Sky Ghosts: All for One (Young Adult Urban Fantasy Adventure) (Sky Ghosts Series Book 1)

by Engellmann, Alexandra

  “I think if something happened, Peter calling us would be the first thing,” Jane said, shaking her head with disagreement. “Maybe he’s just busy with his work, something unusual, and he forgot about time. It’s only nine.”

  Pain bent down to lay her katana on the bench.

  “How can you know why he hasn’t called? Maybe something bad has happened, and right now Peter needs our help?”

  “What help?” her sister interrupted her sharply. “Running around, saving the guys from the Beasts’ knives? Even if it is so, there’s no way we can help Peter by showing up there. Besides, we shouldn’t leave this place. He really thought it all through, and leaving here we’ll just throw it all away,” she waved her hand. She looked angry: her cheeks were flushed, her eyes shining, and Chad couldn’t help but think how much she resembled Pain at the moment.

  “Okaaay… Then let’s call him,” Pain said, putting her fists on her hips.

  “You’re so sure that Eugene hasn’t located our signal yet? What if he has, and Peter knows about it, and that’s why he doesn’t call?” Jane shrugged.

  “He said to call in case of an emergency.”

  “And this is an emergency? His one hour delay?”

  “Absolutely,” Pain nodded. “In these five most boring days, this situation is likely to be considered an emergency.”

  Jane grimaced, obviously not in the mood for her sister’s twisted humor.

  Chad dropped the bag into the bin and closed it, watching the sisters argue.

  “I think you shouldn’t worry. Peter can be busy with something, that’s all. Just wait a little more, and he will call,” he said, heading back to the room.

  Pain watched him go with a mix of worry and contempt on her face. She sighed and looked back at her sister.

  “Okay, let’s wait until ten and then we’ll call him.”

  *

  The sun was low, and the buildings around him cast long, dark shadows on the street. He walked a couple of blocks to the bar and pushed the door open. The night had not yet come, but the room was already full with people and smoke. They stared at him, peering through the gloom as he passed them by; stared and then looked away, shrinking back into their seats. Pathetic goons, he thought as he walked through them, his eyes on the table by the opposite wall. Get your money every week and still hate me more than anything, don’t you?

  He didn’t really care about them, though. He came here for one particular person, and that person sat at the table by the wall. He could have called, of course, but he didn’t feel like it. Somehow it was interesting to see what his chief fighter was doing instead of doing his job. There was another one sitting in front of him with a beer bottle in his hand. Eugene didn’t know his name and couldn’t care less. He came up to the table and looked at his man; the other one rose to his feet without a word and left. A waitress hurried to their table as he took a seat, feeling half of the eyes in the room on him.

  “Are you enjoying your evening, Abdel?” he asked, gesturing for the waitress to bring him a beer, the same as his companion had.

  Abdel moved his heavy shoulders uncomfortably, cursing in his mind.

  “No, not really,” he answered.

  The air moved slowly between them – the shield was strong. He could feel how it tickled his forearm slightly where Eugene’s arm lay close to his.

  “Did you find the boy? No, don’t bother, I know what the answer will be,” Eugene said quickly with a disappointed grimace. “However, I did. Would you mind if I said that I’m the one who deserves to hang out at the bar? No? Thought as much,” he added flatly and took the bottle that appeared on the table without a glance in the girl’s direction.

  “What do I do now, boss?” Abdel asked without unnecessary explanations. He knew Eugene didn’t care about them.

  “Now you clear out, get fifty men, and go here,” he handed him a piece of paper with GPS coordinates. “And by men I mean men, not those crippled morons you sent the last time.”

  Abdel didn’t say anything, but those “morons” were their best fighters. The whole year that he had worked for Eugene, he had been training them to be his special occasion squad, only to get them all shredded once they met the sisters. Hatred and respect warred inside him as he thought of the girls. He suppressed a sigh, taking the paper and getting up.

  “Will do, boss.”

  But suddenly, Eugene held up his index finger with a speculative expression.

  “Wait, I’ve got a better idea,” he stared at the wall behind Abdel’s back sightlessly, his dark eyes unreadable. “I think I may be a little bit offended by this whole situation. It’s time to give a good lesson to Peter for interfering, don’t you think?” Eugene looked at him with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. “I say, you go and gather everyone. You can start with this bar. I see a lot of familiar faces here. You have thirty minutes, and then I’ll meet you all on the roof. Everyone who ditches tonight, will be fired tomorrow.”

  Abdel looked at him with his eyebrows raised, but Eugene just threw up his hand.

  “Why are you still here?”

  *

  The phone buzzed loudly, making Pain jump and throw the towel away. She grabbed it off the table and stabbed at the answer button.

  “Peter? Is everything alright?” she asked, looking at her sister, who froze near the open bathroom door.

  “It’s not Peter,” a familiar voice sounded from the phone, “Pain, is that you?”

  She paused, surprised, and tugged on a lock of her hair nervously.

  “Yes.”

  “It’s Jerry.”

  She tensed, her nerves prickling somewhere in the base of her neck. Suddenly, time seemed to slow down and thicken.

  “Is everything alright? Why are you calling? Is Peter okay?” she asked, looking at her sister with anxiety. There was something in Jerry’s voice, something dark and odd and frightening, making her go cold and still.

  The other end answered with a short silence.

  “Listen to me, Pain.”

  She glanced at the others, feeling the blood drain from her face. There was such utter silence in the barn, it seemed they could hear cockroaches run through it.

  “I’m listening,” she responded when she didn’t hear anything else from Jerry.

  “Pain, you have to get the hell out of there as soon as you can,” Jerry said in a strained voice. “The Beasts… They’ve headed for you already,” his voice broke on the last word.

  She frowned, feeling her pulse accelerate.

  “Jerry, what’s wrong? I don’t recognize your voice.”

  A nervous laugh sounded on the other end.

  “What’s wrong? Eugene’s got your coordinates. All this time, Pain, I was working for him. All this…” he broke off, swearing, and she suddenly tasted blood on her lip where she bit it. Now time didn’t seem to flow at all. “In that apartment – it was me, I gave him the aiming. And the building plan, and the barn. Pain, he had my parents, I didn’t have a choice!” Jerry broke off, taking a ragged breath. He was trying to explain himself, though she hadn’t said a word to him. “He promised he wouldn’t touch them if I do what he asks. And I did as he said. I’ve let Peter down so badly, and now they’re dead. And the worst thing is…” Jerry fell silent, breathing hard on the other end, and she never got to know what the worst thing was. She realized she was holding her breath and exhaled slowly. Before she found the words again, Jerry continued.

  “Not that you should be worried about me after all this. You don’t have much time, get out of there. Fly to the city and lie low. You still have a chance. A small one, though,” Jerry swore again, and something clattered in the background. “Goodbye, Pain.”

  “Goodbye,” she said mechanically, listening to the beeps already.

  She couldn’t move and stood frozen to the floor, her eyes wide and not blinking. The others waited, until Chad came up to her, took the phone, and tossed it on the sofa.

  “What should we do?” he asked, grippin
g her chin with his fingers and looking into her eyes.

  Pain stared back at him, lost in thought, but after a moment she snapped out of the blankness in her head.

  “Get dressed, we’re leaving,” she answered in a flat voice. “Don’t take the bags, only what you can put in your pockets,” she added, tearing her gaze away from Chad’s strained eyes and glancing at her sister. “Take all the weapons, and save something for these two.”

  She left Chad standing with a frowned look and came up to the pegs to put on her gear and boots.

  In five minutes everybody was dressed. The girls were wearing their gear – there was no need to hide anymore – and bristled with steel. The guys wore their own clothes. It felt comforting somehow, Chad thought, putting on the familiar beige sweater and jeans. No borrowed clothes for the big end, huh, he thought with a grim irony, but then his gray hoodie, the one that Pain had slept in, caught his eye. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye to that one, so he snatched it off the peg and pulled it over his sweater. Dave already had his jeans, T-shirt, and black leather jacket on, and he looked awfully pale, his eyes glistening nervously and his hands trembling. Chad looked away. It was sickening, all of it, this wild hunt. And it was only happening because of him.

  He came out of the room to tell Pain that they were almost ready. She was in the cellar, gathering her weapons, so he came to the hatch and peered down.

  “Pain! We’re ready!” he called out, but there was no reply. He frowned and climbed down the ladder quickly.

  As he stepped on the cellar floor, he saw immediately that something was wrong. She stood by the shelves with a short dagger grasped in one hand. She wasn’t moving, packing, or sorting through her things. She just stood there. A frown creased his face. He approached her slowly, a small statue in the white light of the cellar, clad in black and stone-still, she didn’t even seem to breathe.

  “Hey,” he said softly, coming up to her and placing his hands on her shoulders, turning her to face him. “What is it?”

  She tipped her head back, looking at him, a thousand emotions warring in her eyes.

  “This is it. This is the end, isn’t it?” she asked in a quiet voice. “I can feel it, we’re not gonna make it through this night,” she shook her head and dropped her gaze.

  He exhaled loudly.

  “You don’t know that,” he disagreed. “You can’t know that. Why do you always take responsibility for everything? Don’t you think it’s too much pressure for one person?” he tried to comfort her, but she shook her head.

  “Because it is my responsibility,” she said, savagely stuffing the dagger into her belt. “Jane is, and you two are. I just can’t accept the fact that I can’t help it at all,” she backed away from him, shaking his hands off her shoulders.

  “You can help! This is what you’ve been doing all this time, helping us. And though I’m sure somehow we’ll make it through, you should accept the fact that not everything is in your power!” he said, trying to keep his voice down.

  Pain stared at him. Her eyes blazed up as her emotions got through, and her face quickly turned into a mask of despair.

  “Accept?” she asked bitterly and threw her arm up, pointing at the hatch. “She’s seventeen years old, Chad! Seventeen years, that’s all she got to live her life, that’s what I could give her!” she said harshly and then whirled and kicked one of the scattered tin cans angrily, sending it flying into the safe’s door. It smashed in with a deafening bang, leaving a deep dent there.

  Chad fell silent, his look unsure now. She turned and came back to him, locking her desperate gaze with his lost one. She obviously waited for him to respond, to say something, but he was speechless. There was nothing he could say to her, really. He never had any siblings, any responsibility for somebody. He didn’t know how it felt, he understood that much, at least. So he kept silent, and she took one more step to him and stood just a few inches away now, holding her head high.

  She nodded, confirming his silence, and added bitterly, “So don’t you tell me what I should or shouldn’t do. Screw you and screw your so-called advice.”

  Chad froze. There was so much hatred in her voice that it shocked him for a moment. He felt his breath quicken, anger boiling in his veins, faintly at first, but the thoughts that ran through his head weren’t helping. He was only trying to help. So what if he didn’t have the right words? He had never been in a situation like this one, and he was no damn psychic to know some magic way to fix all this. God knew, all these days he tried to be nice to her, to be of help, and what did he get in return? Her taking it out on him? He had done nothing to deserve it.

  He glared at her, clenching his fists at his sides.

  “You’re gonna be the death of me, woman, aren’t you?” he muttered, his voice edged hoarsely. From now on I will do whatever I want, he added in his mind.

  “What??” she glared back in bewilderment, her fists on her hips.

  And I know exactly what I want to do now, but she’s not gonna like the idea.

  “What you heard,” he said, shrugging.

  She cocked her head to the side, as if he were speaking Chinese all of a sudden. Her eyes flashed up and down, regarding his expression with menace.

  Oh, crap, who cares what she thinks?

  He grabbed her waist and slammed her into a metal rack, winding his fingers into her hair. Her eyes got impossibly big as she opened her mouth to protest, but no sound came out. He leaned down, tightening his hold on her, and she drew a ragged breath when his lips brushed hers—

  And in the next second they were kissing frantically, Pain grasping his tangled hair in her hand, pulling him closer and forgetting to breathe. He was all over her, pressing her into the shelves, holding her so firmly that she couldn’t move an inch. The air around them got fervent, and she was surprised by its shimmering – how much power exactly did she have?

  She realized she was dizzy from holding her breath and inhaled sharply, closing her eyes and grabbing his belt to pull him closer. Her fingernails scratched the hot skin under it, and he gasped and let go of her hair, sliding his hand down her spine and under her jacket, grazing her scarred back with his fingertips. It was feverish – she felt too hot in this goddamn cellar and her gear. Distractedly, she wondered why she had never felt this uncomfortable during a battle. Maybe because there wasn’t anyone feeling thousand degrees to the touch pressed against every inch of her body.

  Her fingers released his hair and ran down his back lightly, tugged on the hem of his sweater, and then got under it to slide back up his spine. He shivered at that, hugging her closer, though it seemed impossible at the moment. Only this time she wasn’t like a marble statue in his embrace. She leaned into him, because it was exactly what she wanted.

  She wanted to dissolve in the embrace, forget about the Beasts, the bloody war, the responsibilities, and the future altogether. To feel like a person, not a killing machine, at least for a minute. To be alive, reckless, human again. In this situation when the ground was falling from under her feet, she wanted to forget it all just for a moment so badly that she gave up. And she did feel better for a minute; in fact, she felt better than she could ever imagine, no matter what would happen next.

  His lips slid down her neck, his teeth pulling at her skin—

  But she froze, not responding to him anymore. Everything inside her was screaming in protest, trying to make her slip back into the bitter bliss, never stop kissing him, never think again. But there was something else, too, something so much more powerful somewhere at the very bottom of her soul, still remembering what was right and wrong. Maybe kissing him now felt right, but dragging him into her life was wrong, it was all wrong from the very beginning. When humans and Sky Ghosts got mixed together, it could only end with the death of one of them.

  She stiffened, and then her palm slid from under his sweater, releasing him. She shrank back into the shelves and opened her eyes, but they just stared sightlessly at the wall. At the edge of her sight she
could see Chad draw back slowly and look at her. She could feel the hammer-like beating of his heart under her palm as it rested on his chest. Unable to bear it, she dropped her gaze.

  Chad’s eyebrows slowly rose. She was so quiet and still that for a moment he thought he had hurt her, but no, it was Pain, she wouldn’t care about it. He ducked his head to peer into her eyes, demanding an explanation from her. She sighed at last, shaking her head.

  “What are we doing?” she whispered, and it came out barely audible. “What’s next?”

  He flinched, staring at her in bewilderment. His heart was racing inside his chest, as if ready to break out of the rib cage, and she was asking him questions all of a sudden?? Chad swore through his teeth, taking his hand from under her jacket, but still not letting go of her waist.

  “What??” finally he managed to speak.

  Her eyes focused on his then. Her look had changed: she watched him sternly now, with challenge and arrogance, not different from the first look she gave him in that alley.

  “You’re not a Ghost,” she said, and it sounded like an insult. “There’s no future for us. We shouldn’t have done what we did.”

  With that, she broke away from him, took the last of her knives from the bag, and strode to the hatch before Chad could come up with a reply. He only had the time to make a surprised noise, and she was already out of his sight.

  And so she left him alone in the cellar for the second time.

  Outside it, Pain walked straight into her sister, who was stuffing cash into her jacket’s inside pockets. Jane glanced at her questioningly.

  “I’ve started to worry what’s taking you so long,” she muttered, zipping up her jacket and giving a half of the cash stack to Pain.

  “Nothing,” she cut off, taking the money and heading to the lodge to look for the phone. “Did you take the stuff from the first-aid kit?” she called out to her sister.