“I am,” said Mackie. “The bastard used me as his pet for two years. I won’t be controlled again. This time, I’ll bring him right to us.”
19
Within ten minutes, Mackie stood in a circle of candles, down by the abandoned train station. We hadn’t been able to find a better spot, and besides, the enemy was likely on the spirit line already.
Mackie’s face was ashen, her hands shaking as she clenched her fists at her sides. “Are you sure you can get the iron on me as soon as he realises I’m close to him?”
“Yes,” said Ilsa, standing next to the circle with Morgan at her side. “We’ve done this before.”
“We’ve linked mind to mind,” he said to Mackie. “If he takes over you, I can stop him.”
The corners of her mouth turned down, and she didn’t look particularly convinced.
Lloyd hung back with Isabel, while I joined the Lynn siblings beside the circle. We likely had only one shot, and everything was riding on Mackie. I hoped she knew what she was doing.
Holding out a hand, Mackie let Ilsa remove the iron band from her wrist. Then she stood within the circle, hands stretched out, eyes closed.
“You’ve been awfully quiet, my pet,” said a male voice through her mouth, and her eyes opened, glowing blue-white.
“Go fuck yourself,” said Morgan.
A smile stretched Mackie’s lips. “I do like breaking psychics. Almost as much as I enjoy bending necromancers to my will.”
“You’re sick in the head,” I told him. “Mind telling us where you are so I can come and knock the stuffing out of you?”
Mackie stumbled to the circle’s edge, her eyes still glowing, and Morgan grabbed her shoulders, pushing her back. “I’ve got you,” he said. “Bugger off, you twisted scumbag.”
Lloyd ran to his side, looking panicked, as both Morgan and Mackie half-fell into the circle. Ilsa grabbed Mackie’s arm and shoved the iron band back onto it, while Morgan kicked over the nearest candle, breaking the circle.
“He’s gone,” gasped Mackie. “God—he was in my head.”
“Did you see where he was?” I asked.
Mackie sucked in a breath. “He was… it’s blurred. Before he came here, I think he was in London. I saw through his eyes for a moment there and I’m sure I recognised the place. A huge park in a city.”
Isabel swore suddenly, her eyes on her phone. “London?” she said. “I just heard from the Mage Lord. There’s been a few incidents on the spirit line, and they heard from the London Mage Guild that at least one of them took place there.”
“Shit,” I said. “Where in London? I’ve never been.”
Could the forest take me there? If not, there was the spirit line, but I’d never travelled along a line without my body before.
“I can check,” said Keir. “Now I know what city he’s in, I can grab a few vessels and poke around. I guarantee that any supernaturals close by would know where the nearest damaged key point is. They’ll have felt it. London is a hotbed of key points and spirit lines, same as here.”
“All right,” I said. “If he’s there, so is my body. You guys alert the guild, and Keir and I will find my body and get it away from the enemy. The Soul Collector might be based in London, might not, but chances are, he’ll be back here before long.”
Mackie nodded. “He’s here… he’s everywhere, all at the same time. Once you’ve linked to him, he’ll never leave.”
A chill crawled down my spine. “And can he come back to you, even when you’re at the guild? Seriously—if there’s anything you can tell us… it’s life or death.”
Her jaw clenched. “Don’t you have a world to save?”
“Yes, but he’s holding my body hostage, and the person inside it is on his side. I could use a little direction.”
“He can’t get into the guild,” she whispered. “He’s stronger than before, but he can’t get through the barriers. But he’s—not human. I’m not sure he even has a body.”
“He must do,” I said. “He’s an Ancient…”
“He never called himself that,” she said, looking at her feet. “He did call himself a god.”
“The egotistical little…” Lloyd began.
“He has no body,” Mackie said. “Or if he does, I never saw it. He linked us, mind to mind, and sometimes I get impressions of other people he’s linking to, but never any physical body. I don’t know where he is, or if he can just hop from one body to another, but he’s not like any other necromancer or vampires. And he’s clever. He lured me in by teaching me to mind-link, and to use my powers to affect the spirit lines. There’s nothing he doesn’t know.”
I shook my head. “That’s not true. He’s not all-knowing. He’s adept at using the spirit realm, but the same can be said of any vampire.”
“That’s why he tried to kill us off,” Keir said. “Jas is right, nobody can be all-knowing. He must use his psychic linking ability to gather information from anyone who leaves their mental shields open.”
“And possessing them,” I added. “Possessing ghosts? It doesn’t seem possible.”
Except, perhaps, for a god.
“I’m pretty sure he’s not been alive in a while, if he ever was,” said Morgan. “I linked to his mind just then, and all I can see is a mess of other people’s thoughts and memories. He’s been in the spirit realm forever.”
“Can gods survive death?” I asked, not really expecting an answer. But the Soul Collector sounded almost like Evelyn, but without a host to grab onto. And if you spent long enough in the spirit realm, you lost all connection to the land of the living.
Maybe he had been alive, once. And, like Evelyn and me, gods didn’t easily die.
“Maybe,” said Ilsa. “Soul Collector… I’m sure Lady Montgomery seemed to recognise the name when we told her. But it’s not like I can go back and ask her.”
“You can,” I said. “You three—and Lloyd, I won’t be able to bring you with me, either. Keir, too—sorry. I don’t think you can come. But you can link from a distance.”
Keir’s mouth tightened. “Do what you have to, Jas.”
“Tell the boss I’ve been kidnapped,” I said to the others. “It’s close to the truth. If the Soul Collector can hop around, he’ll try to get to you through the psychics anyway. Warn her. She has to know—the guild needs to be prepared for a potential attack from the inside.”
“She’s right,” said Mackie. “I don’t like it, but I can feel the bastard trying to push through the iron to get to my head. One slip and the damn thing will be off my wrist and he’ll be in control again.”
“We won’t let it happen,” said Ilsa. “Jas—are you going to try to get back into your body?”
“Yeah. I have to stay outside the guild for it to work. Sorry, guys. You too, Lloyd,” I added. He looked about as unhappy as Keir did at the prospect of leaving me behind.
Lloyd gave a tight nod. “We’ll take care of the psychics, make sure the fucker doesn’t make it to the guild. Okay?”
“Exactly,” I said. “Keir will send his vessels to London to find me. And if things go wrong…”
“I’ll warn you.” Keir nodded to the others. “Make sure they don’t get into the guild.”
At what point, and why, had he started considering the guild in his decisions? I didn’t have time to question—there was too much at risk, and now the Soul Collector knew we were on his tail.
I tuned out the sounds of the others leaving and focused on my body once again. I didn’t really expect it to work, but again, I felt a whisper of a connection, of Evelyn’s presence—
And the smell of burning.
I opened my eyes. “Found a vessel yet?”
Keir’s expression was distant, glazed. “Found one. There’s a fire…”
“I smelled it.” I swallowed hard. “I’m going into the forest, and if the Hemlocks have any shortcuts, I’m demanding they let me use them.”
“I’ll be waiting on the other side, Jas.”
<
br /> I paused, then faltered. If I reconnected then lost the connection, I might end up anywhere, adrift, without any way to get back home.
No. I wouldn’t lose my connection. Keir was there, holding onto me, steadying me. As long as I wasn’t alone in the spirit realm, I’d be able to find my way home.
I took a deep breath, and crossed into the Hemlocks’ forest once more. Magic hummed in my fingertips, faint yet resonant, and I clung onto it. I didn’t need to be in the forest to travel along the spirit line.
A faint whisper traced along the back of my neck. “Keir?”
“Right here,” he whispered. “You’re on the spirit line. I can’t follow you this way, because I can only track you through vessels. But if you keep going, you can reach London in seconds.”
“And you know this because…”
“Because you’re a master level necromancer. They can do the same.”
“Er, only when they’re dead.” I sincerely hoped I wouldn’t run into any necromancer Guardians moving the other way, but Isabel had said the spirit line had already been attacked on at least one key point. The Soul Collector was after the forest.
Maybe with Evelyn Hemlock at his side.
“Keep moving along the line,” Keir murmured, and he was gone.
The forest flickered in the corners of my vision, and I looked down at my feet. A thin grey line extended in each direction. Keeping an eye on the line, I floated on. Occasionally, Keir’s presence brushed against mine, like he was trying to track me even as his own spirit sight reached its limits. The greyness under my feet turned to a blur, seconds merged together—and without warning, it all stopped.
I stopped moving, the spirit realm turning transparent again to show me the world underneath. The line came to an abrupt halt beside a park and a road filled with panicking humans. London, judging by the crowds and the tall buildings. Evelyn. Where is she?
The spirit line lay over a busy street, where several cars had caused a pile up—presumably when a flood of furies had spontaneously appeared in the air. Oh, hell. They were everywhere, huge winged beasts dive-bombing everyone in sight.
As a ghost, they didn’t see me. I floated over the park and felt Keir’s presence tug me downward. On the other side of the park was a building in flames. Several bodies lay around it, and one person stood alone in the ruins. Evelyn Hemlock.
20
I stared at the ruined building, the human bodies, the screaming and terrified bystanders running from the dark shapes of furies in the sky. Then I shot through the air like a bolt, planting myself in front of Evelyn. “You didn’t.”
“This isn’t what it looks like,” she said, lifting her—my—head to look through my ghostly form. “I missed him, again. Go home.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I said. “You’re in my body, and I’m not going home without it. Give it back.”
“You’re holding me back,” she said. “I nearly caught the Soul Collector, Jacinda.”
Now she’s feigning innocence? “Nice try. Let me back in, Evelyn.”
Through the spirit realm, Evelyn glowed with blue-white light. I grabbed for the Hemlock magic, calling it to my own hands. “I’m on the spirit line, Evelyn. Last chance to let me back in or I’ll shut you permanently out.”
I focused, hard, on being back in my body. Evelyn’s hands glowed as she fought and I briefly glimpsed the world through my own eyes again, but before I could gain dominance, she pushed me out. Evelyn was stronger than before. Had she gained a boost from the spirit line, too?
“They’re coming, you fool,” she snarled. “They can see you.”
Several cloaked figures approached the burning ruin. Necromancers? No—mages, some with blazing hands, some wielding lightning.
“You there!” one of them shouted.
“Now you’ve done it,” I said to Evelyn.
A fury flew overhead, momentarily drawing their attention to the fracturing sky above the park. The spirit line had began to tear apart at the seams. Terrified-looking humans pointed at other transparent figures appearing above the line. Like in the faerie invasion, the dead were drawn back into the land of the living.
While Evelyn’s attention was diverted, I shoved my way through, back into my body. Grabbing the spells on my wrist, I twisted the nearest one. Smoke poured out, masking me from view. Smokescreen spell. Pushing up my sleeve, I found an illusion spell and activated it.
My arm changed, and so did the rest of me, turning into a balding middle-aged man.
“What are you doing?” Evelyn hissed.
“Running away, since you won’t.” The alternative was giving myself up and letting the mages arrest both of us. Thanks a lot, Evelyn.
Shielded by the smokescreen spell, I broke into a run. Another man caught up with me at the road’s edge, his guts hanging out. Keir’s voice spoke through his mouth.
“Just thought I’d keep you company,” said the zombie.
“Thanks. You might have picked a better vessel. That one’s falling to bits.”
“You can talk. You’re absolutely hideous.”
A zombie and a witch wearing an illusion. What a pair we made. I hid a smile and kept on moving. “Where’ve you been?”
“I looked inside the burning building,” Keir said. “The Ley Hunters’ Hub… the sign said. It’s them, all right.”
“I thought so.” I kept running, breathlessly. Sprinting across busy London streets in the shape of a huge redheaded man while speaking with my high, panicked voice drew more eyes than I’d have liked, but at least nobody would remember my real face.
Furies circled above the road, diving down at the humans, while mages attacked them with fire and lightning.
“Keep going, turn right,” said Keir. “Get in the park—it’s faerie territory, the mages won’t follow you.”
“Yeah, not so sure I’ll be that lucky.” I changed directions and ran into the park, which was also filled with the shimmering forms of ghostly spirits. The spirit line was close—really close. If I could just get to the—
“Jacinda Hemlock,” said a voice, and a man stepped onto the curving path in front of me. “It’s an honour to meet you in person at last.” Blue-grey eyes blinked at me with humour, and a smile curled his lip.
“Joke’s on you,” I said to the Soul Collector. “I know you don’t have a real body.”
“That will soon be rectified.” His gaze went to the dead man Keir inhabited. “Would you like to volunteer to be next? The souls I take are never truly lost, after all.”
You sick bastard. He could possess and kill anyone… even vampires. If I left my body and tried to use necromancy on him, Evelyn would take the wheel and either fight on his side or disappear again. I couldn’t afford either outcome. Not with so many innocent people around us who might turn into collateral damage—and a spirit line beneath our feet.
The Soul Collector’s grin widened. “Do you feel that? We’re on top of a node. A lot of people died here. A lot of powerful people.”
The key point. He’d already shut it down, but magic still hummed beneath my feet, and if he had another soul-absorbing device… damn.
“Why are you taking in humans?” I asked, to keep his eyes on my face. “What’s the point in killing them?”
“There’s something about a human soul that’s so… pure,” he said. “And I’ve consumed enough of them.”
The zombie Keir had been controlling toppled over, and I turned to him in alarm. “Keir?”
The Soul Collector laughed. “He knows how to avoid me. Unfortunately, I’m always one step ahead—of all of you.”
The blue-white light vanished from the man’s eyes. His body crumpled to the ground, his spirit gone.
I tapped into the spirit realm, but there was no sign of Keir, not the barest whisper of his presence.
“Shit!” I snapped back into my body, only belated realising that Evelyn had not elected to take the wheel. Keir must have let go of the vessel—because the Soul Collec
tor had tried to possess him.
And now he was a target.
“If you want to save your friend, you’d better let me take charge,” said Evelyn, hovering next to me.
“Like hell.” I searched for the spirit line’s fractured presence beneath me, then I crossed over into the forest.
Evelyn fought for dominance as I stumbled down the path. “Don’t you even think about it,” I growled, getting a grip on her magic. “I’ll put you somewhere you’ll never come back from.”
“That won’t work again,” she hissed in my ear. “You can’t bind me from here, not without locking yourself to this forest forever. Besides, the spirit line is too volatile. If he breaks it, he’ll free me along with it, and I won’t let you have your body back ever again next time.”
I pushed on, my head pounding. “A little help would be nice, Cordelia. Take your deranged relative and talk some sense into her.”
“Sense?” hissed Evelyn. “You’re the one blundering around without a clue what’s at stake.”
“I can’t imagine it has anything to do with the fact that everyone in this family has conspired to keep me in the dark?” My head pounded, and I wished I could knock her out cold so she’d leave me in peace for a bit. “I happen to like being alive. You’re the one who chose to spend eternity as a ghost just because you couldn’t bear to give up your magic.”
“I deserve it,” she said. “The magic. It’s mine. It’s only fair.”
“Life isn’t fair,” I said to her. “Millions of people died the last time the spirit lines broke. My parents did. I never knew them. That doesn’t give you licence to destroy innocent lives yourself.”
She went silent for a moment. Had I actually got through to her? I didn’t dare hope. After all, even if I couldn’t bind her now, I would later. I had to.
“I never wished you ill, Jacinda,” she said. “Nor your friends.”
“That’s funny, because you tried to strangle Morgan when you were at the wheel. And that’s not counting how you forced me to drag my friends out of the guild so I could track you, when there’s a madman on the loose trying to kill us all.”
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