Hypnos

by RJ Blain

  “That’s so sweet.” Judging from her words, her father had died. “What happened to your father?”

  “I’m sorry. He died a few years ago, an old but happy man.”

  “Don’t be sorry. Isn’t that what we all want for our lives? To die old and happy?” I smiled—or I hoped I did. “I was born in early March, too. My mother is Chinese, and my father is American. I’m not very good at being Chinese, much to my mother’s dismay. I never paid attention to my zodiac sign.”

  “What year were you born?”

  “1988.”

  Elizabeth laughed, and the joyful sound rippled through the water. “We’re the same age.”

  Her joy became my sadness, as I often believed I had so much of my life ahead of me. “My birthday is March 2, 1988.”

  Elizabeth’s smile brightened even her eyes. “Me, too. We are dragons of the earth, and dragons always fixate on the earth. But we’re fish dragons, and fish dragons aren’t really the best earth dragons, but I never told my father that.”

  Fish? Ah, the Greek zodiac. “Pisces.”

  “Fish dragons.” Elizabeth’s smile widened to a grin. “I did that to annoy my father. On the other side, I look forward to an eternity of teasing him. I guess it’s fitting. His oldest being the first to rejoin him. I think he’ll be sad at what his statuette has become, but he will be proud of my choice following death. I could’ve just fled.”

  She could have. “I’ll have to try your tactic on my mother.”

  “You are a sea full of stars when you should be the strongest of dragons. You defy the circumstances of your birth.” Elizabeth’s smile vanished, and her brows furrowed. “No, that’s not right. My father always believed that the flowers to bloom in adversity are the most beautiful of all. You’re a water elementalist, aren’t you?”

  “I survived New York.”

  Elizabeth squeezed my hand. “Adversity. Never forget you are a dragon. Are you ready to see the monster that the shadow named Hypnos?”

  “Show me.”

  We drifted through the dark sea towards the blue light. As we drew closer, the glow solidified into an orb filled with hazy figures struggling to escape from a monstrous black and gold koi circling them. Pale streamers seeped out of the orb, which the ghostly fish chased and devoured.

  “Those are people. His new victims. They’re dying. While it eats their dreams, it also eats their souls, just as it devoured most of mine. They’ve no way to escape. I fled in a tiny gap in its attention. It enjoys to chase those who flee. But the truth remains. They have no way to escape.”

  Like hell they didn’t. “You’re a linker, right?”

  “I am.”

  “Can you guide them to my body with your magic? Link them to me so they can return to the living world?”

  I had no idea if it would restore them to life or make their situation worse, but I didn’t have any other ideas.

  “But what good will that do?”

  The truth hurt. I didn’t want to send anyone to the next life again, but I could feel their terror rippling through the water. No one deserved that fate.

  “Better for them to haunt your house than to have their souls eaten by that thing. I don’t know how strong of a linker you are, but you could perhaps link them to their bodies if you’re willing to try.”

  It wasn’t like overextending would kill her again.

  “I’m willing.”

  “Thank you.” I considered the fish, which continued to chase the energy leaking from the orb. Fish disliked the cold, and as a water elementalist, I controlled all forms of water, even ice.

  However, ice strained my ability to its limits.

  I had no idea what attempting to freeze a giant ghost fish would do to it—or to me. “This is probably going to be dangerous.”

  “Things worth doing often are. My father liked saying that.”

  “My mother named me Lee Jing Chi. My Chinese name. My birth certificate and official papers use Olivia, though.”

  Elizabeth smiled. “Huang Chenguang. He gave us all a Chinese name. His family, the Huang family, has survived since the early Shang Dynasty. A proud line, now gone with the death of my father. I think he had our zodiacs made so some part of his line would survive into antiquity. As I’m the eldest, the family registry is mine. It is in my home. Please guard it well, and may it become a treasure of the Lee family. My statuette, too. It does me no good, and it is of your spirit, too. Consider it yours by right. Before I move on, I will make my wishes known. The statuette and registry aren’t in my will.”

  Denying a haunter her final death wish led to one place: trouble. “I will make certain your wishes are respected.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I have a few ideas, but I’m still thinking about it.” I drifted closer to the orb, which towered over us. “How did you escape?”

  “He forgot about me. New sleepers came. I used my magic to return to my body.” Elizabeth’s grip on my hand tightened until it hurt. “I think one of the new sleepers created that shield. I don’t know what Hypnos will become once it has finished feeding. For now, it’s still a fish.”

  Fish hated ice, either falling into a state of hibernation or dying when too cold. I doubted my ice would kill it, but perhaps I could slow it down enough to help its victims escape.

  If they could escape, I would have time to find the shadow Elizabeth had mentioned.

  I was willing to bet my badge the shadow she described was the one behind everything. Once freed, as long as no new victims appeared right away, I could focus on apprehending the so-called shadow.

  “That simplifies things.” I eyed the koi, which continued to chase after the streamers of energy. I’d never frozen a whale-sized koi before, but I was game to try.

  The koi changed directions and came closer. My fury over Elizabeth’s needless death sparked. With a single wave of my hand, I unleashed my magic.

  Ice crackled around me, crashed into the orb, and raced over its surface, cutting off the streamers of energy and forcing them to remain within the sphere. The koi darted away, and its whiskers glowed an electric blue.

  It dared to run after terrorizing its victims?

  When my ice fully covered the orb, I gave the koi my full attention, flinging my power at it in spears of ice until I impaled its tail. I sank my magic into its fin to tether it, then I gave it a taste of its own medicine, slowly encasing it in frozen water. My ice, much like my insubstantial body, was flecked with bright pinpoints of light. It thrashed in its effort to escape.

  I refused to let it go, and I forced it to face me. Blue light bled from its mouth, and distant screams disturbed the water’s peace. I squeezed the koi around its middle until more of the blue light spewed out and dispersed.

  “Not today, asshole.” I clenched my hand into a fist.

  My ice devoured the fish, but I could feel it struggling against my hold. Layer upon layer, I thickened its prison.

  “You are a dragon,” Elizabeth whispered.

  “That honor belongs to a friend.” Eddy would kill me assuming I survived through the inevitable backlash of magic I’d suffer through. In my body, I would’ve been a great deal more hesitant about trying this stunt.

  Magic came at a price, and using too much could easily kill me.

  “Can you try to link them to their bodies?”

  “Are they still alive?”

  “They were this morning.”

  “Through you, perhaps. I will do my best. If I can, they should just wake up. Their souls will seek out their living bodies even without my help. But still, I will help if I can to ease their way. They’ve suffered enough.”

  I regretted I’d never have a chance to truly meet her or her father.

  Elizabeth sighed. “Or it should.”

  “You mean their souls should return to their bodies unattended?”

  “Sorry, yes. That’s what I meant.”

  The ‘should’ worried me. “Well, I guess we’ll find out.
Do what you can.”

  What was the worst that could happen? Unleashing hundreds of angry haunters topped my list. But, and it was a big but, they might flit back to their living bodies.

  It was worth the risk.

  I created an opening in the ice until I reached the orb. “Direct me to our bodies, Elizabeth. The best place to link back to us. I’ll create a passage to there.”

  As my ice seemed to work against the koi, at least for the moment, I’d build a barrier to protect those trapped. Even the thought of trying to sustain so much ice tired me. Next time, I needed to put more thought into my actions before committing to them.

  I ignored my worries and focused on my job.

  “I’m ready when you are,” Elizabeth said.

  I assumed the spirits, like Elizabeth, would resemble the bodies they’d left behind, so I created a tunnel large enough a man could walk through without ducking. It took time, and the longer I worked, the harder it became to concentrate.

  “There. You’ve reached it.”

  I closed off the end of the tunnel and focused on thickening the ice in case the koi escaped its prison. It would, eventually.

  I could feel it still struggling, eager to resume feeding.

  Damned ghost fish.

  Turning my attention to the orb, I tapped on it. My fingertips pierced the surface. I covered my skin with ice, plunged my hand into it and forced the hole to widen.

  “Your turn,” I gasped, forcing my tunnel to extend into the orb. I trembled, and my anger intensified.

  Hundreds of men, women, and children crowded into the space, and they recoiled from me, terror etched into their faces.

  Elizabeth drifted inside, and brilliant yellow light infused her.

  A rush of water and spirits surged around me, diving for the freedom at the tunnel’s end. Somewhere above us, Hypnos flailed and shattered his prison.

  “Not today, asshole,” I repeated, flipping the koi off and concentrating my magic on reinforcing my tunnel. It wouldn’t steal my victory out of my hands, not when I was so close to making a difference.

  Elizabeth dragged me through the tunnel.

  “Death has no business with you today,” she said with a smile, dragging me to where the dark water shimmered as though alive. “We part ways here, Olivia.”

  I touched her face, stroking her cheek. “Rest in peace, Elizabeth.”

  While I lacked a memento mori camera or even a eulogy worthy of her, she passed through me as so many of New York’s dead had. In her wake, she left a final remnant of her earthly magic, which caught me in gentle hands and returned me to a world of sunshine and air.

  I was aware of Hypnos bellowing its rage, but not even it could deter the will of the dead.

  Chapter Seven

  Living hurt.

  I slammed into my body, and I fell on my ass before comprehending I needed to do something to keep standing. My yelp startled someone nearby into cursing.

  Luke. On second listen, I realized Detective Davis spat out a few zingers, too.

  “I’m okay,” I lied. In order to pass through me, I’d been one with Elizabeth for the briefest of moments.

  Her death hadn’t been a pleasant one, and to reach the other side, she had to relieve her demise one more time. I found some comfort that her pain hadn’t lasted long.

  Everyone stared at me, and I struggled to catch my breath, which hurt more than I thought it should. “How long was I out?”

  Someone placed their hand on my back, likely to keep me from falling over, and Sergio knelt beside me. “About ten minutes. Your medium fainted.”

  I twisted around, and without the other supervisor’s intervention, I would’ve fallen over. Ethan lay sprawled in the doorway behind me, although he was conscious. He waved at me. I reached out and poked him. “Sorry, Ethan.”

  “Since getting possessed by one haunter wasn’t enough, you needed to add how many extra to the mix?” he complained. “That hurt.”

  “What did you see?”

  “A dark sky full of stars.” Stifling a groan, Ethan lurched upright. “They’re gone now. The haunters, that is.”

  “They’re not haunters. Luke, call the clinic and have them check on Adrianna.” While I hadn’t seen her, I hadn’t truly looked for her, either. Keeping Hypnos at bay had been too important. “Did I miss anything important?”

  “Let me call the office first, then I’ll tell you what the haunter did while you were under. Give me a sec.”

  I liked the way Luke had phrased her possession. I’d been under, all right. The vastness of the sea Elizabeth had taken me to would haunt me for the rest of my life, as would the ghostly koi and its endless hunger.

  “It’s Luke. How’s Adrianna?” He sucked in a breath. “No, Olivia’s fine. She got steamrolled by a haunter, so I’m going to get our best doc to meet her at the police commissioner’s home.”

  “I wasn’t steamrolled!” Steamrolling implied I’d been taken over, and I hadn’t been taken over. I’d let her in. There was a major difference.

  Explaining that would land me in hot water. The FBI didn’t approve when a supervisor willingly let a haunter take over.

  If I got truly lucky, maybe I’d get fired and some other poor bastard could take over my job.

  “Shut up, Olivia. Sorry, she’s getting uppity. Anyway, get someone to herd Dr. Cordeno to the police commissioner’s house. We’ll keep an eye on her, and if she looks like she’s going downhill, we’ll run our sirens to get her there. Hospitals can’t do jack shit for possessions or the overuse of magic, so we may as well skip the system. Keep me in the loop.” Luke hung up.

  I’d ignore him telling me to shut up; in his shoes, I’d tell me to shut up, too. “Start talking, Luke.”

  “Adrianna woke up screaming, saying something about you ‘still being in there.’ She’s so panicked she can’t tell anyone what she means. They’re going to try to calm her down since I told them you were fine. Well, as fine for someone who got possessed by a haunter gets. Why don’t you start talking?”

  Sergio pressed his fingers to my throat to check my pulse. “Her heart rate seems normal.”

  I snorted at his disbelieving tone. “Possession isn’t going to give you a heart attack when the haunter possessing you is a linker, Sergio. She was gentle about it.” Rolling my shoulders, I focused on the woman’s body before me. Somehow, her corpse seemed a lot less gruesome than it had when I’d first stepped into the home. “Elizabeth used me as a link. Because she was using me as a link, I had to leave last.”

  “Leave where last?” Luke demanded.

  “That is something I’m not sure about, but I think the witness reports of a ghost fish are making a lot more sense now. There was a giant ghostly koi hunting for spirits wherever Elizabeth took me. It doesn’t like ice.”

  Despite knowing she no longer lingered, I staggered to my feet. Sergio cursed and helped me up. I’d fall on her if I tried to bow properly to respect her passage to the afterlife, but I inclined my head to respect her.

  A battle had been won, but the war wasn’t over yet. Because of her, I had a better idea of what was going on. I had no idea how or when it would happen, but Hypnos hungered and would strike again. I knew nothing of the shadow Elizabeth had claimed named the fish Hypnos, but I had a starting point.

  I would make the little information I had be enough somehow.

  “Luke, contact—”

  The bastard chucked me over his shoulder as though I didn’t weigh a thing, and I clutched at his shirt so I wouldn’t fall. “Luke!”

  He ignored me. “Sergio, up for going on a drive? Your SUV is closer than ours. How about a love tap on our favorite lunatic?”

  Shit. Sergio packed almost as big of a punch as I did in the supernatural department, and his specialty was in live captures. “Wait, not—”

  Sergio rested his hand on my head. Lightning burst through me from my head to my toes, and the lights went out.

  I wasn’t out for long, but Serg
io and Luke had enough time to drag me to the back of Sergio’s SUV and handcuff me to the back of the front passenger seat. To add insult to injury, the bastards buckled me in so I couldn’t get good leverage without the belt trying to choke me. Since that wasn’t bad enough, Detective Raymond Davis the Hunk sat beside me.

  In good news, he didn’t seem all too happy about the situation, either.

  I blinked, shook my head, and gave the cuffs a rattle. “Luke, what is the meaning of this?”

  While tearing into Sergio would be satisfying, he might zap me again.

  The quad leader sat in front of me and twisted in his seat to shoot me a grin. “I seem to recall you made the rules on what to do whenever a quad member got possessed. And you were certifiably possessed. Per those rules, which you made, you get cuffed and carted off for a doctor’s visit. Aren’t you lucky to have such a caring person making the rules? Everybody has to be healthy and checked over after a possession.”

  My rules sucked. “I would never make considerate, nice rules that care for the health of my quads. Ever. You all howl how I’m pure evil. I wouldn’t make you go to the doctor.”

  Luke laughed, reached around the seat, and patted my cuffed hands. “It’s okay, Olivia. You needed a checkup anyway. Police Commissioner Abrams can deal with you, and it’ll be our joy and pleasure watching him blow a gasket because we handcuffed his little baby angel.”

  The handcuffs, another one of my bright ideas, came with a dampener, the kind strong enough to jar a haunter out of somebody. I’d demanded a set for every quad after chasing Ethan around for a week during his possession. Unfortunately, the dampener was strong enough to local away my magic until I had a chance to get some rest. Once rested, I could bust out of them and beat Luke with them.

  And pay fifty thousand for breaking the damned cuffs on purpose.

  I figured it would take a week to recharge enough to escape.