by D. D. Chance
“I don’t know, though,” I said quickly. “Why them?”
The old man turned and stared at me, clearly realizing for the first time that there was a female member of this group. He didn’t sneer, but his expression turned crafty.
“So that’s the way of it,” he muttered, without answering my question. “This will get worse before it gets better.”
Frost’s gruff voice suddenly sounded in our head. Inside our heads. Not crackling from our fancy little totems, but right inside our brains, or at least inside mine. “We’ve got another hit,” he said, and rattled off an address.
“The Willow House,” Tyler said aloud, and the old man, who presumably was not privy to our internal conversation, nodded, his eyes as hard as coal.
“Willow House now, maybe. The Saltonsalls owned it originally. Someone’s being tricky.” He shooed us off imperiously. “Go on, then. The last thing we need is a sensation.”
Fortunately, this part of the Boston elite neighborhood was fairly compact. The Willow House was only a couple of blocks over, Frost informed us, and Tyler and Grim took off immediately, barking orders for the rest of us to circle around from the other direction. If they found the monsters, they would herd them toward us, sandwiching the monsters between us. It was a good plan, but I was still out of breath by the time we reached the Willow House. This time, there was no question of what we were looking for. Two men dressed in Victorian suits and top hats were at the top of the street, running hard, and a couple lay crumpled in the street, apparently attacked as they’d gotten out of their car.
“Go,” Zach shouted, stopping to assist the injured parties as the rest of us charged off down the street.
Tyler once more led, but it was Grim and Liam who buried their blades in the creatures, Grim from the front, Liam from about fifteen paces distant as he whipped the knife out in a sharp, decisive throw. Both monsters dissolved into bones again, then burst into dust before they even hit the pavement. There was nothing left behind but Liam’s and Grim’s blades, shining in the sunlight.
“Nice throw,” Tyler offered, and Liam grinned.
“Just because it’s not a throwing knife doesn’t mean you can’t toss it,” he said smugly.
Zach hustled up to us as sirens sounded in the distance, then were immediately cut off.
“They’ll be fine,” he shared. “They have no idea why they were attacked. They hadn’t been paying attention to the reports, didn’t even know the reports were out there, but they practically bled blue. The men in the suits screeched at them, said this poor, hapless, confused couple wouldn’t bring down the family name, then they struck, breaking off almost as quickly. The couple didn’t know how their attackers got startled off, but they were happy enough about it, and I made sure they didn’t see them go poof.” He shook his head. “Again, they had no idea what was going on, that was for sure. I get the feeling the magical families of Boston aren’t as connected as we’d like to think they are.”
“Maybe because the couple was younger,” I pointed out. “The old man seemed pretty on top of things.”
“That he did,” Tyler said. “We’ll be circling back to him, after all this is done.”
Grim grunted from where he was examining the quickly dissolving remains. “Sulfur,” he said. “They stink of it. These bones were burned at one point.”
I made a face. “Who does that?”
“Necromancers do,” Liam muttered as he yanked bags out of his pocket. “We need to get samples, and then we need to get the hell out of here. That old man may be able to convince his gardener that he’s got some fancy new compost on hand for the short term, but there’s no denying these are human remains. With all due respect to the deceased, we need to examine them. Because Boston Brahmin or no, somebody is using necromancy, and if the old stories are true, that sort of shit is going to bring monsters out quicker than anything.”
“You’ve got that right,” Zach said. Between the two of them, they gathered up bits of bone and dust before they completely disintegrated, stowing the small packets in Liam’s pack.
“But what—” I began.
My words were cut off as Frost spoke in our heads again, his words tight with urgency. “I need you front and center, the Reid mansion,” he said. “There’s been another attack. A bad one. This is starting to feel like someone’s cleaning house.”
28
“What is with this guy?” I protested as we headed off. “If he’s attacking people at will, we’re screwed. We can’t keep up with that.”
“Oh, I’m sure if we don’t knock him out today, the academy will waste no time informing the families of our incompetence,” Tyler said drily. “I’d like to avoid that.”
Something about that rubbed me the wrong way. Was it seriously all about his family, the academy, and his precious monster hunter minor? Did he not care about protecting people too?
“We have to distract him, throw him off his game,” Zach agreed, interrupting my mad. “If all the attacks up to this point were simply priming the pump for this run on the families, what’s going to disrupt that?”
“Bait,” Grim said. I could feel his gaze on me, but he wasn’t wrong. Right now, it was probably my best skill, as sad as that was.
“Okay, fair enough, but that means we need to take this thing out for good before it runs back to its hidey-hole in the park,” I said. “And there’s still three versions of it out there. What’s the attack at the Reid house, a single monster or multiples?”
“Single,” Frost reported in our heads, clearly following our conversation. “Which means there’s an unaccounted-for pair out there, probably close by.”
“Roger that,” Tyler said. We took off, angling through the gorgeous neighborhood, chock-full of brownstones and brick walls behind which loomed more stately mansions. Finally, we rounded a corner, and Grim turned sharply, his head tilting almost like a dog scenting prey. Not for the first time, I wondered how he’d gained his tracking skills. I remembered the glimpse I’d caught of the scar ripped into his chest. It hadn’t looked man-made.
“That direction,” he said.
Tyler didn’t hesitate. “Nina, you’re with Grim and me. Zach and Liam, go wide and circle around. If we’re going to draw out these things, we’ll have our best luck in the park.
“Agreed,” Liam said. He and Zach dashed down an alley.
“Meanwhile, we slow down,” Tyler said. I didn’t even try to argue. I was already wheezing my guts out, as much as that annoyed me. I generally prided myself on being a good runner, but these guys were kicking my ass.
“Suck it up, buttercup.” Tyler chuckled, while Grim edged ahead. I waved off his words, not willing to point out that only one of us had recently leveled up as a result of the collective’s unique side effects.
“I’m working on it,” I muttered, but there was enough of an edge to my words that Tyler heard it. He glanced my way, then slowed a half-step.
“Hey,” he said, and it was a credit to him that he sounded legitimately concerned. “What’s wrong?”
I opened my mouth—then shut it again. I wasn’t good at relationships with boys. I wasn’t good with relationships, period. I was alone in the world, and no pinky-swearing, arm-clasping, wall-climbing, swamp-monster-fighting ritual in an academy rec room was going to make that fact magically go away. “Nothing,” I muttered. “Just trying to process all of it.”
“No, it’s more than that.” Tyler peered at me harder, his eyes sharpening. The softest hint of blue flared in those whiskey irises—and that was enough to send me around the bend.
“Stop it,” I snapped. “Stop it right there. You don’t have my permission to use your magical mojo on me, especially because I was the one who helped you unlock that mojo. I think it’s great that you’re playing leader of the band here, and I’m happy to fight with you. But not because I give a shit about the academy and its problems or your precious monster hunter program. I’m doing it because these monsters are hurting peopl
e, Tyler. They’re making them bleed, they may even be killing them. That’s why we have to fight monsters, okay? It’s the only reason why. And if you’re too caught up in your personal mission to be Best Perkins Descendent ever, you’re going to fuck up, and more people are going to get hurt.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Tyler shot right back. “I pulled you out of a monster’s mouth. I gave you a place to learn–”
“And why did you do that, anyway?” I countered, my own mad building. Around us, the trees shimmied a little in the breeze, blossoms starting to dance and swirl. “Was it just to be a nice guy? To show off how much you know about hunting monsters, and eventually, to add me to your monster hunting squad? If so, hey, I get it. You don’t know me. You sure as hell don’t owe me anything—but—”
“Guys,” Zach’s voice came over the speakers, and Tyler and I both jolted. I barely avoided slapping my hand over my mouth, and Tyler’s ears went bright red as his eyes shot wide.
“There’s a ton of static coming over the wires,” Zach continued. “We can’t hear a damned thing you’re saying. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Tyler said, eyeing me for approval and looking certifiably miserable as he did so. I nodded vigorously. “Keep focused. We’re almost there.”
“Got it,” Zach said. “We’re coming around, but slower, watching everything.”
Instead of moving forward, however, Tyler stopped. He pulled out his phone and typed something on it, then showed it to me. Okay to spell this shit off for a second?
I nodded, surprised, and Tyler breathed something long and Latin sounding.
Zach’s voice crackled in my ears immediately. “Yo—you there? Dammit, we’ve lost Tyler and Nina, it’s totally dead.”
Tyler ignored them both, turning to face me square. “Hey,” he said, his eyes wide, focused, and oddly bright, but not with magic this time. “Nina. We can’t do this now, but we do need to do this. You deserve better from me, better than I’m able to give.”
Something in his voice cut deep into me, poking at the lonely, isolated girl I’d once been—the lonely woman I still was. “Tyler, I—”
“You’re right,” he said, the admission seeming wrung out of him. “I’d do anything to be a better leader, to show everyone that I’m not just some silver spoon who lucked into this family and this school. I know Wellington Academy can be big—huge—again. It’s all I ever think about, all I ever wanted. But you’re wrong about you, Nina. I want you to be a part of our team, to be safe and to help us be strong, but I want you for more than that. I want to help you be strong, too. To show you how important you are, how amazing. I just…”
He set his jaw and glanced away, then glanced back to me. “I guess I’m not all that great at it.” He reached out and brushed a lock of hair back from my face, and the sizzling fire of our connection crackled between us. Suddenly, a lifetime of images flowed over me—Tyler in his room, studying, training. Tyler as a young boy running with Liam, both of them so fierce and determined. Tyler, hunched in his room, his hands shoved over his ears as the ghosts of Perkins past howled around him, clamoring to be heard. As lonely as my life had been—how had his been any better?
“Guys,” Zach’s voice cut in again, and Tyler’s lips twitched as he muttered a soundless spell. Then he straightened, turning away.
“We’re back,” he told Zach. “Not sure why these comm units are glitching, but we’ve got you now.” He glanced forward and gestured me ahead. “We’re catching up to Grim now.”
I blinked. Grim had stopped at the corner, obviously waiting for us, and Tyler and I hustled forward. I’d nearly recovered my composure by the time we reached him, and Grim lifted his hand to slow us down. Unfortunately, it was right as I swayed toward him, and his fingers drifted along my bare upper arm. A jolt of energy shot through me.
“Whoa,” I managed.
To my surprise, Grim looked slightly abashed.
“Sorry,” he said gruffly. “Not intentional.”
“No, man, that’s excellent,” Tyler said, his voice only slightly clipped, earning him a sharper glance from Grim. Tyler turned to me, nodded. “Grim’s a hunter from the old school. He’s legit electric when there’s a target in sight. Which is awesome—it means we’re close.”
I gave him what I hoped was a bolstering smile. “Good,” I said. “We’re good—”
I didn’t get a chance to say more. Without any further warning, two Victorian-dressed males, barely more than skeletons but practically bursting with magic, exploded through the hedgerow beside us. They moved so fast, it was like being attacked by a windstorm. The first one got his hands on me, while the second, screaming like a banshee, blundered into Tyler and Grim.
“Avoid the skin,” Tyler yelled, and I twisted away, hopping for a few seconds as I reached down to my ankle for my knife. But I’d forgotten there were two blades stuck in the small sheath, and both went flying as I fumbled for them.
Freaking fantastic.
I sucked in a deep breath, knowing what I needed to do as Tyler and Grim grappled with their attacker. No matter how wrung out I was, how tired, bait was made to be chased. So by God, I needed to—
Run! My mother screamed in my head.
I took off. Tyler shouted an alarm, but Grim howled with something far more animalistic that chilled me to my core. I didn’t have time to turn around, however. I pounded down the street, the Brahmin hot on my heels. I could practically feel its breath as it barked and snarled at me. It was far more feral than it should be for something supposedly humanoid, but there was no doubt it was in shape. And I was flagging fast, the effects of the previous run almost immediately catching up to me. I doubled down, trying to go for another burst of speed, when I felt something grab hold of my ponytail, jerking it back hard. My feet went out from under me, and I went airborne.
A second later, I crunched heavily to the ground, the wind knocked out of me. The creature loomed large, mouth open, teeth bared. It did look like a man, I decided, an old man with sunken eyes and hollowed-out cheeks. Its mouth gaped wider, glorying in its kill, its expression identical to the creature I’d seen looming over Betty. A shout rang out behind it, then the Boston Brahmin’s eyes widened as I heard a solid thunk—a thunk I sincerely hoped was a thrown blade burying itself between the creature’s shoulder blades.
It yelped something inarticulate as Tyler’s voice jolted through me, howling something I couldn’t understand on an intellectual level, but that certainly registered on my limbic brain. I rolled out of the way, the sum total of my physical capacity at that point, but not in time. The creature exploded into dust and gore over me.
The gore burned like acid.
“Grim, get it off her, get her clothes,” Tyler shouted, or at least that’s what I heard. Both guys dragged me into the trees. I stared at them in a daze as they wiped roughly at my face and arms, scraping up my shirt, then the shirt went too. That’s when I noticed that the guys were shirtless too.
“Goddammit, you guys have all the fun.” Liam protested, and he pounded up a second later. “I’ve got you covered, literally,” he said. And a second later, I was treated to a face full of holy water spray. I was able to open my mouth again and sputter, but Liam was already working on my arms and hands.
“Good thing you wear jeans. Yoga pants are shit for this kind of thing,” he said, while beside us, Tyler and Grim pulled on new shirts, Grim turning away. I got the barest glimpse of thick, ugly scars ripped across his back, then he straightened and I refocused on Liam.
“Two more exploded zombies, but not the right one,” Liam said, half to me and half to Frost on the line. “We’re still not any closer to our guy.”
“Not entirely,” Zach said, still hovering over the newest skeleton as it slowly sunk into the ground. “He’ll be back. He may be near us right now, actually.”
He stood and proffered something shiny, a gold ring. “We’ve gotta be getting closer. You know how our Brahmin was tryin
g to recover something? Well, this version of him succeeded.”
“What is that, a signet ring?” Liam asked.
“Minus its ring finger, yup.” Zach pointed to the ground, and I winced as Liam knelt to bag the finger. “Hate to tell you this, Tyler, but…” He handed the ring over.
“The initials W and P,” Tyler said, squinting down at it. “And that’s our crest. Hello, William. Pleasure to meet you.” He sighed. “Looks like it’s my family caught up in this mess, for sure.”
My heart twisted, hearing the self-judgment in his voice. All he wanted to do was lead his team to victory, but he was being blocked at every turn. First I lit into him with my meltdown—which deserved or not, was poorly timed—and now he was faced with literal skeletons from his family’s closet.
Liam put out his hand. “Gimme,” he said, and Tyler passed the ring to him. Liam tucked it into his bag like it was the Hope Diamond. “I vote we get an Uber to take us the rest of the way to the Reid mansion.”
“I can walk—” I began, but Tyler already was pulling his phone out.
“Save your breath—we all may need it,” he said. After he’d punched something into his phone, a car appeared so quickly from around the corner that I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. We piled in without further discussion, with Tyler barking orders. A few minutes later we reached the far end of the park, and turned onto yet another cobblestone street lined with stately mansions.
“Here we go,” Tyler said as we exited the car, Grim jerking away from me like our close proximity burned him. Well, join the flippin’ crowd. Tyler stood a little distance away from me, his shoulders squared, his jaw set. “This is it. I know it.”
“We’re off the main grid,” Liam said, studying his phone. “These homes don’t belong to the first families, not anymore. There’s something going on here.”
“But we’re definitely close,” Grim said quietly.