General West leaned back in his chair, his hands folded neatly over his round belly. “My poltergeists excel best in combat, so I could put my souls to better use in an all-out assault. That said, I tend to agree with General Kelly on this matter. An assault based on flimsy intelligence leaves us vulnerable to our … inconsistent allies and avowed enemies. I do not trust the Scarlet Spider to remain on the sidelines when an advantage appears to her. She will do what she can to weaken our rule, because it strengthens a bid for her own claim on the city.”
“Good! Then we should send my blackjacket phantoms,” Oscar rapped the table and smiled at De Luca.
“Hold on,” Ian said. “Your souls are still needed in the southern expansion to keep the peace and drive out the dust devils.”
General Kelly’s cheeks reddened. “Then what do you propose?”
“We must keep order in the city and continue Afterlife’s expansion into the Deep, but it’s time we teach the populous that harboring the Errand will not be tolerated—to any degree.”
The other generals leaned toward West. Bone Man had to give him credit. Ian’s logic was sound so far.
“Fabiana will order her wraiths to punish Errand sympathizers as harshly as possible,” Ian said. “Let it be known that any sympathizer will be dusted publicly. So will their husbands, wives, lovers, and even neighbors—all dusted in public squares and plazas. Let those who think Afterlife is a safe place for fools understand that the time of the Errand has come to an end.
“I suspect after these executions start, we will begin to learn the locations of Faye’s cells, but we shouldn’t attack as soon as we know them. Hans can send his doppelgangers into them to ferret out Faye’s network and determine where they hide her. We will find the girl. And when we do, we send the full fury of our forces to each and every cell we’ve identified and utterly crush them all at once.”
“I’m liking this plan, Ian,” Chakma said.
He nodded, swiveling his chair toward the archduke. “Oscar’s phantoms will disarm their defenses. Chakma’s spirits will turn them on one another. My poltergeists will crush the buildings they hide within. Fabiana’s wraiths will turn whatever ones escape to dust. What remains of the Fool’s Errand will be crippled, the city’s people thoroughly turned against it, and this mortal will be in the Black Palace, to do with as our archduke pleases.”
Bone Man nodded with respect. The plan was solid, and it let each general contribute to the cause. All eyes turned to the archduke. Bone Man lifted his chin, his breath washing across his cheeks from behind the mask.
The shadows around the archduke writhed like the tentacles of a creature reaching up from the deep. Icy smoke poured from the darkness and washed across the table in two streams like serpents racing for a meal. The vapor coiled around the artifacts before thinning into oblivion.
“An excellent plan, General West, and one I can agree upon. Begin preparations.”
The generals scooted back from the table. “Wait,” the archduke said.
The generals stilled, then inched back into their seats.
“As yet, Faye LaBelle has eluded all your forces. Somehow I think trapping and crushing her will not be as easy as this plan suggests, despite how sound it seems. It may take more effort than you hope and time than you think, and with this mortal in my city, time is not a luxury we have. Your eyes are fixed on the enemy we know, but there is another enemy, one who exists beyond our knowledge.”
The generals traded glances. Bone Man smirked.
“The thief!” The archduke pounded his armrest, and the air in the room warmed considerably. “This thief is the progenitor of the highest crime against my authority. This relic thief broke into my sanctuary, my holiest, safest of places, and stole from me! No Sinner or Fool has ever done this. Ever!”
All gazes fell to the table. The archduke’s power flowed into the room, a simmering, oppressive heat emanating from the man’s hidden glare.
“You look to crush Faye, but do not forget I want this relic thief found, and I will make a hundred burnt and broken Old Cities to find this enemy. Who knows who this thief might be, one who has access to the palace and mirrors to the mortal world? How many souls in Afterlife know the most inner parts of my palace and the portals to mortal lands? Few. Very few. Might I be so bold as to say the only souls who might know both are in this very room?”
Bone Man straightened as the other generals stiffened. General Chakma rocketed from her seat first and saluted the archduke. “I will post ten spirits in every district in Afterlife! I will find this relic thief and have them to you in days!”
“And my phantoms will scour every street and alley for them,” Oscar bellowed, lurching from his chair.
“And my doppelgangers!” De Luca echoed, coming to his feet.
“You can count on every wraith, Archduke,” Padilla said, standing to salute.
“And of course, my poltergeists,” Ian added with a bow.
“See that you all do,” the archduke growled. “I have let this city become too comfortable. It is time we crush the Errand and find the enemy in our midst. You are dismissed.”
One by one the generals filtered from the room. As Bone Man turned to leave, the archduke’s mind swelled over him like a tsunami’s shadow. Not you, Bone Man. You stay.
General Kelly was the last general to leave. He looked behind him as the door closed. His eyes met Bone Man’s steady stare, and no kindness passed between them.
Bone Man pivoted on his heel and faced his master. The archduke still sat in darkness, nursing his cigar. “You are the one soul in Afterlife I can trust in every matter.”
He nodded, his heart leaping at the words despite the searing pain the nod brought. Smoke swirled from the shadows around the archduke as the man spoke. “This thief must still be found, but it will not be your task to find them.”
Bone Man cocked his head. “Master?”
“This thief is too smart, too well-prepared. I fear one of my generals has betrayed me. There is a rat sitting on the Iron Council. I am certain of it.”
Bone Man stepped toward the table.
“No,” the archduke said. “It is not your task to trap the rat. I have my generals on the Council. I have already planted the seed of a conspirator. They will do their part to take the hint and flush the false one out, no doubt with great fervor if it will gain my gratitude. You, my most trusted servant, have a much more important task ahead of you. The relic’s curse is spent, what it contained now latched onto some pathetic mortal under Faye’s wing. I want to know who this girl is, why she received the curse, and why she now lurks in our world.
“Nothing else matters for you. You will find this girl and you will bring her to me. I do not care who you dust along the way, but you will do this for me, and you will do this for me as quickly as you can. Let the generals busy themselves in their complicated plans. I need speed in this matter. Do you understand, Bone Man?”
Bone Man bowed so low his head nearly hit the table. “Every word, Archduke.”
“Good,” the archduke said. The agate necklace floated into the air and slowly made its way toward Bone Man. “I trust you with this, but do not assume your failure has gone unnoticed.”
Bone Man stiffened. He swallowed, and his throat burned with the pain of it.
“It was under your watch that the relic was stolen from my palace. It was under your nose that one of Faye’s men took the girl. Do not fail me again, Bone Man. I can always find someone else to wear that mask.”
Bone Man squeezed his cane. He bowed again, taking the agate necklace as it came within reach and slipping it into his blazer pocket.
Smoke sighed from the shadows around the archduke. “You are dismissed.”
Bone Man’s heels clicked on the floor as he exited the room. In the hall, he paused, reaching into his pocket for the necklace. This mortal vexed him. How could she have thrown him with such force? Only the most powerful of poltergeists could match the force of his will. Yet s
he flung him across the room as easily as a storm blows dust across the streets of Afterlife. In that instant, he could feel the rage of her soul crashing over his, the unbridled power screaming for freedom. Only the archduke exerted that much raw power when he acted.
No one had ever escaped Bone Man. No one. Save for this girl, this odd, insignificant mortal who somehow passed through a mirror into Afterlife. He squeezed the necklace, the gold edges framing the agate biting deep into his skin.
He would please his master. No street, no alley, no shadowy corner of this city would be safe from his eye. This girl would be his, no matter the cost.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Amber of Afterlife
La Couronne was an elegant monstrosity in Angel Park, a six-story behemoth clad in the baroque styling of Parisian architecture from its base to its slate roof. Spanning nearly an entire city block, the hotel’s tall windows cast gold on the cobbled lane below. Balconies rimmed with snapdragons blooming brilliant shades of scarlet and gold splashed the marble walls with color while wrought iron lanterns suspended by looping hooks lit the hotel in neat intervals from one end to the next.
Amber opened her room’s balcony door and leaned against the railing, inhaling Afterlife’s cool evening air. She stared into the bustling city clacking and clanging below, streets humming and thrumming with the business of busy souls. City lights spread into the distance, broken by smokestacks and Ferris wheels, elegant minarets and triumphant clock towers.
What was this place? Heaven? Hell? Something between? The city wasn’t new, or rather, it wasn’t modern. So far she hadn’t seen a single glass-clad skyscraper or high rise over ten-stories tall. When they built buildings in Afterlife, they built close, but not high, and stone and brick jacketed every wall.
But neither was the city old. Everywhere she looked, she spotted scaffolding or heard the ring of hammers punctuated by rough calls of workers. Afterlife was an enigma, a slice of civilization on the cusp of contemporary but not quite caring enough to take the plunge into the present. The people here enjoyed taking their time. After all, they had plenty of it.
She pulled back her hair and turned from the balcony. Her body and her pride still hurt from Bentley’s painful lessons. She rubbed her wrist and stared at the door. She should stay in the room. Dino told her not to leave without him. He would be livid if he found out, absolutely livid.
Amber grinned and headed into the hallway. She made her way to the lobby and slunk outside beside a group of women to avoid the desk clerk’s steady stare. Not far from the hotel she found a park of rolling hills, manicured lawns, and large elms spreading burly branches that shaded the benches beneath them. Fountains capped with statues spouting thin tails of water into crystal pools dotted a maze of winding walks over which couples strolled or friends gathered.
One fountain caught her eye, larger than the rest and capped by an angel sitting on her pedestal, knees folded to her chest as she looked to the heavens like a curious child. Amber strolled to the fountain’s rim and ran her fingers along the stone. It felt so real. All of it.
“But how could it be?” she wondered.
She hugged herself and sat on the stone lip as the wind toyed with her hair. A man strolled by, counting silently to himself. Over his open palm six coins swirled in a steady circle. They just floated there, as if the incredible act was no more unique than a sneeze or smile. Amber watched the coins, leaning on her elbow as they chased one another in perfect circle.
“It took practice,” he said, his eye catching hers.
Amber straightened and leaned back, flashing a polite smile. “Sorry, it just looked so cool. You’re very good at … at being a poltergeist.”
“I’m lucky enough to be one of the stronger poltergeists I know.”
He took a seat beside her, and the coins floated to his pocket. He wore a tailored blue overcoat and lavender tie. His hair he kept combed neatly to the side, and his square cheeks framed his bright blue eyes. A splash of freckles across his nose gave him that little imperfection that somehow made him more handsome, if only because it made all his other features so perfect by comparison.
“I’m Liam Helland,” he said. “Beautiful evening, isn’t it?”
Heat welled in her cheeks. She glanced at her lap and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Amber,” she replied. “And yes, it is nice. I thought I’d take a walk, clear my head a little.”
“Funny, I had the same idea. These days I find myself walking more and more often. So do you happen to have a curse as well?”
“Poltergeist,” she blurted. It was the first thing that came to mind, and she immediately regretted saying it. It would have been much safer to pretend she didn’t have any of the powers other souls had.
His eyes lit up, and the coins floated into the air. “Really? I knew there was a good reason to take a walk tonight. How strong are you?”
The coins drifted to her lap and fell into her dress. Amber bit her lip and shrugged. “I’m new here. I don’t know much about the power. Honestly.”
“What a happy coincidence our paths crossed tonight, and what a splendid chance for you to learn! Afterlife can be a horrible place for new souls. Coming here fully grown, yet not knowing so much as one other person in this beautiful madhouse can be frightening. Trust me, I know firsthand.”
She smiled as he wagged his fingers and the coins once again took flight. Kind strangers did exist in the city after all. And why shouldn’t they? Kind people existed among the living. It was only natural a few of them remained so after they died.
“It is rough,” Amber murmured. The sudden rush of emotion bursting in her chest twisted her heart. Tears she never expected welled in her eyes, and it took every bit of her strength to fight them back.
“Everywhere I go, it’s just me,” she said. She wiped her eyes and chuckled. “I’m sorry. It’s just so much to take in.”
“Oh no, no, you’re absolutely right. Afterlife can feel like a city of one more often than not.” He pressed his lips together in a tight, excited smile. “Let’s think of happier things. Here. Try and float one of my coins.”
“But I’ve got no idea how.”
“You’re a poltergeist. The power of your curse comes from the strength of your will. You have to believe the coin can float. You have to know it will rise from the ground and spin in the air. Go ahead. Try it.”
“The last time I tried, my, ah, my power failed and I looked like a total idiot in front of everyone. I’m afraid I’ll just look stupid again.”
“If someone made you feel foolish for not snapping your fingers and tossing a statue to the moon and back, then they’re not the kind of souls you want to hang around. Go ahead. Give it a go. The biggest mistake new poltergeists make is to reach for the coin with their mind like they’ve got an invisible hand growing from their forehead.”
Amber laughed. The coins drifted to her lap again and settled there. “That’s exactly how I was going to do it.”
“I did the same thing. Took me months to figure out that’s the exact wrong thing to do. As a poltergeist, you don’t reach, you will. Command it to float, and it floats. Command it to spin, and it spins.”
She swallowed and nodded, gripping the fountain’s smooth rim. A single coin wobbled into the air and spun. It slowed, wobbled again, and plopped onto her dress.
“It’s too hard,” she said.
“Don’t doubt yourself. Will the coin. Try again. I believe in you.”
It felt so good to hear someone tell her that and mean it. Warmth flowed through blood and tingled in her fingertips. She closed her eyes and imagined the coin. She resisted the urge to reach for it. Instead, she willed it. Float. Spin. The coin didn’t float for her or spin for her. It simply hung there because that is what this coin did, and that’s what she commanded it to do.
When she opened her eyes, she saw the coin. It wobbled before her, rotating erratically a few inches from her nose. Laughter bubbled from her lips. The coin fell as she
tipped forward and clapped her hands around it. ‘I did it! It wasn’t so hard.”
“That’s amazing! Took me forever to get the trick, and here you are practically a master on your first night.”
“I wouldn’t call myself a master by any means. It was more luck, and my excellent teacher.”
A clock tower on the other end of the park began a slow, low chime. Liam grimaced at the sound, glancing toward its source. “Cruel clock, ripping me away from beautiful strangers in the park.”
“You have to go?”
“I do. Work. Duty. All those fun things that result in my meager paycheck.”
Amber extended her hand, the coins resting in her palm. “Don’t forget them.”
Liam studied them for a moment, then smiled. He cupped her hand in his and closed her fingers around the cool discs. “I won’t. How about you keep it, and we meet tomorrow and keep practicing? Coins are only the tip of the iceberg. Wait until you get a load of what we can do with rocks and dust.”
“Tomorrow? I….” She clenched the coin and bit her lip. “But we don’t really even know each other, Liam.”
His smile slipped. “I understand.”
“No!” Amber clenched her jaw. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Where should I meet you?”
“Here, since you love this fountain and I think it’s the grandest in the park. Let’s try and arrive a little earlier tomorrow. I’d hate for work to end your lessons early twice in a row.”
“Tomorrow then, and with plenty of time before work.”
His grin returned in polished porcelain glory. He bent and kissed her knuckles. The clock chimed again, and he waved goodbye as he trotted down the path. “See you tomorrow, Amber!”
She waved and stood from the fountain. “Have a good night, Liam.”
“It won’t be better than my evening, that’s for sure!”
The fist holding Liam’s coins pressed tight against her chest. She turned down the path and headed back toward the hotel, thinking about the cute splash of freckles on his face until sleep finally took her late that night.
Afterlife (Second Eden #1) Page 17