Six For Gold (Black Crow Chronicles Book 6)

by Jen Pretty

  "I better get back," he said, not releasing me at all.

  "Yeah, I gotta pack," I agreed, still not letting him go either.

  We both laughed, and his hair fell across his forehead before he tipped his head back and shook it to get it out of his eyes. I wanted to freeze the moment, but a knock at the door was the splash of cold water we both needed.

  Nick pressed his lips to mine again quickly and then let me go. I reached over and pulled the door open, finding Alar on the other side.

  "I just came to say goodbye," he said, looking a little embarrassed. I was sure Nick and I looked a bit rumpled, and I was still a tad breathless, but I waved Alar off.

  "Yeah, thanks," I said a bit too casually. "I'm sure I won’t be gone long."

  "Okay, great. Um, have a good trip." He turned and walked away, leaving Nick and me to watch him go.

  Nick didn't say anything about the weird interaction, and I was glad. We were in a good place now. I wanted to leave it like that.

  "I'm going to go up and visit Francis before I head back home," I said, mostly to get us back on track. "I tried calling him--"

  "I don't remember the last time he answered a phone," Nick said. Though I was pretty sure he answered Colvin's phone calls, I wasn't going to mention it. Colvin could get anyone wrapped around his finger. Even really old, bumbling vampire librarians who lived half a world away.

  "Say hi for me," Nick said, bringing my attention back to him, "Are you taking a team with you?"

  "Probably." I had been about to say no, but I was pretty sure that a team would be waiting at the airport for me. At the very least, I didn't travel alone. Now that Zander was in charge of the DPI headquarters, he didn't travel with me anymore, and I would have to get used to new people. I missed the days of fighting monsters with Nick and Falcor. Nothing ever stays the same.

  "Text me when you get to Falcor's," Nick said, the smug look on his face should have been a warning of some kind, but I was too concerned about Colvin and Falcor to remember what we had just been talking about.

  "Okay."

  He squeezed my hand, then let it go and walked out of the room. I watched him go until he rounded a corner, then I took a deep breath and began packing for the trip. I wouldn't need much. I didn't even have my knife to declare at the airport. It was like travelling like a normal person. I didn't like it.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Okay, it wasn't quite like travelling like a normal person. Not when I had two giant vampires in tow. I was sure it was Nick's doing. They looked like bodyguards and acted as bodyguards. Or bouncers at a really expensive nightclub. They were both well over six feet and dressed in dark suits. It made my choice of jogging pants and a hoodie questionable.

  I wasn't going to complain too much since they definitely got all the stares my white hair usually attracted. That left me alone with my thoughts and about a dozen invisible wraiths who surrounded me at all times since id left the Sanctuary. I hoped to lose most during the flight, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Since the one wraith followed me home from DPI headquarters, it seemed to open the flood gates, and now all these wraiths were constantly around me. Crowding. Their mouths moving as if I could read lips.

  I watched the tiles at my feet as I made my way toward the boarding line in the airport, trying to ignore the vampires and the wraiths.

  A thick hand grabbed my arm from behind, and I looked up to find I had almost run into a woman wearing dark glasses who was attempting to make her way through the crowd with a white cane in her hand. I glanced back at bodyguard number one and gave him an appreciative smile as we waited for her to move ahead of us. She was on our flight, I realized as we all stopped in the same line-up.

  I realized I was staring and glanced away, feeling self-conscious. That was when I noticed that there were no wraiths around me. I couldn't see any of the smokey figures who had been haunting me since I left the Sanctuary grounds.

  It was like a cool wind had blown them all away, and I could finally breathe again. I hadn't told the vampire bodyguards about my little problem. I was hoping that I would get my knife back before the presence overwhelmed me. It was as if my magic wanted to get to them, but it was all trapped inside me since I couldn't make that perfect little cut on my arm and bring the wraiths back to life, so to speak.

  The woman ahead of us stepped through security, and the soft tick tick of her cane as it bounced off the floor faded. She took with her my peace as all the wraiths moved back in, surrounding me.

  "What the fuck?" I whispered. I couldn't believe that the woman had been the source of the peace I had found, but it was more than a coincidence that the only time they were gone was when I was near her.

  My bouncers handed over our boarding passes and our luggage while I contemplated the blind woman, then we were moving again, following the same path as the woman had.

  I stepped onto the plane sandwiched between the two massive vampires, and bodyguard number one led the way to our seats while I scanned the plane for the blind woman. She was nowhere in sight, though, and I could only assume she was either in first-class or the bathroom. Either way, I kept watching, looking at everyone who came on the plane or moved around us until the flight began to taxi. By then, my neck was tired from looking over my shoulder about a hundred times, and I finally gave up. I settled back into my seat between the behemoths and flicked on the in-flight movie. I would hopefully find the woman when we landed.

  Meanwhile, several of my wraiths had boarded the flight. "Freeloaders," I muttered.

  "Pardon me, Black Crow?" bodyguard number two asked.

  "Nothing--" I replied, waiting and hoping he would fill in his name.

  "Henry," he said.

  "I was just muttering to myself, Henry."

  He nodded and went back to the book he had in his hand. It was a typical action, secret agent type book. Seemed pretty cliched to me for a bodyguard to read that, but I supposed it fit.

  I glanced at my other bodyguard. "What's your name?"

  "Pete," he replied. He was still scanning the plane, apparently watching for danger. If he had known how many dead people were lingering around trying to get my attention, he probably would have been freaked out. Though technically vampires were dead, weren't they? Nick didn't seem dead to me. None of them really looked dead. But I controlled the dead, and I could control vampires, so there was that.

  I sighed and went back to my movie, but couldn't focus on it. Instead, I did the sitting equivalent of tossing and turning. I crossed my legs, pulled my feet up onto the seat to hug my knees, squished down in my seat to try and get comfortable, but the blurry eyes of wraiths bore into me like a migraine. I needed to move.

  I rose to my feet so suddenly, my Henry and Pete jumped up and started looking around frantically as if someone was attacking me.

  "I'm just going to the bathroom, guys."

  They scanned for a few more moments, then Henry turned to lead me to the bathroom. Swear to God, every single pair of eyes, human and wraith, watched as our caravan moved down the thin aisle and made it to the bathrooms.

  Henry poked his head in, then stepped past to let me in.

  "Uh, thanks," I said, shutting the door and locking it with the flimsy latch. It wouldn't keep the sounds in, and I knew the men were standing right outside my door, but I didn't actually need to go to the bathroom anyway. I just needed to get away.

  There was no escape from my hoard of followers, though. The dead ones, at least. A couple of them just floated on in, making themselves at home.

  "Do you fucking mind?" I whispered before flicking on the tap and bending down to splash some water on my face. I knew they didn't mind. So even acknowledging them was pointless. When I stood up again, I grabbed some paper towels and wiped my face off. In the mirror, I could see past my shoulder that I was now completely surrounded by wraiths.

  "This is ridiculous," I muttered before tossing out the paper towel and flicking the door lock open. Outside, my guards were still waiting. I
followed Pete back to our seats, scanning the other passengers one last time. I still didn't understand how the blind woman had vanished. The first-class section was blocked off by a curtain, but I had to know. So as Pete slid into our seats, his being closest to the window, I didn't follow him. Instead, I marched to the front of our section and slipped through the curtain.

  Pete and Henry both called out to me, Henry hot on my tail. On the other side, a few dozen people lounged in single seats instead of being crammed in with everyone else. I stepped forward and noticed the wraiths didn't follow me. She was there. But I didn't see her.

  "Excuse me, ma'am," a flight attendant said as she hurried toward me, blocking my way. "You can't be in here."

  I took one more plaintive look past her as she ushered me back to our cheaper section. I still didn't see any sign of the young woman. In fact, there was no young woman in the front of the plane.

  As soon as we left the first-class section, my wraiths returned with a vengeance. I walked through a couple of them on my way back to my seat, led by my guards.

  "I'm going to need a drink or three," I said to the flight attendant. She looked at me with sympathy, then promised to be right back.

  Vanishing women with the ability to make my wraiths vamoose? I didn't need that kind of weird in my life right now. My plate was full.

  But 3 drinks on an empty stomach helped—a lot.

  "You know Henry," I said quietly. "I see dead people," I said in a whisper voice, just like in that movie.

  "So, I heard," he replied, completely uninterested in my drunk ass. Pete had his eyes closed, but I knew vampires didn't sleep, so he was a Fakey McFakerson.

  I checked my phone but had no messages from Nick, so I sent him a few dozen messages. One explaining my discovery and subsequent loss of the blind woman with the cure for my problem.

  He didn't text back, but at some point, I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I remembered was being shaken awake by Pete. He had a scowl on his face. I realized we had landed in Boston. The city lights were so bright, it looked like daytime out the window.

  "Time to go see my buddy," I said, rubbing my forehead. I was the Black Crow, I should not have had to suffer from hangovers, but there I was, feeling like garbage disposal exploded in my mouth and that I was also run over by a steam roller. I followed my guards off the airplane, my wraiths obediently following along behind me. My fingers itched to grab my knife and slice my skin as magic crawled and twisted in my gut. Boston was overrun with wraiths, as evidence by the large number of them that suddenly emerged when I stepped up to baggage claim.

  It didn't matter how different airports were; they all looked the same. Lots of glass and high ceilings. Some kind of geometric design in the floor tiles and people. So many people. There were people in lines, sectioned off by ropes, each of them dragging luggage behind them. The smell of coffee wafted out of cafes, and the scent of rubber coming off the conveyor belts, and escalators sat beneath every other smell as if it had permeated the steel and cement surfaces. The place was made more crowded by the fact that the wraiths just kept coming.

  "Oh, for fuck’s sake," I muttered.

  "What is it?" Pete asked.

  "Nothing," I replied as a man bumped into me, knocking me into Pete's side. His arm came out to steady me, but I couldn't focus on anything but how intense my magic was fighting for freedom. My head swam with all the power, and I was nearly useless as Henry grabbed my suitcase and turned to head out of the airport. I was trying to look around for my mystery woman, but my eyes were bleary.

  We pushed through the crowd, and the doors were right ahead when a man in an expensive business suit strode past, nearly brushing up against me.

  The magic stopped, the wraiths vanished, and I nearly collapsed as my legs went weak from the sudden loss of the pressure.

  I pushed away from Pete and toward the man, but a family with a baby stroller blocked my way, and I had to watch helplessly as the man slid into a cab and the cab disappeared.

  My wraiths returned, and I cursed inwardly. How could there be two people capable of chasing my wraiths? And why did they leave in the first place? I had more questions than answers. Way too many questions.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The ride to Falcor's house was silent as I mulled over the problem. I had never met someone who scared away wraiths. Were they afraid? Or vanishing for some other reason? Then again, I'd only raised wraiths around a handful of people, and most of them had been supernatural. Maybe it was common. Something told me that wasn't true, but I wanted to believe it. Because otherwise, I had a total mystery on my hands. And I hated mysteries. They usually ended up with someone dead or injured.

  The taxi dropped us off at a mansion about the same size as the one that Nick's parents had lived in Phoenix. It was expansive with manicured lawns. I knew for a fact Falcor hated ostentatious places and was pretty sure he was plotting a way to get the hell out of the house. My guards stepped out, their expressions suddenly more solemn. As a woman and man stepped out of the house. The woman stood at the door and waited while the man, a young warlock, most likely, grabbed our luggage from the trunk of the car and put it on a trolley.

  "You can follow me," he said as he led the way in through the front door of the mansion. It had tall pillars on either side of the door that supported a balcony above. I glanced up in time to see Falcor looking down at me.

  I lifted a hand to wave, but he didn't wave back. His blank expression didn't change either.

  "Come in," the woman at the door said. I assumed she was a witch. "We have been anxiously awaiting your arrival."

  I had been excited to see Falcor again until I saw his dead expression as he stood on the balcony. Then I was suddenly nervous. It was my job to help him through this? To figure out a way for him to stay in power and not have his magic stifled as the vampires wanted. I felt overwhelmed by the responsibility.

  Besides, I had a huge problem behind me as I moved through the doorway. All my wraiths were clamouring to get through. I would have laughed, except it wasn't really funny. Just terrifying.

  "He's waiting for you," the witch said. "Perhaps your men could be shown to their quarters?"

  "We stay with Selena," Pete said, suddenly all serious.

  "Very well," the witch replied. "My name is Jessie; I'll have your things deposited in your rooms and take you all to meet with our king."

  "Thanks," I replied.

  "And just a warning," Jessie said. "If you have ill intent toward our king, the room is spelled." She hadn't been talking to me, but I nodded my understanding anyway.

  She grinned and led us through the opulent house. Walls were covered in old portraits of Falcor, his father, and who I presumed was his mother. I wanted to stop and stare at her. But Jessie was marching along like a witch with a purpose, so I scrambled to catch up to her as we climbed the wide staircase and closed in on Falcor's location. He was like a soft glow of heat in the massive building. Since I had claimed him as my own, I probably would have found him in the place eventually, but with all the hallways and doors, it might have taken me longer than under normal circumstances.

  Jessie stopped and knocked softly on a door before pushing it open. The power inside me spun like a puppy, happy to see someone it knew, and I couldn't help the smile that was brought to my face. Of course, I lost that as soon as we stepped into the darkened room. The only light filtered in through the curtains to the balcony I had seen Falcor on when we arrived. The doors were open, and the sheers fluttered in the light breeze.

  Jessie stopped, but I continued forward. The powerful presence at my back was a reminder that my vampires weren’t going to leave me alone, but when I glanced back, they seemed more on guard than they had for the entire trip so far. Pete had his hand at his back, and I wondered if he had a gun. A vampire with a gun didn't sound right, but maybe with everything they had heard about what Falcor did overseas, he had a right to be nervous. Or maybe he was just prepared. I couldn't blame
him, but I kind of wanted to anyway.

  Falcor wasn't that person. He never was.

  "Falcor?" I said as I approached the curtains.

  He didn't reply, but I wasn't afraid of him. No matter what, he was still the warlock I knew.

  I pushed through, Pete and Henry right behind me. They fanned out as soon as we were through the doorway, but they needn't have bothered.

  Falcor sat on the ground, his back against the solid railing of the balcony and his knees pulled up tight to his chest.

  "Falcor," I whispered, and his eyes slid up to mine. There was no spark behind his eyes. It was as if Falcor had vanished and been replaced by this shell of a warlock. He was still the most powerful in the country. I had heard that he had taken power from a young witch who had been using her power to swindle people with a pyramid scheme. So, he was still the rightful king with all the power that came along with it. I was glad for that, at least.

  "Can you guys leave us for a minute?" I asked.

  Henry and Pete were slow to leave, obviously reluctant, but they did as I asked.

  I crossed the distance between us and slid down to sit beside Falcor. I pulled my knees up to mirror him and then rested my chin on my kneecap.

  "Things aren't going so great, huh?" I asked.

  Falcor didn't reply; he just tipped his head so his ear rested on his knees and his eyes locked on mine.

  "Colvin's been asking for you."

  Air rushed out of Falcor's lungs like he'd been punched in the stomach. "That's not fair."

  "You know I don't fight fair," I replied, offering him a small smile that he obviously tried to return.

  "I can't do this," he whispered after a few moments.