Part 23 (2/2)

The gryphon exploded into a cloud of s.h.i.+mmery soul mist. A copper disk the size of a dinner plate dropped onto my chest, knocking what little air I had left from my lungs. Coughing, I let my arm drop, barely managing to hold on to the dagger as my hand hit the carpet. Too close. Way too close.

I rolled to my knees. My whole body felt like jelly as the spike of adrenaline drained from my muscles. It took me two tries to climb to my feet. I closed my s.h.i.+elds.

Nothing changed.

I blinked. I'd expected to go blind again, but the Aetheric still swirled around me, the land of the dead showing me the world as ruins. But I wasn't touching those worlds. The wind from the land of the dead had stopped cutting across my skin and whipping my hair into a frenzy and I couldn't feel the Aetheric energy I saw swirling through the air.

Okay, so I push my magic and I go blind and I push it more and I end up seeing but not touching other planes. I think I prefer it this way. Though as I looked around I realized I wasn't seeing the mortal realm at all. I was only seeing how it reflected in other planes of existence. That could get confusing.

I brushed my hands against my rotted pants-I seriously hoped they weren't that way in reality-and resheathed my dagger. When I looked up, the cloud of souls around me had thinned. The raver-collector moved silently across the room, gathering souls and sending them on their way.

”I could have seriously used your help earlier.” Like ten minutes earlier. Before the gryphon had almost taken me apart.

She shrugged and tossed her bright orange dreadlocks over her shoulder as she s.n.a.t.c.hed the soul of the woman I'd pulled free of the gryphon. ”Didn't know they were here earlier.” She grabbed the skimmer. With a flick of her hand, he vanished. He'd been the last lingering soul.

”Wait!”

She glanced at me, lifting one arched eyebrow.

”Can you tell Death I need to talk to him?”

”Death?” She gave me a genuinely confused look.

I cringed. Of course she wouldn't know my nickname for Death. d.a.m.n him not telling me anything, not even his name. ”You know, smoking-hot collector. Dreamy eyes. Easy smile. Favors faded jeans and tight black s.h.i.+rts.”

”And you call him Death?” She snorted a laugh, and the dreads snaking over her shoulders quivered as she shook her head. ”Girl, you really are special.”

”Will you tell him I need to see him or not?”

She c.o.c.ked a hip forward, placing her hand on it. ”I'm not a messenger.” Her fingernails made soft thudding sounds as she drummed them against the bright orange PVC material. ”And I'd rather he stay away. There are reasons for our laws.”

Laws? ”Fine, then I'll talk to you.” I pushed myself upright. At my full height I was taller than she was, even with her wearing platform boots, but she didn't look impressed. I hoped I was about to change that. ”You have a rogue reaper on your hands. He's jerking souls out of people who aren't dying, and those same souls are showing up powering magical constructs. I want to know how to stop him.”

The haughty expression dropped off her face. Then, without a word, she vanished.

Well, that could have gone better. I looked around at the destruction that was Falin's apartment. The couch was shredded, the TV was overturned and smashed, the iron supports in the walls were visible behind busted drywall, and gla.s.s shards littered the carpet. Oh, yeah, and then there was the fist-sized hole into the Aetheric. So much for Falin's security deposit.

Sirens sounded in the distance, drawing nearer. d.a.m.n. I couldn't stay here. Once the cops got to the scene, the FIB wouldn't be far behind. There was no way a giant gryphon flying around downtown Nekros had gone unnoticed, but I needed to.

Chapter 25.

I managed to hail a cab as soon as I reached street level, which I took as a good sign that I was supposed to get the h.e.l.l away from the scene. I wished I could have left a message for Falin, to let him know I was all right, but I had no idea who else might find it first. He would know by the disk and the hole into the Aetheric-which I was leaving around like calling cards these days-that a construct had attacked and that I'd dispelled it. Hopefully I'd be able to let him know I was okay once I got, well, wherever I was going.

Unfortunately, you can't just tell a cabbie to drive you somewhere safe. An actual address is a must.

I gave him an address for two streets away from my house and then spent the entire drive fretting over that decision. The FIB had been at the house earlier, so what was the chance they weren't watching it and waiting for me to return home? Of course, only an idiot would go home, and if I worked on the a.s.sumption that they a.s.sumed I wasn't an idiot and thus wouldn't go home, it would actually be one of the safest places possible.

Yeah, okay, it was c.r.a.ppy logic, but the letter Caleb had mentioned was there. I knew the fae had taken Caleb, but I had no idea what had happened to Holly. Caleb's cryptic message made it sound like the letter would give me a clue.

It took the rest of the money in my purse to pay the cabdriver, and that was with so little of a tip that he almost ran over my toes as he drove away. Night had fallen while I'd been in the car, and I was actually thankful that my vision was on the fritz-light didn't matter so much when you weren't looking at the world through physical eyes.

I walked through backyards, stepping around forgotten toys and over sprinklers. As I neared Caleb's yard, I tried to stay out of view of the street. I didn't know where hidden watchers might be lying in wait, but whenever I'd had to stake out a place-not often, but for one case involving a falsified will and some misappropriated items-I'd stayed in my car, watching for movement in the house.

”Hey, Alex,” a male voice said, and I was so tense I actually dropped flat to the ground before I realized the voice belong to Roy. ”Man, I've been looking all over for you.”

I pushed myself out of the dirt. ”That's good, because your timing is perfect.”

”Oh, you have no idea. I saw Bell run off last night, so I went after him. Man, that glowy stuff messed with his head.”

I guessed that by ”glowy stuff” Roy meant raw Aetheric energy. I nodded. ”Okay, but, Roy-”

He didn't even pause, but paced as he spoke faster, his hands doing half the talking with him. ”Well, he and a few of his followers got away, and they were, like, high on magic. Casting all kinds of random s.h.i.+t. Until they crashed. Now they want more. Bell sent his men to find you. Said he was going to make you open a path for him.”

Great. ”He'll have to get in line.”

I waited to see if Roy would continue, but he'd apparently exhausted the story.

”So, uh, why are you hanging out here in the dark?” he asked as if he'd only just noticed the location.

”Because the FIB are after me. I need you to do me a favor. Can you see if anyone is in the house?”

”No. I just came from there. It's empty.”

Perfect.

I stayed low as I crossed the backyard. Once I reached the back porch, the wrongness in the house hit me and I stopped. The wards had been busted open from the outside, and they had clearly put up a good fight before they went. I let my senses stretch beyond the now defunct wards, searching for any traps or alarm spells. There weren't any. At least, not any of witch creation, and that was as good as I could ensure. I eased the back door open and slipped into the kitchen.

When I looked around, my sight showed everything in ruins, but the ruins were all where their unruined counterparts usually sat. Cracked plates were in the dish drainer, pots and pans with rusted-out bottoms hung above a stove that should have been condemned, and even the broken chairs were tucked neatly under the bowed table-all of which I took to mean that in reality, the house looked exactly like it always did. I think I'd expected the place to be trashed, left with obvious signs of a struggle from Caleb's capture. But if the wards hadn't been cracked open, I would never have been able to tell that anything at all was amiss in the house.

I didn't turn on lights as I pa.s.sed from room to room-the darkness made no difference in my vision at the moment, so turning on the lights would only alert anyone watching the house to my presence. As I didn't know where the letter was, I didn't know how long it would take me to find it, so it would be best to keep evidence of my search as quiet as possible.

Caleb had mentioned Holly's bed when we'd been on the phone, and I wasn't sure if that was where he found the letter or where he put it, but it was as good a place as any to start looking. I crept to her room, pus.h.i.+ng the rotted door open soundlessly. A large, weathered envelope sat in the center of a tattered comforter. I s.n.a.t.c.hed it and dropped it in my purse. I needed to read it, but here definitely wasn't the best place, as I had no idea when the FIB would be back.

”Now to figure out where to go next,” I mumbled, more to myself than Roy. I turned, and a low scream crashed through the room. I ducked, my eyes flying wide. Then I realized the sound wasn't a scream; it was singing-and coming from my purse. Phone. I hadn't even thought about turning the d.a.m.n thing off before sneaking about. I sent the call to voice mail. The phone went silent and then, before I could even turn the ringer off, began singing again. Who?

I could just make out LUSA on the cracked screen. The last time I'd seen her I'd given her a diagram of the runes used in the construct disks. It was possible she'd learned something, which might help me find Holly. Or she could have heard there was a warrant out for my arrest.

I didn't have time to be indecisive; I had to make the thing stop ringing. I slid my finger across the display to answer.

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