Dead of Night (Ghosts & Magic #1) (15 page)

Then, she just stopped. She lifted her head and I felt her arms moving while she wiped at her eyes.
 

"Do you have a name?"
 

Her face was right in front of mine, her breath washing against it. Her voice had changed. The sorrow was gone, replaced with cold anger.

When I didn't answer right away, she laughed. "The ghost who saved my life. You don't call yourself anything?"

"Daaé."
 

Her hair brushed my face when she shook her head.
 

"I don't like it. It's too feminine for you. You should have been the Phantom."

I should have been dead. Any name was better than that.

"I have a job for you, Phantom, if you're willing to consider it."

If I could have seen her face in the blackness, I'm sure her eyes would have been burning through me.
 

"The last job I took didn't go so well."

"Perhaps together we can change that. To murder my aunt in cold blood... The Houses don't move against one another like that, not without reason or purpose. Their power, their rule, is a delicate thread that holds civilization together. The treasure is valuable enough to steal, not to risk an all-out war over."

"What are you saying?"

"It was only a matter of time before a new major power was born outside of the Houses. We are still evolving, still changing. You're a ghost. You know what the Houses are, where they came from, what they do."

"Yes."

"It has been sixty years. Three generations since the reversal. Did you think those who first rose up would be the only ones to master the magic so fully? Did you believe that no others would rise?"

The idea of it made me shiver. The Houses were always working with and against one another, but they had rules, and they knew the consequences. "No, but the Houses control-"

"The Houses control the controllable." Her body shifted, and her forehead pressed against mine. It was warm and sweaty, full of life. The last time I had been this close to anyone had been that one night with Danelle, and it had been less than memorable. "Just as I could control you, right now."
 

Her voice softened, becoming sultry and charged. Her lips met my own for just a moment. In the absolute darkness, I was tempted, more by memories than reality. It had been so long since I had felt this kind of touch. I closed my eyes, remembering.

Then I put my hand to her face and gently turned it away. "You can't. Not like that."
 

"Then you know what I'm saying. Most have a price, but there are some that do not. The Houses don't dare risk a confrontation with an equal power without discussion. The consequences of initiating an open battle between such wizards would be disastrous."

"What if that other power confronted you first?"

"Then the others would say that we should be even more cautious. An aggressive enemy is the worst kind. I agree with them to a point. That is why I need your help."

"Me? You don't need me. You need a whole team. Or at least someone anonymous. They know who I am. They've seen me. Hell, the only reason I had the job is because I stole it. I thought it would be my big payday, my ticket to living to see next year." I banged the back of my head softly against the wall, feeling stupid again.

"My sister is hanging from the ceiling in my living room, Phantom. This enemy... They are using ferals to do their dirty work. No one was supposed to know I exist at all, and yet I was attacked. I can't sit here and wait for them to kill me, and I can't afford to be cautious while they dismantle my House. I need to find out who is behind this and put a stop to it, and I can't do it alone. You're the only person I can trust."

She surprised me. From her crying, I had mistaken her for a weak, scared victim. I didn't feel any of that now. What I sensed was what I had expected Mrs. Red to be.

"You don't know you can trust me."

"I have to take my chances. There is no one else."

"I don't even know if I can get you out of this closet alive."

"But you'll try, for a price."

"I'll try because I can't shake a kill team on my own. Your House has resources, contacts..."
 

"What is your price, Phantom?

"I want to survive. I want to take care of my ex-wife and our daughter. That's all."

"A necromancer who's afraid of death?"

I considered making a comment on what I'd learned about the other side, but the image of her sister stopped me. "I have other responsibilities. I have a friend to take care of, too. She's on her way to New York to help with this mess. I owe her my life."

 
I felt her lips again, this time on my cheek. "I will do what I can. I know we just met, but I sense you are an honorable man. Whether we live or die, remember that."

Honorable? There was nothing honorable about abandoning my family. It was an old wound, and I felt it spread open.
 

"You're sure this is the work of a new House?" I asked, shifting the subject.

"I'm not sure of anything. What I can tell you is that I was raised to inherit House Red at the time of my aunt's passing. Since I turned eighteen, I have been apprised of every action we have taken with and against the other Houses. They may discourage hiring necromancers. They would never use ferals."

"The payment I received was from Black."

"It was counterfeit."

Neither Dannie or Mr. Clean had noticed anything strange about the payment, and Gucci had been authentic enough. "I don't think so."

Silence.

"It wasn't Black," she said at last.

"The payment card was real."

"It wasn't Black." Her steel tone told me she was sure of it. Mrs. Red had made the same claim, so I didn't keep arguing. "Either the card was a very, very good fake, it was stolen, or it was exchanged."

"Exchanged?"

"A ghost took a payment from Black for a job. He then traded that payment card for another of higher value from a different House. It isn't unheard of."

"The ghost would have to be in on it."
 

"Yes, which means there's a trail that leads back to the source, however faint it may be. If the card was fake, we need to know who made it. If it was stolen, who took it. If it was exchanged, who traded it."

"First we need to get out of this closet."

We fell into an alert silence, listening for the werewolves. Jin had said there was a human with them, a woman, most likely a user. With them, or controlling them?
 

The building was silent around us, and in the claustrophobic darkness it felt like a tomb. We were safe for now, but we'd need to leave the panic room at some point. What would happen then? Was I only delaying the inevitable? If we were lucky, they believed Jin wasn't home, and had left the apartment to keep watch near the entrance. If we were lucky, we would be able to sneak past them.

Considering my recent misfortune, I wasn't holding my breath.

I closed my eyes and listened for any hint of the ferals. At first I didn't hear anything. Then the silence was filled with a soft snore, a light whistle that would have been adorable anywhere else.
 

With nothing else to do but wait, I relaxed as much as I could and let my own fatigue take me.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The girl with the dragon tattoo.

I opened my eyes, but I still couldn't see anything. My feet were tingling, the circulation cut off by the weight of Jin on my lap. It was an odd first waking thought, but I wondered what the word for elf was in Japanese?

"Jin?" I put my hand on her shoulder and gave her a light shake.
 

She moved against me with a soft moan. I felt the weight of her head leave my chest, and she sucked in some drool that must have spilled over onto my hoodie.
 

"I'm sorry."
 

"A little spit never killed anyone." I shifted around until I could reach my watch. The light from the face bathed us in a blueish tinge. We'd been asleep for two hours. "There you are."

Her eyes were swollen from crying. "Do you think it's safe now?"

I let the light fade away. There was no point wasting the battery just to look at one another. "It better be. My feet are asleep."

She shifted again. "Listen."

We sat in silence. A few minutes passed. There was nothing. It was time.

"We have to take our chances."

"Your dice-" she started to say. I hadn't realized she'd even noticed them.

"Magic, yeah."
 

"They're old."

"Very."

"They don't use the fields."

I didn't like to talk about them. It made me feel... I don't know... dirty. "No. There's something... in them. A soul, a dark soul. It's trapped, I think."

"I saw you use them on the vampire. I don't think it's trapped."

That's why I didn't like to talk about them. The idea that something wanted to be in there, wanted to take the souls, gave me a chill.
 

"They aren't unlimited use." My control over them was an illusion. They only worked when
they
wanted to. Sometimes, they weren't hungry. Some souls, they didn't want. "How many rounds do you have?"

I heard the sound of the gun sliding against the floor. I hit the light on my watch again so she could check her clip.
 

"Six. Not enough to stop a werewolf before it gets its claws into one of us."

"We could piss it off, though. The fields are tickling this floor... You should be able to draw enough energy in to do some damage. I can cover you."

She didn't say anything. She slid the clip back into the gun and handed it to me. "Maybe they think I escaped. Or that I was never here. Maybe they left?"

I didn't feel that confident about leaving the panic room, but we couldn't stay trapped forever. One of us would need to pee sooner or later. "There's only one way to find out. Open it up."

Her weight shifted again, and she put her palm against the wall. The panel slid aside, allowing the dim light of the closet to filter in. She crawled out on her hands and knees. I followed behind.

Once we were both in the closet, I went over to the door and eased it open, just enough that I could peek out through the crack. I could see her bedroom was empty. I could also see through the doorway, to where her sister was hanging.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

She set her jaw and nodded. I opened the closet the rest of the way and stepped out into the room. I held out my hand to keep her back while I tiptoed to the bedroom door and snuck a look to the entry. The vampire had been hiding in the other bedroom. Had they left another guard there?

I raised the gun and circled around the back of the room, so I would have time to react if anything jumped out at me. I made it to the other side, ducking and twisting as I cleared Natsumi's door. Her room was empty. The whole apartment was clear.

Jin was standing in front of her dresser when I returned to the bedroom, her flower-printed cami on the floor, her bare upper-half in an artful profile. Her skin was porcelain and smooth, and she had a red dragon tattoo that wound from her side over the top of her right breast. It was bright and intricate, the work of a serious artist. It disappeared a moment later under a plain black bra, followed by a tight, long-sleeve shirt with a high neck.
 

"I can't go outside in my pajamas." She looked straight ahead, her face a mask.

"You're so sure we're going to make it outside?" I watched her sweats come off.
 

"I don't want to die in my pajamas either."

A pair of slim black pants covered her up again. I hadn't realized I was distracted until I wasn't distracted anymore.

"The apartment is clear. I think the floor is, too. If they're still here, they'll be watching the exits."
 

She was moving as I spoke, going back into the closet and pulling out a pair of black sneakers and putting them on. "What do you suggest?"

I had been pondering that for too long, and I still had no confident reply. I wasn't wholly convinced we would get out of this. I found my phone in my pocket. I could call Dannie, see how close she was. Maybe we could hide for a few more hours until the cavalry arrived?

I let it go. I'd just be getting her killed, too.

"Is the elevator really broken?"
 

"Yes. It's stuck on the roof."

"It could be that they won't be watching it, then. We could climb down to the ground floor."

"What if they're waiting in the lobby?" Her head turned towards me, and her eyes sparkled. "I have another idea." She went over to her night stand and opened the top drawer, pulling out a set of keys. "The elevator goes down into a parking garage. I have a bike stashed down there. They may have positioned someone to wait for us, but if we can get to the bike we might be able to outrun them."

"Outrun werewolves? That must be some bike."

She smiled. "Oh, it is. It was a gift from my aunt."

We hadn't left the bedroom yet. I walked over to her and put my hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to look. I can lead you out."

She put her hand on mine. "As I said, Phantom, you are an honorable man, but I must say goodbye."

"They might hear us."

The look she gave me shut me up. I nodded and walked out ahead of her, going out and checking the hallway. It was clear.
 

"Help me take her down."

I went back to where she was standing, her face still set in stone as she looked at her sister. I held Natsumi's legs and lifted while she unbuckled the belt. Once she was free, I lowered her to the floor as quietly as I could.
 

"You can bring her back?"
 

"I can't animate users."

"She wasn't a user."

I looked at her sister, her face purple, her eyes bulging. Not a user? "Sensitive?"

Her head whipped around, and her angry eyes regarded me. "Does it matter?"

Not for bringing her back. It mattered because Jin was the heir to House Red, and if she was a full-frequency wizard, her sister should have at least been sensitive. Which meant...