by J. L. Weil
Declan stiffened just as I did. His bulky form was suddenly in front of me. I stood on my toes, glancing over his shoulder, trying to get a glimpse at what was coming at us. Logic said it was probably a hallow…or fifty. But, there was something familiar about the tingles radiating inside me. They escalated, as whatever was in the shadows grew closer.
I should have been afraid or nervous, but oddly I was neither, and that only meant one thing.
Zane.
My whole body sighed.
He stepped out from the shadows, the street lamp casting a beam of light over his dark cheekbones. His eyes bypassed over me and landed straight on Declan and Aspyn. The expression on his face wasn’t outright hostile, but that didn’t say much. Zane could be a ticking time bomb. You never knew when he might go off.
I decided to defuse the torpedo before we all went boom. “Goddammit, you scared the crap out of me.” My fingers gripped the front of his shirt and tightened.
Zane ignored me. “What the hell is she doing here?” he hissed over my head at Declan.
I almost felt sorry for my bodyguard. “Keep your boxers on, Zaney,” I replied in Declan’s defense. “He is only doing his job...plus, I didn’t give him a choice.”
Serious anger clung to his features as his eyes shifted downward. “And you thought this was a good idea?”
“I—”
“Actually, it was my idea,” Aspyn said, stepping forward.
“Oh, I’ll deal with you later.” A chill passed through the air, but he kept his artic gaze on me. He rubbed his palms roughly over his face. “Do you have any idea what is happening?”
“Of course I do,” I said, unclutching my hand from his shirt. “And nothing you can say or do is going to make me leave.”
“Then I don’t think I need to tell you how stupid it was to step foot off the island tonight of all nights.”
“Here’s the deal. When I decided to go, I didn’t know there was going to be a massacre tonight. Regardless, what are you doing here? Spying on me?”
He snorted. “I don’t need to spy on you to know you’re always getting yourself in trouble. And no. The city is swarming with hallows. Death summoned all crows to defend the city while the others release the souls already gone.”
“These deaths weren’t supposed to happen.” The balance of the world was already being tipped to the wrong side—the dead. “Were they?”
Zane shook his head. “No. This is only the beginning. More people will die if we don’t stop them. And for the safety of mankind, you shouldn’t be here. If something happens to you, there will be no way to restore the balance. Don’t you see how important you are?” His hands were on either side of my arms.
“I can’t hide away forever. This is my fight too.” Not to mention, what about him? It was okay for Zane to put himself in danger? He wasn’t the only one who worried.
We stood staring at each other with the wind howling in the distance. His eyes showed how much he wanted to argue with me, but that was because he was thinking with his emotions. It was second nature for Zane to protect me, given the oath he’d taken and how he felt about me, but in that moment, he realized it was my duty to be here. I needed to show the sectors that I cared, that I was invested, and I meant business.
Aspyn cleared her throat. “Guys, we can stand here and argue about Piper breaking out of jail, or we can release the souls and destroy as many of these dead assholes as we can find.”
Finally, something we could all agree on.
Zane relented, but he let us all know he wasn’t happy about it. “If anything happens, it is on you,” he snarled at Aspyn.
She gave a humor-less giggle and angled her head. “I thought one of you was bad. Now we get the douchetastic duo. Which one of you—”
A crash sounded not too far in the distance, and Zane went rigid in front of me, eyes darkened to midnight glass. Black veins spidered over the sharp angles of his face, trailing down his neck and over his shoulders. That was as far as I could see, but I knew his entire body was pumping with crow blood.
Shit was about to go sideways.
Eyes shining in the darkness, Zane, in one fluid motion eased me behind him. “Princess, stay close.”
That’s the goal.
I was going to be stuck to him like crazy glue. My heart rate jacked up as I pulled forth my core power as a precautionary. If whatever was coming at us wasn’t alive, I would be ready. Fear was a natural instinct at the onset of danger, but I refused to let my fear rule me.
My body went into an automatic protective mode, clearing my mind as I concentrated on the sights and sounds of my surroundings. No matter how many hallows I came in contact with, it still came as a surprise. A pale figure tore out from around the corner of the brick building. His clothes might have been nice and neat at one time, like when he was alive.
For a moment no one moved.
I lunged forward.
“Piper!” Zane called.
Chapter 6
My hand flung out, and a powerful hit sent the hallow flying. He was hurled into a bunch of trashcans, knocking them down as he fell on top of them. Hitting them wouldn’t feel good, but a couple of metal cans weren’t going to stop a vengeful spirit.
I swore silently.
The hallow regained his composure and pounced on Zane. If his plan was to take out the best first, then Zane had been the perfect choice. The problem was though, Zane was remarkably fast. He dodged the blow and struck low, aiming for the hallow’s legs, which happened to be floating a few inches off the ground. The blow had him staggered, giving Zane time to summon his shadows.
I’d been so centered on Zane I had forgotten about Apsyn and Declan. The two of them were engaged in their own battles. Declan’s lip was bleeding, but he continued, fighting with determination. A flash of silver appeared in Aspyn’s hand, and she managed to swipe it through the air, nicking the hallow across the cheek. The ghost hissed. It wasn’t a lethal cut, but it still hurt like a bitch.
The shaggy hallow snarled, teeth gleaming in the dark right before he backhanded Aspyn. I winced as the sound cracked down the damp and musky alley, the force of the blow sending her stumbling backwards and straight into me. Unlike the other season reapers who had real fighting skills, I wasn’t as quick on my feet.
Aspyn barreled into me. She grabbed onto my arms and barely managed to stay on her feet. It was her quick thinking and incredible ability to shift her balance that kept us from kissing the ground. “Thanks for the cushy landing,” she grinned a second before she spun around and leapt up at the hallow.
Like a spider monkey, Aspyn attached herself on to the back of her attacker. He bellowed, revolving in circles, and somehow managed to weasel his hand into her hair and yank. Aspyn shrieked. Her silver eyes teared with pain. Before I thought about what I was doing, I intervened. “Hey, asshole,” I yelled.
His head angled in jerky movements toward me, eyes rimmed in thick black gloom. He shouted something incomprehensible at me that didn’t sound friendly. Good thing I wasn’t in the mood to chitchat, although I did understand one word. Die. How accurate he was. One of us was going to be executed. And it wasn’t my time.
I threw my arms out, the veins glowing silver under the moonlight. Duel blades of white light burned in both of my hands. Zane’s voice sounded in my head, reminding me I had a small window of opportunity to destroy him. I needed to take it. The longer you fought with a hallow, the greater your chances of a mishap. They didn’t tire, not like beings with a beating heart.
Yet, as my arm was arched to deliver a blow to exterminate, I saw a chance for information I couldn’t pass up. It was my responsibility to restore the veil. To do that, I needed to grill someone from the other side. This guy just won the interrogation lotto.
At the last second, I dropped my arm and shifted my body weight and landed a swift kick into his stomach. I needed to incapacitate him. Keep him from blasting me with a bolt of dark light. True to the speed of a hallow, he recove
red before I took my next breath, coming back at me, but all I needed was that split second to spring. I heaved myself up, using my body’s weight to keep him off balance.
“I got you girl!” Aspyn shouted over my right shoulder.
No questions asked, Aspyn was at my side. Between the two of us, we managed to wrestle him against a building. It hadn’t been a cinch, but Aspyn grabbed his hands as he thrashed. Limbs twisting sporadically, dark beams of light shot everywhere. I was beginning to think this had been a dumb plan. If we didn’t get the upper hand… If he managed to get away…
Another set of hands joined us, reinforcing the hold we had and giving Aspyn the opportunity to secure his wrists. Declan was a welcome sight. His lip was still bleeding, but otherwise he was just peachy.
I moved forward, letting the tip of my blade press firmly into the center of his chest. It would only take the slightest pressure and poof, bye-bye. “No funny business,” I seethed, putting a bit of pressure on my blade to get my point across.
“What’s the plan here?” Aspyn asked. “I assume you have one, since you didn’t take the kill.”
“We’re going to get this poltergeist douche to talk,” I replied out of breath.
The laugh that pulled from his pale lips was haunting and nightmarish. “What makes you think I will tell you anything, banssshee?” He made a gurgling sound in the back of this throat over the last word.
I gave him a smile full of malice, leaning forward. “Oh, I’m thinking the blade to your heart might be motivation enough. I may be fairly new to the inner workings of life and death, but I do know if you want any chance at getting your soul, you don’t want me staking you. Because you see, this blade won’t send you back to the other side…it will incinerate you. Now talk.”
A dark shadow fell over me.
“Death Scythe,” the hallow hissed, his eyes centered over my head.
“In the flesh.” Zane’s voice was disquieting.
My heart sighed in relief. Hearing his voice, however ominous, it meant he was okay and gave me a burst of renewed energy.
“I’m not looking to play games,” the hallow rasped.
After everything I’d been through, something inside me had hardened. I took my blade and swiped it across his shoulder, an action a few months ago would have made me squirm. The hallow cried out, but his pain was just a means to an end. “Too bad. I like games, and we’re going to keep playing my kind of games until the sun comes up or you talk, which ever comes first.”
“Well, since you asked so nicely. What do you want to know, princesssss?”
Zane let a dark sound from the back of his throat.
“What do you know about restoring the veil between our realm and yours?” I demanded.
“Why would you want to?”
I sunk the blade further into his chest, feeling the first inklings of his abolishment. I tried not to think about the smell of rot that accosted my nostrils. His head fell back and he screamed in pain. Those soulless pits shined with pure evil and malice when they met mine again. “Just a friendly reminder who is asking the questions. Do you need another?”
His dry blue lips spread into a tight-lipped grin. “Are you going to let me go if I tell you what I know?”
“I don’t negotiate.”
“Then neither of us will get what we want,” he snarled.
“Look bucko,” I said, my teeth clenched. “I don’t have your soul.”
“You can find the reaper that doesss.”
“I could…but I probably won’t. Now let’s start again. I want to restore order. Tell me what you know.” I angled my head condescendingly. “Or are you not privy to such important information?” When in doubt, shame them.
He laughed a twisted, demented cackle. “You might want to look closer to home for answers.”
Okay, so that plan backfired. He wasn’t giving me any information I didn’t already know. “You got any names?”
He tested his restraints, but Declan slammed him back against the wall. “Stay put,” Declan warned.
“Maybe you should give him another reminder,” Aspyn said beside me.
I agreed. Torture wasn’t really my style, but with Earth’s future at stake, I found myself willing to do things I’d never considered. Taking the blade still shining in my hand, I stuck it into the cut I’d made earlier on his shoulder and dug in, widening the gash. His cries pierced the silent night.
“This guy is useless,” Zane said. “Let me kill him.”
I was thinking about it. “You’ve got two minutes before I give you to him,” I informed the hallow.
His shifty eyes swung between Zane and me. “Give me your word you will release me.”
This could go on all night, and we didn’t have that kind of time. There were still souls who’d been taken before their time because of asshats like him. “Depends on how vital your information is.” I wasn’t a fool. I couldn’t trust a ghost. I prodded him with the knife, prepared to cut him a hundred times if necessary. And I might have, if an unwelcome visitor hadn’t interrupted me.
“What’s this? A hostage party?” An arrogant voice I knew well broadcasted from around the corner of the building.
Zane and Declan both stiffened.
I tilted my head slightly, keeping an eye on the hallow. A small circular glow of amber burned in the nightfall, followed by the scent of smoke. Those two things were only present in one person dumb enough to intrude, and even without those clues, I would have known who it was. My reaper detection was on point and getting sharper.
Crash.
He had balls, I’d give him that.
Blowing a puff of smoke above his head, Crash walked under the lamppost, an egotistical curve to his lips. “And you started without me.” He made a tsking sound with his tongue. “Crows have all the fun.”
Three things happened at once.
Zane wrapped Crash up in a shadow burrito.
The hallow took advantage of our momentary surprise, squirming like a damn fish.
And Aspyn lost her grip on his hands as he managed to break one free.
Son of a bitch.
A plasma charge hit me in the gut, sending me sailing backwards. I hit the pavement on my side with such jarring force that it knocked the stupor out of me. Things were quickly unraveling. I staggered to my feet and twisted at the waist, but another blast whizzed past me, sending me to my knees. It hit the brick building behind me before fizzing out.
Pushing the hair out of my face, I lifted my head just as the opalescent bastard swatted Aspyn aside. Her shriek exploded over Declan’s enraged shout. He maintained a hold on the hallow, but I could see from his eyes, he wasn’t going to be able to hold him for long. I jumped to my feet.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
This had been my call, interrogating him instead of running my blade through his heart. I couldn’t live with myself if anyone else got hurt. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Zane had Crash pinned to a building. The hallow threw his head back and laughed. It was a skin-crawling sound.
My gaze dipped to check on Aspyn. She was shaking the gravel out of her hair as she pushed to her feet. Then Zane was screaming my name. At first I didn’t know what was wrong, but it didn’t take long before I realized I was in trouble. One minute I was staring at Zane, fear radiating in his eyes, and the next, I was falling backwards, staring at the sky.
The guileful bastard had escaped and grabbed hold of my feet, pulling the ground out from underneath me. Of course it didn’t end there. He took off, dragging me across the ground. My head thumped along the grass. I cried out in pain as my head hit a rock and black dots swarmed behind my eyes.
Yet, through the torment of being pulled around like a sack of potatoes, a tingle diverged at my wrist at my raven mark and it was followed by a burst of power. Zane’s power. His dark shadows merged within as our souls fused. Amazing things happened when our souls synchronized.
Without a thought to what I was doing or how I was doing it, I channele
d all that energy building up inside me and let it loose. Not in a scream as I normally would, but into the environment around me. My heels and nails dug into the dirt, stopping our forward motion. The hallow snapped back in an unexpected jerk.
Take that, doofusbord! I’ll be super-pissed if I die in this craphole a virgin.
Steadier in both mind and body, I stood up, letting the crackle of power feed into the Earth. The ground under me quaked, and I was ready to kick his ass every which way from Sunday. I slammed my foot down, and a violent shockwave rippled the pavement, knocking him flat on his back. Squatting down, I extended the blade of light I summoned in my hand. My body might be suffering from the worst road rash ever, but I ignored all the searing burns and aches. In a life and death situation, adrenaline kicked in, forgoing any thoughts of anything other than surviving. I would heal in time. I couldn’t say the same for him. All deals were off. “Wrong move, jerk,” I said.
The cheeky prick spit in my face. It wasn’t like humans saliva. Hallows didn’t have bodily functions or secretions. The air from his lungs came out in a dark mist that iced over my face.
There was scuffling behind me followed by grunts and groans. I thought Zane was going to run in him through right then and there, but it was Crash who sunk a knife into the hallow’s heart.
Wow. Didn’t see that coming.
The hallow burst into a thousand little pieces.
I closed my eyes a moment to steady my thumping heart, until a familiar chill skittered over the nape of my neck and down my spine.
“You okay?” Zane whispered. His arms were around me, lifting me to my feet.
I nodded, leaning against him.
“Good, because I need to take care of something.”
I went to put my arm on his, but he was already gone, and I didn’t have the strength to stop him. Spinning on my heels, Apsyn and Declan moved to stand on either side of me. I wasn’t quite sure if it was for my protection or to keep me from interfering.
An artic gust trembled through the air as Zane cloaked himself in darkness, his eyes on his target. “Crash,” he growled. He made his name sound dirty, like a cuss word.