The Ghost and the Darkness Volume 1 (The Fallocaust Series Book 2) (30 page)

“And in a constant state of fear,” I muttered. I ducked into the open car door with a nod to

Saul and slid across the leather seats. “He’s not going to be at Stadium right?”

The door shut behind us and Garrett took my hand again. “Of course he will be! The king would be present in his top chimera’s engagement party.”

I slid to the other end of the door and tried to open it, Garrett let out a rich laugh as he pulled on my hand. “Lutra, lutra, stay here. This is different, you’ll see. A personal summons is night and day compared to an engagement party. I think you’re about to be surprised.”

I groaned and slid in the seat, our tinted windows showing flickers of the town going by as we drove deeper into Skyland. My stomach felt twisted into knots. This exciting evening had turned into a walk on death row in a matter of seconds. Maybe I would get a chance to jet without him noticing, though I didn’t want to get too brash since I had only recently upgraded to fiancé.

I brought out my most useful manipulation tactic instead; I gave him the sad eyes and leaned my head on the back of the seat. Garrett only spared me a sympathetic noise before kissing my mouth.

He smiled. “Trust me, I’m ninety years old, I know his moods. We’ll have fun; perhaps you might get to see one of my savage younger brothers get brutally killed. Wouldn’t that make you smile?”

I grunted but he was hard to stay mad at. I guess I was a bit safer considering everyone else would be around, including Skyfall people. I kissed him back but gave his lip a small nip. “I don’t get the same joy out of seeing people die as you chimera boys. I’m a normal waster; just give me the bodies after so I can eat them.”

I saw the stadium in the distance, which made my heart leap with anticipation in my chest. It was a huge round building with poles sticking up out of it like it had once been tented, though the roof was gone, leaving it open to the elements.

There was another thing that caught my eye though. “The ocean!” I exclaimed. I moved to the window and plastered my face against the tinted windows. I had only seen the outline of it on the top of Garrett and Elish’s skyscrapers.

The stadium was ocean front, standing lit up against the grey dingy water like a stationary sun; giving the water a false sense of radiance that during the day was lost in reflectionless sludgy waters.

Around the stadium were buildings and sketchy back alleys, with a backdrop of skyscrapers that had never been repaired and sat in various states of ruin behind the glowing building. It was a contrast if there ever were one. The stadium was buzzing with people, dressed to the nines, with cigarettes and booze. Slummers and elites mixing with one another, filing into the stadium with an uneasy truce built only on the greater need to see the games. The mixing of classes seemed to fit the area of Skyfall we were in; a brilliant stadium with millions of dollars of repairs in it surrounding the city of dark remnants looming over like predatory ghosts, crawling with abominations that would even make Reaver raise an eyebrow.

Saul pulled the car up, before hopping out and opening the door to us. Garrett stepped out first and I could hear the crowd around us abuzz with whispers and speculations. The president of Skyfall waved to the crowd before he lowered a hand for me. I took it and stepped out.

The crowd had been cordoned off for us, by those velvety rope things that always felt funny. There must’ve been hundreds of them trying to get a look at us. We quickly walked past them, and I gave them a wave. A swell of importance that I had never felt before rushed through me like cold adrenaline; I squeezed Garrett’s hand and started smiling.

“That a boy!” Garrett praised, shaking my hand. “Give them a smile and a wave; let them eat it out of your palm. You’re my fiancé now, Reno. Drink it up; they’ll love you for it.”

So I did; the gathering of faces and the smell of cologne mixed in with the damp smell of the stadium giving me an almost intoxicating feeling. This was another world but if I was going to be in this world at least I was First Man of it.

After we had gotten inside the stadium we were ushered through many doors and climbed more than several sets of stairs. The stadium had been repaired as well as it possibly could be. Fresh paint, new wooden trim, and stucco and tile wherever it broke off from concrete. I wanted to see the field though, that’s where all the action was. I had been inside Anvil’s old baseball stadium before and it had been breathtaking.

A lady with gun ushered us into a large room with lots of food. I busied myself stuffing my face as Garrett mingled and talked to people I didn’t know. Food was around. No time for meeting people, they had potato chips.

“Reno, come here for a moment,” I heard Garrett call. I popped another chip into my mouth and as I pulled my hand away a kid about Tinky’s age started wiping my hands off. I stared at him like he was crazy but I noticed he had a collar around his neck.

I knew who he was as soon as I turned. A man about Garrett’s physical age was standing beside him, tall and radiant with an amused almost patronizing smirk on his face.

The guy had silver hair, short and wavy, with some very flashy purply-blue eyes. His thin face was flawless, down to a short and narrow nose and full lips. He had Silas’s eyes; there was no doubting he was a chimera.

“Reno, this is Artemis my brother, President of Culture and the Arts. The sengil he has with him is Lance, who is Luca’s brother.”

Do I shake his hand? Bow? Do nothing? I took a leap of faith and shook his hand, hoping I didn’t have too much remaining potato chip grease. I inclined my head as well and squared my shoulders. I was the fiancé of the president now. I should act like it. Though who was I fooling?

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said with a cheery smile.

“And you too, Reno.” Artemis inclined his head back and shook my hand, a mild shake but his grip was like iron, I felt myself wince. He seemed like a very stoic but proper person, with fancy robes and capes like Elish wore. Hopefully that meant he was more sociopath weird, I knew how deal with those types. “The others are waiting for us, including the king. Let’s carry on.”

The silver-haired guy walked through the doors, his pet, leash-less but obedient waited by the door frame for all of us to walk through before he held up the end. Just last week that had been me there, now I was Mr. Important.

With the opening of the last metal door, the identical painted walls and grey tile disappeared into a long windowed hallway.

It was more of a tunnel though, closed off but everything could be seen from the patched together windows. Mismatching and welded into place with mounds of spot weld and rubber glue.

It led us in a straight line across the middle of the stadium floor, to a box that stood tall in front of the closed off arena. Red plastic seats below us, stuck together in rows that circled the grey dusted arena floor, only a shoddy chain-link fence separating them from the fighting.

As I looked around awestruck, I could see how the stadium was made up. It was obvious from the open ceiling and the dark shadows of the seating levels that time had not been kind to most of it.

What had once been the seating areas had been destroyed, stripped of anything of value, leaving nothing but broken concrete and rusted metal in their places. Those seats, I observed, must’ve been used to make the bleacher-type benches that circled the arena. The stadium in its prime would’ve been too big for even Skyfall; everything had been ripped up and rearranged to suit the needs of the Fallocaust. It was like a stadium inside of a stadium.

The bench-type seats were alive with people and adorned with strings of Christmas lights and old neon signs that read everything from beer labels to store adverts. People were already drinking, smoking, and leaning into each other to talk about things on their minds. I even saw concession stands lit up in the distance, advertising ratdogs, potato fries with cheese sauce, and packaged goods.

As we walked closer to what looked like an almost skybox type area, which I could see there were several on the stadium floor, the atmosphere hit me. I felt a shiver of adrenaline as we were led to our seats, the noise of the stadium goers and the music blasting in the background made my chest vibrate. I was starting to get into this and I barely even knew what was going on. All I could feel though was everyone else’s excitement; the floor seemed to vibrate it with each step, alive in a continuous hum of energy.

The energy didn’t dissipate in the slightest when I walked into the skybox.

The room had windows covering every inch of the wall, and from our palace twenty feet up I could see the arena in all its beauty below. Covered in red dirt and greywaste dust, littered with footprints and dried blood. It was empty besides a microphone and stand.

“Ah, our guests of honor!” My blood turned to ice as I heard Silas’s voice. I tore my gaze away from the windows and for the first time scanned the faces around me.

Silas was standing with two chimeras close behind him: a curly-haired pet, with burnt orange eyes that did all but broadcast his genetically engineered status, and a tall man with black hair and eyes like blood; he was dressed in a suit with a red bow tie. The king like everyone else was dressed in elegant clothing suited to his style. A blazer over top of a tight red sleeveless shirt that hugged his every curve, complete with tight dress pants tucked into long silver buckled boots.

Garrett gave him a quick bow and I did as well. Silas strolled up to both of us, several other chimeras, including a few young ones, all of who I didn’t recognise, behind him.

“Reno, you haven’t met these ones yet.” Silas gave me a smile that suggested we had absolutely no past together; he seemed in a great mood. He turned around and waved a presenting hand to the group of vampires. “This is Apollo, Artemis’s twin.” Well, that was obvious. The man was identical to his brother except his hair was long like Elish’s. “He is the president of Dek’ko, beside him the old man is his husband Jiro.”

Apollo was either immortal or into incredibly older guys. Jiro was the oldest guy I had ever seen; he had to be at least eighty or more. He had white hair and wrinkly skin but behind the age he had a youthful, friendly smile.

Jiro gave me a kind wave, and as I watched him I noticed he was in a wheelchair. I smiled and bowed back to him. The thought that Apollo had loved his husband into old age twinged a cord in my heart; it was rather sweet, especially considering how that family seemed to function.

“This one is Drake, my personal pet but more than happy to indulge any urges you might get.” Silas winked at me, before putting a hand on the red-eyed ones back. That man gave me a polite bow and a smile that made his eyes squint. “And this is Sanguine, my sengil and my loyal bodyguard. He’ll also get you whatever you need but you can’t sleep with this one.”

I couldn’t hold back the confused look on my face. We were not friends, Silas, at least not anymore. Did you forget so quickly just a week ago you made Garrett beat on me?

Not showing the slightest reaction to my confused looks Drake gave me a cheerful smile and a polite wave. That was the golden-haired one with the orange eyes, he was dressed well... I’d seen brothel workers with more clothes on, he even had a collar around his neck like me, except his had a silver dog tag.

“And this one with the crazy glint in his eyes is Caligula and beside him his partner Nico. Reno, you’ve seen him before, yes? In Aras?”

And there was the twisted dagger in my heart, the poison in my open wounds, to sting me when my guard was starting to lower. I did recognise Caligula, curly black hair and eyes that looked unnaturally metallic. I remember he was stone-faced and threatening beside the brutes. Not a single eye twitch when the deacons had gotten released, just fluid quick movements and a shot that would rival Reaver’s. That was one I would look out for; he wasn’t immortal but he was fearless.

I bit down my emotions and gave them a curt nod of my head; I hoped Garrett would be proud of me for that. I would give anything to have Caligula and Silas alone in a room... well, if Reaver was there.

Caligula just glared back at me, I knew in that moment we would never be civil. He looked like a complete douchebag down to the snotty little sneer on his face. His boyfriend wasn’t much better; he had slanty eyes like he was half-Asian, a square jaw, and a pissy look on his face. They were perfect for each other, they both looked like dicks.

“Everyone, this is Garrett’s fiancé, Reno Nevada, former pet and former friend to our long lost brother Reaver
Dekker
. He’s decided to join the winning team after stealing our lovely Garrett’s heart.”

Everyone gave me a nod and I stood there looking uncomfortable. I felt an urge bubbling in me to point out that Reaver never had a last name and if he did it certainly wouldn’t be Dekker but I wasn’t an idiot. Even if you hate the snake pit, once you’re in it you don’t start trying to step on them. The best way I had learned to deal with Garrett’s brothers and King Silas was to just shut up and smile. Actually that belief had gotten me through a lot of hard times, including dealing with Reaver drama.

“Enough introductions,” Silas said. He turned and went to the window where a small radio was held. He picked it up and spoke into it. “We’re here, if the others have arrived. Let our games begin.”

“I’ll send up the little ones once the roster has been organized,” a female voice sounded after several seconds. “Are you going to send them out?”