Marked (25 page)

Through the haze of his agony, Eli raised his head, finally noticing the cool, heavy weight cinched tight around his neck. Somehow, Mandy had looped it over his head. “Who did you take this from?”

“Let’s say it’s a fitting trophy for you to be found with. Now, I’m off to deal with your sister.” She winked at him and disappeared.

Eli focused everything he had on getting back to his apartment, on getting to Galena and Cacy before Mandy could hurt them. But all he could see in his mind was the dying woman, and all he could feel was the burning pressure building inside his body, slowly reducing him to ash.

A shrieking growl spun him around, his eyes skimming the street and sidewalk. There, half a block away, a shadowy creature was limping toward him, its arms outstretched. A Shade.

Moros had told him the Shades would attack a Ferry to try to climb back into the real world, and Eli was wearing a Scope around his neck, the perfect invitation to target him. He tried to rip it from his body, but his own claws were so long and his fingers so clumsy he almost tore his own throat out.

“Shit,” he said, stumbling back, burned by the blood gushing from his chest. His legs crumpled beneath him. He landed on the sidewalk on all fours and began to scramble toward the dying woman, thinking that maybe if he touched her, the pain would stop and he could fight back, and then he could get back to the two people in the world who mattered most to him. Even if, at the moment, he couldn’t quite remember who they were.

He half slid, half crawled along the gelatinous sidewalk, punching through the soft surface of Lori Gaugin’s car, nearly drowning in the suffocating jellylike mass before emerging from the other side. He landed in a sprawl a few feet from the crowd, who were mere shadows in the Veil. The Shade shrieked again, the wet slap of its feet against the sidewalk spurring him to action. It would be on him in a few seconds. He stretched his hand out, but it passed through Lori’s transparent body, the lurid orange Mark of death right in the center of her back. She wasn’t dead, so she wasn’t solid in the Veil. He needed to be in the real world to touch her. He closed his eyes, trying to get there, but a body landed on his back, knocking him onto his stomach.

“It’s mine, it’s mine,” chanted the Shade as its spindly, slimy gray arms wrapped around his neck.

Eli arched his back and flipped the Shade over his shoulder. It was a female, with long patchy red hair, bone-white skull showing through the bare spots. He sat back as it rolled toward him. “Shauna?”

Oozing blue eyes blinked at him. “I killed you,” she grunted. But
she’d
stopped grasping at him. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, like she was trying to decide what to say. Her jagged teeth protruded from her mouth. Some of them had fallen out, and a clear fluid leaked from the corners of her lips.

Eli tried to remember everything he knew about the Ferrys, but he could barely push any words that weren’t
Lori Gaugin Lori Gaugin Lori Gaugin
past his lips. “Didn’t”—
Lori
—“one of your family come”—
Gaugin
—“to guide your soul?”

Shauna looked down at herself, her dress covered in greasy patches of corpse wax, her skin sagging from her bones in loose, fragile folds. She was rotting alive, a fact of which she seemed keenly aware. Her decaying fingers reached up to touch her face. “I ran from him here in the Veil. It was all his idea. He told me to do it. He said you were dangerous and a threat to our family. He said
he’d
tell my parents about my boyfriend. I wasn’t supposed to die.”

Eli grunted as another bolt of fire struck inside him.
He’d
scarcely heard a word she said. His arms gave out, and he hit the sidewalk, Lori Gaugin’s face crowding out all his other thoughts.

Shauna leaned toward him, giving off the sick-sweet smell of putrefaction. “Mine. I need it.”

Eli tried to fight her, but he could barely move. She removed the Scope from his neck and hugged it against her rotting breast, cooing to it. Then she turned to him, her streaming, nearly liquefied irises focused on his. His fingers twitched in agony as he stared helplessly at her. He was supposed to be doing something. He was supposed to be somewhere else. But all he could think was
Lori Gaugin Lori Gaugin Lori Gaugin
.

Lori Gaugin
. . . He swore he could see her right in front of him, sitting up, getting to her feet. He grabbed for her, but his shaking hand missed her legs by several inches.

A bright white light nearly blinded him. It got bigger, shining like the full moon, then disappeared abruptly.

His pain disappeared, too. Eli ran his hands over his ravaged neck and chest, still weak but no longer in agony. He pushed himself up. Shauna the Shade was standing in front of him, a Scope in her upturned palm. She had guided Lori Gaugin’s soul to Heaven, cutting off his bone-deep compulsion to Mark, saving him from being reduced to cinders right there on the sidewalk. In the space now available in his head, Cacy’s delicate face appeared. Next to her was Galena. And next to her was Mandy, lacquered claws reaching. Eli closed his eyes, needing to get back and make sure that image never became a reality.

“Wait. I need your help,” Shauna lisped. One of her teeth fell out and landed on the sidewalk. “Please.” She grabbed his arm in a shockingly strong grip while she brushed her thumb over the etched scales on her Scope with her other hand. Another beam of sparkling light shot up from its surface. “Tell my parents I love them and that I’m in Heaven. Please take my Scope to them.”

When he nodded, she opened the Scope wide and stepped through, leaving it to fall to the sidewalk. His heart crashing within his ravaged chest, his thoughts racing, Eli grabbed the Scope.

Someone had blackmailed Shauna into killing him. Someone had given Shauna’s Scope to Mandy. And that someone wanted Galena dead.

Cursing, Eli focused everything on getting to Galena.

CHAPTER FORTY

C
acy opened her eyes slowly, shedding the thick blanket of sleep that had enclosed her. The last thing she remembered was the most intense orgasm of her life, one that had sent her spinning and falling, so deeply in love she knew
she’d
never resurface.
She’d
fallen asleep in Eli’s arms, thinking that was the way she wanted to slumber from now on.

She stretched leisurely, relishing the pleasant soreness. It meant Eli was real. That
they’d
made it through, that they could be together. She ran her hand down her body, the scent of him stamped on her skin, the feel of him echoing in her memory. She reached for him, wanting it to be more than a memory.

Eli wasn’t in bed.

She sat up quickly. Their uniforms lay in a heap on the floor. The sheet was tangled around her leg and hanging over the edge of the bed.

A distant pounding shot her heart rate through the roof.

“Who is it?” Galena’s voice called from the living room. She sounded nervous.

Cacy bolted from bed and grabbed her uniform. She wrenched it onto her body with desperate tugs, struggling with the torn sleeve, not wanting to be found naked in Eli’s room. For half a second, she considered stepping through her Scope, but she paused before she got it open. Something wasn’t right. She peeked out of Eli’s room and saw Galena in the living room, her bag on the counter and her keys in her hand, like
she’d
just gotten home. Before Cacy could say a word, Galena dropped her keys in her bag and tapped the screen of the video door monitor. “Who is it?” she asked again.

“It’s Cacy’s brother. Please let me in, Dr. Margolis. I’m here to make sure you’re safe.”

And with that, Galena opened the door and let the Charon in. Cacy tried to push down her rising alarm as she walked into the living room to see Rylan shaking Galena’s hand. If he had come here in person, something serious had happened.

Eli’s sister looked startled when she caught sight of Cacy, and Rylan’s friendly smile disappeared. “I thought I told you to stay away from him,” he said to his sister. “Why didn’t you listen?”

Galena frowned. “Um, it’s nice to see you again, Mr. Ferry, but if you and Cacy want to talk, maybe you should—”

Rylan waved his hand. “No. It’s all right.” He tilted his head and gave her a sheepish look. “You know how protective brothers can be, right?”

“No idea what you’re talking about.” Galena chuckled, but there was an air of uneasiness to it. She glanced at Cacy like she was hoping for an explanation.

Cacy held her torn uniform closed and ventured farther into the room. “What’s going on, Ry?”

He sighed. “I’ve been trying to track down the rogue element in Moros’s ranks, and I think I found it. Galena’s not safe here.”

Galena gave Cacy a frightened look. “Where’s Eli?”

No idea.
But
he’d
probably gotten called into the Veil to Mark someone. “I think he just stepped out for a bit,” Cacy said. “He’ll be back soon.”

Rylan ran his hand through his dark hair. “Galena, we need to get you to our corporate headquarters. I’ve got a car outside.” His gaze darted about the room, like he was afraid of an ambush.

“But if she stays here, she’s guarded, Ry. Eli said it was safe.”

Rylan’s eyes locked with Cacy’s. “You have no idea how deep this goes.” He shook his head. “You don’t even know who’s in control.”

Galena looked back and forth between Cacy and Rylan. “You guys are scaring me.” She pulled out her phone and hit a button. “I’m calling Eli.”

Rylan opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again when the ring of Eli’s phone came from his bedroom. Galena ended the call, her brow furrowed. “He always carries his phone,” she said in a shaky voice.

Cacy stepped forward and stroked Galena’s arm. “Maybe you should go with Ry, and I’ll wait for Eli,” she said. “We’ll meet up with you there.” As soon as Galena left with Rylan, Cacy planned to step into the Veil and find Eli. She had no idea how long
he’d
been gone, but Marking didn’t take more than a few minutes. He should be back by now.

Rylan was still looking around nervously. He held out his hand to Galena. “Dr. Margolis, please come with me. Your safety is crucial. I—”

Mandy the Ker appeared right in the middle of the living room, a few steps from Cacy. Galena whirled to face the woman and let out a horrified scream.

Hanging from Mandy’s clenched fist was a head, its wavy dark hair tangled in Mandy’s red fingernails. Rylan rushed forward and put his arms around Eli’s sister, shushing her. He glared at Mandy. “You disposed of the
traitor
?” he asked.

As Cacy looked at the head, she recognized the distorted features of the dark-haired Ker who’d been at the fund-raiser. “Yeah,” Mandy said. “The rest of him’s still wandering the Veil, wondering where the hell his brain is.” She chuckled, but then sobered as Rylan gave her a murderous look. She tossed the head behind a chair in the corner, and Galena screamed again.

“Oh my God. I’m being so rude.” Mandy wiped her bloody palms on her skirt and approached Galena, offering her hand. “So nice to meet you. I’m Mandy.”

Galena shrank against Rylan, looking first at the blood smears all over Mandy’s skirt and hands, and then to the blood on her lips.

Realization hit Cacy like a speeding AV. She bolted forward and stepped between the Ker and Eli’s sister. “Don’t even try to touch her!”

“Cacy,” chided Rylan. “Mandy was just trying to be—”

“You try to keep me away from Eli, but you’re fine being friends with
this
Ker?” Cacy yelled at Rylan. “What the hell is going on?” She turned to stare daggers at Mandy. “You were trying to Mark her, weren’t you?”

The blonde Ker took a few lazy steps back, running her tongue along her bottom lip. “Ask your big brother, Ferry.”

Galena gasped, but before Cacy could turn around, she felt something hard nudging the back of her skull. “Get out of the way, Cace,” Rylan said softly. “I don’t want to shoot you.”

“He really has a gun,” whispered Galena. “Cacy, do as he says. Please.”

Cacy turned around slowly, her hands rising in surrender, her mind reeling with disbelief. “What are you doing, Rylan?”

“Making the hard choices,” he said through clenched teeth. He kept the gun pointed at Cacy’s face as she backed up slowly, then he wrapped his other arm around Galena’s neck. He pulled her tight against his body.

“Ry? Let her go. Father didn’t want this. You know that.”

“He’s not the Charon anymore.”

A horrible thought nearly made Cacy retch. “Please tell me you didn’t have anything to do with his death.”

“You don’t understand, Cacy. Father had grown weak since your mother died. He was so focused on making it to Heaven that
he’d
forgotten about his responsibilities to the Ferrys. To
us
.”

“But they were the same,” she argued. “He wanted us all to do the right thing. He cared about people more than money.”

Cacy grimaced when Rylan’s grip on Galena drew a strangled whimper from the struggling woman’s throat. “Come on, Ry. Let’s do as you said. We can go back to Psychopomps. We can talk with the others about what to do.” Anything to buy time. Where the hell was Eli?
Had Mandy done something to him?
“Please,” she said, her voice shaking. “Let’s talk this through. Just like we always have. You and me, Ry.”

Rylan shook his head, and his smile was sad and brutal at the same time. “Home invasions are tragic but so common these days.” He brought the gun around and pressed it to the side of Galena’s head. Cacy’s blood turned cold. “I could have made this better for you if you’d let me, Cacy. But you didn’t listen to me. You weren’t
loyal
to me. You’ve left me with no choice.”

His gaze found Mandy’s. “Let’s get this done.”

“About time,” Mandy said, starting for Galena.

Cacy leaped forward and barreled into the Ker, knocking her to the floor. Cacy yanked her head up and slammed her fist into Mandy’s face. Mandy clawed and flailed. Then a blast of cold stole Cacy’s breath, and she looked down to see Mandy smiling up at her, fangs glistening.
She’d
brought them to the Veil.

“I’ve always thought you were an entitled little bitch,” she snarled. Then she lunged at Cacy.

As her back hit the spongy ground, Cacy caught Mandy’s wrists, and she kicked out, nailing her in the stomach. She twisted behind Mandy, who screeched and struggled, digging her claws into Cacy’s arms, shredding skin and muscle. Cacy’s arms began to go loose and weak. With fumbling fingers, she wrenched her Scope from her neck and flicked it open wide, then threw the ring around both herself and Mandy, dragging them back into the real world, where Mandy’s claws and fangs were nonexistent.

“Mandy!” called Rylan as he struggled to keep Galena under control, his gun still pressed to her head.

“If you want me to Mark her, take care of your fucking sister! You’re the only one who can end her life,” Mandy yelled. She and Cacy hit the hard floor of the apartment, sending Cacy’s blood splattering across the tile. Mandy started to crawl toward Galena, hand outstretched. Arms trembling and spasming, Cacy struggled to her feet and threw herself on top of the Ker. Even if Mandy dragged her back into the Veil and tore her apart, there was no way Cacy was going to allow her to touch Galena.

“Dammit, Mandy,” shouted Rylan. “If you want me to take care of her, get up and hold her still!”

Mandy’s fingers burrowed into the deep gashes
she’d
opened in Cacy’s arms, and Cacy’s hands went numb. As soon as Cacy let go, the Ker was up and behind her, entangling her arms with Cacy’s so that Cacy was facing Rylan. “Whatever you say, baby,” Mandy huffed.

Still holding Galena tightly, Rylan aimed the gun at Cacy’s chest. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I love you.”

Cacy closed her eyes.

A deafening crack and an inhuman roar shook the room.

Cacy blinked.
She’d
expected her world to end, but she was still being held tightly in Mandy’s grip.

Eli stood in front of her, facing Rylan, shielding her with his body. His neck was torn open. Blood ran down the back of his shirt in thick crimson stripes. His broad shoulders sagged, and he stumbled back a step, rocked with the impact of the bullet that had been meant for her.

“Cacy?” he said.

“I’m okay,” she whispered.

Eli drew himself up and leaped at Rylan.