Loyalty

by Carrie Butler

  “Ghosts.”

  “So, they packed up because they thought the place was haunted?”

  “They packed up because the place was cursed by that damn asylum. The developer lost three construction workers that summer to freak accidents—three! Plus, they kept getting behind schedule due to setbacks. Things would break in the middle of the night while everyone was gone. Finally, they had a few higher-ups stay with a crew overnight. That’s when they finally pulled the plug on the project. Said they saw all manner of nightmarish things that night. You couldn’t pay me to step foot in that place.”

  Thank God.

  “Well, don’t worry. I’m only paying you to stop at the shoreline.”

  He grinned. “You going to be okay in there by yourself? You should’ve brought a photographer or something along.”

  “I’ll be fine. I’m just scouting it out with my phone. If we need real pictures, I’ll get someone out here.”

  “Good deal. You want me to come back at any certain time?”

  I glanced at my phone. Still no service. “Actually, could you do me a huge favor?”

  “What’s that?”

  “When you get back to Middle Bass, could you call this number?” I scribbled Rena's digits down and tore the corner off of my page. “My fiancée is supposed to meet me back there sometime tonight. If you could intercept her when she arrives and bring her here, that’d be great. Then we’ll just head back with you.”

  I pulled out my wallet and retrieved a hundred-dollar bill, the product of ERA’s work advance. “We’d really appreciate it.”

  “No problem, kid.” He took the money and squirreled it away somewhere, slowing down as we approached Sanctuary. “I’ll give her a call as soon as I get back.”

  “Thanks.” I adjusted my glasses for what felt like the hundredth time. They made me dizzy as hell, given they were marked double magnification on the senior stand. “Have a safe trip back.”

  “And you have a safe trip in there.” He nodded toward the dark, ominous building that cast us in shadow. “I have a feeling you’ll need it more than me.”

  ~

  Forty years had passed since the leisure complex’s development, leaving a scene straight from a horror movie. Skylights flooded the center ruins with dust-filled sunbeams, illuminating shattered glass and broken railings. Everything else lay lost in shadow. I glanced down the darkened hall to my left and made out an off-the-hook payphone suspended by a cord. Creepy.

  My treads crunched shards as I crept forward, confirming that I hadn’t actually gone deaf in the thick silence. The quiet bothered me. Being stranded on a so-called abandoned island bothered me. It was either home to a supernatural faction of unknowns or the vengeful ghosts of asylum residents. Neither sounded good at the moment, and the place was stuffy as hell—like I was breathing stale air from the seventies that’d been held captive all these years. I cleared my throat, and it echoed.

  I edged around dead plants and decayed benches. Most of the stores’ signage had been stripped, but some letters clung overhead here and there. I missed Rena. I missed my brother. The desperation he’d felt hours ago still echoed in my chest, pounding just beneath the surface. They’d found each other, hadn’t they? Rachel and Tits were there to help, too. Surely they’d gotten out of that place whole. Faye wouldn’t declare outright war without some sort of end game lined up.

  Would she?

  Foreign suspicion leaked in as I neared the unmoving escalator. Was I being watched from somewhere? I followed the emotional trail upward, trading filtered sunlight for the darkness of the second floor’s outer walkway. A child’s laughter pierced the silence.

  I whirled around just in time to catch a ghostly blur speed past. A blink, and it was gone. Goosebumps pricked my arms, and I tried to shake off the chill that settled in around me. This was stupid. I’d sensed nothing.

  No regret, no thirst for vengeance. Wouldn’t a soul bound to this world have unresolved feelings?

  “Is someone here?” I asked, keeping my voice as hard as I could manage.

  Giggles echoed down the corridors, twisting my nerves into a ball of unease. I took a step forward, and something groaned overhead.

  I looked up just in time to throw my arms up, separating my skull from a concrete planter that had toppled off the third floor. Its gritty pores carved grooves into my palms as I shifted it around and dust rained over the edges to fill my lungs. With a muttered curse, I heaved it behind me and listened to it thunder down the escalator stairs.

  “Was that some kind of warning?” I yelled, irritated now. “I’m here for your help. Enough with the games.”

  The laughter ceased.

  Down the hall, maybe fifty feet, a light buzzed to life. Another followed. Then another. Boarded up storefronts illuminated behind cracks here and there, flickering on with a low hum.

  A man cleared his throat behind me.

  I pivoted on my heel, arms up—a habit I’d picked up from Rena—and braced myself for another attack.

  The man was broad, tan, and weathered. Maybe a few years younger than Grandma. It was hard to make out, but it looked like he had a dark braid trailing down his back. “What exactly do you seek from us, young man?”

  Blank. My mind had gone blank.

  “I, uh…”

  He crossed his arms, stone-faced, and waited.

  “Well”—I rubbed the back of my head—”it’s a long story.”

  Fortunately, I was able to cut that long story down to ten minutes. We stood there, in the dark, while I laid all of my cards on the table. Something told me this guy didn’t fool around. If we wanted his help, I had to be upfront about everything.

  And if he turns on me, I’ll have to jump over this balcony and run…

  I cast a quick glance down and stiffened.

  “Your great-aunt, Faye, approached me a number of years ago.” He leaned against a dusty column and gestured with his hands. “While her plans for the future were great, they did not sit well with me.”

  “What about the rest of you?” I asked, a little too eager for answers. “I mean, Vladimir told my brother there’s a whole colony of you hidden away here.”

  The man rubbed his temples. “Vladimir holds resentment in his heart. He does not believe his daughter belongs with us.”

  “And what do you believe?”

  He met my gaze, steady and unwavering. “I believe she came to us for a reason, just as the others did.”

  “Can I meet her?”

  “That is not for me to say.”

  I felt like I was running in circles, talking to this guy. “Then, would you mind asking her if she’d be willing to meet with me?”

  “Very well.” He turned and walked off in the direction of the lights. “Follow me, Mr. Blake.”

  It wasn’t until I’d taken a few steps after him that it hit me. “Wait. How do you know my name?”

  “We follow all of our brothers and sisters, taking great care to trace each line.” He didn’t bother turning around, so my suspicion must not have bothered him.

  “Then why didn’t you ever introduce yourselves?”

  “We saw no need to.” He stopped in front of a boarded door and twisted one of the gnarled planks. The whole thing swung open to reveal a dim hallway. “Our collective only interferes when we believe a person can no longer abide by the rules of the outside world.”

  I ducked in behind him and scrunched my brows. “Meaning, you think they’ll tell someone about us?”

  “More or less.”

  “And they’re here voluntarily?”

  “Of course.”

  So, why was I supposed to rescue this girl? I ran my hands through my hair and wished, for the millionth time, that Rena was with me. “How many of you are there? What do you do here?”

  “I understand your need for questions,” he assured me, turning the corner, “and I will answer them all, but we must first meet with the council.”

  I wanted to ask why, but it seeme
d stupid. I knew why. They needed to meet me in the flesh to scrutinize my intentions. If I posed a threat to their collective, I’d get kicked out—best case scenario. Worst case…

  “They should be eating now. You are welcome to join us.”

  “I’d hate to intrude.”

  “Everyone should know of your arrival, by now. It will not be unexpected.”

  We made our way through the back entrance of an industrial kitchen and slipped into a small cafe. Tiny lamps dotted bare wooden tables, illuminating every eye that turned toward us.

  “George! We thought you’d bailed on us.” A lanky guy with bleach blond hair waved us over to where he sat with two companions. “You had to get out there first and scout things, didn’t you?”

  The man who had led me here—George, as he’d been called—nodded with a reserved smile.

  “Did he talk your leg off?” The other man laughed and it was almost musical. He jumped up to shake my hand. “Don’t worry. He’s that way with everyone. I’m Darien, by the way, resident Dynari extraordinaire. I hold our position on the council.

  “I don’t believe you’ve met Cam, our Nullari representative.” He gestured to his left. “In case you’re wondering, she’s Vietnamese.”

  “I’m actually American.” She rolled her eyes and took my hand before resuming her meal. “My grandmother emigrated from Vietnam long before I was born. Darien here just happened to think I was Chinese when we first met.”

  Blink.

  He plopped down and gestured to his right. “And here we have Franklin, who speaks for the humans here.”

  Why would humans try to escape from humanity?

  Darien laughed again and waved me off. “Oh, of course we have a human on our council! It’s only right, since so many of us brought our partners with us. Having a fourth party keeps us honest.”

  “Oh.” I cleared my throat. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m—”

  “Wallace Blake,” Darien answered for me, scrunching up his nose in amusement. “The big, bad empath with super strength, huh? And I see the rumors are true. You have been marked by the Nexus. Extraordinary!”

  Something about this guy made me claustrophobic. His personality swallowed the whole room.

  “You’re not surprised about the Nexus?” I asked. “We were under the impression it didn’t exist until it appeared.”

  “Oh, you’re adorable.” He rolled his sleeve up and showed off a Mark of Nexus with a completely different design. “That’s how I came to be on the council…and here at all, for that matter. After Jon and I saw our markings, I was all, ‘Great Oprah Winfrey! We have to share this with the world.’ Can you imagine? So young and naive. Anyway, we ended up here and the rest is history.”

  “Then, your boyfriend is the Augari council member?”

  Cam burst out laughing. “Jon? No, he’d be lucky to contribute a complete sentence to this conversation. If you’re looking for a French Canadian poet, though, he’s your man.”

  Darien winked at me. “You’ll have to forgive Cam. She doesn’t understand the language of love.”

  “George is our Augari representative,” Cam told me, gathering her silky dark hair into a loose bun. “He’s just too humble to go around broadcasting it. Unlike some people…”

  “Typical Nullari,” Darien mumbled. “You kill all of the fun.”

  For a brief moment, I wondered if I’d gotten knocked out in the mall and this was some elaborate dream…

  “Won’t you have a seat with us, Wallace?” Franklin finally spoke up. “There’s plenty for everyone.”

  “Um…” I threw a glance at George, who nodded and sat down at the table. “Yeah, that’d be great. There are actually a few things I wanted to discuss with you guys.”

  CHAPTER 11

  « RENA »

  Faye was going to kill us.

  That much was certain. With her daughter gone and an important cog in her machine suddenly broken, she’d act out. Our little treaty would be off, just like that. That was why I’d stayed extra vigilant during my trip up north.

  Wallace hadn’t called, but a guy named Hector had contacted me with directions. He’d even taken me out to the island on his boat, saying my boyfriend—fiancé!—had already paid for it. Nice guy, that Hector…

  Just when he was wrapping up his dissertation on the island’s paranormal activity, Wallace jogged out of the decrepit mall and waved to us from the shore. Was he wearing glasses?

  “Must’ve heard the boat,” Hector commented.

  Yeah, that, or he sensed my presence. I smiled to myself. “Ahoy!”

  “Ahoy, weirdo.” Wallace grinned and pulled me out of the boat. “Change of plans, Hector. It turns out we’re going to be spending the night here.”

  “No way, kid. You don’t wanna do that…”

  “I know, but it’s the only way I’m going to be able to report on the ghost situation.”

  “With your girlfriend?”

  Fiancée!

  Wallace smiled. “Don’t worry. She loves ghosts. Right, baby?”

  “Huh?” I was staring at the glasses again. “Oh, yeah. Love ghosts. You know, Casper and…Patrick Swayze.”

  Hector shook his head. “If you say so. I’m gonna head back to Middle Bass, then. Want me to swing back here tomorrow, bright and early?”

  “Is your schedule open?”

  “Kid, I’m a retiree who spends his summers on the island. I don’t got much goin’ on.”

  “Then, yeah, sure. That’d be great.”

  “Alrighty. Listen for the sound of my boat, then, ‘cause I ain’t comin’ in after ya.”

  Wallace laughed, and I stared at his dimples. And his glasses. And his piercing blue eyes.

  We said our goodbyes and as Hector drove away, Wallace ducked his head down. “If you’re going to jump me, you might want to do it before we head into this meeting.”

  I slapped his arm. “Out of my head, empath.”

  “It’s not your head I’m concerned about.”

  “Wallace!”

  I didn’t know why I was protesting. He wasn’t wrong. The hunky nerd look worked for him and if it weren’t for hell about to unleash on Earth, I’d take him down to the sand with me. My lady region clenched at the thought of it, and I had to drag deep breaths of lake air to stay focused.

  He didn’t know about Elise’s death or the upcoming shift in the alliance. It’d be wrong to take advantage right now. Unless he wants me to…

  No. Bad Rena! I had to tell him. We were a team. We’d promised to share everything.

  His face fell. “What’s wrong? Is Cole okay? I know it was bad for a while, but—”

  “He’s fine now.” I shaded my eyes and looked up at him, squinting at the sunset in his lenses. “But we did run into some trouble as we were leaving…”

  The story came out in bits and pieces. I backtracked, ran my hands through my hair, and paced in the sand. Finally, it came to the point I’d been reliving for the past however many hours. “She rammed right into Rachel, into the scissors she was holding.” I took a breath. “Elise is dead, Wallace.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah.” We both knew what that meant. I didn’t have to spell it out for him. “They regrouped in the tunnels. I think Larry’s sticking around until we see the fallout, so they’re going to try and smuggle a bag of his stuff from the apartment tonight.”

  “We might need to bring everyone else in earlier than expected, too.”

  I blew out a deep breath. “I know, but I can’t figure out a way to do it without attracting too much attention. I’m sure Faye has her minions scoping out our communications. Not to mention trying to contain the information if we tell them the truth right off the bat…”

  “So, we won’t tell them. We’ll use something else to get them all together.”

  “Oh, what, you think we can start giving tours of the tunnel system without the school or the city noticing?”

  He crossed his arms. “Okay, f
ine, one group at a time. How can we get your family underground without arousing suspicion?”

  “I don’t know.” I plunked down in the sand and looked out at the steady waves. “But speaking of my family, I’m in deep shit for missing that bridesmaid fitting today. I completely forgot with everything that’s hap—”

  “That’s it!”

  I jumped. “What’s it?”

  Wallace dropped to his knees beside me. “The wedding. Our wedding. We’ll get married in the tunnels.”

  “You’ve lost your mind.” I reached out and brushed a lock of his hair away to feel his forehead. “Why would you want the happiest day of our lives to take place in Wilcox’s grimy underworld?”

  “Because,” he leaned in, a grin stretching his lips, “it’ll bring everyone in without drawing attention. We’ll just put somewhere else on the invitation and sneak them down there a few at a time.”

  My jaw dropped. “You’re brilliant.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  I tackled him, and our lips reunited with a fervor that didn’t belong out in the open. He pulled me close, gripping my backside as a cool breeze rushed over us.

  “We’ll need to…” I kissed him again. “…get those invitations out as soon as we can.”

  He nodded.

  “And make arrangements.” The cogs in my mind had kicked into overdrive. I struggled to make sense of my racing thoughts as he touched me. Wires crossed. I stammered. “W-We really should go…”

  “I know.” His hands stilled, and he exhaled over my shoulder. “I guess I’m just putting it off.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “You know what I mean.” He wrapped his arms around me and we lay there for a moment, catching our breaths. “This faction hasn’t been hostile yet, aside from a few mishaps when I got here, but they give me this feeling…”

  “Wait.” I arched my back to get a look at him. “You really did go in without me? What kind of mishaps?”

  His shoulder bunched beneath me. “One of their Dynari tried some kind of ghost hallucination to scare me off, and then someone else knocked a cement planter down from the third floor.”