Afterlife (Second Eden #1)

by Aaron Burdett

  Amber scrambled around the desk and bent before the Census Master. “My brother. I’m also looking for him. He died about ten years ago—”

  Abel cut her off with a wave as blackjackets pounded on the door. “There’s no time. You have to go. Go now!”

  “No, please! Just find his paper. His name was Toby Blackwood. He died ten years ago. Can you find his paper? Please, just pull it out of your shelf and I’ll take it with me.

  The color drained from Abel’s face. “Blackwood.”

  Amber recoiled at the look of horror melting Abel’s features. “You know the name?”

  “He died ten years ago?”

  “During the Ardent Revolution,” Dino said. He turned from the window and focused on the man. “How do you know the name, Abel?”

  The crashing against the door intensified. Wood splintered. Voices roared. Abel blinked, forcing Amber back with his poltergeist curse. “No. Never heard of him and I’m afraid I can’t be of service to the Errand. Now leave! Guards! GUARDS!”

  Dino narrowed his eyes. “You bastard. What do you know?”

  Amber pushed back against Abel’s power, the splinter of rage in her heart twisting. “You know that name, don’t you? You know Toby Blackwood?”

  Abel lifted his chin, his deep breaths swelling with his nostrils as sweat beaded on his temples. His gaze shot to Dino. “You don’t know what you’ve done. We’ll all be dust because of you, just like Zoe!”

  “Don’t you ever say her name.” Dino jerked Amber from the desk and headed for the wall. “We’ve got to go. The blackjackets will have cursed souls with them and we’re not equipped to handle that.”

  “No! Not yet!” Amber kicked Dino away and spun to the Census Master. She bent to him and grabbed his collar, leaning so close their breaths intermingled. “Tell me.”

  “No,” he growled, teeth bared. “How … How are you fighting my push? Are you a poltergeist?”

  “I don’t know what I am anymore. What I do know is I’d hate to be you right now, the only thing between me and my brother. You will tell me. Tell. Me!”

  Abel’s eyes widened, and in them, Amber saw his thoughts, his pleasures, his fears, his sins, all written in the swirling black of the pools of his eyes.

  Where is Toby? Her voice pierced the veil of his thoughts. His mind fought her, but she barreled past his defenses.

  A vision flared. Amber appeared in the Census Master’s office. She sat where Abel sat. No, she was Abel, looking through his eyes. A man stood before his desk, young, nervous, and wringing red-knuckled hands. He rocked on his heels and bit his lip. The mop of his wavy brown hair framed his pale skin and bright eyes.

  “I do apologize about the wait. Name please?” Abel asked.

  “Toby Blackwood,” he said.

  “Welcome to Afterlife, Mr. Blackwood,” Abel replied. He waved his hand, and his office doors flung open. “My Deputy Assistant will test for which curse you carry, if you carry any at all. He’ll then direct you to a district where you can find a hostel and perhaps a job.”

  “But what am I doing here? What is all this?”

  “It’s eternity. Do try and make the best of it.” Toby shook Abel’s hand and left the office. As the doors shut, the Census Master pulled a fresh piece of paper from his stack and began scribbling notes on Toby. His name, appearance, demeanor.

  The doors clicked shut. Abel looked up, only to find mist seeping from beneath them. It pooled before his desk and slowly rose into a swirling, faceless mass.

  Abel dropped his pen, clearing his throat. “Can I help you?”

  The mass reached out, a ghostly hand resting on Toby’s record. “Do not record his name.”

  “But I’m the Census Master. It’s my duty to record—”

  “Do not record his name.” As the smoke spoke, the paper blackened and turned to ash. The vapor sighed, and the ash flew from the desk.

  Abel shivered and pressed his back against the seat. “Of … Of … Of course. I’ll not record his name. Certainly. Whatever you say.”

  The smoke swirled, shifting in an ever-shrinking vortex until it completely vanished. Abel exhaled, padding his brow with his silk handkerchief. His office doors flung open, and a squat, round man stumbled through the doorway, wide cheeks beet red, bruise purpling on his temple, and sweat staining his collar. “Abel, they up and took him! I started the test, and they just barreled in, dressed in black and acting like they owned the place. Said they operated on orders from the archduke, and when I asked, ‘Who is this bloody archduke?’ they bashed me with their baton and hauled him off. We’ve got to inform the authorities!”

  Abel stared at the remains of Toby Blackwood’s record. He took a deep breath and brushed the ash onto the carpet. “I’m terribly sorry about your head, Christopher. Take the rest of the day off.”

  “But sir—”

  “I insist.” Abel waved his hand, and his assistant slid back into the hall. “Never speak of this again to anyone, else we’ll both be dust before the day ends. I am deadly serious about this.”

  Christopher rubbed the blubbery mass of his neck and nodded. “Yes, sir. I think I’ll go home and rest. Maybe enjoy a glass of gin or three. It’s finally coming, isn’t it? What they say is true. Someone’s actually moving against the Assembly.”

  “It is. The Revolution has come. God have mercy on us all.”

  The vision vanished as her mind snapped back to reality. The bond between her and Abel shattered, the Census Master’s face now pale and covered in sweat. “A spirit? But how so powerful?”

  “You knew him? You remembered him! Tell me where he is! Tell me where they took him!”

  The doors exploded inward, and blackjackets poured into the room, swords and rifles drawn and faces full of fury. In a flash, Dino was before her, jerking her to his chest. “Sorry, Amber, time to go!”

  They burst into a torrent of mist in a hail of rifle bullets that shattered the window behind them. Dino whistled through the broken pane, carrying her as fast as he could manage from Census Hall and Record Repository Number Ninety-Six.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Hello Again, Liam

  Amber took a seat on the fountain’s rim, glancing around the park for any sign of her secret friend. Dino would kill her if he knew she had snuck out of the hotel, especially after breaking in to the Census Hall and all the chaos and commotion that went along with that little stunt.

  But she needed the air. Her room in La Couronne was stifling, cramped, and she could only practice floating coins for so long until the boredom threatened to kill her. So instead of floating coins or staring at the wall, she waited for a lull in the street traffic and floated herself out the balcony. It was a rough landing, and a few people stopped to help, but at least she knew she could avoid the front desk attendants who she assumed were Dino’s allies.

  She wore a wide-brimmed hat with two long peacock feathers fastened to a silk ribbon. An emerald veil hid her face from prying eyes as she walked into the expansive park. Strangers strolled by, murmuring, chatting, never taking notice of the woman waiting by the fountain, hands folded neatly in her lap. It felt good to be invisible and unnoticed amongst the crowd. In a way, it reminded her of home.

  The sky burned with the simmering oranges of evening. Amber pulled the coins from her pocket and began to slowly rotate them around her hand. They moved in smooth, regular motions. She smiled. Liam would be impressed.

  “Good evening, miss. Quite the control you have on your curse.”

  “Thank you,” Amber said, looking up.

  A blackjacket stood before her, sporting his long, dark overcoat fastened by brass buttons. He wore the number eight hundred and seventy-six on his collar, kept his long beard dark and heavily-oiled, and the way he tapped his foot on the path did little to calm her suddenly rankled nerves.

  The coins collapsed into her clammy hand. She pressed her fist into her lap and plastered on a smile, keeping her face hidden in the shroud. “How can I help yo
u, sir?”

  “Out for a late stroll then?”

  I’m such an idiot, Amber thought. “Yes, it’s a nice night and I wanted some fresh air.”

  “Hmm. Angel Park’s no slum, but odd to see a single lady lingering unescorted these days. Why, some might say it’s suspicious. You look innocent as a lamb to me, and that almost makes me think, ‘Now isn’t she just a little too innocent?’ Tell me, kind lady, have you ever heard the name Dino Cardona?”

  Amber fidgeted in her seat. “I’ve never heard the name. Is he a friend of yours?”

  The officer’s frown deepened. “You’ve never heard of Dino Cardona? Why, aside from Faye, he’s probably the most famous fool around. How is it a landed lady like yourself has never heard the name Dino Cardona?” He strummed his baton and waited.

  “Well,” Amber said, clearing her throat so she could think, “I’m a new soul. Very new. I don’t know much about Afterlife, I’m afraid. I, ah, I just wanted to come out here and sit. I really didn’t mean to cause any trouble. There was a man I was meeting, but he seems late….”

  “Oh, so the lady does have a friend? And he’s late? Or maybe he’s a phantom, and he’s swirling in invisible trails around us right now, waiting for his lady friend to be alone once again.” The blackjacket bent toward her, licking his teeth as he grinned. “Odd that a soul so new should find themselves in a district for the gentry, waiting at the fall of night for a mysterious friend.”

  She winced at her stupidity. A newcomer to Afterlife, waiting on a man. This was exactly what the blackjackets were looking for. “He’s just a friend is all,” she said.

  Her heart rapped against her ribs. She buried her fists deeper in her lap. The blackjacket leaned closer, slipping the baton from his belt. “What was your name again? Out with it then, let’s not deny a man in Archduke black when he asks a girl a question.”

  “There you are!” Liam came trotting around the fountain, beaming a wide and toothy smile. He wiped sweat from his brow and bowed at the officer. “Frank, so good to see you! I see you happened upon my friend. I do apologize for having her wait unattended in the park, what with the new patrols and all it took a bit longer to get here than I expected. You know I saw them dust three souls on my way here? Errand sympathizers no doubt, and a deserved dusting for each and every one of them!”

  Amber exhaled, scooting from the soldier so she could bounce up and embrace Liam. “Liam, I thought you’d forgotten about me.”

  “You know this girl?” the officer asked Liam.

  “Why, of course I do! The lady’s a new poltergeist and needs someone to show her how the curse works. Who better than me? I’ve taken her on as my apprentice!”

  “Hah! I’m sure she’ll be spinning twenty coins in no time, Liam. So you’re the one putting her up, dressing a new soul in such finery? Tell me true. There’s no amount of coin that can shut me up in this, either. She’s no fool, is she?”

  Amber squeezed her fist so hard her nails bit into the skin. Liam just stared at the blackjacket, his face expressionless. The two men locked gazes for a long while. Liam snorted a great laugh and bent backward, slapping his belly. “She’s no fool, you fool! She’s my pretty lady and apprentice poltergeist, and you’ve got my word as an archduke’s man that we’ve got no part in the Errand.”

  Frank snorted a laugh. He squeezed Liam’s shoulder and turned to Amber, giving her a curt bow. “If Liam speaks for you, then you’re good. There isn’t no soul in Afterlife a better man than him. Good day to you both.”

  The blackjacket began marching down the path but stopped and pivoted on his heel before he was out of earshot. “Let me know if you see anything suspicious about. There was an attack on Census Hall and Record Repository Number Ninety-Six today by none other than Dino Cardona. He’s got some girl with him. Be on the lookout, will you? The Iron Council wants her, and they want her bad. Haven’t seen them out in such force in the inner districts since the Revolution.”

  Amber sat still as a deer in headlights. Not a single muscle twitched, despite the adrenaline burning through her blood, screaming for her feet to sprint into the park. Her gaze shifted to her friend.

  “We’ll be sure to keep an eye out,” Liam said.

  Amber exhaled and smiled, pinching the brim of her hat. “A very sharp one.”

  “See that you do,” Frank said. He twisted around and ambled down the park path. They both watched silently until he vanished behind a grove of old oaks.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “Was he right? Was it you?”

  “Would it change things if it was? I’m not a criminal, Liam. I swear I’m not.”

  “I don’t think you are either. But, Amber, Dino Cardona’s a dangerous man. He’s the man that’s given the blackjackets the slip since the days of the Revolution, and they want him very badly. In Afterlife, there are two people who tend to leave dust in their trail wherever they go. One’s Bone Man, the other, Dino Cardona. I won’t press it because it’s not my business, but if you or anyone you know has the slightest dealings with him, cut them off now and thank your stars the blackjackets don’t know a thing about it.”

  She wanted desperately to tell Liam all about Dino and how much she loathed the man. But part of her screamed a warning. This was only their second meeting, and he already knew enough to make the blackjackets suspicious if they decided to question him more thoroughly.

  “Thank you for the advice. I’m a good soul, I really am. I’ve got nothing to fear or hide, but I don’t want you to get into any trouble because of me. You should go if you feel worried. Forget about me.”

  Liam arched an eyebrow. “That’d be the easier thing to do, wouldn’t it? Just turn and walk away and let the Errand use you or the blackjackets take you.” His flat lips twisted up in a grin. “But I’ve never been one to take the easy way out. I think you’re a good egg, Amber, and I don’t leave a good egg in the dust.”

  “But why? Why do any of this?”

  “You’re not the only soul in Afterlife who came here lonely.” He brushed his knuckles down her cheek. “What good is eternity if we’re too afraid to live it?”

  Amber laughed and slipped from his grip. “You’re smooth, you know that?”

  He took her hand, and together they meandered down the winding park path. “He called me girl,” she said. “I hate that. It happens too much here.”

  “It’s a stupid way of trying to make you feel small. Don’t let them get to you. Show them you’re a woman. I see it in you.”

  “At least someone here does. Thank you. It means a lot.”

  They paused before an angel statue with his arms spread toward the heavens. Liam leaned against its pedestal and motioned at Amber’s pocket. “How’s the floating going?”

  Six coins slipped from Amber’s jacket pocket. They rose between her and Liam, forming a spinning frame between their faces. Liam laughed, and he clapped as he stepped back to fully appreciate her work. “Wonderful job, Amber. You’re a natural poltergeist! What about weight? How are you with heavier things?”

  “I can lift a few pounds and not much else. I lifted the chair in my room this morning, but not for long. I know what you told me about weight not mattering, and I understand that. But it seems like the heavier things are, the more the rational part of my brain fights me, tells me that I’ll never be able to float this or lift that because it just isn’t possible.”

  “Rationality is a thing for mortals. Afterlife will have you a raving lunatic tossing boulders into the sky before long, don’t you worry about that.” He glanced around them, then leaned to her. “Okay, I’m dying to know. Why’d you break into the building?”

  Her coins began to falter. “So you do think I did it.”

  He raised his hands and flashed a smile. “If you’re not comfortable, I won’t press you on it It’s just—well, if you want me to help keep you safe, you might want to let me know at least a little more.”

  Amber dropped the coins into her palm and
pocketed them. She stared at him, the truth fighting for freedom on her tongue. She swallowed it down and smiled instead. “Liam, you’re crazy. I told you I’m new to the city. How could a poltergeist who can barely spin coins in the air break into an official government building?”

  “Touché.” He bit his lip, looking her up and down.

  She noticed and slowed. “What? Spit it out.”

  “But you are seemingly doing quite well for yourself for being a new citizen of the city. You must see how it’s suspicious.”

  She inspected the sleeves of her coat and nodded. “I can see that.”

  His smile slipped into a frown, and his shoulders drooped. “So a husband, or maybe a lover then. It’s not uncommon to take the memory of your partner with you beyond the grave. Did you find him?” Liam stiffened and slapped a fist on his chest. “I give you my word as a gentleman, I will not profane your honor! If friends are all we may be, then let us be that and that alone!”

  “My husband?” Amber laughed at the thought. She clutched his fist and brought it down. “Don’t worry. I don’t have a lover or husband or anything like that. There is a man, though. I have … my memory was of my brother. If you want to know my secret, Liam, it’s that.”

  “Oh thank God,” he blurted. “My day got a lot worse there for a second.”

  “And now?” she asked.

  “It’s so much better.”

  “You really would’ve been okay, even if I had a husband?”

  “I gave you my word. There’s nothing more sacred in this city than your reputation. Wealth comes and goes, but immortal souls have long memories. Besides, I’d hope you’d still want to be friends, even if you ended up slipping through my fingers.”

  “I haven’t slipped yet,” Amber said. She winked and turned to the park.

  His gaze followed hers. He lifted his hand and wagged his fingers. A stone floated from the grasses, swirling through the cool evening until it came to rest before them. “Take it. Float it.”

  “That’s got to be twenty pounds. I’ve never lifted anything that heavy.”