Afterlife (Second Eden #1)

by Aaron Burdett

  A man spun on his heel, yanking at his bowler cap as he shoved by her. She caught his arm and slowed him. “Please sir, what’s going on?”

  He flexed his jaw and huffed. When she didn’t let him loose, he rolled his eyes and flung an arm down the street. “Blackjackets got the district closed off on orders of the Council. No one in, no one out, and a damned hour added to my walk each day until they open it back up. Can’t wait for them to catch this witch and dust her. I’d do it myself if I knew where she was, making me walk an extra bloody hour. I swear.”

  She let him go, and he spun down the lane, the crowd around them also shifting like a river’s mighty current suddenly changing course. “There’s got to be a way in. Mist us. Get us to the rooftops. We can sneak—”

  He clapped a hand over her mouth and pulled her with the flow of the crowd. “It’s too risky. We’ll get in, but not right now. Not right here. Let’s talk at the hotel and figure out a plan.”

  Amber yanked his hand away and squinted in the distance. Two enormous, rusted lampposts shaped like elegant goblets marked the official boundary to the neighborhood. It was so close. So close.

  “They’ve got it closed off for a reason,” she said. “We take any more time and we might lose Marina’s trail. We’ve got to go now.”

  “It’s not worth the risk,” he said.

  She lifted her chin until their eyes met. “Yes, it is. They’ll catch her if we don’t act now. We have to go, Dino.”

  “We’ll find another way, dammit!”

  “There is no other way,” she snapped. “You only think it’s too risky because I’m too precious to your boss. If I was anyone else, you’d be in the district right now. Look me in the eyes and tell me it’s not true.”

  He clasped her shoulders, leaning close. His nostrils expanded with his heavy exhale. “You’re making a scene. Just get back to the hotel before you do something stupid.”

  The spark of warmth they shared moments ago vanished. Amber snorted, flashing her brows. “Exactly.”

  Her dress whipped around her, its scintillating folds bursting into trails of mist that whisked through the crowd toward the district’s entrance. Behind her, she caught Dino’s muffled curse and the quiet poof of his body as it whirled into an ethereal cloud.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Hey Bartender

  Amber swirled through the knot of people as she snaked her way toward the massive lampposts marking the entrance to the Crystal District. Using her phantom curse filled her with an electric joy. She was light, smooth, unhindered by anything solid and unseen by those around her. Her gaze flitted around. She wanted to explore, to see, to be free of all constraints.

  She sped through the last line of souls grousing at the blackjackets waving their batons at the angry pedestrians. Despite her racing heart, she didn’t slow, because she didn’t fear. She whipped through the crowd and tore between a burly blackjacket’s legs, darting through the gate and into the quiet district beyond.

  Tall, dilapidated townhomes and shops half-shuttered lined the empty street. A creaky sign swung in the wind. Dust collected in loose piles before locked doors.

  Amber glanced behind her one last time as she raced deeper into the district. As she whipped around a corner, she thought she glimpsed Dino’s ghostly form burst through the gate and swirl into the cobbled lane.

  Her body fought the transformation back into solid form. She rippled and twisted from mist to thick vapors to flesh and back through all of them again. The crushing sense of being tied to something sickened her, but the thought of leaving Toby behind overpowered any desire of escape singing in her ears.

  Amber felt herself gaining weight as her body solidified. She slipped into an alley and took a gasp of air as she fell against a dark brick wall. She grabbed the gutter for support, fist pressed against her chest while her heartbeat thumped in her temples.

  Dino would come by any second. He would find her, scold her, take her back to La Couronne and force her to wait until he hatched a safer plan, all while her brother’s trail turned cold.

  Amber focused on her breathing until her heartbeat slowed. She took a deep breath and drew on another curse. “Avoid the alley,” she whispered, staring at its entrance. “Avoid the alley.”

  A trail of mist curled into the alley’s entrance. Amber pressed her back into the shadows and clenched her fists, praying the spirit curse worked. “Avoid the alley. That’s all you want to do. Avoid the alley.”

  The fog twisted and spun. And then, it darted down the street. Amber exhaled and dropped her hands. “Sorry, Dino. You can yell at me later.”

  She stuffed her hands deep in her trench coat pockets, and with her head down, marched from her hiding spot. She stuck out like a sore thumb in this place, wearing her nice jacket and dress and fine boots on a dark, dusty, and empty street.

  If she wanted to find Marina Arshakuni, she’d need someone who knew this district. Amber spotted a bar across the avenue and headed toward it, glancing nervously at the rooftops as she clicked over the cobbled lane.

  The door groaned open and creaked closed behind her. Inside, a smattering of tables and chairs littered a room walled with rich oak panels and deep, burgundy-kissed floorboards. Lamplights strung from the copper ceiling lit the room in gold. Liquor bottles piled behind the bar refracted the light in glittering, colorful shards.

  A few people sat quietly in the tables or chairs, watching the strange woman barrel into their quiet space. A man hunched over the bar glanced her way, took a swig of his drink, and slid from his stool. He waddled behind the bar and threw a towel over his shoulder. “Blackjackets letting souls back in then?” he asked, his voice the low, rough roll of someone who hated being bothered.

  “Not quite.” Amber plastered on her smile, hands clasped before her. She took a seat at the bar and casually glanced around. “They closed the gates before I could get home.”

  “Uh-huh.” He pulled the towel from his shoulder and began wiping down the counter. “Might as well have a drink then. Might be some time before they open up the gates. Word is they’ll keep us on lockdown until they find what they want.”

  “And what do they want?” she asked.

  He shrugged and glanced at the windows looking framing the desolate street. “Your guess is as good as mine. With everything that’s been going on with the Council, could be anything. I heard a crow earlier. Bone Man himself might be looking for whatever it is. Drink?”

  “No, thank you. I’m actually looking for someone and thought you might be able to help me. A fortuneteller.”

  The man snorted a laugh and waved an arm at the sprawling street. “Sweetie, they don’t call it the Crystal District because we sleep in glass palaces. If it’s not gambling or lovemaking going on, it’s telling fortunes. You’ve got hundreds of enterprising ladies and gentlemen with crystal balls, tarot cards, voodoo dolls, and all sorts of supposed knickknacks from the Deep, ready to find a mark with a few coin to spend.” He arched a brow and leaned forward. “You want your fortune read? Pick one of them and hope it’s a true, strong spirit and not some clever common soul pulling your chain.”

  “Actually, I’d like to find a certain fortuneteller. Her name’s Marina Arshakuni. I think she owns a shop around here?”

  The man’s wiping slowed. He stole a glance from a nearby patron but quickly looked back with a shrug. “Never heard of her.”

  Amber caught movement in the corner of her eye. Two men lounging at a table watched their conversation in a kind of predatory silence that sent a shiver down her spine. Amber swallowed, sliding to the edge of her stool. “Please. I really need to find her, and I know she’s in the Crystal District.”

  “Sorry, miss, but I just don’t know any Arshakuni fortuneteller.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “So what? Are you a spirit yourself then?” He laughed and flashed his beady stare at the men at the table, and they slowly came to their feet. “Maybe I am too. Interesting that a nic
e girl like yourself shows up in this bar after the blackjackets close the gates. You know the archduke’s looking for an interesting girl, don’t you? They say he wants her so bad, he’s let his dog loose to find her. There’ll probably be a fat reward for anybody who turns her in, and it’ll save a few innocent souls from a painful dusting. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that interesting girl, would you?”

  Amber edged off the stool and came to her feet. “No. I wouldn’t. If you don’t know where I can find Marina, then I’ll be going. Have a good day.”

  She headed for the door, but the two men had already made their way across the room and leaned on either side of the exit. One of them polished his nails against his vest while the other took a swig of beer and tossed the bottle aside.

  Amber spun to the bartender. “What the hell is this? What do you think you’re doing?”

  He wrapped the towel around his knuckles and sighed. “Don’t know if you’re the girl or not, but only a fool or a criminal would be walking the Crystal District after gates close. You’re in too much of a hurry to be the former, so I’m thinking you’re the latter.”

  “Great,” she whispered. Amber turned to the doors. The two men peeled away from the wall and strode for her. She pivoted back to the bartender. He pressed his palms on the counter and leaned toward her, the weight of his mind suffocating hers.

  There’s no escaping. His words echoed all around as his smile spread. Bone Man will be here soon enough.

  Amber turned to run, but as she did the men approaching her burst into a swirling, angry mist that billowed through the room, howling like an angry storm and rattling the glasses hanging over the bar.

  And still the bartender’s mind pressed on hers, told her she would fail, stole the hope from her heart. The fingers of his conscious pried into her thoughts, wriggled into her mind, delved into her soul.

  Amber stumbled into a table as the mists swelled. She looked for a way out, any way out, but everywhere she turned the phantom smokes blocked the path.

  In that chaos, Liam’s lessons in the park came flooding back. Like an instinct embedded through generations, she snapped forward, the force of her will blasting from her body. She spread her arms wide, and the fog went crashing into the wall, congealing into two men who crumpled onto the floor in an unconscious heap. She turned to the bartender, and with a glance, sent him flying into the glittering wall of glass behind him.

  The bottles shattered, and he fell with a groan. The room stilled.

  Amber marched to the bar and leaned over, scowling at the dazed bartender shakily rolling to his knees. “Don’t screw with me, buddy. I’d ask you about Marina again, but I think I’ll just take what I need instead.”

  Amber narrowed her eyes and listened to her breaths. She stared straight in the man’s wide eyes, reaching inside them, feeling them squirm. Her mind crashed into those pools like a boulder thrown into a pond.

  The pond reacted. It rippled, pushed Amber back. No, she thought, pressing harder. Tell me where to find Marina Arshakuni!

  With a painful cry, the man’s mind opened for her. She saw a neon sign shaped like a crystal ball, flashing at the end of an alley a few blocks away. Using her spirit, she ripped the route from his thoughts, then left him a blubbering mess on the floor.

  “Bone Man will kill you,” he moaned. “No one gets away from him. No one.”

  The door shut behind her, and once again, she was outside. Amber shuddered, splaying her fingers wide and gawking at her hands. “It was so easy,” she rasped.

  All that power flooded through her so easily. And when she used it, she felt it—felt her. She could almost see those red eyes burning in the black, and even though she feared the serpent, already she ached to use her powers again, to fall into their embrace and let them rush wildly into the world.

  But Amber didn’t have time to worry about the snake, the curse, or the men in the bar. Only one thing—no, one person—mattered, and she still hadn’t found him.

  Amber popped her coat collar. She stuck her hands into her pockets and hurried down the lane, following the path laid out by the bartender’s stolen memories.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Marina Arshakuni

  The bartender’s memory led Amber to an alley crowned by the blinking, buzzing neon sign of a crystal ball. She took a deep breath, smoothing her jacket while she tried desperately to soothe her nerves.

  “Okay, here we go,” she mumbled. “This is it. Be cool. Be super, super cool.”

  With that, she marched inside the shop. Angled room dividers formed a pentagon around a round table blanketed in violet velvet. Melted candles dripped from the arms of a tarnished silver candelabra, the flames dancing in the reflection of an enormous crystal ball in the table’s center.

  A woman lounged in an overstuffed chair, puffing on a cigarette dangling from a long, slender holder. Her skin was so pale it almost glowed, and her hair so black it drank what light washed over her milky skin. She nursed on her cigarette, heedless of the ashes drifting to the floor. Seeing her new guest, the woman placed her smoke on an ashtray and batted her long lashes. “I wasn’t expecting any customers today.”

  “Aren’t you a fortuneteller? You should’ve been expecting me.”

  “I left the door unlocked, didn’t I?” She arched a slender brow and smiled, motioning at the empty chair across from her. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

  Amber nodded and sat across the table. She glanced behind her at the door, wringing her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have much time.”

  “We have enough,” she cooed, her voice thick and slow. “Just enough.”

  “Are you Marina Arshakuni?”

  “That I am. The strongest spirit in the Crystal District, medium to the landed, psychic to the gentry. My mind’s eye sees all, knows—”

  “Your necklace got me in this mess. Why? What does it have to do with my brother? Where is he? Do you know?”

  Marina gazed at Amber. She took a puff from her cigarette and let the smoke drift from her nostrils, down her chin, over her chest. “You wore a necklace and sought a loved one, and now you find yourself in Afterlife, a mortal girl with many curses, wanted by the archduke and trapped in a fool’s errand, wriggling in a spider’s sticky web.”

  “So you know!” Amber lurched forward, slapping her hands on the table. “I’ve been waiting for so long for answers you have no idea. You’ve got to help me find my brother. Where do I go next? Is Toby hiding somewhere? Why did he bring the curse to me? What am I supposed to do with it?”

  Marina smiled and fell back into her seat, arm flopping over the armrest. “You look different than I thought you would. I expected something more, I don’t know, prophetic. Not some uptown girl in a pretty dress.”

  “What?” Amber blinked. “What’s my dress got to do with anything. I bought your necklace, and—”

  “Enough.” Marina cut her hand through the air. “The necklace picked you, for whatever reason. If you used it, then you’re the one. They won’t like it when they find out, I suspect. They were hoping for someone more like us, not like those city souls. They’ll give you hell.” She smiled lazily and winked. “If you make it that far.”

  “Who are they?” Amber asked.

  Marina interlaced her fingers and leaned onto her elbows. “We are the dust. We serve the Deep, and the Deep has finally brought you home.”

  Her dark eyes widened into pools of slick black. Smoke from her cigarette curled up her jaw and vanished inside the waves of her hair. Her spirit rippled through the room, toying with the flames dancing on the candelabra. “You came here for answers, and I can give you some, though I cannot promise they will be the ones you want to hear.”

  “Tell me what I need to know to find my brother. I’m strong. I can do this.”

  “No. I don’t think you are. Not yet. But Deep willing, you will be.”

  Marina’s hands lashed out like vipers and clasped Amber’s wrists in chil
l grips. Her thumbs buried against Amber’s skin so hard she winced at the pain blossoming in the flesh.

  The fortuneteller’s spirit flowed into Amber’s mind, and a world beyond Afterlife flashed before her. She saw rolling dunes of ashen dust beneath the dome of a brilliant, starry sky. She saw a people dancing beneath that dome, linked together before blazing fires, throwing their chins to the sky as the dust whirled around them.

  In the distance, she saw the twinkling lights of Afterlife glimmer on the horizon, and she knew the dust dancers both hated and feared it. The figures turned to a woman approaching the flames. Firelight washed across her features, revealing Marina Arshakuni. She wore a dress of colorful weaves that billowed in the wind, and around her neck, she wore the agate necklace.

  Marina stepped toward the fire, and the dancers began to chant. The song filled the sky and sent the flames roaring. They raised their hands and cried out. Marina folded her arms over her chest.

  “I die to live again!” she roared. Marina’s jaw tightened, and she stepped into the inferno.

  Ash exploded from the flames, cinders simmering brilliant orange and red in a plume that reached for the sky. The fire and its blistering heat faded. A swell of pure dust rose behind the tribe and crashed over it, drowning the scene in shifting grey.

  When the dust parted, a little girl appeared on a long dock overlooking a city of brick skyscrapers. Cranes and the cries of construction riddled the air, punctuated by the squawk of gulls. A policeman wearing a broad smile approached the girl. He bent over and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “Well hello, little miss, Manhattan’s no place for a little girl to be runnin’ around unsupervised. What’s your name, then? We’ll get you to your parents.”

  He extended a hand, and the little girl took it. “Marina,” she whispered. “Marina Arshakuni.”

  The vision faded then, swirling into dust that fell into a sea of black. Amber pulled her wrists from Marina’s grip and forced the lump down her throat. “They sent you to the mortal world. It was more than just walking through a mirror like I did with Dino. You were alive again.”