Nightmare City: Book 1 Of The Nightmare City Series (Urban Fantasy)

by P. S. Newman

  If this wasn’t the doppelgänger himself.

  The thought struck me, cold and vicious.

  “Don’t move,” I told him. He nodded, eyes so wide that the whites shone all around the pupils. I went up to him, my gun pointing at his head. He went completely still. I laid the backs of my fingers against his cheek and probed him with my shade-sense. Nothing. He was human, born and raised. I holstered the Walther and pulled the gag out of Sean's mouth. He coughed and wretched, gasping for air.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, kneeling in front of him to get a look at the bomb. All I could make out was the C4, the timer, and a colorful mess of wires.

  “Peachy,” he said.

  “Do you know how to disable this bomb?” I had no clue.

  He shook his head and tried to look beneath his chair. The restraints stopped him. “Not without seeing it. How much time left?”

  “One minute and forty-nine seconds.”

  “Fuck! Get me out of these.” He strained against the bindings. I began to untie them, careful not to touch the explosives. The ropes were thin and difficult to separate. They’d dug into his skin deep enough to leave bloody marks and his struggles had pulled them tighter.

  “Sit still,” I admonished. “You’re not helping by pulling.” He stopped fidgeting. My eyes fell to the timer between his legs. 00:01:30.

  “How did you know where to find me?” he asked.

  “The doppelgänger sent me a couple of text messages. One from your phone, one from Bella’s. He took her and Cecelia, too. Gave me a choice between you or them.”

  “A choice?”

  “Save their life or yours.” I concentrated on the bindings. “Not enough time for both.”

  “Why are you here?” Instead of with them. There was no resentment in his tone, only surprise. He knew that Bella and Cecelia would come first for me.

  “He switched your locations around.” My voice was flat. Already dead.

  “No,” he whispered, understanding. “Eden, I—”

  He was interrupted by David charging around the corner with a shout. “Lia?” He caught sight of me kneeling in front of his brother, who was still tied to the chair and stopped dead in his tracks. “Sean?”

  “David?” What the hell was he doing here? We all stared at each other in mutual surprise.

  Sean grasped the situation first. “He gave you a choice, too,” he realized. His expression shuttered as he regarded his brother. “Weren’t expecting me, were you? You chose Bella and Cecelia's location. Just like Eden.”

  “Yes,” David said, too confused to spare his brother’s feelings.

  Twenty-six seconds.

  “Do you know how to disable a bomb?” I asked. If he didn’t, we were dead.

  David knelt beside me. He reached underneath the chair and gently parted the wires. “Yes! Dad showed us how to build a cruder version of this, to explain the chemical react—“ He saw the look on my face. “Never mind. I need wire cutters.”

  “Will this do?” I asked, pulling a multifunctional crimp tool off my belt.

  David blinked at it. “What don’t you shade hunters lug around with you?”

  “Hey!” Sean said. “At least keep trying to untie the guy who’s not worth rescuing before you start discussing the weather.”

  David and I shut up. He concentrated on sorting through the wires, while I focused on Sean's ties. Neither of us told Sean that even if I managed to untie him, there’d be no point in running if David didn’t manage to disable the bomb. Not with twelve seconds left.

  “I think I found the one to cut,” David said.

  “You think?” Sean and I snapped.

  David grimaced. “Yeah.”

  Nine seconds. I touched David's shoulder. “Do it.”

  His hand closed around the tool, severing the wire with a click. The timer froze at 00:00:07.

  “It stopped.” David sounded surprised.

  I crumpled to the ground, continuing the countdown in my head just as it ticked on for Bella and Cecelia on the other side of the city. For me.

  Six.

  “It was a pleasure to fight with you,” I told Aunt Vy. There was no answer.

  Strong arms came around me. David pulled me and my sword on my back into a crushing hug.

  Five.

  I’m sorry, Cecelia. I’m sorry I failed our sister.

  “It’s not your fault,” David said, over and over. “Not your fault.”

  Four.

  Forgive me, Bella.

  Three.

  I love you, Greyson. If the laws of shade-physics counted for shades manifested by shades the way they did for shades manifested by humans, he would disappear with me, too.

  David began to tremble. “Please no,” he whispered.

  I was beyond words.

  Two.

  I love you all.

  One.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  "Eden?" David's arms around me loosened. He held me at arm's length and looked into my eyes. "You're still here."

  I blinked at him, trying to make sense of his words through my brain's terrified cries of we're all gonna die!

  "It's been at least a minute."

  A minute since the countdown ended. A minute since we'd sagged to the concrete floor of the roof. A minute since I should have faded from existence because Bella was torn apart by a bomb half a city away. But I was still here.

  Hope stole into my heart. I saw it reflected in David's eyes. "Bella's alive.” My voice sounded raw. David opened his mouth to say something when my phone buzzed against my hip. I snatched it up and found another text message. Are you having fun? I stalled party number two. Wouldn't be the same without you. But fireworks will start at 2:30 am - this time with or without you.

  I held it up for David to read just as his phone beeped. He read the text. Held the phone up to me. Same message. We supported each other as we staggered to our feet.

  "What's going on?" Sean asked, still tied to the chair. "Someone tell me what the fuck's going on!"

  Me too, I wanted to scream. I understood that this was the doppelgänger’s doing, but I still hadn’t pieced together why he was doing this. If killing David were his true motive, he could’ve accomplished that by now. But here was David, alive and well. Though he hadn’t meant to be here. Like me, he’d chosen Cecelia and Bella, which would have left his brother to die. That had to feel like a kick in the gut for Sean. Maybe that was what the doppelgänger was going for.

  "Cecelia and Bella must be at the other location," David said, pragmatically focusing on the things we knew. "We have..." he checked his watch, "... twenty-eight minutes to get there. That’s enough time during curfew."

  “That sounds too easy,” I said.

  “Got any better ideas?” he asked.

  I shook my head. Right now, the doppelgänger held all the trump cards. The more I thought about it, the worse my stomach churned. “Let’s go.”

  "You’re going to untie me first, right?" Sean said, sarcasm thick in his voice.

  "Right.” David dropped to his knees beside his brother's chair.

  "I'll get going," I said, grabbing Aunt Vy and heading for the door.

  "We'll be right behind you," David said.

  "Is that the royal 'We'?" Sean's voice was caustic with bitterness. "Because I didn't think I was worth being included anymore."

  "Oh, shut up, Sean," David snapped. "I'm here, aren't I?"

  "You didn't mean to be," Sean said through clenched teeth. "Brother."

  I left, not wanting to waste another second. It would take them some time to work through this one. If ever. For once, Sean had a right to be mad, even if I couldn't fault David's decision. He’d been in a tougher spot than me with this choice; save his brother or the woman he wanted to marry.

  If all went well, we might be able to do both. But I couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that there had to be more to the doppelgänger’s plan.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Nothing tried t
o stop me on the way to the Meta-Tech factory. No fire-spitting hellhounds, no roadblocks, no doppelgänger. It made me nervous. What did the doppelgänger have to gain from this game of cat-and-mouse? I felt like I was missing a crucial detail. There had to be more waiting for me than Bella and Cecelia, with ten minutes to spare to get them out before the bomb went off.

  “What do you think he’s got in store for us?” I asked Aunt Vy, who I’d deposited on the passenger seat. She hadn’t said a word since our almost-demise and gave me the silent treatment now, too.

  “This is hardly the time to start keeping your opinions to yourself,” I told her, hoping to hear her tell me I worried too much. I wouldn’t even have objected to being called ‘child’, at this point.

  “You don’t need me to figure this out,” she scoffed. “There’s nothing I can do about it, anyway.” An ocean of self-loathing swung in her words. The fact that she hadn’t been able to protect Bella from the doppelgänger had hit her harder than I ever expected. My heart cracked a little. But my pity wouldn’t help either of us, so I kept my thoughts to myself. She lapsed back into silence. If she got a sudden brainwave, I was sure she’d share it with me. At least I could still fight with her. Maybe the taste of blood would snap her out of it.

  I stopped the van a block away from the factory and hoofed it the rest of the way, hoping to sneak up on whatever surprise the doppelgänger had left for me. The factory stood dark and quiet. The broken windows reflected far-off city lights that contrasted with the yawning blackness behind the broken edges. Not a flicker of light indicated that anything fiery might be lying in wait inside. I crept up to the entrance, keeping close to the wall and ducking beneath the windows. I dared a peek inside through one of them but saw only the faint glint of light on metal angles. I kept going. Eight minutes left.

  Green shade-scene tape lay jumbled and torn in front of the entrance. The door stood ajar, propped open by a brick - an invitation to enter if ever I'd seen one. I drew Aunt Vy from her sheath and slipped through the open door. I stopped to let my eyes adjust but soon realized I'd need light if I wanted to see more than shadows. I drew a small flashlight from my belt and clicked it on at its lowest level. It glittered on broken metal before the vast space of the building swallowed it. I listened into the silence. Nothing stirred.

  Seven minutes.

  I had to start somewhere if I wanted to find Bella and Cecelia in time. There was a lot of ground to cover in this building. I walked away from the door, my flashlight sweeping the debris. Metal and dust crunched beneath my boots, a brittle echo in the vast silence. The back of my neck prickled. I spun around, sword and flashlight raised. The broken husk of a machine winked back at me.

  I continued my search, unable to shake the feeling of being watched.

  Five minutes.

  This was taking too long. I had to stop trying to sneak around. It wasn't working anyway.

  A sigh hissed through the air to my left. I whirled towards the sound. The beam of my flashlight found a chair. It was empty. A white envelope lay on the seat. I stepped up to it. Three words were written on the envelope. Read me first.

  First? I swept the light beyond the chair. It landed on a large, fallen robot laying on its side. Two massive, many-jointed arms arched into the air. It looked like a beetle lying on its back. Tied to the joint of one of those arms, sat a person.

  My heart sank. It was neither Bella nor Cecelia. Too large, too wide, too male. His face was hidden by a gag and a blindfold. The gag also secured his head to the robotic arm, making it impossible to shake off the large headphones covering his ears. Long blond hair streamed over one shoulder. Greyson.

  My heart churned a painful beat in my chest. Please no.

  I tucked Aunt Vy under one arm, set the flashlight between my teeth and picked up the letter with shaking hands. It hadn't been sealed. I pulled out a folded sheet of paper and opened it.

  Dear Elysia,

  I hope you're enjoying our dance as much as I am. I'm having so much fun that I'm going to let you lead the next move.

  I'm sure you recognize your love muffin, despite the gag, blindfold and noise-canceling headphones. He, on the other hand, won't know you're there since he can't see or hear you. Which leaves you with two choices.

  Either use the key to unlock his handcuffs and let him escape. Or…

  Eliminate him. He'll never know what hit him. Never know it was you who unmade him.

  Only the right choice will lead you to the people you were hoping to find. Until you make your decision, I'll postpone the fireworks. One last time.

  Sincerely, Sean 2.0

  I stood, frozen. The doppelgänger had found a way for me to do what I should have done the first time I laid eyes on Greyson up in the bell tower. I couldn't bring myself to eliminate him then. Not just because I wanted to be with him, but because he would know that it was me who killed him. I couldn't betray him like that. I couldn't look him in the eye and unmake him.

  Somehow, the doppelgänger understood this. He’d found a way around it. Here sat Greyson, presented to me on a silver platter. He wouldn't feel like I'd betrayed him, because he wouldn't know. He wouldn't feel anything after I laid my hands on him. And my family, friends, even I, would be safe.

  “What do you think I should do?” I whispered to my sword in my head. A part of me couldn’t believe I was asking her opinion on this matter - on anything regarding Greyson, let alone his demise. But her silence left me feeling adrift, rudderless. Lost at sea without a compass. “Please, Aunt Vy.”

  “You know what I’ve always thought you should do about Deynar,” she said. There was no heat in her voice. Just cold, flat nothingness. It was almost worse than the silence. Almost.

  “But do you still think that?”

  There was no answer. I was on my own. I stuffed the swelling anger at my sword down like a cushion into a tight space. I would deal with it when it popped back out. After I’d figured out how to get us all out of this alive.

  Eliminating Greyson would be the legal thing to do. The safe thing. The right thing, by all rational accounts. Maybe it was even this ‘right move’ the doppelgänger was talking about? The one that would lead me to Bella and Cecelia's true location.

  I walked past the chair and stopped beside Greyson. I reached out, my fingers begging to touch him. They stopped, inches away from his cheek.

  The right move, I repeated to myself, over and over. Eliminating him would be the right move for everybody. For all but Greyson. And me. For all but us.

  If David's plan worked, we had a chance at an us. A one-in-a-million chance that would never come around again. A chance that could blow up in the faces of all the other people I loved. Was I willing to risk their happiness just to give mine a shot?

  I wanted to scream. I couldn't make this decision. I had no idea what the doppelgänger saw as the right move.

  Where the heck were David and Sean? They should have been here by now. They could have given me a second opinion. Reassured me that they knew what they were doing, that they were heading into David's crazy plan with open eyes. That they would support my decision, no matter what. But they weren't here and Aunt Vy remained silent. I was alone with Greyson and this choice that threatened to crush me.

  There was another way out, one I'd refused to consider because it meant leaving behind everything I'd built for myself in the past two years. Leaving my family. Wouldn't they be safer from prosecution with me gone, too?

  It was too much. Too many ifs, buts, and maybes. Too many motives the doppelgänger could have for me choosing either option. I couldn't base this decision on what he or Aunt Vy or anyone else considered the right move. I had to figure this out for myself, based on what I wanted. So what did I want?

  That was easy to answer. Greyson. I wanted Greyson.

  I reached out and pulled the blindfold and headphones off his head. He thrashed and tried to jerk away from me as soon as I touched him.

  "Grey, it's me. It's Eden."


  He calmed down. His eyes found mine. "Zee," he said, relief thick in his voice, "you're okay! He told me you..." He trailed off and shook his head. "A ruse, obviously. But effective. I can't believe I let him get the drop on me like that." Anger joined the relief.

  "The doppelgänger?" I asked.

  "Must have been. I thought it was Sean. He came to the safe house for a 'chat'."

  "Sean was kidnapped, too.” I moved around the robot and unlocked the handcuffs with the key. "So were Bella and Cecelia. I still have to find them."

  His arms dropped to his sides. He groaned and dragged them awkwardly onto his lap. He'd probably lost all feeling in them. I took his right hand and rubbed it between mine. He let me do it, watching my face.

  "Your hands are like ice," I said. "How long have you been here?"

  "I don't know. Hard to tell when you can't hear or see anything." His eyes moved over my face as if drinking in the sight of me. "Do you have a clue where Bella and Cecelia might be?"

  I shook my head. "No. He said I would know if I made the right move."

  "The right move..." He frowned. Jerked his head as if to clear it. "The doppelgänger said something before he punched me out. Something that didn't make sense at the time. He said 'tell Eden that the right move will get her out of this pit'."

  I gasped. "Not 'this pit’.” It was so obvious, I should have thought of it myself. First David's home, now the Meta-Tech factory - both places where I'd fought the doppelgänger or his hellhound minions before. He'd never stage anything at PharmaZeusics; even the garage was too well guarded for any unusual activity to go undetected for long. That left only one place. "The Pit. Grey, you're a genius!"

  I pulled him towards me by the hand I still held and pressed my lips against his. It was supposed to be quick, a token of gratitude and resurgent hope. But his cold hands reached up to cup my face, and it turned into a quick but deep and passionate kiss.

  The sound of a gun being cocked beside my ear froze us in place.

  "This is disgusting," Taylor's voice invaded our intimate moment. "Get up, both of you. Nice and slow. Hands where I can see them."