“Serafina will probably be my Violet. At first I thought it’d be Hailey, but… she just doesn’t get along with me very well. I think she’d be too much of a distraction.
“That and I really don’t… I know it sounds terrible, but Weres always try to bring in their pack. I really don’t want Hailey and her pack. You know?”
“No. No I don’t. Because I already said—”
“I know, I know. I’m contracting them only as colors, not wives. Promise,” Melody said. “Doesn’t mean I won’t keep trying to talk you into it, though. I have all the time in the world to convince you.
“I mean, come on. We all know there’s some really great chemistry between you, Chloe, and Janelle.”
Melody hit the wheel hard to the right and bounced them up a curb, over a parking stop, and into the lot.
“For fuck’s sake, Mel, really?” Gus complained.
“Sorry, not sorry,” Melody said with a soft laugh. Then she turned to face him for a moment with a blazing smile. “You love me for it.”
“I do love you, you stupid nitwit,” Gus said with a smile.
There were times when he wanted to punch her in the face. But those were few and far between. All the rest of the while, he just loved her.
Melody made a squealing noise while wrinkling her nose, and she whipped the car into a parking space in a sideways slide.
Slamming the gear into park, she launched herself at Gus and began to sloppily ravage his mouth with hers. Her tongue darted between his lips.
Melody simply overpowered him, pinning him into the seat itself.
A minute later, she finally let up and eased herself away from him.
“Let’s get in the back,” she said breathlessly.
Gus started laughing against his will. Grinning like an idiot, he reached up and laid a hand on her cheek, then kissed her tenderly.
“I love you. Next time I won’t say no,” Gus said. “But I really need to follow this trail. Okay?”
Melody watched him from a foot away, her eyes searching him.
“Yeah?” she asked.
“Yeah. Now get up. I need to follow this, remember?” Gus asked.
“Yes. I remember. Okay,” Melody said, getting back in her own seat.
Sitting up, Gus thankfully found no one nearby.
He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the vehicle to look around.
With only a cursory inspection, he quickly found where the trail led. Swinging out around behind the shops, it vanished into what was likely the shipping and receiving area.
He unzipped the windbreaker he’d been wearing and adjusted Indali in her holster at the same time.
“I’m ready,” she said. “If we must travel through a plane, I’ll be fine. I locked the door to my office, turned the lights off, and crawled under my desk.”
Oh. That’s good to know.
“Thanks,” Gus said.
Moving off toward the turn in the road, Gus had Melody immediately fall in next to him.
“This is so exciting,” she said. “I’m so glad my pistol fit in my purse.”
Looking over, he found she had her hand resting over the top of her purse that was on the opposite arm. It almost looked casual.
He imagined she could probably draw it on someone pretty quickly without it being a problem.
The trail Gus was following went straight up to a work van with only two doors. It was parked in a shaded spot that was pressed up to a wall. To Gus it looked more like a parking space someone would take when they didn’t want anyone to bother them. This was exactly the sort of thing he tended to look for when he went looking around in an area.
Reaching into his wind breaker, Gus pulled Indali out of her leather holster and thumbed her hammer back.
He wasn’t going to take any risks now. He didn’t have the time or the luxury for such a thing.
As he walked up to the van, Gus could see right through the front and passenger-side windows. They were completely clear.
“You watch the front,” Gus murmured softly as Melody pulled her weapon out. “I’m going to… break some more laws. Seems like I’m really good at that these days.”
Moving to the back of the van, Gus tried the handle.
The rear was locked up tight.
Frowning, he contemplated how to proceed. Then he realized who he was with. He moved back over to Melody, who was leaning up against the wall and watching the front of the van. Her gun was tucked up under a breast.
“Hey, you got anything you can pop a car lock with? Magic wise, that is?” Gus asked.
“Course—want to switch?” Melody asked.
“Yeah, it’s still daylight out, and I really don’t want to be futzing with a lock and pick set. Not to mention I’m not as good with car locks as I am with door locks,” Gus said.
“You were pretty handy with my lock,” Melody said, moving away from Gus. “Feel free to pick me anytime.”
Sighing and grinning, Gus took up the same position as Melody. He held Indali under his arm and watched the front.
“She’s very loving toward you. Hard to believe she’s also the Lark. The number of murders attributed to her is quite high,” Indali said. “Then again. It’s hard to be in her line of work without criminal charges.”
Gus nodded at that. He’d heard more than his fair share of Lark tales.
There was a screech of metal and the sound of something popping.
Fuck.
Moving away from the wall, Gus walked over to the back of the van.
Melody threw a hunk of twisted metal off to one side and then looked at him with a smile. Part of the rear door had been removed right around the lock. As if someone had reached into the metal and just scooped it out.
“See? I told you I know my own strength. I’d never squeeze you too hard,” Melody said with a satisfied smile.
Inside the van was a massive glowing blue orb. It had the same coloring as the trail Gus had been following.
There was also a strange humming and buzzing coming from it. Stepping up into the van, Gus reached out and ran his hand through the ball.
Instantly, it started to split apart and become larger.
“Looks like I’ll be hunting again,” Gus said. Even as he said it, he could feel a rush of strength and energy flood through him. Hunting was what he’d been born to do.
“I’d like to join you, but I don’t think I’d be very helpful.” Melody gestured at him. “Time for you to go do what you do, Indigo. Make sure you turn your cell phone to absolutely silent but bring it with you.”
Looking down at himself, Gus realized he’d already shifted out of the visible spectrum. His fingers were long claws, and the world had changed. The dark spaces were brighter, and everything else was considerably darker.
Reaching into his pocket, he turned his phone’s sound and vibration off completely. Then he lowered Indali’s hammer gently and re-holstered her.
“Com’ere and give me a kiss, you big bad scary man,” Melody said with a smile. She reached out and grabbed him by his windbreaker, then drew him close and kissed him.
She had no fear of him at all, despite how he looked.
When he stepped out of the portal twenty seconds later, Gus was definitely somewhere else. Except he didn’t know where.
It felt a lot like an office building. Though he seemed to have come out in a receiving area. All around him were slim glass booths. Inside of each one were spinning, glowing balls of planar energy.
“…hell was that? It was like it opened up all on its own,” someone said from a desk nearby.
Moving slowly but smoothly, Gus fled the area. He moved over to the desk quickly and then got down in the corner.
Watching the man at the desk, who was dressed in some type of security uniform, Gus realized he was talking through an intercom.
“…anything there? Anyone?” asked the person on the other line.
“No. Nothing,” said the man at the desk. He seemed to be reviewi
ng all his screens and going from one to the other to the next. “It’s all… clear. Nothing at all.”
“Huh,” said the person on the other end. “Is… there any council due today?”
“No! No… not at all,” said the man at the desk. “Not in the last two weeks.”
“Okay… that… whatever. Flag it as an error and let IT check it,” said the voice on the other end. “Nothing else we can do if nothing’s showing up.”
Council. Council?
That… lines up with the hitman. Doesn’t it? She only ever got her orders by letter, but she knew it was from a group of people.
So… they have the resources to raise someone specifically to be their hired killer while also keeping them in secrecy and wealth.
“Alright. Fine,” said the man at the desk. Then he moused over a button on his screen and clicked it.
Never mind. Not an intercom. Some kind of chat software.
Looking at the man in front of him, who had no idea Gus was there, Gus slowly pushed a filament of power into his mind.
And found absolutely nothing in his surface thoughts. Other than that he hated his job but was overpaid to not care and be absolutely silent.
It was exactly like the jail and the guards who’d been assigned to the deep cells.
Which meant they were one and the same, as far as Gus was concerned.
That or they’re working for military black-ops or a mercenary unit or something.
Pushing a little harder, Gus tried to find out what the man knew about the “council.”
All he knew was that they came and went with little more than twenty-four hours warning. They always arrived or left with people known as “planars.” They looked human, rarely spoke to anyone, and spoke English when they did.
If they told you to do something, you did it immediately. If you failed or simply didn’t do what they’d asked, you’d get fired awfully quick.
Though there were several rumors that it wasn’t just getting fired. Anyone who was fired in such a way quickly fell out of contact with any friends they’d made.
Best practice was to simply stay out of the way of the council.
Looking back to all the glass booths, Gus realized that whoever he was chasing had left through yet another portal.
Pulling out his phone, and making sure he was completely behind the security guard, Gus checked his reception. There was a very low signal, but no service at all. So something was reaching this location, but it wasn’t his provider.
Flipping it to the Wi-Fi setting, he saw a number of names. Most were generic and corporate looking. Though it did reinforce that this was like a business setup.
Pushing his phone back into his pocket, Gus contemplated what to do next.
Deciding that it would be better to risk it than let the opportunity go, Gus hooked back into the man’s mind. Sliding through as gently as he could, Gus tried to go back to the man’s morning. Or his previous evening. Anything that would give him an idea of where this facility was.
Slowly, he got the address as he sifted through the days.
It was in Lamar, Nebraska.
Somewhere Gus had never heard of, and he doubted it would be much more than a name on a map. From what he could piece together from the man’s mind, Lamar was the definition of a small town, though he tended to use the term “backwater” when he described it to anyone.
I have a name and a general location. We can come back here later.
For now… let’s… follow the target. They were the ones who were outside my parent’s house.
Frowning, Gus sank a very low-grade fear into the man. A feeling that he needed to go check the door outside the room. Just to make sure it wasn’t locked and he wasn’t trapped in here.
The man stood up immediately and practically ran to the door.
Apparently, the fear Gus had given him was a very real one. Or at least, real enough that it needed to be checked immediately.
Here we go!
Moving away from the desk quickly, Gus ripped at the portal with his fingers as soon as it was within reach.
He slipped through without even a thought or a concern and moved to the other side.
And found himself in a very different location.
Or at least, the back alley of a very different location.
All around him were men and women in clothes that looked distinctly three hundred years out of date. All walking around as if it were a normal, everyday scene.
To Gus it felt like he’d been dropped into a show he’d been watching with Chloe.
All it needs is people running around with single-shot muskets.
Pulling out his phone, he glanced at it quickly to confirm his thoughts.
It wasn’t just a low signal like in the previous location—it was no signal. There wasn’t even a hint of anything his phone could connect to.
Flipping it over to the Wi-Fi signal selector, he found nothing at all.
The fuck.
Okay… so… portals can go… very different… places.
Very different.
Maybe even a different time?
Let’s just… concentrate on what we need to do.
Follow the trail.
Ghosting out of the alley and into the street, Gus continued to follow along the smoky blue essence that hung in the air.
All around him was the stink of unwashed bodies, the mud and filth of the streets, and the reek of animals.
This is awful.
“I don’t think even my time in prison smelled as foul as this,” Indali said.
“Yeah… we’re not… on… our own planet… or something, anymore,” Gus said. “I think I really need to talk to Melody’s nephew-in-law. This is too much.”
“It is certainly pushing the boundaries of what I’m able to accept,” Indali said.
Gus understood nothing of what was being said around him. It all sounded like a foreign tongue without even a single word like something he could identify.
Glancing up at the sky he noticed there were two very distinct moons hanging there.
Fuck.
Does that mean… the reason we know so little of our enemy is because they’re not from Earth?
Holy crap, is it an alien invasion?
Up ahead, Gus could see the trail curve around a bend in the road and vanish out behind a low squat home.
Turning with the trail, Gus found himself standing in what was likely someone’s backyard. Out behind a tree was yet another large ball of blue.
Another portal. Except… where will this one take me? Hopefully at least back home. If I get trapped on this planet, there’s really not a lot I can do to get help.
Pulling at the portal with his claws, Gus went through again.
And appeared on the other side in what looked to be outside of a house. A modern house, in a modern backyard, with a very modern-looking satellite on the side of it. It was daytime, and it seemed to be almost the exact same time frame he’d left Melody.
Glancing around, Gus realized he was alone and somewhat safe.
He bent over to pull out his phone and check it.
He had a signal and service.
Flipping open the Wi-Fi settings, he found there were several very clearly private Wi-Fi signals nearby.
No corporation would ever name their Wi-Fi “pretty fly for a Wi-Fi.”
Gus looked for the trail again.
It led straight up to the back door of the house and went inside.
In we go, I guess. Let’s… flip Mel a text message and we can ping our location real quick.
Keeping his phone hidden as best he could, because he had no idea if the screen would show up through his camouflage ability, Gus typed in a quick message to Melody.
Then he sent her his location, partially to show her where he was, but also so he could see where he was.
His location surprised him.
He was in Saint Anthony. Just on the far northern outskirts.
Such a bizarre w
ay to travel, if they were just going from one side of the city to the other. Would have been just as easy to drive here.
Sliding his phone back into a pocket, Gus looked at the house.
Time to break in.
Starting to feel like I’m committing almost as many crimes as the people I used to put away while on the PID.
Chapter 30 - Empty Handed
Getting down on one knee, Gus reached into his pocket and pulled out his lockpick set.
Probably a pretty cheap lock. Bet it’s not even an ANSI grade. The rake can be kinda loud, though.
Checking a sigh, Gus settled into individually pin-picking a lock he could probably rake in two passes. He didn’t want to spook his quarry. He’d followed them across a different planet and wasn’t about to let up now.
Gus was thrilled. He could practically feel the end of the hunt.
His heart quivered in excitement, and his blood raced through his veins.
He couldn’t wait to tear out the planar being’s heart and devour it as the being watched. Feeding on the last vestiges of their fear as the life faded from their eyes and—
Gus frowned as he looked down and to the side, trying to get control over himself with a single breath. He needed to keep his head clear.
Even with all the force he could put down on his own thoughts, he had a hard time curbing them. He truly wanted to devour his prey at the end of the hunt.
Finally, after what was probably a minute, he felt like his thoughts were in order once again.
Looking back at the lock Gus realized he’d let go of the torque wrench at some point. The pins he’d set were back to their original position.
Fine… just… fine.
Fine.
Pushing his pick back into its pouch, Gus pulled out his city rake and just ran it through the pins three times. There was a soft click as the lock slid open.
Grasping the handle with one hand, he put his tools away with the other. Once everything was secure, he pulled the door open and then stepped into the house.
He found himself standing inside a kitchen.
The trail led straight out of the kitchen and into the attached hallway.
Moving with as much speed as he could while remaining silent, Gus kept on the trail. As he moved his eyes from the trail to his surroundings while struggling to listen for anything, Gus felt like he was closing in on his prey.
Swing Shift: Book 2 Page 32