Monsters and Invisible Men (Lost Souls Book 1)

by Amy Barrett

  Nick looked to Abyzou. If they wanted to kill her then why was she here?

  Ivan followed his gaze and started to laugh. The sound was so out of place that it made Nick jump and Zerachiel cringe. Abyzou glared at Ivan. Ciara tried to smother her own laughter that was brought on by Ivan’s.

  “Don’t worry we aren’t going to kill you. We didn’t bring her along like, oh yea come and meet your victim.” Ivan was dissolved in giggles.

  “We also didn’t bring her along to turn her into dog food.” Ciara mumbled and sniggered to herself.

  Ivan sobered. “Anyway. I suppose I don’t need to ask. You will help us.” He smiled and nodded at Nick.

  Nick shook his head back at him. “No, I won’t.”

  Ivan pointed at Nick and gawked at Zerachiel. “He doesn’t understand.”

  “Look,” Zerachiel didn’t make eye contact with Nick while he spoke. “There is this demon and he wants...”

  “Wow,” Ivan burst between them, breaking the tension. “Forget that.” He pointed a scolding finger at Nick. “You should help us because I am always right, and you might stop killing people for five minutes if you do. It will be a distraction.”

  Zerachiel and Abyzou moved at the same time. Abyzou got there first and swung Ivan behind her. The reaper was caught by Zerachiel who threw a look at him that Nick imagined said “What is wrong with you? Stop trying to piss off the monster”.

  Abyzou invaded Nick’s personal space. Nick tasted her scent on his tongue. She summoned needles of heat on his skin.

  “The demons name is Mephistopheles,” she said.

  Nick started to shuffle back but she held his arms. He found he melted slightly into the touch before he pulled his arm away. No matter how gently she spoke, Nick had to remember who and what she was.

  “I know that that name means nothing to you, but he is bad news.” Abyzou ducked her head and took a step back.

  “Worse than me,” she uttered. Her face was an open wound, for once hiding nothing from him. Nick hated himself for wanting to make her feel better. Almost without his permission his legs took him a step closer to her.

  Her voice became delicate as she whispered, and she closed her eyes to take a breath.

  “He wants to kill you.” Abyzou swallowed and her words gained their feet again. “He wants to kill all of you. And us too.”

  Nick was lost in her gaze. If he didn’t know better, he would say that that was concern in her eyes. He tried to tell himself that it was just concern for herself.

  Ivan coughed. “If you guys are gonna screw please leave the room.”

  Nick stepped back and Abyzou looked at the ceiling.

  “Anyway,” Zerachiel said, “We need to start thinking of a way to corner this demon, so we have the chance to destroy him.”

  Abyzou smirked. “All we need is the correct bait.” She winked at Zerachiel.

  “Whoa,” Ivan waved his hands and stomped in front of her. “I think not.”

  He extended his arm all the way and pointed at Zerachiel. “This guy is our resident angel. We need him in case of emergency. What if something happens to him?”

  “Then you would have to go back to work early.” Abyzou sneered. “That’s what this is really about.”

  They both started to square up to each other when Nick spoke. “I will do it. I will be bait.” He needed to be rid of this new demon and while he might have thought that Abyzou would lie he was willing to believe the word of an angel. Besides, if they weren’t intending to team up with him against a bigger enemy then Abyzou would have tried a surprise attack again. The only thing Nick was having a problem wrapping his head around was the idea that Abyzou would turn against a fellow demon. What reason did she have? Regardless, he would have to trust her for a while if he wanted to take out this new demon without using the pack. If he could make sure they were safe by not including them in any battle at all then he was going to take his chances.

  There was a stunned silence for a minute or two and then Ivan smiled broadly.

  “Good man.” He patted Nick’s back. Nick seethed at him. He didn’t like this guy’s casual attitude to death and how he seemed unfazed by everything. It gave Nick the impression that he couldn’t be relied on to watch someones back.

  “Now that that is settled,” Ivan said, “we need to designate weapons to people.”

  “I will use my chains,” Abyzou said. They unravelled from around her body like a serpent and clunked to the ground. The light skipped off each turn in the metal. “They are hell chains, and I can use them to choke the life outa that smug bastard.”

  “Okay.” Ivan drew out each sound in the word. “Psycho alert.” He elbowed Ciara and she giggled.

  Zerachiel watched the exchange and let all the air out of his lungs. “I will be using my blade.”

  “Hey dude.” Ivan patted the angels face. “No arguments here.”

  “That leaves the demon knife.” Nick pulled the blade from the back of his jeans. It was warm from his body heat and shone in the light coming in through the nearby window.

  Abyzou spoke first, overpowering the words that were emerging from Ivan’s mouth. “You can have it. You seem attached to it now anyway.”

  Nick regarded the weapon with a nervous expression. It made him feel uneasy. As if the knife had a mind of its own and watched him. Everything about the red wrapped handle and sharpened edges made him want to both throw it away and use it on every stranger he met. It was as if it brought out his rage and made it something living that he had to fight with. Not to mention, he was uneasy with the idea that Abyzou wanted him to have it.

  He shook his head. “No. Ivan can use it. I have claws anyway.”

  At this statement Ivan turned green and his gulp was audible.

  “It’s cool, mate.” He tried to shrug but it came off more as a fish on the end of a hook. “I don’t need a weapon.” His eyebrows raised, and he lifted a finger. Nick could imagine the light bulb above his head as he came up with an idea. “My wit is my weapon.”

  Ciara slapped her hand onto her face and Nick could relate to the sentiment behind the gesture.

  “You have as much chance of using a harpoon as a weapon as you do of your wit hurting anyone,” Abyzou said. She turned to Nick and took the knife into her hands. Nick hesitated to let go. It felt risky handing her a weapon.

  “I don’t have a harpoon,” Ivan drawled. Abyzou was now advancing on him with the knife and he was reverse jogging away from her.

  “Exactly.” Abyzou forced the knife into his grasp.

  Ivan let it fall out. “Aww well. It wasn’t meant to be.”

  Glaring at Ivan, Abyzou stooped and picked it up. Her stare pinned him to the spot, and she forced the dagger into his hands and used her fingers to bend his around it.

  Ivan watched this happen and held it at arms length. He glanced at Abyzou and she nodded sternly. Sighing like a petulant child, he swung it around like Harry Potter’s wand. “I guess I am a warrior now.” He laughed.

  Nick watched the reaper with apprehension. Up until this point Ciara had faded into the background in Nick’s eyes. But as he scanned the room for anyone, anyone at all, to take Ivan’s place, he noticed the human hunched beside Ivan. She was leaning back from each swipe of the knife and her eyes were wide. Nick fished in them for fear and found only some. Her hands were wedged into her coat pockets and her face was flushed red whenever Ivan smiled at her.

  “She could do it.” Nick gestured to Ciara.

  Abyzou rolled her eyes. “A human?”

  Ciara cringed under the demon’s gaze. “I can sense dead people of that helps.”

  “She can do it. Don’t think she can’t just cause she is a human,” Nick said.

  “What are you doing?” The statement rumbled through the crowd of wolves. All were in agreement and even young Josh nodded along. Nick had forgotten about them up to this point and they had watched the whole exchange, he assumed waiting for the other shoe to drop. There was no way t
hat their saviour was siding with a demon in their eyes and Nick started to sweat when he imagined trying to convince them he should.

  Nick felt pressure from their gazes forcing him down and he folded in on himself, hunching his shoulders and bending forward.

  “He is saving your lives.” Abyzou stalked into the crowd and they dispersed to the corners of the room like a flock of birds. She spun around making eye contact with everyone she could see. “Do any of you really think that Nick can take on the worst demon in hell? He needs our help. And that guy,” She nodded to Zerachiel who raised his chin. “That guy is an angel. He is the best weapon to have against the demons.”

  Ivan leaned over to Zerachiel and whispered, “Well someone is popular.”

  Abyzou moved further into the crowd and clawed at the air before them making some of them scatter.

  “He can take down even me.” She stood straight and looked into the eyes of every one of them. Ivan raised his eyebrows at her.

  “Don’t you think your saviour should make friends with an angel?” The wolves seemed like they would believe Abyzou’s words if they weren’t coming from a demon. Even so when Nick nodded at them, they couldn’t argue with the logic of it all. They were terrified of Abyzou so Nick couldn’t imagine what they must be thinking at the idea of something worse. They watched Zerachiel and the sword that hung at his side. He must have looked the part because people started to nod.

  “Right,” One of the older wolves stated, meeting Nick’s eyes. “We follow you wherever you take us.”

  The group waited for a second. Looks betrayed their fear but they came to a final conclusion.

  “We will follow,” the group roared as one.

  Ivan smiled and snorted. “I know where this kind of thing usually goes.”

  Ciara pulled her coat tighter around herself and shivered.

  Zerachiel watched with a grim expression and a tense frame.

  Abyzou pressed her lips together and came to stand next to the others again.

  Nick saw this as the end. He had only seen such a display once before. He had been a child then and the gravity of their promise had seemed hollow. Now it was clear to him that they would follow through on this no matter what it meant.

  ***

  “You guys are intense.” Ivan sighed. He turned and strode out the door without a backward glance.

  The air was a relief and he sucked it in. He wanted to always remember how it tasted. He knew it was one of those things which Ciara never thought about, but it was something which Ivan would remember forever.

  The wind bounced around the city and rebounded in Ivan’s ears.

  Through the gales he heard a voice. “Ivan!”

  He turned to face Ciara. She dashed towards him, her scuffed trainers beating on the pavement.

  “Yes?” Ivan started to walk again, and Ciara fell into step alongside him. Her arm brushed against his.

  “Why did you leave? Zerachiel wanted to talk to all of us.” She narrowed her eyes and the intensity in them made Ivan cringe.

  He combed his hair with his fingers. “Just got tired of the rerun.”

  “A rerun?” Ciara glanced back at the wolves home as if answers would waltz right out the door.

  “Yea,” Ivan said, “it is always the same. Some fool dies for a false saviour.” Ivan shrugged and kicked a stone. “Then he claims it was worth it and there is no better way he could have died.”

  Ciara squirmed. “Maybe he will save them. You don’t know.”

  A cat ran past and hissed at Ivan and he hissed back. Happy he had won the encounter, he focused on Ciara again. “But I do. Oh, so many of them are unlike any man before.” Ivan lifted his hand as if framing the headline. “But in the end.” He dropped his hand. “All that comes out of it is an interesting death for me to watch.”

  Ciara drew in a sharp breath. “I keep forgetting you are not human.”

  Ivan prickled. “What’s that meant to mean?” He reeled on Ciara. His jaw hurt as he clenched it and he curled his hands into tight fists. He was human in every way that mattered. He was real and he was no different to Ciara. Was she implying that he didn’t belong here? Did she think he should be going back?

  “I-I just meant that-“

  “I am human now, okay?” He pushed back the sudden tears in his eyes. He was human so there was no reason to be sad. “I am here for good.” He let go of the tension and slouched, casting his gaze to the side. He was staring at something Ciara would never see. Something he wasn’t able to glimpse but knew it was there, resting between the solid world and the one after death. The reaper realm had no physical form, but Ivan knew it was stalking him from its perfect hiding spot.

  Chapter 12

  Shaking himself out, Ivan reverted to his usual air. He didn’t like being tense.

  “Come on mate. Let’s go and do something legendary.”

  Ciara blinked several times. Ivan ignored her confusion and swaggered down the street. It might have been windy, but the sun had come out and was shining on everything like stage lights.

  She jogged after him. “Where are we going?”

  Ivan put his finger to his chin. “Let’s go and sing some karaoke.”

  Ciara flushed. “I can’t sing.”

  “Good. You will be allowed to sing with me then.” He took her hand. She blushed and looked down.

  “Let’s go before Zerachiel finds us. He will be mad.” Ivan giggled, making Ciara smile too.

  Ivan towed her down the street. Colours and noises whizzed past and Ivan hollered at the top of his lungs. The feeling and sound of the world coming to life for the day was electrifying to him. It was the first time he was in the thick of life and he loved it. He committed it all to memory so he could replay it later in his mind.

  He rounded a corner so fast that Ciara swung out behind him. Yanking her back in, he came face to face with her. Ciara stopped breathing and Ivan was a little concerned.

  Ivan licked her nose to bring her back.

  “Ew!” she shrieked and rubbed her nose.

  He howled with laughter and took off at warp speed. They bounced to a stop in front of a bar, as if they were attached to a bungie cord. The place hummed like an engine. Light came from inside and was erratically obscured by bodies within.

  Ivan bolted for the door. Ciara held his hand to her chest, and he was brought back by his own momentum.

  “Come on.” He tugged again but with the same result.

  Ciara watched the door. Her eyes motored up and down it but otherwise she was still.

  Ivan stopped trying. He watched her. Ok, he thought, her body is pretty rigid. That’s not normal.

  She has her lip in her mouth. Also a bit weird, although he had noticed that she did that a lot. Ignore the lip. Her eyes are a bit mad. Maybe she is dying? Nope he knew what that looked like at least.

  She was breathing quick and shallow. That was also not good. Ivan gently pressed his hand to her chest. Her heartbeat was as fast as a mouse’s which was odd.

  “Whats up, mate?”

  Blood spilled out of a split in her lip. “I just-“

  Ivan’s hand squeezed hers without him thinking. He stopped breathing for a moment. The reaction was human, and he knew it. It was an instinct to comfort. He was being human. He did it again and Ciara smiled lightly. He felt like he was flying because for the first time he was sure he was being human.

  Shaking himself, he looked at Ciara again. “Come on, mate. Whats wrong?”

  Ciara sniffed back some tears. “What if they don’t like me?”

  “Who?”

  She nodded to the bar.

  “Them?” Ivan lifted their joined hands to point to the shadows lurking through the windows.

  Ciara nodded briskly.

  Ivan took a minute to watch the place. “Who cares.”

  Ciara barked a laugh. “I don’t want to embarrass myself. Not everyone can be as confident as death.”

  Ivan was lost. He had never had any such
worries. He went with the only thing he knew he could do. “I will be so silly that no one will even look at you. I will do all the embarrassing of myself.”

  Ciara laughed again. “I`m not sure that made sense but I think I like the idea.” She sucked on her bloody lip. It made a sound like a sloppy kiss. “You won’t leave me behind with any strangers?”

  “I think everyone is a bit strange, but I won’t let any new strange people near you. But for the record you are alright with new people. You won me and Zerachiel over.” He nudged her with his elbow and grinned.

  “I felt like I already knew you when we officially met.”

  Ivan assumed this was because he had been following Hannah and Ciara could sense the dead. He didn’t say anything lest it make her talk more and move less.

  She took a breath and walked up to the door like she was accepting a challenge from it. Ivan helped her push it open, and their eyes were assaulted by artificial light.

  The karaoke machine was dormant in the corner, but Ivan intended to wake it up with a bang. Letting go of Ciara, he gravitated towards it. He was halfway over when he glanced back to see Ciara standing where he had left her with wide eyes and her hands clasped tightly together. He went back over to her and touched her arm. She looked at his face.

  “Come on!” He jumped from foot to foot. “We have some songs to crush.” He yelled the last word and accompanied it with a fist pump. This time when he bolted to the machine, he brought Ciara with him.

  When they got there, they were told that there was no singing this early in the day. Instead of going back to Ciara’s place and risking running into the others, Ciara bought them food and they hung out in the bar together for the day. When evening came around Ivan was insistent that they be the first to sing.

  The room was small, but they reached far outside with their voices. Singing like smug crows on a Monday morning. The smell of beer flooded Ivan’s senses, and he didn’t need to drink to feel drunk. Ivan’s ears were ringing, and his head felt like there was a ball of wool inside with pins in it because the music was so loud. Each time he moved vigorously one of the pins poked him. This didn’t stop him. He had never had a headache before and if someone had told him that he could make it stop, he would have laughed at them. The microphone was wet with sweat and Ivan’s hands were numb from clapping at fellow singers. The lights buzzed and the wind cheered from outside. Ciara relaxed as the the evening turned into night and Ivan danced around as he sang. One guy even wolfwhistled at him when he shook his booty. Ivan must have high fived more people than he knew. A guy asked for Ciara’s number and she shook her head and dropped her eyes. All that Ivan knew for sure was that he had never been so buzzed, and he wanted to stay that way forever.