“Where’s home for you?” Kershaw asked. “Is it with your little gal pal Rogue?”
George raised an eyebrow and laughed. “Oh, come off it. That knock to the head must’ve been harder than you thought.”
“I don’t think so,” Kershaw growled. “See, your comments earlier got me thinking, and that’s something I rarely do these days. You seemed awfully protective of Rogue during our little conversation earlier. Not only that, but you were reported missing from your post earlier, George. AWOL. Where did you go at that time?”
George thought fast. “I told you, I thought I saw Rogue. I left my post to see where she went, but it turned out to be some other mortal.”
“A likely story.” Clandestiny rolled her eyes.
“We heard your little speech to your lady friend,” Kershaw sneered, his mouth growing wide. “Rogue is a good guy, right? Someone wanting to make the world a better place.”
George’s heart started hammering. “How… What…”
“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” Clandestiny howled with laughter and slapped his back so hard he fell to the floor.
When George looked up, he froze, seeing Porter Sykes crouched down beside him.
Every specter within a ten-mile radius of London knew about Porter and Yasmine and their connection with the queen. But what was he doing here?
Porter tilted his head to catch George’s eye. “Her Majesty gave us orders to follow up on every minor indiscretion, and every lead across the city concerning Rogue. None of them have yielded such likely paths as yours.”
George tried to stand, but he was pushed back down by spectral feet.
He glared at Porter. “You’ve got nothing on me. I’ve been nothing but loyal to the crown since my first day as a specter.”
“Is that right?” Porter asked as if addressing a fantasy from a five-year-old. “What do you think, cousin? Is he telling the truth?”
A specter materialized beside Porter. A specter with a piranha’s grin and a pinstripe suit. He leered and shook his head slowly.
“No? Well, George. Do you hear that? Our American friend here says you’re not telling the truth. Do you know how we know?” He paused and waited, although George could tell it was all rhetorical. “Because Rico here has been bequeathed with a rare gift indeed. The ability to remain undetectable and unseen around humans and specters.”
George could say nothing. He merely growled at the American who had his foot wedged into his back.
“Talk about serendipity,” Porter crooned. “Actually, a few of our American friends have made their way to the UK to offer their assistance to the queen in her time of need. Nice, eh? Of course, all of this could be made a lot easier for everyone if we just knew where Rogue was, and where she’s been hiding.”
Porter snapped his fingers and Rico lifted the pressure off George’s back. He leaned in close and whispered, “So why don’t you save us all the trouble and tell us where she is?”
George thought for a moment, staring into Porter’s eyes. He took a deep breath, then spat in his face.
“Very well.” Porter stood and wiped his face. He nodded at the other specters. “As he wishes.”
George cried out as the specters closed in and stamped all over his body.
Westminster, London
Jennie could see the outline of Buckingham Palace on the long strip of the Birdcage Walk.
Her heart fluttered as the engine of her car purred. The royal coach was just half a kilometer ahead, and she could see the spectral trail of beefeaters surrounding her.
What if I just jumped out of the car and went for her now? What would happen?
She knew the answer to that question, of course. Lupe had shown Jennie the map littered with crosses to showcase where the guards were watching out. They were in a hot area right now. Hundreds of specters roamed St James’ Park to her right, and dozens lined the rooftops. If she so much as showed a single eyelash, they’d be on her like flies around pig shit.
Thank God for tinted windows, Jennie thought.
When the coach was gone from sight, Jennie put her plan into action. Although she had some idea of where all the guards where watching, she wanted to test the limits of her power. What some of her reliables in the tech industry would call a “soft launch.”
“Let’s go,” she told Angus, who looked like the suited man with sunglasses he had masqueraded as before.
“Remember our names?” Angus asked.
Jennie gave him a pointed look. “I’m Mona, and you’re Karl. You think this is my first rodeo?”
“You’ve worked with Obake before?” he asked.
“I meant… Actually, never mind. Come on.” Jennie stepped out of the car in a glittery cocktail dress, giving off a spectral sheen. She hooked her arm around Angus’ and took to the path, walking straight down the Birdcage Walk to the Palace.
They walked in silence, Jennie’s eyes glancing in every direction to keep an eye out for suspicious activity. Dozens of specters roamed the Park, pretending to be nothing more than late-night lovers going for a stroll around the green.
“Talk to me,” Jennie side-mouthed.
“What?” Angus asked nervously.
“Talk to me,” Jennie repeated. “ You think it’s not going to arouse suspicion if we’re just walking silently, tenser than a bull going for a vasectomy?”
“How was your day…sweetie?” Angus managed, with great effort.
“It’s a start,” Jennie muttered, before saying, “Come on, you don’t want me to go into all that. You say how often it bores you. Tell me about you instead.”
They passed two specters in Victorian funeral blacks and gave a curt nod.
“Oh, you know I was just kidding,” Angus replied. “I love hearing about your day.”
Jennie rolled into an improvised rant about how she believed a day in the life of Mona would go.
Angus nodded and gave the right utterances as they roamed closer to the palace, taking a right into St James’s when they saw the number of specters standing guard outside of the palace.
They took to the walking paths, keeping themselves parallel with the long straight road leading to the palace gates as they strolled casually.
A few times, other specters stopped to say quick hellos to the pair, believing them to be old friends. Jennie allowed Angus to take the lead since he was clearly much better informed about the lives of Karl and Mona than she was.
It was when they were within dashing distance of the palace that several things happened in quick succession. The first was a series of laughs from the other side of the green.
Several specters had gathered, hands clutching bellies as they chuckled into the night. Angus pointed at them with sudden alarm, whirling his head to look around before shoving Jennie into a nearby bush.
“Ouch,” Jennie complained before seeing what the sudden urgency was.
Two of the specters looked incredibly familiar, and it took Jennie a second to realize why. It was only when the real Karl and Mona turned toward them that she looked down at her cocktail dress and made the connection.
“Obake!” Jennie hissed.
“Hey, don’t use our name in vain.”
“Hush. You’re not exactly deities.”
“Still…”
Karl and Mona strolled along the path toward Jennie and Angus. Their arms were intertwined, and they wore bright smiles.
“I wonder how long it’ll take before they bump into people we’ve already bumped into,” Jennie pondered.
“Never mind that. What the hell are they doing here?” Angus demanded angrily. “They’re meant to be on the other side of town.”
“How do you know all this?” Jennie asked incredulously.
Angus grinned. “Who do you think put out the call to drag them there?”
Jennie snorted. “Maniacal.”
Angus tipped his shoulder. “I do what I can.”
The couple came closer. Jennie and Angus retreated furthe
r into the shadows of the bushes, not quite realizing, as they fixed their attention on the couple, that they were nearing Birdcage Walk on the other side.
It was only when they heard the sound of struggling, and the occasional groans of a man in distress that they turned, and Jennie’s eyes grew wide.
“Oh, Jesus, no,” she moaned.
Angus looked at Jennie. “Really? All this spectral-world stuff, and you believe in Jesus?”
But Jennie wasn’t listening. Her attention was absorbed by the group of specters man-handling a specter she was all too familiar with.
George struggled in their grasp in an attempt to escape, but the pair holding him gripped him firmly. They trundled toward the palace gates with the man suspended between them and called for the guards to open up.
“Under whose orders?” a surly Beefeater called.
Jennie was reminded of Worthington, and her blood began to boil.
The brute of a man to George’s right chuckled. “I think the queen will be interested in a specter withholding information on the whereabouts of Rogue, don’t you?”
The Beefeater studied the group with a narrowed eye, then took a step back and gave the command.
The gates swung open, and the specters marched George in.
All Jennie could do was watch with her hand resting on the hilt of the sword at her waist. Her jaw clenched. She could feel the injustice inside of her, gnawing at her like woodworm. The image of George in distress was printed in her mind.
Jennie looked all around, searching for some way to get past the guards and break into the palace. A large part of her wanted nothing more than to storm the gates, whip out the Big Bitch, and put them all out of their misery.
But that wouldn’t be smart. There would be too many, even for her. Even if she did manage to break into the queen’s chambers, it wouldn’t be long before she was surrounded again.
“Think, Jennie. Think…” Jennie had fought against some big groups of specters and won in her time, but she also knew enough about the queen and her men to know it wouldn’t be as easy as that this time.
“Is he a friend of yours?” Angus asked with genuine concern.
Jennie brushed away his question with a short reply. “Yes.”
She looked all around the palace, noting the line of guards on the roof, in front of the gates, and swamping the surrounding buildings. She turned back to the park and mentally counted all of the specters.
Then she spotted something which made her heart leap—a small something that might be more than she’d ever imagined in this situation.
A female specter appeared from the front of the gates and turned into the park.
Jennie had seen her on many occasions, sitting in on hearings with the queen, and serving as a faithful lapdog for the last few decades, at least.
Yasmine Turner strolled as if she owned the place. Her hands were laced behind her back as she approached each specter to speak for a few seconds before continuing on.
Jennie crept toward her, sticking close to the bushes as Yasmine worked her way closer to their location. They heard her putting extra pressure on the specters to remain vigilant and report even the slightest sighting of anything untoward.
“Okay, I’ve got a plan, but it might be a bit radical,” Jennie told Angus. “It’ll involve you playing an obedient servant.”
Angus raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Jennie stared at him straight-faced.
Angus sighed. “Fine.”
Jennie closed her eyes and focused on the image of the specter she wanted to imitate. When she opened them again, her outfit had changed, and now she was the spitting image of a specter Yasmine knew very well, indeed.
When Yasmine was close enough to them both that Jennie could see every wrinkle of her nightdress, she hopped out of the bush with a dramatic flourish and stopped in front of her.
“I thought that was you!” Jennie smarmed, doing her best impression of Porter Sykes.
Yasmine placed a hand on her chest. “Porter? What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be over on the north—”
“The north side? Yes, yes, enough of that.” Jennie dismissed Yasmine’s questions with a wave. “The reports were just hearsay and rumor. Luckily, though, I managed to come across this fellow, who has word on where we can obtain more information on Rogue’s whereabouts.”
Yasmine gave Jennie a strange look as if trying to decide what was so different about the specter she knew so well. After a few seconds, she seemed to decide everything was okay. “Well, shouldn’t we get him to Her Majesty, then? Come on, I’m done with these irksome specters.”
“Wait!” Jennie grabbed Yasmine’s hand.
Yasmine pulled her hand back. “What?”
Jennie thought fast. “I wanted to investigate his story first, make sure it’s all factual. Don’t want to waste Her Majesty’s time with something that might be a load of old tosh.”
“Tosh?” Yasmine folded her arms. “Have you been spending time around Roy Carlton, again?”
Jennie gave an uncertain chuckle. “Yes?”
Yasmine laughed. “You’re just like a sponge, you know? He always rubs off on you that way. Come on, show me where to go.”
Yasmine and Jennie walked through St James’s Park, passing dozens of specters who wilted in their presence along the way.
Jennie felt her heart race when they passed Karl and Mona, momentarily forgetting they had swapped their guise now.
Jennie tried her best to keep small talk to a minimum, and it was only when they walked down a narrow alleyway that Jennie stopped and checked they were, at last, alone.
“Seriously, where are you taking us?” Yasmine chuckled, walking several paces in front of Jennie. “I should’ve known the bitch would be hiding somewhere in the shadows.
Yasmine turned around, and her face fell.
Jennie had the Big Bitch aimed directly at Yasmine’s face. “You say one word, and I’ll make sure you don’t utter another for days. You got that?”
Yasmine raised her hands and nodded.
Jennie pointed toward the small hatch in the side of the building and ushered Yasmine into the darkness.
Chapter Seventy
Westminster, London
Jennie could hear spectral voices carrying through the floor as she approached the hatch leading to the Obake’ lair.
“Down,” she commanded, nudging Yasmine with the Big Bitch.
Yasmine began to pass through the floor. Angus and Jennie followed, aware that if she went faster than they did, she might try to make a run for it.
The talking immediately stopped when they all appeared in the room.
Yasmine stared uneasily around the room. “So, what? You’re going to lock me up in a dungeon?”
Jennie prodded the Big Bitch into the back of her head, reminding her of who held the power. “If you’re lucky.”
Baxter broke free of the specters gathered around. He studied Yasmine from top to tail. “Jennie? Are you going to tell us what’s going on?”
“They’ve got George,” Jennie told him.
Carolyn, Baxter, and Lupe started.
“What do you mean, they’ve got George?” Carolyn asked. “Jennie, what happened out there?”
Jennie explained what she had seen out on the surface, masquerading as other specters along the walk and into the park. She described the volume of specters who stood in their way, finishing with the capture of George.
“Shit,” Paige cursed. “Well, he’s a goner.”
“What do you mean?” Baxter asked.
“Don’t you get it? The queen has the ability to exorcise anyone who crosses her. Your friend won’t last five minutes in the palace before he’s vanquished.”
“You’re kidding?” Carolyn turned to Jennie. “She can exorcise specters?”
Jennie shrugged. “I’ve never seen her do it.”
Yasmine chipped in. “I have. A snap of her fingers, and you’re
in the abyss.”
Jennie clapped her hands loudly. The sound reverberated around the room like a gunshot, making Yasmine duck and let out a squeal.
“You speak when spoken to,” Jennie told her, returning the gun to her head.
“Please, Rogue,” Yasmine pled, cautiously glancing over her shoulder and talking slowly. “We’ve served on the same side for so long. You wouldn’t really harm your old friends, would you?”
Jennie tilted her head. “Can’t say I was ever very fond of you. Now, one more word, and you won’t have a mouth to speak from.”
Yasmine shut up.
“So,” Baxter ventured, “are you going to tell us who this is?”
“This…” Jennie pulled Yasmine’s head back by her hair. “This is one of the sniveling worms who grovel at the queen’s feet. Her number three, if I’m not mistaken.”
Yasmine held up two fingers.
Jennie smiled. “Cute. You think you were number two? It’s obvious your boyfriend has more favor than you.”
Yasmine’s eyes narrowed.
Jennie ignored the daggers Yasmine stared at her. “Now, here’s the plan, as I see it. They’ve got someone we want free, and we’ve got someone they want free. If that isn’t enough cause for a little parley with the queen, then I don’t know what is.”
“George won’t last the night,” Carolyn whined. “She’ll kill him at first stroke.”
“No, she won’t.” Jennie fixed Carolyn with a determined stare. “She’s not that stupid. George has information on us. She won’t destroy him until she finds a way to extract that information. Until he breaks, his life is safe.”
“How will she try to extract the information?” Baxter asked with a grimace.
Jennie shook her head slowly. “You really don’t want to know.”
Yasmine giggled.
Jennie kicked her in the back, and she fell face-first on the packed-dirt floor.
She began to sink into the earth, but Jennie connected with her and pulled her back. When her whole body was back in the room, she aimed the Big Bitch and shot her foot.
Every specter in the room clapped their hands to their ears when Yasmine squealed and writhed, bringing her leg toward her to examine the bloody stump where her foot had just been.
Rogue, Renegade And Rebel (In Her Paranormal Majesty’s Secret Service Book 1) Page 53
