Lost Soul (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 2) (18 page)

"Why not?" I frowned, remembering Nerina's words but wanting to get Saleem's version.

"When people die and they pass through the Greylands on the way to their ever after, they never utter their names."

"Why not?"

"Because a name is power. It can give a demon power over you if you're no longer alive. A demon can enslave the recently dead here in the Greylands for eternity."

"If only I had known that when I first arrived in this place," a soft voice said from the shadows.

***

A ghost.

I flinched but managed to remain relatively still. I wasn't allowed to go screaming and running off at the first sign of a ghost. "How long have you been here?"

"I don't know." His voice wavered and sadness shadowed his eerie, almost-not-there face.

"Do you remember anything about your life?" I watched the air in front of me and it was like watching an image from a projector that was aimed at a dark wall. The form of a teenage boy could be seen hovering in front of us.

Hi-tops, jeans, a baggy sweatshirt, and cap with the peak turned to the side. All he was missing was a skateboard.

"How old are you?" He looked about fifteen, but I just wanted to engage him. Get him comfortable enough to talk. There must have been a reason Nerina sent us here and I suspected the reason was this ghost boy.

"I'm sixteen. I just turned sixteen, I mean. It was my birthday when it happened." There was a short, awkward silence in which I wanted to say I was sorry, but bit my tongue because I realized how stupid that would sound.

"Do you know this place well?" I decided to keep my questions to the Greylands. This boy's past and life wasn't our concern unless we could help him. And he was dead.

Nothing we could do about that.

"Yes. I know it like the back of my hand." His confident voice fell as he stared off into the distance as if listening for someone. "I just wish they would let me use my skateboard here." A look of fear passed across his face. A face which didn't seem so hazy for some reason. I blinked, but I wasn't imagining things.

I focused my attention on my questions. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm okay." He looked at me again as if seeing me for the first time. "Did Nerina send you?"

I did a double take. "You know Nerina?"

"Of course, I know her. She came to see me as soon as I arrived here. I couldn't leave after a while, so she visits me now and again. She is such a nice lady. Are you the people Nerina sent?"

We nodded. It felt odd looking at a ghost who now seemed as solid as I was.

"Nerina said she'd be sending some people who would need my help." But something else he'd said was bothering me
.

"How long did you say you've been here?"

"I don't really know. I can't recall. Too much time has passed."

I frowned. "You're possessed by a demon, right?"

"Not possessed." He scrunched up his nose as if the word stank. "In service. I've been roped into the service of a low-level demon."

"How can we trust you then? Won't you just go running to your master and tell him we are here?" What had Nerina been thinking? Had she set us up?

"No. Low-level demons have less power over their . . .
servants
. He has no mental link with me, and sometimes, if I concentrate to block him, he can't sense where I am. I'm more or less free to do as I please." He looked sad. "Plus he's in trouble with his own boss anyway so he's more interested in keeping his own ass alive than worrying about me."

"Why is he in trouble?"

The boy shrugged. "I don't really know the details. I think he tried to leave and go back to the demon realm. Something about him wanting a higher position and being tired of answering to his boss. But someone ratted on him—which is no surprise really 'cos demons aren't known for their loyalty. His boss was furious, beat him within an inch of his life, made him swear his loyalty again, but he doesn't do loyalty very well. I know for a fact his time's up. He's been working with someone else again to overthrow his boss, but his boss knows—you see Lester's not very blessed in the brains or the luck department. I try to stay as far away from him as possible. Don't want to get caught in the crossfire you know."

The boy sighed after his little monologue, then fell into a little contemplative silence. It was a lot to think about. An extended "life" here at the beck and call of an incompetent nasty demon, caught in the messy crossfire of demon politics.

To change the subject I asked, "What does he make you do?" Then I felt a little bad for him, for what his death had meant. Hardly a good end to a young boy's life.

"Hauntings mostly. He tries to use me to take possession of people. Most times it doesn't work. He's not very smart."

"Isn't there a way for you to get free?" Saleem asked, frowning. He was as affected by the boy's predicament as I was.

"Only one way and that's when and if he ever dies."

Saleem and I exchanged a glance. Now it made a lot more sense why the Death-talker sent us to the ghost boy. But that couldn't have been her only reason.

"Have you seen a girl around here? A living girl?" I asked
.

"You mean the white-haired chick?" When I nodded, he continued. "Yeah she's been here a few weeks. She's a strange one though."

"Why is that?" I asked, curious what his take would be on my very unique sister.

"Doesn't act like a normal person would. When she arrived, she lashed out at everyone. Even the ghosts who recognized she was alive and tried to warn her of the dangers. We were very confused, though. How did a living person end up in the Greylands?" He was frowning, staring at my face, a strange look in his eyes.

"She was accidentally thrown through a portal from the Wraith world." I gave him the short and sweet version. No need for details.

"Doesn't explain how she's alive. She didn't come with anyone."

I tamped down a breath. I hadn't thought about it too much, but after what skater boy said, I had to wonder how exactly had Greer come through the portal. She'd come through using Widden's key, not Mom's. Had his key been special in some way? Or had it somehow been coded to Greer's blood? The only possibility that came to my mind was that if Niko had allowed the Wraith Lord to use Greer's body as a vessel at some point.

I shuddered at the thought. I wouldn't put it past my crazed uncle to do such a thing either. Swallowing hard, I refocused my attention on the ghost boy as he continued. "So she arrived here, screeching mad, and we're trying to calm her down so the demons don't find her, but it doesn't help. It look
ed like she'd lost it, so we kinda left her there. We didn't want the demons to find us, so we had to make a choice."

"You left her?" I knew it sounded like a judgment, but I didn't mean it that way.

He nodded sadly. "I'm sorry. She didn't want to stop screaming. And that's exactly what happened. She made so much noise they found her."

"Who found her?" I asked.

"The demons. Yanuk. He's a high level. Very powerful."

I continued. "What kind of demon is he?"

"A Shedu demon. He's large, red, and super ugly." Skater boy shuddered. "I'm just glad he's not my master."

"Did he bind her to him?" I had a sinking feeling the demon had possessed her
.

"Yes. And Yanuk is well-known for being vicious." Skater boy went quiet for a moment. "He hurt her."

"What did he do to her?" I hoped the injury hadn't been serious. If it had, it meant she'd be weak and more in need of our help than we expected.

"He has this whip." Skater boy cringed. "It's got a little spike on the end of it." He didn't need to say anything more. My gut twisted.

"How bad was it?"

"It was really bad at first. She was bleeding all over the place. But he eased up when she stopped screaming, and I guess she realized it was in her best interests to stop too."

"What did he do to her? How does the possession work with her being alive?" I suppressed a shudder at the images my mind created of Greer being whipped.

"Well, that's the thing. Nobody's really sure the possession is working the way it does with the ghosts. It's almost as if she is crazy and he just knows how to manipulate her. She doesn't behave like his slave—which is basically what ghosts are once they are possessed." Skater Boy was lost in thought for a moment
.

"How is she behaving?" I asked.

"Like she's his right-hand man or his consort or something. And Yanuk, he just let's her walk around acting like she's
his
boss. All he does is smile that stupid smile of his. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's almost as if she sometimes thinks she's actually in charge."

"In charge?" This was getting more complicated.

"So what's the hierarchy like? Do the other demons defer to Yanuk? Or do they all do their own thing?"

"Yeah. Yanuk is the head honcho around here. Most demons come and go, but Yanuk has stayed. He's been here long enough that most demons and spirits defer to him if they know what's good for them."

"So he's like a demon overlord?" This was getting worse and worse. Greer in the service of a powerful demon? And liking it? This didn't bode well for breaking her out of here.

Skater boy nodded. "In a sense they answer to him, but only to a certain extent. Like he can't take any of the other demons' slaves from them, but he can give them orders, which they probably won't ignore. He'd make life a living hell here. It's bad enough this place is like a big slice of nowhere, but Yanuk has his own special way of punishing his slaves and sometimes his own demons too."

"What does he do?" I asked, frowning. More torture?

Skater boy looked distracted. His gaze went to the doorway behind me. "He puts them in the black hole." The ghost answered, his attention still trained over my shoulder.

"What's wrong?" I asked, all thoughts of the mysterious black hole gone the moment the boy's expression took on one of taut fear.

"He's coming. I can feel it." The ghost boy looked scared.

"Who is it?" asked Saleem softly.

"My master." He shivered. Then he moved his gaze from the door and met my eyes. "Go. Hide. He won't be able to find you."

Saleem touched my arm and we hurried off across the ballroom to a set of doors that led into a bar area. We ducked down behind the bar just as a demon walked into the ballroom. His pale, almost grey-white skin fitted naturally with the rest of the Greylands.

Except for his red eyes.

I watched him through a small space in the paneling at the bottom of the bar. Skater boy had disappeared and the demon couldn't see him either. He looked around the room, exasperated.

Then the ghost boy appeared behind him, hovering above the ground a little out of the demon's reach. I wasn't sure what he would do to punish a non-corporeal being and was relieved that the boy would be relatively safe
.

"Get down here now." The demon sank a hand into his pocket—his jacket incongruously modern, black and shiny leather. He retrieved something and held his hand out. The boy cringed, looking like he was about to run.
Whatever the demon held in his hand terrified him. "You know it's best for you to come down now."

Despite the fear on his face, the boy floated to the ground and stood in front of the demon. He had his back to us now, and I couldn't see his face. It made me uncomfortable. The demon opened his palm and a blue stone shimmered, letting off tiny sparks of yellow light. What the hell was going on with all these colors in the Greylands?

Beside me, Saleem stiffened and I glanced at him. He didn't seem to notice, all his attention remained focused on the demon and the boy.

The red-eyed demon tilted the stone toward the boy, and a flash of blue light arced toward the ghost. It struck him and spread over him in a wave of spattering sparks. A soon as the sparking receded, the demon stepped forward and grabbed the ghost boy by the arm.

Saleem and I glanced at each other, but although I reeled in shock, Saleem seemed to be taking it in his stride. Was it a dude thing? Don't show the chick any emotion? Or was there something I needed to know about this stone? I shook the thought from my head. No time to think about it this minute.

For now the fact that the demon had just made the ghost solid was enough of a shock. He twisted the boy's arm, a look of pleasure on his sneering face. I flinched and Saleem put a hand on my arm. Already he seemed to know me too well. I met Saleem's eyes, my glare clear of my intentions. He merely shrugged and removed his hand unarmed.

The boy moaned and I gritted my teeth. The demon growled. "Who are they?"

The ghost shook his head. "I don't know what you mean."

"Who are the two who came into this building earlier?"

"I don't know." The boy shook his head again. "I didn't see anyone."

"Do not lie to me." The demon growled close to the boy's ear. "You know what will happen when you lie to me."