by J. S. Morin
I vanished and reappeared sitting on the back of his couch with my feet on the cushions. “Convinced?”
He nodded frantically and hurried to the bedroom. I followed and helped him pack.
Simon wasn’t the sentimental sort, despite my warnings. A few changes of clothes, a laptop, toiletries, and a decorative knife were all he packed.
“Is that thing even sharp?” I asked.
The knife was a replica Jarishan blade, a ceremonial weapon made to look like the one Eversin Payle bought in season 2 of the TV show. It had never been described in detail in the books. Eversin had never gotten a chance to use it in a fight.
He shrugged. “In theory, it could be sharpened. I dunno, just seemed like a good idea to bring along.”
“Planning on killing anyone?” Kelly asked.
“No. But I don’t own a gun, and if anyone plans on killing me, I’d rather be able to protect myself.”
I looked Simon over. He was taller than me, heavier, but not my a lot either way. Probably in better shape from working for a living, rather than splitting his time between writing and carting pizzas around town.
Still, I couldn’t picture him knifing anyone. “Hey, whatever, man. You ready to go?”
“Where you parked?”
“I’m not.”
I grabbed him and Kelly by the shoulder and jumped.
Chapter Forty-Six
Back at headquarters, the population was up to six. Reggie had stopped by with pizzas and beer. It wasn’t quite a party atmosphere, but everyone seemed hungry, and the beer was a welcome salve for nerves raw from what had been a harrowing day—well, for everyone but Reggie.
Tim handed Simon a slice of pepperoni.
Kelly pulled out her keychain and popped the top on a beer.
I couldn’t wait to join in, but my work wasn’t done yet. “Anyone heard back from Greg yet? He done getting his shit in order?”
“Um,” Judy said. “Read for yourself.”
She lobbed me one of the burner phones I’d picked up from a nearby gas station. On the screen there was a text message from Greg.
“cant do it. not cut out for this. sorry.”
“He won’t pick up or reply anymore,” Judy said the instant I finished reading.
“Lemme see that,” Kelly snapped, grabbing the phone from me with her free hand. “Oh, you do not get to rope us in on this crazy mission and bolt when it gets real.”
Tim stretched and yawned. “Hey, all the best to him. His life.”
Kelly took a long pull from her beer and set down the bottle on the floor. There were no tables.
“You’re bringing me,” Kelly insisted. “I’ll straighten that curly-haired shadow thrall right the fuck out.”
With a glance past the pissed-off crime scene cleaner, I looked to Judy for help. But my only female ally decided to fix her attention on her laptop screen.
“Hey, we got enough beds?” Simon asked.
“Um, no,” Tim said, tipping back his beer as if the revelation wasn’t relevant to him.
“Hey,” Reggie said, inching toward the door. “You wanna come help me scrounge up a few extra sets of blankets and pillows?”
“Yeah…” Simon agreed, following our landlord in any direction but Kelly’s.
Tim rolled his eyes. “Fuck’s sake. Just take her with you.”
That was that. My allies had broken into a crime scene and were staring down the prospect of an extradimensional incursion. Yet none of them was willing to stand up to Kelly and leave Greg in peace.
“What’s Greg’s address, anyway?” I asked.
Judy rattled it off, then gave directions.
I gaped. “That’s right by Kelly’s brother’s place. I could’ve picked them up at the same time.”
“It’s not like you had to walk,” Judy countered.
Holding Kelly’s hand, we whooshed into the city along streets of shadow.
I was beginning to gain a feel for the look of the Boston streets. Everything was still a blur, too fast to make out details, but the texture of those blurs was becoming familiar. The Charles River shimmered as we flitted over. The Zakum Bridge gleamed above the expressway. I learned the smeared, watercolor looks of landmarks along the way.
A figure caught my eye.
Somewhere behind us, a shadowblood had seen us and was taking up pursuit.
I darted and dodged around buildings and side streets. The instinct for flight took over.
The shadowblood pursued.
Some reasoning portion of my mind considered whether it was the Black-Hatted Stranger or one of the minions he had mentioned. The rest of my mind was desperately devoted to escape.
I lost track of our heading. Then I lost track of the shadowblood on our tail.
Finding a parking garage that was half empty, I stepped into the world of the solid.
“You all right?” I asked Kelly as she wobbled on her feet.
She started to talk, then her gorge rose. Swallowing back her beer, Kelly tried again. “Helluva ride. Think you missed.”
“Someone tried to follow us.”
Every scuffed footstep on the concrete floor echoed. Moonlight lit the pair of us. While I was worrying about the lack of being properly hidden, I couldn’t help noticing how the silvery light flattered Kelly’s complexion.
A pair of fingers snapped inches from my face. “Earth to Matt. You falling into some kind of trance? Talking to your shadow or some shit? Let’s get moving. If someone’s after us, I don’t wanna be a sitting duck.”
“I like her,” my shadow said with a snicker. “Much more fun than your bookish friend. If there’s anything you want to do with her, I promise not to interrupt.”
This wasn’t the time to point out that Kelly was as likely a romantic partner as Tim and for the same reason. But it wasn’t the first time my shadow would take a swing and a miss at promoting hedonism. It just happened to have even worse instincts about women than I did.
I blinked and shook my head to clear it. “Sorry. Long day.”
“Just don’t go losing it mid shadow-jump. All right?” Kelly said, reaching out a tentative hand and waiting for me to take it.
With a moment to orient myself with the city, I jumped again.
This time, we arrived at Greg’s apartment in short order. I didn’t screw around; we popped right onto his front porch.
Greg stood there with luggage, waiting impatiently as he stared at his watch.
“Hey, prick,” Kelly greeted Greg the instant we materialized. “You bailing on us?”
A luggage duffel fell to the porch floor with a heavy fuff. “That’s creepy as hell, dude,” Greg shouted. His voice carried in the night.
“Keep it down,” I said, patting the air. “We had a little company on the way over. I lost them, but I’d rather not throw up a signal flare.”
Greg’s eyes shot wide, and he backed toward the door. “Oh, no. You’re not getting me caught up in that crazy shit of yours. I saw the news. I saw my face on the news. And there’s more like you out there…? Naw, man. Ain’t happening.”
Kelly turned to me with a weary expression. “Can we just grab him and sort this out back at the hideout?”
“Don’t you fucking dare!” Greg warned, fiddling with his keys in an effort to flee inside.
“You really want him like this?” I asked, shielding my mouth with a hand to keep Greg from hearing. “What if he bolts after seeing where we hole up?”
The look Kelly gave Greg could have appraised a used car. “Fine. Let him run. We should jet before your bully comes back.”
“He’s not my—I’m not doing this. Come on.”
Taking Kelly’s hand, I dove into the shadows once again.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Shawmut Station was only a couple blocks from Greg’s place. It put us into the tunnels of the Red Line within seconds.
I’d had my fill of getting chased through the streets of Boston. With a main line to follow and the stations
clearly marked, my odds of getting lost plummeted. Hopefully our odds of getting spotted were even lower.
There were no trains running.
It had never before occurred to me to wonder whether the lights along the tunnel walls would be lit after hours, but I knew there would be plenty of shadow the whole way, in any event. Those lights hardly did anything anyway.
What I found in those tunnels was utter darkness.
What found me were darkness’s minions.
Three of them converged, standing out in sharp contrast to the inanimate darkness around them. I veered and tried to dodge around them, but the animate shadows blocked my every attempt to get past.
I rematerialized, along with Kelly. So did my three antagonists.
“Hello again,” the Black-Hatted Stranger called out.
“Matt, what’s going on?” Kelly whispered, clinging to my arm. Without her own shadow unleashed, she was blind.
“Let me handle this,” I whispered back.
“No, let me,” my shadow snapped. “Just grant me a few seconds of utter control and I’ll make quick work of these trifling fools.”
For the moment, I ignored the shadowy suggestion.
“What do you want?” I shouted, my voice echoing in the cavernous tunnel.
The Black-Hatted Stranger looked as he always did, dressed in his trench coat and hat. His choice of sunglasses made more sense than it did last I met him. He walked along one rail like a tightrope, arms out slightly for balance. “I think it’s time to choose a side: ours or theirs.”
I backed against a wall, shielding Kelly behind me. Chivalrous or not, she was blind down here. She couldn’t protect herself. I doubted that I could, either, but I was our only option. “What’s that mean?”
“Martinez had something in her office. You found it. Don’t tell me you figured all this shit out on your own. She left you information somehow—information we want.”
“And if I don’t?”
One of the Black-Hatted Stranger’s accomplices stepped forward, coming up from the other end of the tunnel, blocking the way back. “Then we kill you and see if you’ve got it on you.”
He was shorter than the Black-Hatted Stranger, with a voice that reminded me of a ballpark vendor, thick with a local Boston accent.
“Maaaattt…” Kelly’s whisper was more urgent. Her fingers dug into my bicep and that muscle on the other side, whatever the hell it was called.
“We can use you,” the Black-Hatted Stranger said. “No need for this to be adversarial. If you don’t have it on you, we can all go together to pick it up. And for our part, we can show you what’s what and protect you from the Chinese.”
“I am Chinese, you dipshit,” I snapped back.
“Really?” he replied. “I guess now that I’m looking for it, I—”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Who’s the girl?” the ballpark vendor asked. “She’s a hottie.”
“Keep it in your pants, Sweeny, ” the third of their group said.
I was surprised by a female voice with a lighter version of Sweeny’s accent. She was bundled in a hoodie and ski mask. This girl and Judy had the same instincts in stealthy fashion.
The Black-Hatted Stranger raised a finger. “No, he’s got a good point. Matt’s girl here is a great reason for him to cooperate. Alone, he could probably get away. Dragging her dead weight, there’s no way he can escape. Whaddaya say, Matt? Play ball, and no one needs to get hurt. We’re better friends than enemies, but we’re pretty fucking amazing enemies.”
Kelly’s breath was coming fast—warm little puffs that tickled my ear. “Don’t leave me with them,” she begged.
I had every reason not to trust their word. They were enemies of the Chinese, which meant my father and Kang and whoever else was in their little clique.
Setting aside the issues between me and my father, he made a more likely ally than these hooligans. I had a get-out-of-jail-free card, deluxe edition, thanks to him.
The Black-Hatted Stranger had been circling me like a vulture since my shadow started communicating. First innuendo, then threats, and now we’d worked our way up to bringing backup.
“You can’t fight them,” my shadow whispered into the ear that Kelly wasn’t breathing on. Its voice was so faint I doubted the shadowbloods heard a word. “Let me in.”
“Three is too many,” I breathed, barely letting my lips mouth the words.
“Too many for you. A twilight stroll for me,” my shadow said. “Staying will get you killed. Abandon the girl and they’ll have their fun with her before they realize she knows nothing and kill her too. You either give them what they want—and lose—remain obstinate—and die—or let me handle them.”
Despite Sweeny’s hinting, there was nothing between me and Kelly—never had been. She wasn’t even into guys. But we’d been friends for years now. I knew her cats’ names; I had helped her move apartments. Most times we hung out was gaming after hours with Greg’s crew; she was our party cleric, and I was the barbarian. With dice and little plastic figurines it all seemed so straightforward. She needed protecting either way, but in the real world, consequences were a bit steeper than sitting out until the party got to a town and resurrected me.
Of course, the real world wasn’t as real as it used to be, either.
“Let go,” I whispered out the side of my mouth. Reluctantly, Kelly loosened her grip on my upper arm and pressed against the tunnel wall.
“You think you can really handle these three?”
“What?” Kelly asked in a hushed whisper.
“Most definitely,” my shadow confirmed.
“If I die, you’re nothing. Just remember that.”
Patricia Martinez saw nothing but my death. She thought I needed to run, to hide, to seek protection.
What I really needed was more power.
Relaxing my will, I felt the intrusion of the shadow into my mind. A cold, writhing darkness swept across my thoughts, and I knew nothing else.
Chapter Forty-Eight
“Matt…”
A distant voice called my name, echoing from the bottom of a pit. Or perhaps from the top, and I was the one who had fallen.
“Matt, snap out of it…!”
The voice was more urgent, much closer.
I blinked and gasped.
My hand was on Kelly’s throat, my face inches from hers.
She was pressed against the wall of the grimy underground tunnel of the Red Line. As recognition swept over me, I released her and stumbled back.
“What happened?” I asked, shaking head to toe.
Kelly rubbed at her neck. “You went ape shit.”
I looked all around.
We were alone in the tunnel. A body lay sprawled across the tracks in a pool of blood.
Sweeny. That’s what Black-Hat had called this one.
I backed away from the corpse.
“Did… did I…?”
My finger shook as I pointed at the body.
“Yeah,” Kelly answered without needing to see what I’d indicated. “You got one of them. They scattered, and you only caught up with one before the others got away. Are you… you now?”
I took a few deep breaths and tried to sort myself out.
My right hand was wet and sticky. My jaw ached and so did my ribs. Everything since agreeing to relinquish control to my shadow was a blank. “I think so. You all right?”
“You scared the shit out of me, Matt. You said something about taking what’s yours and grabbed me. Was that supposed to be a joke, or are you losing yourself to the shadows?”
“Temporary arrangement,” I replied. “Didn’t know how to fight those guys myself.”
“So you’re slipping…”
“I’m fine,” I snarled. Realizing I’d just made a compelling case against what I’d just claimed, I took a slow breath and tried again. “I’m fine now.”
Kelly sighed. “Well, we can’t just leave a body down here.”
I
edged away from the corpse of Sweeny. “Why not? Let the MBTA clean it up.”
She smirked. “You don’t want to touch the body, do you?”
“Not especially.”
“Fine. You do the heavy lifting with the shadow-jumps, and I’ll deal with the dead creep.”
Kelly had a flashlight buried in her duffel bag, and it provided enough light to search the body for ID, weapons, money, and clues. Sweeny had been carrying a couple hundred bucks in cash, a cell phone, a pack of Marlboros, and a Bic lighter.
Seemingly non-repulsed by the fact Sweeny was a corpse, Kelly pocketed the cash and phone.
I grabbed Sweeny by an ankle that wasn’t drenched in blood and jumped the three of us topside at the nearest station. He was too heavy for Kelly to lift, and I wasn’t going to get enough of a hold on him to help, so our initial plan to leave him in a dumpster was out.
I dumped Sweeny in the Charles, instead, wondering how many Bostonian gangsters were down there waiting for him.
After that, we jumped into a restaurant that was closed for the night and used their bathrooms to clean up. I could have done with a shower, honestly, but that was a bigger detour than I was willing to take at the moment.
Emerging first from my cleanup, I waited in the hallway outside the bathrooms.
“Come in here a minute,” Kelly called from the ladies’ room.
After an instinctive rejection of the idea, I realized that she had to be the only one in there. If she didn’t want me to come in, she wouldn’t have invited me.
The glare from fluorescent bulbs assaulted me as soon as I opened the door. Slipping on my sunglasses, I found Kelly contorting herself in the mirror.
“Did I miss any?” she asked, pulling down the neckline of her shirt all around.
Guilt gnawed at me as I looked for traces of blood I might have left on her neck from when I grabbed her with a bloody hand. “Look, I’m really sorry about before. I wasn’t the one in control. If I had been—”
“If you had been, we’d both be dead. Apology accepted. Now just please tell me if I got it all.”