Grave Dance (25 page)

Chapter 23

J
ohn rounded on the FIB agent. “We’re conducting an investigation here,” he said, the shiny bald spot on the top of his head flushing to red.

“And it’s over. Alex, let’s go.” Falin rapped on the edge of the barrier as if he were knocking at a door.

Sparks of light flashed through the circle around his knuckles, and my knees locked as spikes of magical backlash tore through me.
Reminds me of the first time we
met.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one affected.

Rianna swayed, her eyes rol ing back to show too much white. I grabbed her wrists before her hands fel away from mine. We were stil sharing magic. If we broke contact at this point, the results could be disastrous. Possibly deadly.

“Unless you want to drag me out of here unconscious, get the hel away from my circle,” I said, glaring at Falin as I tried to keep Rianna standing.

Falin glanced at his fist, as if only now considering the result of his action. Then he dropped his hand and stepped back a foot. The urgency in his face didn’t change, though, and I didn’t ignore it. Something must have happened.

Regardless, certain magics couldn’t be rushed, and I was in the middle of one.

I drew back the power that gave the ghastly foot form, and it vanished, the sound of its clomping dance fading.

Rianna let out a breath, swaying as she did so, and I squeezed her fingers. I hastily pul ed my heat from the corpse, the bit of living warmth accenting just how cold I’d grown while immersed in the grave. I shivered, but I wasn’t grown while immersed in the grave. I shivered, but I wasn’t done yet. I stil had to break the ritual with Rianna.

“What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours.” As the power-laced words left my mouth, Rianna’s magic washed out of me.

She dropped my hands and sagged into herself, then sank to her knees. Her already pale skin blanched to the gray of a corpse, and she gasped, as if she couldn’t quite catch her breath. She was the better witch, hands down. I’d seen her cast spel s I could never dream of attempting. Hel , she’d healed me from being half dead after my fight with Coleman. But the gap between our grave abilities? It had clearly widened in the years we’d been apart.

“You okay?” I asked. I was exhausted, but I was stil standing, and I’d raised way more shades today than I should have—I would probably pay for that one soon. And hard. I was already trembling, and I hadn’t released my hold on the grave yet, which was never a good sign.

Rianna hugged her knees to her chest, and I watched her blink furiously. Final y she looked up, her eyes unfocused.

“Al, I can’t see.” Her voice was thin, frightened.

Crap.

I knelt beside her and put an arm around her shoulders.

She’d just shared my magic and looked through several planes of realities for the first time. And now she was paying the price.

“It’l come back. Give it time.”

A tear leaked from the corner of her blind eye.
Okay, I’m
officially the worst friend ever.

“Alex. We have to go,” Falin said again.

Damn.
I couldn’t abandon Rianna blind and in the middle of the mortal realm. It would be dusk in a few hours, and if her magical backlashes were anything like mine tended to be, it would be a while before her sight recovered.

“We’l have to take Rianna . . . home,” I said to Falin as I climbed to my feet, pul ing Rianna up with me.

“We don’t have time.”

“We don’t have time.”

I frowned and Rianna’s nails dug into my bare arm as if she was afraid I’d walk away and leave her. I patted her hand, partial y to reassure her and partial y in hopes that she’d let go before she drew blood.

“I can take her,” Tamara said. “I was supposed to clock out eight minutes ago.”

I gave her a feeble smile. “That’s okay. It’s on our way.”

Okay, so I didn’t actual y know where Falin was dragging me out of here to go, but Rianna had to make it into the VIP

section of the Bloom and then beyond to Faerie and final y to Stasis. It wasn’t exactly a mortal-friendly trip.

“Fine,” was al Falin said, but I could hear the irritation as wel as the unspoken
“Just hurry up.”

I turned to John. “I have to go. I—”

He cut me off. “Yeah. I see that. I’l wrap things up here.”

But he didn’t sound happy about the situation and I had the feeling I’d be getting a lot fewer cal s for cases in the future.

Oh, good, now Rianna’s blind, Tamara thinks I’m
brushing her off, and John is upset with me.
I was doing absolutely splendid things to my friendships today.

Falin crossed his arms and drummed his fingers on his elbow, and I released my connection to the grave. The icy wind that had been ripping through me died as the vines surrounding my psyche closed and darkness fel over my eyes like a heavy blindfold.

Well, not like that was unexpected.
Or something I wasn’t getting used to navigating through.

I dispel ed my circle and then knelt, fumbling for my purse.

Someone pressed the leather strap into my hand.

“You can’t see, can you?” Falin asked, his voice low and close by.

Rianna, who stil gripped my arm, was probably the only person close enough to hear. Her fingers tightened. “Al?”

I shrugged. “The blind leading the blind, and al that.”

I couldn’t see Falin’s expression, but I swear the sound he made was some sort of growl. His warm fingers lifted he made was some sort of growl. His warm fingers lifted Rianna’s clammy ones from where they gripped my arm, and his arm slid around my waist.

“Come on. We have to go.” He set a quick pace, nearly dragging me as I stumbled along beside him.

“Wait. Rianna—?”

“I’m with you,” she said, her voice broken by her gasps but sounding like it came from the other side of Falin.

I knew we’d reached the morgue doors only when I heard him press the panel for the automatic doors—a feature that no one typical y used. I twisted back around, almost grateful I couldn’t see John or Tamara’s expressions as Rianna and I were hustled out.

“Bye!” I yel ed and received halfhearted replies. Then we were out of the morgue, our shuffling steps squeaking and echoing in the long hal way.

“What’s going on?” I asked once I felt us turn the first corner.

Falin was quiet for so long that I thought he might not answer. Then he said, “The Winter Queen sent down an order. The FIB is coming to drag you to Faerie.”

“Stay inside. Don’t even answer the door,” Falin said as he ushered me into his apartment.

Rianna was stil downstairs in the car. Falin didn’t want to risk taking me al the way to the Magic Quarter, and his apartment wasn’t far from Central Precinct and the morgue.

The hope was that no one would think to look for me at another FIB agent’s home. He would drop Rianna off at the Bloom, and then—wel , I hoped he had a plan because I didn’t.

“I’l be back in half an hour,” he said, but then hesitated.

“Go. I’m fine.” Okay, so I couldn’t see and I was being sought by the FIB, but other than that . . .
All right, maybe
fine
is a gross exaggeration.
“Go,” I said again.

fine
is a gross exaggeration.
“Go,” I said again.

“Alexis.” My name, just my name. His heat fil ed the air around me, like he’d moved closer or leaned in toward me.

My lips parted as his breath tumbled against my skin, but the touch was just air. He’d said orders had reached the FIB that the queen wanted me taken to Faerie. So why was he helping me escape? I reached toward him, or toward the heat that fil ed the space between us, and that heat withdrew.

“Stay inside,” he said again. The door clicked shut.

I stood in the spot where he’d left me, listening to the sounds of his neighbors drifting through the wal s.
Damn,
this is really happening.
I was on the run from Faerie.

I felt the need to
do
something, to prepare or retaliate.

But there was nothing I could do but wait.

Well, I can at least tell my housemates what’s going on.

Not that I’d tel them not to worry about me because I was definitely worried about me, but maybe they’d have some suggestions of how to get out of this. Caleb, at least, might have some idea.

I dug through my purse, searching by feel for the cool plastic case of my phone. Final y I found it. There would be no dialing blind, but my eyes had been an issue often enough that I’d purchased the phone knowing this could happen. I traced my fingers along the edge until I found one of the few non–touch screen buttons on the phone.

“Cal Caleb,” I said, speaking as clearly as I could for the voice-recognition software. A moment later the phone beeped as it dialed.

The phone rang seven times, and just as I was sure it would switch to voice mail, Caleb’s voice answered on the other end.

“Thank goodness. The FIB are after me. They plan to drag me to Faerie and—”

“No, I’m sorry, Hol y isn’t here right now,” Caleb said, cutting me off.

What? Oh, no.
“Are they there? At the house?” “Yeah.

What? Oh, no.
“Are they there? At the house?” “Yeah.

She said something about a headache and went to lie down, but she must have felt better because she left shortly after. I haven’t seen her since.”

My heart, already hammering in my chest, dropped.

“Caleb, is Hol y missing?”

“Yeah, a letter? I found it. Her bed, sure.”

A letter?
It must have been important or he wouldn’t have mentioned it.

I stopped talking, my throat too tight to pass words, but my part of the conversation wasn’t important anyway. Caleb paused for a moment, as if listening to someone on my end of the line; then he said, “I don’t know if I’l be here when she gets back, but if I see her, I’l tel her.”

Didn’t know if he’d be there?
Oh, fuck, they were going to haul Caleb to Faerie. Agent Nori had threatened that acquaintances with independent fae were dangerous, but I’d thought she meant dangerous to
me
, not to my friends.

“What should I do?” I whispered the question around the lump clogging my throat.

Caleb was silent for a long moment before saying, “Good luck.” Then he disconnected.

Chapter 24

I
paced around Falin’s apartment, my shins occasional y scraping this odd bit or my hands hitting that one. It was a good thing he didn’t have much furniture.

I stil clutched my phone, but I had no one left to cal . Hol y wasn’t answering, Caleb was on his way to Faerie, and Tamara’s phone was off, presumably because she was sleeping.

“What do I do now?” I asked the darkness hanging over my eyes.

As if in answer, a loud metal ic groan cried out behind me. I turned slowly, trying to identify the sound, but the only thing I could compare it to was the scream of an overtaxed support beam.
Maybe the building is settling?
I wasn’t sure I wanted to be on the seventh floor if the building was making noises like that. Another creak sounded, this time fol owed by a loud
pop
.

What are the chances this isn’t bad?

I tore down my shields, blinking at the explosion of color and light as I saw the world through my psyche. I glanced around, orienting myself as best I could in the suddenly crumbling landscape. I was in front of the large sliding glass door that led out onto a balcony—a balcony currently groaning under the weight of two massive paws that led up to muscular legs as thick around as my torso and covered in tan fur. But though the fur suggested mammal, when the front legs landed, they were hairless and ended in talons, like a bird. Huge feathered wings beat the air, blocking the sun. Folding the sixteen-plus wingspan against its back, the sun. Folding the sixteen-plus wingspan against its back, the beast hopped off the rail and ducked its massive eagle-shaped head under the base of the upstairs balcony.

Gryphon.

Or at least it looked like a gryphon. It was a magical construct, definitely. Its outline shifted slightly, its form slightly unreal, but where the other constructs had been misty outlines—this one looked more . . . congealed.
I
guess I found the missing souls.

Now I wished they would leave again.

The gryphon smashed one massive paw through the door. The glass shattered in an explosion of sound and shards of glittering shrapnel. I ducked, clutching my arms over my head, but the deadly part wasn’t the flying glass. It was the damn gryphon.

It screeched as it tore at the metal support bar.
That’s not
going to hold it back for long.
I glanced at the front door. I could run. Having to tear through the building would slow it down, but I was guessing it had another tracking charm tied to me. If I ran, it would find me, and who knew how many people would get hurt in the process? Plus, the damn thing could fly—if I left the building I’d make myself an easier target. At least inside the building it wouldn’t be able to swoop down on me.

But I can’t just stand here.

I pul ed my dagger. It buzzed in my senses, excited about the prospect of being used. I frowned and glanced from it to the gryphon. I had a five-inch enchanted blade and it had talons as long as my forearm and reach to go with them.

But it’s not real.

But it wasn’t completely
unreal
either.

I stumbled back as one giant taloned foot swiped at me.

The creature shoved its arm al the way to the shoulder through the busted doorway, and in the part of my vision peering into the land of the dead, the mass of shimmering souls twisted. A face floated to the surface, a face caught in a never-ending scream, and one I recognized. The a never-ending scream, and one I recognized. The skimmer from the rift.

I didn’t have time to stare. The gryphon stuck its head through the space where the sliding glass door had been, wriggling to get that taloned foot closer to me.
Tell me it’s
stuck.

I’ve never been that lucky.

It wriggled more, making enough room for its other foot.

Damn.
I looked down at the dagger in my hand again.
That
thing will tear me to pieces before I get anywhere near
close enough to do damage.
The dagger didn’t agree. I could feel that it thought we’d be fine. I wasn’t as confident, and I was the one with the rendable skin. The dagger wasn’t a good option. What else did I have?

The skimmer’s face was stil screaming silently as it stared out of the gryphon’s shoulder. Being able to see souls had always creeped me out. They were shimmery, ful of light, and looked so tempting to touch. Typical y a bad idea, but maybe . . .

I reached into the creature with the part of me that touched the dead. There was more than just the skimmer in that congealed soul mist, but he was the one I could see, could focus on. Centering my magic on the little bit of the skimmer I could see, I pul ed with my power.

Souls don’t like the touch of the grave. It’s unnatural for them. They are what make a person alive, and the grave is for the dead. But these souls were already outside their bodies and more ghost than not. I pul ed, pouring power into the effort. The unearthly wind of the land of the dead whipped around me, mail blew off the table and whirled around the room, the cushions on the couch rumpled, bil owing in the onslaught, and the gryphon’s feathers quivered around its head. Stil I pul ed, and like warm saltwater taffy being tugged on, the soul peeled away from the rest of the soul mist.

As the soul separated from the mass, the gryphon shrank, as if the construct couldn’t support its massive size shrank, as if the construct couldn’t support its massive size with its diminished energy source. The gryphon shrinking was definitely good—except that it was now smal enough to fit through the door.

It hurtled forward, its talons grasping for me. I dove sideways, the air rushing out of me as I hit the ground.
And
people on TV make it look so easy.
The skimmer soul I’d freed hovered in the air, looking confused as he blinked at me. Then his eyes landed on the gryphon and he screamed.

“Don’t just scream. Help me. Distract it!”

Shades have to obey me. Ghosts don’t and he didn’t.

The gryphon was stil large enough that it had trouble turning in the tight space in the smal apartment, which bought me a couple of seconds. I used them. Thrusting with my power, I grabbed another soul in the mist. I wasn’t being picky. I just grabbed and heaved. I poured power into the mist, and another soul, this one an older woman I was pretty sure I’d seen at the morgue, jettisoned free.

The gryphon shrank again. We were now the same height. Of course, it stil had two long-taloned front legs and a razor-sharp beak, so it wasn’t exactly an even fight, but it was at least closer.

It lunged at me, that sharp beak open as it screeched in rage. I dropped, intending to rol out of its way.

Unfortunately, my coordination wasn’t quite up to the task. I ended up under the gryphon as its talons pierced the couch. The sharp claws on its back feet were dangerously close to my face, but the position did give me an unobstructed view of its bel y.

The dagger in my hand buzzed, urging me to move, and I thrust the enchanted blade into the soft skin under the gryphon’s rib cage. A shock ran up my arm as I encountered muscles harder to pierce than I’d expected, but the dagger sank to the hilt. “You don’t exist,” I told it, twisting the dagger to drive the blade deeper.

The gryphon exploded into a cloud of shimmery soul mist.

The gryphon exploded into a cloud of shimmery soul mist.

A copper disk the size of a dinner plate dropped onto my chest, knocking what little air I had left from my lungs.

Coughing, I let my arm drop, barely managing to hold on to the dagger as my hand hit the carpet.
Too close. Way too
close.

I rol ed to my knees. My whole body felt like jel y as the spike of adrenaline drained from my muscles. It took me two tries to climb to my feet. I closed my shields.

Nothing changed.

I blinked. I’d expected to go blind again, but the Aetheric stil swirled around me, the land of the dead showing me the world as ruins. But I wasn’t touching those worlds. The wind from the land of the dead had stopped cutting across my skin and whipping my hair into a frenzy and I couldn’t feel the Aetheric energy I saw swirling through the air.

Okay, so I push my magic and I go blind and I push it
more and I end up seeing but not touching other planes. I
think I prefer it this way.
Though as I looked around I realized I wasn’t seeing the mortal realm at al . I was only seeing how it reflected in other planes of existence.
That
could get confusing.

I brushed my hands against my rotted pants—I seriously hoped they weren’t that way in reality—and resheathed my dagger. When I looked up, the cloud of souls around me had thinned. The raver-col ector moved silently across the room, gathering souls and sending them on their way.

“I could have seriously used your help earlier.” Like ten minutes earlier. Before the gryphon had almost taken me apart.

She shrugged and tossed her bright orange dreadlocks over her shoulder as she snatched the soul of the woman I’d pul ed free of the gryphon. “Didn’t know they were here earlier.” She grabbed the skimmer. With a flick of her hand, he vanished. He’d been the last lingering soul.

“Wait!”

She glanced at me, lifting one arched eyebrow.

She glanced at me, lifting one arched eyebrow.

“Can you tel Death I need to talk to him?”

“Death?” She gave me a genuinely confused look.

I cringed. Of course she wouldn’t know my nickname for Death.
Damn him not telling me anything, not even his
name.
“You know, smoking-hot col ector. Dreamy eyes.

Easy smile. Favors faded jeans and tight black shirts.”

“And you cal him Death?” She snorted a laugh, and the dreads snaking over her shoulders quivered as she shook her head. “Girl, you real y are
special
.”

“Wil you tel him I need to see him or not?”

She cocked a hip forward, placing her hand on it. “I’m not a messenger.” Her fingernails made soft thudding sounds as she drummed them against the bright orange PVC

material. “And I’d rather he stay away. There are reasons for our laws.”

Laws?
“Fine, then I’l talk to you.” I pushed myself upright.

At my ful height I was tal er than she was, even with her wearing platform boots, but she didn’t look impressed. I hoped I was about to change that. “You have a rogue reaper on your hands. He’s jerking souls out of people who aren’t dying, and those same souls are showing up powering magical constructs. I want to know how to stop him.”

The haughty expression dropped off her face. Then, without a word, she vanished.

Well, that could have gone better.
I looked around at the destruction that was Falin’s apartment. The couch was shredded, the TV was overturned and smashed, the iron supports in the wal s were visible behind busted drywal , and glass shards littered the carpet. Oh, yeah, and then there was the fist-sized hole into the Aetheric.
So much for
Falin’s security deposit.

Sirens sounded in the distance, drawing nearer.
Damn.
I couldn’t stay here. Once the cops got to the scene, the FIB

wouldn’t be far behind. There was no way a giant gryphon flying around downtown Nekros had gone unnoticed, but I flying around downtown Nekros had gone unnoticed, but I needed to.