‘She will be okay, won’t she?’ Audrey said, watching her leave.
‘She’ll be fine,’ Marcus replied. ‘She takes after her mother.’
‘It’s my side of the family I’m worried about.’
New Millennium City, MD, 1st April.
The woman in the long, red coat stepped out of the back of a black limousine and the doorman of the Queen’s Hotel in Uptown rushed forward to help her. It was mostly down to the long legs, which showed as she stretched them out of the car, but the smile she gave him helped a lot.
Then the two men appeared from the other side, one very large with a solid jaw and a crew cut, the other smaller and slimmer, but somehow carrying more of an air of menace. The doorman backed off as the woman’s companions flanked her on the way into the hotel.
‘Miss Diamante has a reservation,’ the larger of the two men stated to the receptionist.
The young woman smiled and tapped at some keys. ‘Oh, yes, the Royal Suite. Length of stay?’
‘I’m not sure,’ the woman in red replied, smiling. ‘It could be extended. I believe I’m going to like New Millennium City.’
~~~
Andrea looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. It was the first time she had worn her catsuit since the ‘accident’ and now that she was dressed and ready to go out, she was not sure she could do it. Her stomach was knotting at the thought of facing a fight, and she was even unsure about teleporting.
‘You aren’t dressed,’ Twilight said.
‘I am, I… Oh…’ Turning, she went to the bed and picked up her cowl. Then she closed her eyes, pulled it on over her head, tucked it into the neck of her suit, and…
‘It’s good to be back,’ Twilight said aloud before closing the last couple of inches of the suit’s zip. ‘Y’know, we overdress.’
‘It’s bullet-resistant and stealthy,’ Andrea pointed out from the back of their mind.
‘Well, we don’t really need it now, but it’s what we’ve got… Let’s go out and see what’s happening.’ The shadows around the room swirled toward her and she stepped into them.
~~~
Cygnus stood on the top of the Americas Trade Tower waiting for Twilight to arrive. It was a dark night, and the wind blowing from the north was a cold one, but she waited patiently because it was her partner’s first night out since she had, apparently, died. Cygnus could imagine that an experience like that might result in a little reluctance to don the suit again.
Something about the darkness beside her changed; a shape grew out of the shadows, rising like a pitch-black ghost until it materialised into Twilight, grinning brightly. The last time Cygnus had seen that mask, the eyes behind it had been normal and brown instead of the black reflections of the night sky she saw now, but it was quite clear that Twilight was back, and happy about it.
‘Hey, partner,’ Twilight said, ‘good to see you again. You see, she can pull off showing more skin, so I don’t see why we can’t.’
Cygnus blinked. ‘Uh… Who…?’
‘I was just telling Andrea that we don’t need the protection anymore and we should get something a bit more… appealing. And now she’s telling me off because she doesn’t want you thinking we’re nuts.’ The black-clad heroine giggled. ‘I’m a bit giddy. Sorry.’
‘She said something about Twilight speaking to her,’ Cygnus said, frowning.
‘Uh-huh, and now she’s in here speaking to me. Don’t worry. We’re not crazy; we’re just… I guess it’s a split personality thing.’
‘Trauma can do that, I think.’
‘Dying is pretty traumatic. Andrea internalised the worry over that, but I’m here to handle the wilder stuff.’
‘But she can get out again, right?’
‘I’m a mask she puts on, remember?’ Reaching up, Twilight pulled her cowl off and Andrea said, ‘Oh shit,’ before moving away from the edge.
Cygnus moved around to put herself between her friend and the multi-storey drop. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine with you standing there.’ She gave a weak smile. ‘And I’m okay generally. It’s a little weird, not being able to control my body. It’s like… like I’m watching some sort of full-sensory video.’
‘I think this counts as the weirdest conversation I’ve had in a couple of months,’ Cygnus noted. ‘I’m going to call Hugh and get you checked out as soon as possible, okay?’
Andrea nodded. ‘Twilight says that would be a good idea. She doesn’t want you worried about me… us… whatever.’
‘Sounds like a good sign. Any plans for tonight?’
‘Check on Tonaldo’s building, and go up to Churchton and see what’s cooking there. I think Twilight wants a bit of action. She’s been cooped up in my head for a while.’
‘Okay. I’ll check over the park and meet up with you on the north side of Deale Harbour in… two hours?’
Andrea grinned, raising an eyebrow. ‘Checking up on me?’
‘It’s your first night out since… I should probably stick with you, but I figure you’ll be better getting used to things on your own. I still want to make sure you don’t have any problems.’
Lifting the cowl, Andrea pulled it back on. The grin broadened. ‘We’ll be fine, but it’s kind of cute that you’re concerned,’ Twilight said. ‘Later.’ Then she turned and shrank into the darkness.
~~~
‘All I’m saying,’ Twilight said silently, ‘is that she’s gorgeous and I wouldn’t mind if we did.’
‘She’s our partner,’ Andrea replied, not really wanting this conversation, but also not having much choice, ‘and she’s a girl.’
‘You were perfectly happy banging the girl over there.’
‘No I wasn’t. Lena was just…’
‘I’m you, remember?’
‘Yes, but I don’t remember it as being “perfectly happy.”’
‘Maybe I don’t have your illusions about our memories. Anyway, it’s not like I’m going to make a pass at Cygnus; I was just saying that it’d probably be good if we did. A pleasant experience, I mean.’
‘Yeah, well, we’ve got Jacob,’ Andrea pointed out.
Twilight grinned. ‘This is true, and I am not complaining about that. You know, there’s nothing happening here. Since Jonny was put away there’s hardly ever anything to see. Let’s go find a mugger to scare.’
‘You’re the boss,’ Andrea replied.
~~~
Marty Koslowski was having a fairly good evening. Good for Marty meant that he had scared a hundred and seventeen dollars out of two people without having to actually use his Colt Python as anything more than a prop. It was good for that; the Python looked like a scary gun, and with a .357 Magnum load it was actually pretty nasty. Unfortunately, firing it tended to bring the cops running, so threatening was by far the better option.
The night was continuing to be a good one for Marty. The couple he had seen heading into an alley on the edge of the harbour district were probably a hooker and her John, but that meant both were likely carrying cash. So her pimp would beat her up for not paying up at the end of the night, but that was her problem, not Marty’s.
He was considering whether to let the guy get his rocks off first, since the free show might be entertaining, when the girl’s street senses proved better than Marty’s ability to stay hidden.
‘Who’s there?’ she called out. ‘I know someone’s there. Come out.’
Pulling his pistol from the pocket of his leather jacket, Marty stepped into the dim light filtering down from somewhere overhead. ‘Give me your cash, both of you, and I won’t need to use this.’ He had found that being straight with people was best. Getting creative with threats never seemed to work for him.
‘Oh shit!’ the man said. ‘Don’t shoot. Oh shit!’
He was probably out of Friendship: the clothes were too cheap for Uptown and he certainly was not a local. He was already fumbling for his wallet. The girl was looking angry. Marty turned the pistol slightly toward her.<
br />
‘Bastard,’ she hissed.
‘Everyone’s gotta make a living,’ Marty told her, his grin broadening.
‘You need to find a new line of work.’ The voice came from behind him and he turned, seeing nothing but darkness. ‘Put the gun down, or I’ll make you.’ There was nothing there, but he raised his hand cannon, pointing it toward where the sound had come from. ‘Suit yourself,’ the voice said, far too calmly, and the darkness surged forward, wrapping around him like a cloud.
Marty had never been particularly afraid of things he could not see and feel. Guns, when they were pointing at him, and knives, they were scary. There were not too many people big enough to give him pause. As the shadows wrapped around him, there was nothing real to cause the sudden, horrible surge of panic which rushed through him, but it was there nevertheless. Something was there with him. Something he could not see or hear, or even feel, but it was cold, ancient, and utterly without pity, and it wanted him. He knew it was there, coming closer, and closer…
The shadows coalesced into human form and Twilight reached out, twisting the gun out of Marty’s hand with little resistance. He just stood there, looking at her and shivering, his eyes on hers and a look of horror on his face.
She glanced at the would-be victims. ‘You two, go get a room or something. Seriously, you’re just about asking to be robbed doing that here.’ They practically fell over themselves in their haste to leave and Twilight turned her attention back to Marty. ‘I should run you in, but that’s too much trouble and you’re not worth the paperwork. So I’m going to let you go… this time. If I catch you at this again, they won’t find the body. You tell your friends, if you have any. You tell them that Twilight isn’t going to take nicely to petty little assholes like you on her streets. Got it?’
Marty nodded dumbly and the shadows rose up around them again, swallowing her up and whisking her away.
~~~
‘That’s a neat trick,’ Cygnus commented.
‘I thought I saw you looking down,’ Twilight replied. ‘It works pretty well on scum like him. If word gets around maybe it’ll cut down on the thugs down here.’
‘Maybe. He looked petrified.’
‘Andrea used it in Boston. Someone tried to rob our mother.’ Twilight grinned. ‘One of them fainted on the spot.’
Cygnus grinned back. ‘So you’re both able to do the same things? It’s not like me.’
‘I’m… more willing. I can feel what we can do and she doesn’t entirely want to know. If it came to it, though, she’d listen to me and use the power. We’re one person with two sets of thoughts instead of two bodies with one mind.’ Her face straightened suddenly. ‘Maybe you’ll get to see what else we can do sooner than I thought.’
‘Oh yeah,’ Cygnus replied. Each of them had seen a figure, dressed in black, approaching from opposite sides of the roof. Both of the ninja types seemed to realise they had been spotted at the same time and drew swords from their backs. ‘Never mind the maybe,’ Cygnus added.
They both turned around, facing off against the ninjas behind them. Twilight scanned the figure moving toward her, a woman, slim, lithe, probably relied on speed rather than muscle. She slid her own sword from its scabbard on her back.
‘Swords?’ Twilight said. ‘You people do realise you’re going up against me and a woman who can wrap that blade around your head with her hands?’
The reply did not come from either of them. From the roof on the opposite side of the alley, a voice said, ‘Bind them,’ and Cygnus gasped as she felt something crawling up her legs. She looked down to see something which looked like solid shadow rising rapidly upward to wrap her in some sort of constricting mass of blackness. A motion on her right drew her attention to a fourth dark figure who was making the kind of gestures you expected from a magician. Then the view vanished as the blackness enveloped her.
It seemed to smother Twilight faster, and the attackers should, perhaps, have seen that as a bad sign, but they were closing in when they realised that the effect was spreading wider, growing rapidly to encompass almost the entire rooftop.
‘I’m shadow,’ Twilight’s voice said from the blackness. ‘You can’t contain me. Certainly not like that.’
A flurry of black darts flew out of the shadows, hitting the woman in a line across her chest. She fell, stumbling, and then letting out a gasp, before falling face first onto the felt surface of the rooftop. Another burst flew out across the alley to hit the apparent leader and he fell just as quickly.
The others were starting to move when there was a weird sucking, shattering noise and Cygnus burst out of her shadow prison looking more than a little irritated. A sword slashed at her and she caught it on her arm, glaring at its owner.
Twilight materialised out of the shadows, facing the second survivor, the one who had cast the binding spell, or whatever it had been. He still looked as though he thought he could actually win, drawing his sword and moving toward her. Her straight-bladed weapon slashed out and he slapped it aside before striking at her, the blade sliding wide as she stepped around his stroke and slid the point of her weapon through his chest.
Cygnus was having more trouble with hers. He slipped around her punches with apparent ease, and sliced at her arm with his sword, but the edge did not even leave a mark. She threw another punch, connecting this time, and the force of the blow combined with the sight of his third comrade falling apparently made him view discretion as the better part of valour. He turned, running back the way he came, though he seemed unsure of his footing. She was about to go after him when she heard Twilight behind her.
‘Let him go. We have three for the police to question and he might tell whoever sent him not to try that again.’
Turning away from the figure vanishing into the darkness, Cygnus gave a nod. ‘That one’s going to need a hospital.’
‘They all will. I’m not sure what those shadow shards do, but I doubt it’s good.’
‘Any idea who they are?’
Twilight looked down at the figure bleeding at her feet. ‘Nope. Maybe Tonaldo found some new assassins to try on us.’
‘You don’t think the powers they had were a bit… coincidental? I mean, shadowy traps?’
‘You think they were after me for some reason?’
Cygnus gave a shrug before picking up one of Twilight’s victims. ‘Don’t know, but I don’t like it.’
~~~
‘We failed, Master Durant. The girl is… powerful and her colleague almost invulnerable.’
Durant looked down at the kneeling Shade. The man was expecting punishment and, in truth, Durant felt like obliging him, but it would have been unfair under the circumstances. He would find a more subtle way of showing his disapproval.
‘It was unlikely that a simple assault would succeed, Markov,’ Durant told him. ‘You will make a full report. I want details of the fight, full details.’
‘Of course, sir.’
‘The girl, Morgan, must be taken alive, and we may need to resort to what the Shadow Court does best to achieve that. Gather everything we have on this city. Update all our information. I want to know who all the players are before we begin this game in earnest.’
~~~
The woman in the red dress smiled as Rex entered her bedroom. The suite they were occupying was sumptuous, and she liked sumptuous, and now Rex was here to give her some good news, if she was any judge of people.
‘What have you got me, Rex?’ she asked.
‘They’re in an apartment block over in Churchton,’ Rex replied. ‘I hope you don’t mind the trip. We thought bringing them here might tip our hand a little sooner than you’d like.’
‘They?’
‘Jack found a couple, teenagers. Since it’s your birthday and all, we thought a couple might be more fun.’
Her smile brightened. ‘You’re both wonderful. I should be able to get hours of fun from two… Are they in love?’
‘Certainly looked like it. He even tried to
protect her. Jack was careful not to leave any marks. He knows you like them clean before you get started, Diamond.’
Slipping from the bed, she walked over to him and stroked his cheek. ‘When I’ve finished with them I’ll have something special for the both of you,’ she purred. ‘Now, take me to them. I want to unwrap my presents before it gets too late.’
New Millennium City, MD, 2nd April.
The shadows in the corner of the room thickened and then reformed into the shape of Twilight. She frowned, looking around the room where two people had died.
She was still getting used to her new night vision. Before she had been pretty good in dim light, and that had always muted the colours. Now she could see perfectly, but it was like looking through a grey-scale camera. Even so, she could make out the spray patterns on the walls, floor, even the ceiling. Someone had more or less painted the room in blood.
The rest of the evidence was no less disturbing. There were still the remains of some ropes attached to the frame of the slim, single bed. More ropes dangled from a bracket which had been fixed into one of the wall joists. One of the victims had been hung up, the other stretched out on the bed. The boy forced to watch what was happening to his girlfriend? Or the other way around?
‘The reports on UltraNet suggested both were tortured before they were killed,’ Andrea commented. ‘I’m kind of glad the bodies aren’t here.’
‘Someone who does that kind of thing isn’t going to stop at just two.’
‘And two suggests they’ve done it before. There may be a trail of similar bodies leading up to these ones.’
Twilight gave a grunt and vanished into the shadows. A second later she was standing on the rooftop above, where Cygnus was waiting for her.
‘Anything useful?’ the blonde asked.
‘Not much more than was reported, but I got a feel for the place. Someone took their time making sure their victims had a really bad time dying. And I think we’ve got a serial killer here, probably from out of town or we’d have heard of something like this before.’
‘As if this city didn’t have enough to deal with,’ Cygnus grumbled. ‘You think we should bring Red in on this?’
Shadows (Ultrahumans Book 2) Page 9