Revenant

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

“A fast-moving paranormal adventure of danger, love, and heartbreak.
Phantasm
is filled with change and surprises that will keep readers glued to the pages.”

—
Darque Reviews

 

“An exhilarating, serpentine story line with so many puzzles to solve; readers will wonder how the paranormal can protect the newcomer. Zoë is a kick-butt heroine . . . Character-driven though action-packed, Phaedra Weldon’s third Zoë urban fantasy is fantastic.”

—
Midwest Book Review

 

“An excellent follow-up to Zoë’s first outing, and the ending will leave readers hungry for more.”

—
Booklist

 

“The supernatural beings are fascinating characters in
Spectre
. . . a great urban fantasy.”

—
Midwest Book Review

 

“This follow-up to Weldon’s debut urban noir paranormal mystery,
Wraith
, provides intriguing background information on Zoë’s birth and sets the stage for further adventures. Fans of urban fantasy and supernatural detective stories should enjoy this foray into the borderlands between life and death.”

—
Library Journal

 

“Weldon takes readers on a fast-moving adventure of murder, mystery, the dark side of survival, and a romance that is ready to bloom.
Spectre
provides fans with action and danger at every turn.”—
Darque Reviews

 

“This novel is full of twists and turns . . . fun and intense.”

—
The Witching-Hour Inquirer

 

“The darkness and graphic danger that permeate the novel make it a chilling and scary read.”

—
Romantic Times

 

 

“A highly original addition to urban fantasy . . . I look forward to reading more about Zoë Martinique and her world.”

—Patricia Briggs, #1
New York Times
bestselling author

 

“With a quick-witted heroine and truly frightening baddies, Weldon offers a fantastic kickoff to what promises to be a vibrant new series.”

—
Booklist

 

“Launching with a bang, this new detective series/urban fantasy crossover plunges its astral-traveling heroine in the middle of the action. Martinique is strong, resourceful, self-deprecating, and fascinating.”

—
Library Journal

 

“Weldon’s lively debut . . . keeps Zoë and her readers off balance with brisk pacing and brain-wrenching plot twists, drawing the story to a satisfying close while leaving enough loose ends to set up Zoë’s next adventure.”

 

“Interesting, off-kilter characters . . . I can only hope that we will see more of Zoë Martinique and her family . . . Everything is so matter-of-fact that you come to quickly accept these fantastical trappings—not because of
Buffy
and other TV shows, but just because, well, it seems so solidly real within the context of the book.”

 

“This fresh urban fantasy series keeps the action intense with its first-person point of view. Heavy on pop-culture references and quirky dialogue, it features original characters the reader will want to befriend. With a penchant for finding trouble, like Kim Harrison’s protagonist [Rachel Morgan], and witty banter akin to that of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
, Weldon’s astral-traveling heroine, Zoë, makes this series a hit.”

 

“[A] worthwhile debut that bodes well for disembodied adventures to come.”

WRAITH
SPECTRE
PHANTASM
REVENANT

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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

This is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Copyright © 2010 by Phaedra Weldon.

 

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. ACE and the “A” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

PRINTING HISTORY
Ace trade paperback edition / June 2010

 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

 

Weldon, Phaedra.

Revenant : a Zoë Martinique investigation / Phaedra Weldon. p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-43463-5

1. Martinique, Zoë (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Single women—Fiction.

3. Astral projection—Fiction. 4. Atlanta (Ga.)—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3623.E4647R′.6—dc22

2010008672

 

 

Why, then ’tis none to you, for there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. To me it is a prison.

—William Shakespeare,
Hamlet

SUPERMAN
makes this shit look easy.

Flying, I mean. Just points his beefy hand out with a mighty fist and away he goes. Up, up, up. I do the same and crash into—
through
—and past a building. I guess this is a good thing since I don’t actually break anything in the process. No bones or concrete.

Though that last condo I blasted through had some seriously questionable stuff happening in that middle unit—was that a cato’-nine-tails I saw? I tumbled out and put the brakes on, backpedaling in midair as I concentrated on the darkened world, looking for the telltale signs of the Fetch I’d been chasing.

What’s a Fetch? Hell if I knew. The only intel I’d been given was that if I could catch them easily, I would graduate from grasshopper to padawan. Yes. I know. Mixing media here. It’s good practice, going after the small baddies. Gets me in shape for the big baddies, right?

What I did know about Fetches was what I’d read in the Dioscuri notes the Society of Ishmael had let me read. Was still reading.

Nasty little suckers. Really nothing more than a stray bit of Abysmal essence discarded by its creator. They were a lot like Daemons, brought into existence to spy or do icky things. Some were used as assassins. They weren’t given forms like me or you—but left naked in a way so they could blend into their environment. This one’d been made out of office supplies—like an Office Depot transformer. And every time it’d gone through a wall, its accouterments had been ripped off, and then it’d pulled whatever else was nearby to itself, giving it form again. Last time I checked—this one was made of toilet paper—two-ply.

Oh—let me explain. My name’s Zoë—and you’d think I’d get tired of reintroducing myself. But see—I never know where people join the adventure. Or tragedy. Depends on how you look at it.

Martinique. Last name.

I’m a twentysomething former retail salesgirl turned Wraith.

Wraith. That’s what I am. All because—and let me make sure I got this straight in my own head—I was born an Irin, the child of an angel, and was touched by the Abysmal plane.

Got that? Good, ’cause I ain’t repeating it.

“Hey—lover—” came a deep voice to my left. A voice that rightfully belonged to a detective I knew but was being used by my companion at the moment. I was hovering as I got my bearings, my arms crossed over my chest, and turned my head to take a look at my enemy, my nemesis, and the reason all this shit had happened to me.

Let me introduce you to that part of the Abysmal plane I was touched by.

The Archer. TC to me and my buddies. Trench Coat.

That would be the bald guy with sunglasses hovering to my left. Not that he knew what would happen back then—or I. But apparently we’re irrevocably linked together in all sorts of oogy ways. Before he touched me, I could go out of body, or OOB as I called it. Astral projection. But then things changed—
I
changed when he marked me. I glanced at the light red hennalike tattoo of his handprint on my left wrist, could only imagine the streak of white in my otherwise-dark Latina hair.

My being was now a miasma of both planes—existing as one.

Mutt.

This bastard next to me had kidnapped my mother’s soul. And then I lost my ability to OOB because of a spell my mom did when I was a child. Because of this, my dual soul split down the middle. And the evil half of me possessed the man I loved.

Detective Daniel Frasier.