Claimed

by Sarah Fine

  Erin waved. “I guess I’ll be seeing you. I’m still getting used to all of this.” She gestured around her, indicating the whole of the Veil.

  Galena’s glare softened. “Me too.”

  “Enjoy it while it lasts,” hissed Luke, bearing his fangs as he imitated Galena’s challenge. He grabbed Erin’s arm, and the two of them vanished.

  Galena shoved the half coin in her pocket. Her hands were shaking. Dec took them in his. “You were amazing.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, the Kere are experts at intimidation, but you didn’t seem scared at all.”

  “Because he pissed me off. The other one was much nicer.” Galena rubbed her temple. “She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her.”

  “For all we know, she’s a Harvard student or something. Or she was. Hopefully, she’ll find a better mentor than Luke.” Dec nodded toward Galena’s pocket. “And next time, take the bigger half of the coin. He didn’t deserve it.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t care about the money. I swear, Dec. I’m going to make that Ker’s life a lot harder. Soon. Rat-bite fever.” She made a disgusted noise.

  Dec squeezed her hands. “I believe you. And remind me not to piss you off. He—” A thought occurred to him.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  He replayed the encounter with Luke in his head. “He didn’t seem surprised.”

  “Huh?”

  His eyes met hers. “He didn’t seem surprised you were here. In the Veil. With a Scope. Even though he obviously knew who you were. The news that you’re a Ferry doesn’t go out until later this morning.”

  Galena frowned. “What does that mean?”

  A screeching wail made her jerk, and her eyes went wide as she looked at something behind him. “Oh my God,” she shrieked. “What is that?”

  Dec spun around as the wail was answered by several others. Rotting skin, long broken fingernails, oozing eyes. Everywhere he looked.

  They were surrounded by Shades.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Panic coursing through her, Galena reached out instinctively, and Dec’s hand was right there, reaching, too. His cool fingers locked around hers. “They’re Shades,” he said, backing up slowly. “Souls that ran from Ferrys in the Veil. If they don’t enter the Afterlife, they go rabid. This is the result.”

  The Shades were shambling toward them from all sides, and the smell of decay was enough to make the bile rise in Galena’s throat. Some of them were barely more than walking skeletons, with bits of sinew still clinging to slimy bones, while others were mostly whole, with oozing eye sockets and mouths. Some of them had jagged, torn fingernails, and all of them had their teeth bared—though many of them were missing several, leaving gaps through which they poked their black tongues.

  “What do they want?” she whispered.

  Her only answer was another shrieking growl. The Shades charged, and Dec shouted, “Run!” He yanked her arm as the creatures lurched toward them. “Get into a building and stay there!” He shoved her ahead of him.

  Galena’s head swiveled around as she tried to choose a direction through the vast expanse of parkland. The nearest building was hundreds of yards away. She slid on the gelatinous grass and twisted in time to see Dec slam his fist through a Shade’s rib cage and sidekick another. When one skeletal Shade grabbed his leg, he took hold of its head, twisted viciously, and tore its skull from its body. Instead of dropping like dead weight, the thing merely grasped at the place where its head had been while its disembodied skull screeched in Dec’s hands. Grimacing as another Shade jumped on his back, Dec hurled the skull toward the scraggly branches of a nearby tree.

  She was watching it arc through the air when one of the Shades dove at her, growling. Its rotting fingers scraped at her shirt, and Galena automatically brought her knee up, hitting it in the stomach. It grunted and then straightened up—reaching for her neck. Galena screamed as its hands clawed at her throat, but in the next moment Dec barreled into it, ripping it off her. The struggling pair landed on the ground a few feet away, and two more Shades piled on top of them a second later. Dec shouted a curse as one sank its teeth into his leg. Anger shot through Galena, simmering in her veins like a drug. She ran up to that Shade and kicked it in the ribs over and over as Dec punched at the one trying to tear his throat out.

  Then another landed on her back, and rending pain tore through her as the Shade clamped its jaws over her shoulder. Arms wrapped around her chest, dragging her.

  “Hold her down,” the blond one shouted. Hard hands closed over her hips, and cruel fingers squeezed her throat. “You look like you need this,” he snarled in her ear.

  Galena fell to the ground and looked up to see Dec stomp on the neck of the creature who had bitten her, his eyes lit with rage. “Get yourself into a building,” he yelled as another Shade hit him. “And then get into the real world. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Galena fought to stay in the here and now. “I—”

  “Go!” he roared as yet another Shade slammed into him. “They want a Scope. You can’t let them get yours!”

  “Dec—” She couldn’t leave him. The Shades were all around them, emerging from behind trees, shambling across the soccer field, sprinting up the roads toward the park. Like all of them had been drawn here. Like they could sense prey.

  Dec broke free of the two that had landed on him and lunged for her, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the street. He stopped briefly to drive his foot into a Shade’s leg, which shattered, causing it to fall and trip another that was trying to charge. “We just need enough space to get into the real world,” he said, panting.

  “Dr. M,” called a guttural voice. “Dr. M!”

  Confusion swamping her, Galena looked over her shoulder. A Shade was shuffling toward them, arms outstretched. He was wearing a sloppily tucked short-sleeved button-down and khaki pants, just like he’d always worn when he was alive. His black hair had fallen out in places, leaving oily bald patches of rotting skin. His deep-brown eyes, previously full of questing intelligence, were oozing dark fluid and glinting with hunger. “Jian?” she cried, slowing to a stop even as Dec tried to yank her forward.

  “Dr. M,” he repeated, a pained bleat of desperation. “Dr. M.”

  “Galena, he’s not your lab assistant anymore,” Dec snapped as two other Shades descended on them. “For God’s sake, get moving!”

  Dec ran to the side to draw the two creatures away, but Galena was transfixed, her eyes filling with tears as she beheld her former lab assistant. “Jian, did you have anything to do with the bombings?”

  Jian froze. He stared at her, his dark eyes focused on her face. He began to tremble, as if the tension were literally rising inside him. The rest of the world dropped away while Galena waited for his answer. “Jian? It’s okay. You can tell me,” she said quietly.

  “Because of you!” he roared, leaping forward before Galena had the chance to dodge. “You!” He grabbed at her throat, squeezing so tightly that she couldn’t breathe. He slammed her head into the soft ground, and the palm of his hand pressed into her cheek, holding her there while he grabbed for her Scope.

  Galena punched upward and landed a lucky shot on Jian’s jaw. He lost his balance and fell backward, and Galena scrambled up, her bare feet slipping in the slick, forgiving ground. Dec was still battling fiercely with two Shades nearby, but any impulse she had to help was overridden when Jian grabbed her ankle. With a shudder of fear and disgust, she stomped on his face and took off running, determined to do what Dec had told her.

  Her breath whooshed from her lungs as she sprinted toward a road that bounded the park. Behind her came the sound of squelching footsteps, and a quick glance over her shoulder revealed that Jian was only a few paces behind her. “Dr. M!” he growled. “You did this.”

  She had to get back into the real world. Had to. Adrenaline drove her forward as she increased her speed, putting more distance between her and Jian. She raced across the street and ran strai
ght for the nearest building, which happened to be an old church, wood with a narrow facade that rose about four stories, a small cross perched on top. She stumbled across the lawn and grabbed for the handle to the thick arched door, but her hand slipped right through it. A surge of terror welled up inside her as Jian scrambled across the street. She ripped her Scope from the setting at her throat and pressed her thumb to the raven etching. It glowed, and Galena yanked it wide.

  Right as Jian reached her. He grabbed the Scope’s edges and pulled, creating a hoop at least six feet in diameter. He let out a screech as the warmth hit him. Galena tried to rip the Scope from his grasp, but his rotting fingers were clamped hard over its edges, and it only became a wider gateway. From all around her, the echoing shrieks of the Shades told her they saw it. They felt it. They were coming. Thinking she could close it from the other side, Galena made a lurching dive into the center of the Scope.

  Jian landed on her as warm air enclosed them. Her Scope was still in her hand, and Jian had a grasp on it, too. Cool air flowed from the other side of the ring as they struggled on the front step of the church, which was now hard and unyielding beneath Galena’s body.

  Jian twisted, still holding the Scope. His fist collided with the side of Galena’s face, making light and dark explode inside her mind. As she jerked back, he wrenched the metal ring of the Scope out of her grip. It shrank down to pendant size as he held it in his hands. He dropped it into his pocket and stared down at her. Here in the real world, he was even more hideous, an oozing travesty of the bright young man he’d been. “You did this to me,” he snarled, moving closer. “Everything I did was because of you!”

  “Jian, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, even as her head spun with pain. Her blood smeared across the concrete, trickling down her arm from the bite wound on her shoulder. She forced her eyes to focus on the lump in his pocket—she had to get the Scope back.

  Jian inched closer, his fingers flexing. “He said you had to die,” he grunted. He fell on her, jaws wide. Galena kicked at him frantically while trying to keep his gaping mouth away from her neck. The dark memories swirled in her throbbing skull, threatening to drag her down, but her will to survive was stronger. She managed to plant her feet in his middle and sent him stumbling back, but he was lunging at her again a moment later.

  “He said you should die!” he shouted again.

  “He can go fuck himself,” said a voice just behind them. Dec emerged from his Scope right next to the church entrance, his face tense with pain and striped with blood. He smashed his fist into Jian’s nose—once, twice, and then again. As Jian reeled, Dec grabbed him, knocking him back and pinning his arms with his knees. His hand clamped over Jian’s oozing throat. “Tell me who he is. Who said she had to die?”

  Jian flailed and kicked. He seemed beyond reason, beyond words.

  “Did he have red eyes?” Dec shouted.

  Jian stilled for a moment, as if in recognition, but then he heaved his body so wildly that Galena heard several of his bones crack. It didn’t stop him from fighting, though. Dec yelled a few more questions at the struggling former lab assistant, but Jian’s only answers were snarls and guttural growls. Finally, Dec seemed to realize it was futile. He tore his Scope from the chain at his neck.

  When Galena saw what he was about to do, she put her hands up. “Wait! He has my Scope in his pocket.”

  Dec punched Jian again and held his arms while Galena dug in the Shade’s pocket for her Scope. She sank backward with it clutched in her palm, and its cold burn against her skin was a huge relief.

  “You deserve to die,” Jian wailed, “after what you did to me!”

  Galena opened her mouth to speak, but Dec shook his Scope open with one hand. “No more talking.” He shoved a still-struggling Jian back into the Veil and closed his Scope again. His eyes met hers. He was bleeding from scratch marks along his cheek, and his shirt had been torn, revealing scrapes and bite marks on his chest and stomach. He didn’t look like he noticed, though. He squatted next to her and took her face in his hands. “Are you okay?”

  She stared up into his glacier-blue eyes. “He blamed me.”

  Dec grimaced as his gaze moved to her shoulder. “Shit. You’re not okay.” He put his arm around her back and helped her to her feet. “And it sounded to me like what Luciana Flores said—like some rogue Ker is going around telling his victims that you have to stop your research.”

  Galena stared at the place Jian had been, remembering the hatred in his eyes. “No. This was different. He said everything he did, it was because of me. He said, ‘You did this.’ And he was so angry . . .” Her fingers rose to a sore spot on her cheek, the place he’d punched her.

  “Shades aren’t logical,” Dec said. “Maybe he was just angry and guilty about what he did and where he ended up, and the Ker had told him it was because of your research.”

  “Maybe.” She bowed her head, suddenly wanting to lie down and sleep forever. “I’m sorry if I messed up just now.”

  He pushed her hair back, examining a scrape on her forehead. “You did fine.”

  “I didn’t make it inside a building. The handle—” She gestured at the metal door handle of the church. “My hand went through it.”

  He gave her a bemused smile. “And you didn’t realize your body would have gone right through the door if you’d just kept running?”

  Her mouth opened and closed a few times, and he laughed. “It’s okay. This was your first time in the Veil, and it takes some getting used to. Plus, we all lose a few IQ points in the heat of battle.”

  Galena poked his chest. “You didn’t.”

  “I’ve been at this for decades. I barely have to think anymore. Except—” He looked across the street, at the park where they’d found the soul of the young man she’d guided to Heaven. “Luke sure did pick the perfect place to drop that body. Right in the middle of the park, not a single building nearby. Ideal place for a Shade attack.”

  “Do the Kere work with Shades?”

  “I didn’t think so,” he said quietly, then turned to examine her shoulder again. “We should get you to the hospital.”

  Galena’s entire body shuddered violently. “No.” Her fingers pushed against Dec’s stomach, trying to get away from him. “I hate hospitals.”

  He frowned as he looked her over. “Galena—”

  “No. Please. Can you just take me home?” Which was his place now, she realized. She had nowhere else to go.

  “I will, but only if you agree to let me take care of you. You can’t just slap a bandage on a wound like this and expect it to heal on its own.”

  She reached her aching arm up and touched his face. “I’d feel safer with you than in a hospital.”

  His hand rose to cover her fingers on his cheek. His wounds were already closed, his skin smooth but crusted with blood. And his eyes were riveted on hers. “Okay. I’ll take you home.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  There was a jittery feeling in Dec’s chest as he led Galena down the sidewalk, his arm around her waist. He didn’t know how to get over the stab of terror he’d felt as he’d watched her disappear into the real world with a Shade hard on her heels. He only knew everything else went away in that moment, destroyed by his need to get to her.

  And now she was bleeding and torn, and Dec knew it could have been a lot worse, and suspected that it had been meant to be a lot worse. But he would investigate that theory later. Right now, he had to make sure she didn’t succumb to sepsis—Shade bites were fucking nasty.

  “I guess we can’t use our Scopes to get back?” she asked quietly.

  “We can,” he said, “but the Shades would still be right there, and I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of them for one night.”

  “So where are we going?”

  If he’d thought to put his phone in his pocket, he’d be calling a car for them. But he didn’t have a phone—or any money, for that matter, so even public transportation was o
ut of the question. Besides, the two of them were barefoot. They looked like vagrants. Vagrants who had been attacked by other vagrants. “We just need to get into a building. Shades always stay outside. So it’ll be a safe zone, and we’ll have enough time to get into the Veil and open an intra-Veil portal to my apartment.”

  She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Please tell me those Shade things don’t show up every time you enter the Veil.”

  He touched her hair, damp with sweat in the humid night air. Her blood was smearing on his already ruined shirt. “You always have to watch out for them. But I’ve never seen such a large gathering. There had to be at least thirty out there tonight.” He didn’t want to tell Galena what he suspected—that Luke had intentionally lured her there. Not yet, anyway, because he didn’t want to scare her more than was necessary.

  “I can’t believe Jian was one of them,” she whispered.

  “Do you have any idea why Jian would have planted those bombs?” Dec understood the stabbings—whichever Ker was responsible had killed the victims himself. But what did that have to do with Jian? How had he been involved?

  “Jian seemed so off that night you came to my lab.” Galena shook her head. “I guess he’d been quieter for the past week or two, but he was still doing his work. Honestly, it doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “You guys are under a lot of pressure, right? Maybe he just cracked?”

  “I guess. But Jian was proud of his work. And he’d just gotten married a few months ago. I know he loved his wife. They were planning their future together. What would have led him to such a desperate place?”

  “Somehow, a rogue Ker must have gotten to him. Maybe threatened him. And told him you needed to die. The Ker couldn’t get to you directly because you were guarded in the Veil by other Kere, but Jian was the loophole. An ordinary human with access to the lab and the skill to destroy it.”

  “But why bomb all those other places? Why kill Ankita and the volunteers? It just seems so . . . elaborate. Especially since the other victims were killed in a completely different way.”