We received constant calls, but the phone never rang off the hook so much we didn’t get a chance to take a breath. Something was off.
Yet all I could think about was going back home to curl up on the couch beside Papan while watching some crap on TV. I didn’t care what, as long as we were together. I really should’ve stayed with him, spent as many hours wrapped up in each other as we could before he had to take off for a few days, but after taking so much time away from the office, how could I not turn up? And finding Ebony so swamped only made me feel worse.
“What’s going on? Has it been like this all week?”
“Yeah, it has. It’s totally nuts, right?” She pressed a button on the answering machine, and as soon as she did, another call rang through, so she lowered the volume. “The phone’s been ringing off the hook for days. I don’t know what’s going on, but the ghostly activity is insane! Some people are reporting some sort of spook activity popping up out of nowhere…which wouldn’t be too strange, if one out of every two calls wasn’t about someone trying to report their familial ghost’s sudden disappearance.”
Uh-oh, this didn’t sound good.
“As I jotted down their details, I thought to ask if they actually saw them disappear.” She sighed. “And, Sierra, they all described the same thing we saw happen to Mrs. Wicker. There’s something strange going on, because I’m pretty sure spooks aren’t supposed to fade like this. Not until they’re ready to move on, right?”
I nodded absently.
Spirits could remain among the living for as long as they wanted. Some stayed because they didn’t want to leave their loved ones, or wanted to stay together if they’d died at the same time, while most just weren’t ready to face whatever awaited them on the other side. Spooks had rights, and could remain within our society, but when revenge, mischief or ill intent was their objective, we stepped in to capture them. The Council then presented these spooks to the courts.
If ghosts were fading for no apparent reason, much like both my grandparents had, it wasn’t natural. Something was interfering with the process, and of course I now knew what.
The Spook Catcher Council was responsible. It was their job to keep spirits in line, yet they were the ones messing up the natural order of things. I needed to put a stop to whatever they were trying to do. Even the Patch Watchdogs had noticed, which meant the situation was escalating.
“You’re right,” I said. “What’s happening now is all wrong.”
“It’s what Burr mentioned, isn’t it?” Ebony looked worried, nibbling on her bottom lip.
“Yeah, someone’s interfering with the natural flow of the ghostly patch and it’s probably why spooks are fading all over the place.”
“Well, I don’t know how we’re going to explain it to all these people.” She stood by her desk, eyeing the folders on our desks. “Anyway, I have to go. I’ve got some canisters to deposit at the Council.”
“Ah, Eb, I’d prefer it if you didn’t go anywhere near there right now.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“It’s not safe. I’m pretty sure the Council’s involved with this ghost mess and I don’t want you anywhere near them.” The thought of nearly getting stuck inside the building made a shiver crawl down my spine. If Oren and I hadn’t gotten out by his use of magic, what would they have done to me? Not worth focusing on.
“What’re they gonna do? I’m just gonna visit Roe, and I’m outta there. No one ever takes notice of me.” Ebony sighed. “It’s you they want, the hotshot spook catcher. I’m just your little apprentice. They don’t care about me.”
I bit down on the inside of my mouth. How could I tell her she was wrong for the very same reason she was right? If they knew she was in the building, what would stop them from trying to use her to get to me?
I shook my head. “You have to listen to me…don’t go to the Council until all of this is cleared up.”
“Sierra, you can’t be serious! Look at this.” She leaned over and pulled out two big knapsacks, which she dumped on the desk with a thump. “See these? They’re both filled with canisters. In fact, if I don’t get some new ones soon, we’re going to be short.”
“If spooks are fading on their own, we can do without some canisters for a while.” Besides, she didn’t know, but I had a huge hidden stash of them in my garage. It was why I could never park my car inside. My garage was full of crap, and because of that I’d risked my own safety and paid for it the other night.
“You’re being ridiculous.” She shouldered both bags and reached for her skull-imprinted handbag. “I’m going to drop these off. I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“How are you getting there?” She didn’t have a car. As a matter of fact, I was pretty much how she got around nowadays.
“I’ve got Conrad’s bike.”
I whistled. “Wow, things must be serious if he’s lending you his bike.”
Ebony shrugged. “He’s got a few. Anyway, I won’t be long.”
“Eb, why don’t we head out together for an afternoon of spook catching? It’ll be fun.” I was running out of excuses. I had nothing left but the truth.
“Maybe when I get back—”
“Damn it, Ebony, do you think I’d be carrying on like a madwoman if I didn’t have a good reason to?” I pushed both my hands through my hair, wishing I’d bothered to brush it before leaving the house. My fingers got tangled in the curls. “Something really bad is going on in that building. I felt it the other day.”
“You went and didn’t tell me?”
I hated to turn this into an argument, but she needed to understand what was at stake. “Listen, the Council is doing something really bad to the catchers they have under their control. I’m not sure exactly how they’re doing it, but they’re using some contraption to separate their spirits from their bodies.”
“Sierra, that sounds like a sci-fi movie.”
“I know how insane it sounds, but it’s what Mara showed me.” I took a quick breath but kept talking so she couldn’t interrupt. “I’m pretty sure Mace is behind all of this, and while she’s in a coma, other girls have disappeared, and some even died.”
“That doesn’t change anything—”
“Will you just listen to me and focus on what’s important?”
Ebony closed the distance between us. Pressing both hands against the desk, she leaned closer. “Listen, here, boss, I know what’s important. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been holding up the fort while you’ve been busy trying to figure out who your boyfriend is, and doing something mysterious with Oren. When you got hurt, I soldiered on and was worried sick about you, but it was Papan who called to tell me what was going on. Not once did you think to give me a call yourself.”
“I was unconscious.” I could see the disappointment in her eyes. Nothing I said now would change her mind. She resented my leaving her out of so much.
She shook her head. “You know what? Don’t fucking worry about it. And don’t worry about me, either. I’ve got it all under control. I’m going to drop these canisters off and then I’ll come back. I’ll either see you, or I won’t, but I’ve got a date with Conrad tonight, so don’t bother trying to call me after hours.”
“Ebony,” I called as she headed for the door, pushing the chair back. “Don’t go.”
She paused at the doorway and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll even slip past reception. Nothing’s going to happen to me.”
“No, Ebony, wait!” It was too late, she was already gone and possibly heading into danger.
I ran out the door, hoping to catch up with her but she’d already hit the stairs. Her heavy footsteps echoed behind her. No doubt the stomping was for my benefit.
What the hell was I going to do now? I couldn’t exactly follow her into the Council building. I might as well wrap myself up in wrapping paper, put a bow on my head and present myself as a gift.
As I headed back to my desk, I wondered if I was overreacting. Maybe Ebony was r
ight. She might waltz in and out without a problem. She might not set off any alarms, and she’d be back before I realized it. Then again, this was the Council we were talking about. And if Papan was right about us not even having to conduct our business through them, it meant they lied and cheated any chance they got. I was looking forward to checking out this paperwork he said he was going to get from the independent spook catchers in other states.
I could call Roe, and warn him. Maybe even get him to meet Ebony down in the foyer, so she could just zip back out. But when I dialed his number, it rang out. He didn’t answer, even after I kept redialing for almost five minutes.
The constant blinking on the answering machine made me twitch. There were already seven messages. Not a good thing.
I reached for the manila folders stacked on my desk but jumped when I noticed someone standing beside my desk.
“Shit, you scared me!”
“I scared myself. What am I doing here?” Benita asked, confused.
My stomach dropped. “What do you mean?”
Benita Sorrenti looked around her. Her accounting office was located directly below ours. I should have heard her take the stairs and then enter the office, instead of her appearing out of nowhere.
My breath misted in front of me.
“I was sitting at my desk one minute, filling out some paperwork, and zap! I’m inside your office. I don’t know what happened.” Her brown eyes were wide, but I could already tell she was no longer alive.
“Benita, I have to ask you a question…what was the time?”
She shook her head, her brow furrowed. “I have no idea.”
“Listen to me, I know your mind’s probably a little scattered right now, but it’s very important that you concentrate and answer my question.” I looked up at the open office door, my stomach churning.
“Okay, okay.” She wrung her hands together, and I could almost see the wheels churning inside her head. “It was only minutes ago.”
I nodded, though for a ghost “only minutes ago” could’ve been hours, days or even weeks. Sometimes they didn’t appear right away, or went about their business as if they were still alive until they noticed most people couldn’t see them.
“Benita, what happened?”
“I don’t know…” Her image quivered, rippling like water in midair.
“No, don’t go anywhere. Hang on, just stay with me.” I would rather stick her into a holding canister and trap her energy, than have her fade away like most spooks were doing nowadays. I rummaged under my desk looking for one, but it was already too late.
Benita was gone.
The darkness inside my office intensified when it wasn’t even midday yet, almost as if time was moving faster than it should. I could suddenly feel another presence in the office with me, but it wasn’t of the ghostly kind.
When I looked up, my heart pounding inside my throat, and found what was standing in the doorway, all hope sank. What first appeared to be an unusually large, black dog soon became more.
It stepped directly into the light filtering past the blinds behind me and looked nothing like Papan’s wolf. Where he’d been beautiful and resembled a larger-than-average wolf, this thing looked more like an overgrown mutt. Papan was right—this monster did resemble a canine more than a wolf. Every feature was ugly and menacing. Its limbs stretched out so they didn’t look proportional and seemed to slither more than move. The beast travelled like a shadow, rather than a corporeal being.
I rolled my chair back, slowly. “Good doggy,” I said, keeping a hand out in front of me. I knew who this was as well as I knew my name. The bite mark on my collarbone itched and throbbed, telling me its maker was near.
I took a step to the side. The dog growled, cutting me off by blocking my path. Shit. Taking another step sideways and back again, I thought I might be able to trick the dog, but it stepped in front of me, moving a lot quicker than I could.
“What do you want from me?” I screamed. If this was going to be the end, I might as well go with some answers. This bastard had dared to track me down in broad daylight, got into the office building and was now going to kill me. The least it could do was answer my questions. “Are you here to finish what you started the other night?”
The dog smiled—actually spread its ugly mouth into a wicked grin slobbering with threads of saliva and revealing huge, pointy teeth. “We want you.” This was the same voice, the male one that hissed in my ear as I lay facedown on the path in front of my house.
“No,” I cried. I hadn’t let the brothers take me, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let this beast do it either. At this point we could be the Obscurus, or the Council. Maybe they were interchangeable and wanted me for the same reason. They were probably working together. I knew Mace had given the witch-and-ghost Slevani brothers access to the Council building.
I grabbed the first thing I could off the desk, which happened to be a letter opener. I held it against my thigh, waiting for him—there was no more mistaking it, this beast was male—to make the next move.
The dog took a few steps, before skirting back in the other direction as if he was going to strike from one end but switched to the other.
He was baiting me, but I held my ground.
When he leaped off his haunches and flew across the distance between us, I slipped and he landed on top of me. He was heavy, and I had to suck in some shallow breaths to keep the oxygen flow, but I managed to wind my arm around the side enough to stab him. I pulled my hand back, hearing the slick sound as the letter opener slid from within his flesh and I stabbed him again.
He laughed in my face, his putrid breath turning my stomach. “You’re turning me on, bitch. Is that what you want?”
I kept jabbing his side, hoping to hit something vital, but judging by the constant snickering, I didn’t seem to be having much of an effect.
“That’s it, keep poking me,” the dog panted. “Jonathan told me you were tasty.” He turned his head, black eyes staring down into mine as he applied so much pressure I almost lost my weapon. He lowered his snout and licked my face, reminding me of Travis Slevani, who’d done the same thing. “Mmm, the power oozes out of your pores. He wasn’t wrong.”
At the mention of Jonathan, my defenses failed. Everything I’d imagined was nothing compared to realizing he’d spoken about me in such a degrading way to some disgusting beast.
My muscles complained, but I continued to stab. Trying to get in as deep as I could, never letting up until the dog growled so loud my skin crawled.
“Get off me, you bastard!” I kicked and pushed, thrust the letter opener into him until he moved enough for me to squirm out. I crawled away, feeling the tug of the floorboards catching on my clothes.
He caught my ankle with one of his huge paws, ripping my shoe and pinning me down. Luckily, he didn’t tear into my skin. I kicked his snout and tried to stab anywhere, but my hand was slick with blood and the weapon slid from my grip.
Without a weapon and panic tearing me up inside, I felt the air thicken around me. My vision curled at the edges, the office was slowly fading into pitch-black and I knew this wasn’t night approaching. No, we were slipping into the dark patch. As much as I wanted to get this thing away from me, I didn’t want to enter the dark patch. I’d done so well to avoid it lately.
An awful grin stretched his hellish features and his eyes glowed red. He jumped, but this time was struck by a bullet. The sound made my ears ring, but I didn’t care. My heart was beating like crazy and I knew I should be crawling away, but was paralyzed to the spot, my hands on the floor, body protesting.
The dog whined and instead of falling, rushed out toward the shooter then past them, until I heard the undeniable sound of glass breaking.
Not the same window! If the building administrators found out I happened to be around every time the window shattered, they might start asking me to pay their insurance premium.
I tried to catch my breath, realizing I’d barely escaped the beas
t’s second attack. I looked up, wondering who had saved my life, and found no one standing there. So who’d shot him?
Using the desk to get to my feet, I sucked in a deep breath and took a moment to let the ringing in my ears calm down enough for my hearing to return. An annoying buzzing remained, but I had my bearings and could mostly hear properly again.
The monster might not have bitten or slashed into skin, but my ankle felt sore from the pressure and the claws. I hobbled over to the door and nearly smacked into the werewolf hunter.
“Vixen, what are you doing here?” I couldn’t believe it. She was wearing a more casual outfit than usual—modest jeans and a button-down shirt. She was also wearing boots with low heels. Nothing like the spiked sort I usually saw her in. “Did you shoot that thing?”
She looked at me as if I was nuts. “You call your boyfriend a thing now?”
“What the hell are you on about?”
“That was the werewolf, Jason Papan.” The look on her face spoke volumes about what she thought of me. “Your boyfriend tried to kill you. What’s up with that?” She placed a hand on her hip. The other still held the gun at her side.
I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t. That thing didn’t even look like a wolf.”
“It was a wolf, just like him.”
“No, that was a rabid black dog and it looked nothing like him.”
Vixen wasn’t buying it. She readjusted her gun, and I vaguely wondered if she was considering shooting me with it.
“Tell me you shot him with silver,” I said.
“I’m surprised you want him dead so badly.”
“I don’t want Papan dead. That wasn’t him!”
“Whatever makes you feel better, I know what I saw.”
I had no idea what was going on with her, but with all the creepy shit happening right now, I had an inkling of an idea. “There must be some sort of enchantment on him…” Troy and Travis had been able to do some freaky shit, and if this beast was part of the same group, I didn’t doubt he had access to dark magic too.
I could only hope Lavie was able to find out some information about the Obscurus soon. I really needed to know who—or what—they were.
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