm around his wife. “She’s scared, Lee. We have a lot to lose.”
“And I don’t?” Lee shook her head.
Jiggs gestured for me to sit. “Nobody’s going anywhere at the moment. Ms. Chan, Jessica is safe for now. Please give me another chance and I’ll tell you the whole story. Then you can decide what to do and I’ll abide by that decision, even if it means taking you back to DGI.”
Kess gave me a small, hopeful smile. “Really. We can help.”
I was surprised at how tired I felt, like I was coming down off a major adrenaline high when I should have felt fine. I decided I could spare a couple of minutes. I sat down and Kess poured me a cup of tea.
This was not one of my better days. Though on the plus side, I did get to kill two Sekutar and three ghouls, so at least I had that going for me.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Mind filling me in now?” I took a sip of tea. “From the beginning, please?”
Jiggs nodded. He sat next to Kess, across from Lee and me. “It started with the baby bloom after Mile High Stadium.”
“It started even before the bloom, dear. For us, at least.” Kess put her hand over Jiggs’ hand.
“We have two big rules that govern us – we don’t eat the living and we don’t kill to eat the dead.” Jiggs sighed. “But some of us do crave the living, as you know. We keep ourselves in check, or else we’re checked by our Kin.” Jiggs drew his finger across his throat. “It’s for the best. If we all craved living flesh and gave in to those cravings, we would destroy the world.”
I saw his point. Ghouls were strong, and with their ability to move through shadows, no living person without magic would be safe.
Kess pushed the plate of cookies toward me as she picked up the thread. “So we do the Good Work. And we’re despised and misunderstood for it, because you don’t see what it really is.”
“We’re treated like second class, like garbage.”
Kess nodded. “I heard what the vampire told you at dinner, Kelly. He said to consider the vermin. He meant us – Kin. Or ghouls, as others call us.”
“Was that before or after he made a pass at you?” Jiggs asked.
“He what?” Lee asked.
Kess rolled
her eyes and laughed. “Yeah, he was a real sweet-talker.”
“He’s a real asshole,” I said.
Kess shrugged. “It’s what we’ve come to expect from our vampire lords and masters. They conveniently forget that they are an offshoot of Kin, and not the other way around.”
I set my cup down. “I never realized.”
“Of course not,” said Jiggs. “Vampires like to tell people that we’re an abomination, inferior to them. Maybe they’ve come to believe it themselves. But it’s the other way around. Vampires are descended from us.”
Kess sat up straighter. “We’re an ancient race. When the first person died, one of our Kin was there to do the Good Work.” She paused and looked at the table, collecting her thoughts. “Have you ever held a quartz crystal up to the light from a window? You’ll find a fracture in it, no matter how perfect it looks. The same is true with souls. They are delicate, and they can break. It’s fear that cracks the soul, then gets trapped in the fissures. Sometimes people can work the fear back out of their soul before they die. But not always. When a person dies, fear gets trapped there.”
Jiggs picked up the conversation. “Fear like that festers. It bloats. It poisons the psychic atmosphere, spreading, contaminating good people as it looks for fresh souls to live in. It manifests as anxiety, depression, paranoia. It divides families. It wounds the innocent. When a ghoul takes in a body, that’s what we’re trying to get at. The fear, before it goes bad.”
Kess smiled at Jiggs. “Fractured souls are beautiful to us. Like when you turn a crystal just right, the sun reflects off the fracture and the whole crystal glows from the inside. The souls that are most fractured glow the brightest. We take in the fear trapped in the fractures and we release it back to the stars, so it can break down without festering and turning to poison, infecting everything around it. Devouring that fear in order to give it back to the universe for cleaning, that’s what we call the Good Work. Without us, without the Good Work, the world would be a darker, more fearful place than it already is.”
