A Torment of Savages (The Reanimation Files Book 4) (2 page)

“Sorry,” Micah said. “Don’t let it get you down.”

“It’s hardly the worst attack I’ve faced. I’ll be fine, my bruised ego will heal. I guess it just brought up some of the guilt I feel over all the things that happened last year. The truth as the public knows it isn’t quite the truth as we know it.”

“Nothing that happened was your fault, Selene.”

“I know, I know, we’ve talked it to death in therapy already. Like I said, I’ll be fine.”

“What’s the rest of your week looking like?”

I knew he was asking because he wanted to make sure I’d have sufficient distraction so I wouldn’t wallow. As if I was the wallowing sort.

“Well, today I’ve got a case to tackle, then training with Magda. As for tomorrow, I think there was something going on, now what was it hmm…”

“A date with a tall, dark, and handsome man perhaps?”

“Oh yeah, Idris Elba did call to confirm we were still on for tomorrow night.”

“Ouch.”

I could hear the smile in his voice.

“I’m looking forward to this more than I can say,” I said. “We’re long overdue for a
bona fide
date night.”

“I’m excited,” Micah said. “Even if it is therapy-mandated.”

“Hey, I’m just happy about the sleepover ban possibly being lifted.” Our therapist was ready for us to try dating again. We’d had a lot of awkwardness and reservations to get through, along with all the hurt and anger we harbored toward each other, but she finally felt like enough of it had been dealt with for us to spend time together and work on rebuilding our emotional connection outside of therapy. The fact that we were both excited about it showcased our progress. A couple months ago I wouldn’t have been ready to do this.

“You’ll be at the Paranormal Control Center all day?” I asked.

“Mostly. I will also be going over to a couple hospitals to oversee their rune therapy implementation.”

“Things have really come along with that.”

“It has.” He sounded proud. “A lot of people are benefitting from it.”

“Glad to hear it. I’ll see you later then. And while you’re at the PCC see if you can talk Tielle into giving me a nice big office. Corner preferably.”

Micah laughed. “I wouldn’t push it; even I don’t have four walls to call my own.”

“A girl can dream. Talk to you later.” We hung up and I headed out to the living room where Luna gave me her usual flying tackle greeting. She had abandoned my room some time ago, likely when she heard Ethan and Kyo moving around. The ghost and former ghost were sitting on the sofa watching TV. I stopped short when I saw what they were watching.

“Sailor Moon? Seriously?” Ethan and Kyo turned to me at the same time, looking completely unashamed at their choice in shows.

“It’s a new series,” Ethan said. “Any true Sailor Moon fan has to at least check it out. You wouldn’t know.”

“I was a tween in the late nineties, I know all about Sailor Moon,” I scoffed. “Only difference is I moved on.” I raised an eyebrow at Kyo.

“They wear short skirts and have magical powers,” he said with a shrug. “Good enough for me.”

“You do know it’s your culture that produces this sort of thing, right?”

“I know,” he said with a grin. “We’re amazing.” He got up and hop-floated over the back of the sofa, following me into the kitchen. “You okay?” he asked, smile fading. He had heard the story of last night’s uplifting article after I’d come home. Ethan came over as well, looking concerned now that he’d remembered what happened. Nothing made that dude forget all things major and minor like anime.

“As okay as I can be with an article that pretty much shits all over me,” I said. I opened the microwave to find a delightful plate of pancakes that Ethan had made. “Micah and I strongly suspect that Jacob is behind it, because, well, he has more motive than anyone else.” I grabbed the syrup, took my plate over the counter, and sat on one of the stools.

“Maybe you can talk to him about it?” Ethan had grabbed an apple and flopped back onto the couch. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Kyo’s subtle, wistful looks at our food. It hadn’t been the first time I’d seen him give a sad look over something his ghostliness prevented him from partaking in.

“Not without proof.” I said. “Which Carlos may be able to help me with.” I shrugged. “It is what it is right now. I’m not going to dwell on it.” I poured syrup onto my pancakes and dug in. “Thanks for breakfast,” I said around a mouthful. “It’s gonna be good fuel for the day ahead.”

“What are you tackling today?” Kyo asked. He was standing next to me but his eyes were back on the television. Sailor Moon was transforming. I rolled my eyes.

“I have to investigate a dead witch suspected of creating and distributing tainted energy runes,” I said. “Supposedly she’s been taking energy from people with extremely unstable emotions and selling the runes in the Underground. Using tainted energy just spreads the taint. It could lead to a whole bunched of crazed Leech Baby junkies roving around or cause ghosts working with Underground necromancers to turn into beasties prematurely.”

“Dead witch?” Kyo turned to me with a spark on interest in his expression. “Mind if I tag along?”

“Why, do you think she’s got your body hidden under her bed?”

“Don’t be silly, I am just deeply interested in the affairs of the modern dead witch. I would like to help you.”

“I’ll bet,” I said dryly. Kyo grinned, and I wondered, not for the first time these past few months, when he would start being serious about searching for his body. Not that I was all gung-ho about tackling that challenge. I was waiting to take direction from him, but so far he hadn’t offered one and tossed out phrases like “in time” or “won’t be long now,” when I asked him. I would have thought he’d be on this with much fervor, but he seemed content to hang around Ethan and I, wander the city at night, and endure quick exits or a trip inside a rune whenever Micah was around. I still had not told Micah about Kyo. And I felt bad about it.

I finished up breakfast and washed my dishes, which was enough of a rarity to illicit sarcastic comments from Ethan and Kyo. I flipped them the bird then went to freshen up with Luna at my heels. She had surprisingly not begged me for pancakes. Ethan must have already filled her up.

Twenty minutes later, I came back out in jeans, booties, and a flannel shirt layered under a sweater. I wished March had us in milder weather, but winter was still having its way, and when I checked the weather app on my phone I’d seen that it was barely forty degrees out. Warmer weather couldn’t come soon enough.

“Ready to go?” Kyo asked while I hunted down my car keys. My bag was lying on its side on one of the end tables, and I suspected my keys had fallen out and Luna had made off with them. Sure enough, I found them behind her doggy bed along with an old toothbrush and a spoon. Little hoarder.

“I never said you could come,” I said to Kyo.

“You also didn’t say I couldn’t not come.”

“What? Never mind, come on. But you have to stay out of the way.” I fetched an energy rune and charged it up for him.

“Selene and Kyo are on the case.”

“That couldn’t have been cornier.” I looked at Ethan. “You have any plans today?”

“Meeting up with my parents for lunch, then we are going to the admissions office at NYU to talk about re-enrollment.”

“Take your cell phone, and stay out of trouble.”

“Yes, Mom-Number-Two. Should I also—”

He didn’t finish his sentence though because all of a sudden his body jerked, then went limp, and he slid off the couch to the floor. I ran over to him, pulling his head into my lap. Kyo arrived a few moments later with a cloth he’d dampened with cold water. Ethan’s skin was feverishly hot, and sweat had broken out all over his body. Kyo laid the cloth on his forehead and we both sat there tensely watching him.

About five minutes later Ethan started to rouse and I released a sigh of relief. He opened his eyes, blinked up at me, then reached up and removed the cloth from his forehead before he sat up.

“It happened again,” he said glumly, sitting back against the couch.

“Yeah,” I replied. “How are you feeling?”

“Slight headache, that’s all.”

“Tielle really needs to get to the bottom of this, damn it,” I said. It was not the first time Ethan had randomly blacked out. It had first happened over a month ago, and I’d been scared as fuck. So scared that we’d taken him to the hospital, and I’d called his parents who had left their home in the middle of the night to drive down here. Tielle’s team had come in to check him out and found nothing wrong with him, but about a week and a half later it had happened again. And then a couple weeks after that. And now here we were. Tielle had run dozens of tests but couldn’t figure out what was causing his random blackouts. She assured me and his family that his ghost wasn’t rejecting his body, but needless to say that was the concern at the forefront of my and his family’s minds. And the public’s.

To say that Ethan Lance regaining a physical body was a hot topic issue was an understatement. As I’d suspected, once word got out, no amount of Tielle’s attempts to control the narrative could stop the media and the public from erupting over the story. News programs across the board debated the topic night after night. The issue, as I knew it would be, was vastly divided. There were those who were staunchly against the Alchemy that gave Ethan back a body and called for it to be destroyed, and those who were eager to explore the topic further as they saw it as a step toward overcoming what was supposed to be the most final and unchangeable part of life: death. No one was necessarily running with the idea that every person who died and had their ghost rise should get their body back. Instead, they were taking the angle that special cases, like Ethan’s, should be considered, such as violent, untimely deaths, or people who died in freak accidents.

Tielle had a team devoted to handling the media coverage and educating the public on the experiment. The hardest part of it for both supporters and dissenters to swallow were the ghost-filled runes that were needed to maintain the body. That one was a doozy for sure. I myself could never fully accept it, but seeing how far Ethan had come from the frightened ghost who’d been used as a murder weapon twice gave me some measure of peace with the whole thing. Now there was this whole blacking out issue, which hadn’t been able to be kept secret since I’d taken him to the hospital the first time it had happened. The fear was that Ethan’s body was going to fall apart, which gave the opposition a stronger voice.

“I’ll be fine,” Ethan said. “And if I get in trouble, I’m sure Savior Selene will swoop in to save me.” He grinned at me, and I rolled my eyes.

“Savior Selene might not be a nickname that sticks around much longer if Jacob has anything to do with it.”

“Why don’t you stop worrying about him and focus on more important things,” Kyo said.

I gave him a look.

“You know your merits and what you’ve been through. More so, the people who matter to you know as well and know the sacrifices you made. Some bitter man’s drivel holds no weight to who you are and what you’ve done.”

“Nice save,” I said. I helped Ethan up and he flopped back onto the couch. “Are you sure…”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Ethan said, cutting me off. “And please don’t text my mother about this, it will make seeing her and my dad later unbearable.”

“Fine,” I reluctantly agreed. “Just…take it easy.” There was nothing I could say beyond that, because it wasn’t like we knew what was making him black out. All I could do was pray that Tielle figured out what was wrong and fixed it. Kyo and I fussed over Ethan for a few more minutes, mostly to annoy him, then we headed out to my car.

CHAPTER THREE

“Where does the offending dead witch live?” Kyo asked once we were driving off.

“Harlem,” I replied. We drove in silence for a while, but I was aware that he kept looking at me then looking away.

“Something on your mind?” I asked, turning to him while we waited out a red light. “Or am I just looking that good today?”

“You always look good,” he replied smoothly. “But there is something that’s been on my mind.”

“Shoot.” I turned my attention back to the road.

“You haven’t said much about your mother these past months.” His voice was softer and his tone careful.

My grip on the steering wheel immediately tightened.

“It might not have been very wise to bring this up while you’re driving…”

I took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. Then another.

“What am I supposed to say about that?” My voice sounded a bit shaky.

“Something, anything,” Kyo said. “You haven’t even attempted to go find her.”

“Find her,” I repeated. “Why? So she can try to finish the job? She drove a knife into my chest, Kyo.”

“Selene…”

“There’s nothing more to say about it. You don’t know anything about my past with my mother.”

“Why don’t you tell me?”

“What difference would it make?”

“It could help you work through this whole thing.”

“I already have a therapist.”

“So you’ve been talking to her about it?”

My silence was answer enough.

“Talk to me, Selene.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say.” Of all the topics in the world, this was one I did not want to broach. I didn’t know how to begin processing the discovery I had made a few months ago when an old photo and a call from Dr. Lane revealed that my mother was a Rune Teller working in the Underground who had given me a very disturbing reading before attacking me and stabbing me in the chest. I had gone over that encounter a million times already and all it did was spin my emotions out of control and confuse me to no end. My mother, Nova, hadn’t been a part of my life since I was about four years old. All my grandmother had told me was that she had issues with addiction. She never outright said that she’d died, but that was the belief I grew up with; that she’d eventually overdosed. I had very few, and very vague memories of her. There was just no connection there. I didn’t know who she was before she had me; I didn’t know what her life was like. Grams never talked about her in much detail. So for all these years she’d been a distant entity. Someone I could credit for being one half of the reason I was here. That’s it. So to have randomly come across her, in the Underground of all places, only to have her try to kill me, was not something I could wrap my head around. Thinking about it and trying to talk about it just made me feel like my head was going to explode. What’s next? Was my deadbeat dad going to make an appearance and team up with her to kill me?