Torn From the Shadows (9 page)

Her body jolted.

“Let go of her hand,” I screamed.

“But she’ll fall.” The shock must have struck her at that moment because Jana forcibly pulled her hand back and shook her fingers. “Ouch!”

Juliet’s eyes widened as her fingers slipped from the railing. With no one there to keep her anchored, she tumbled down the stairs and landed at the bottom with a sick thump.

“No, Juliet!”

I grabbed Jana’s elbow before she could follow. “Don’t do it. You’ll end up just like her.”

“We need to check that she’s—”

“Yeah, we do. But this staircase is a livewire and there’s only one way for us to go—that way.” I pointed down the passageway in front of us.

She rolled her shoulders and finally nodded, heading up. “Let’s get these assholes!”
 

At least she’d remembered to grab one of the duffels.

I led the way across the concrete floor. We crossed it as fast as we could. Suddenly, every light inside the place clicked off. It looked like Ebony had taken care of the power.

The square windows situated on both sides of the triangular roof helped patches of light filter through, making it easier to see where we were going—the office.

We stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of a metallic door. My eyes skimmed the surface and the large window beside it. The door might be closed and the blinds shut, but I could see the colors shifting inside. The phantasms were assembled on the other side, waiting for us.

I yanked down my sleeve enough to cover my hand before pushing down the slim door handle then promptly removing my grip. “Son of a bitch!” A shock flowed through me, sending pins and needles racing up and down my fingers.

I kicked the door in so hard it slammed against the window. The glass shattered and the blinds bent out of shape.

“Come on,” I whispered, not waiting for Jana to respond.

The office area wasn’t as big as the downstairs, but enough to hold four desks set up in an open-plan format. A few filing cabinets were positioned in the corners, as well as tables holding printers and other office equipment. All of it was bathed in white, blue, and green lightning.

“Don’t touch anything!” I warned, making my way into the middle of the room.

With this much energy flowing around us, it was going to make our job a hell of a lot harder. Catchers could cross into the ghost’s zone, and that’s what we had to do now.

“Are you ready to enter the zone?”

“Yeah,” Jana said, her breath misting in front of her.

I took another step and she matched it.

The phantasms weren’t humanoid anymore. They looked more like blobs of flickering light with three holes near the top—eyes and mouth. They lit up the room, twitching over the printers, phones, cabinets—anything that would conduct their deadly current.

One more step and we were in. I sucked in a lungful of sharp air and it chilled me to the bone. The cold worked its way around my system, taking my breath away. I caught myself quickly and regained control, but Jana seemed to be having trouble.

The added zing of the electricity made my nerves twitch. “Jana, are you with me?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she sputtered.

“We have to strip away their energy. Find their core and the canister will do the rest.”

Jana clenched her teeth and nodded. “I got this.”

“Good.” I turned my attention back to the phantasms, to see if I could count how many we were up against. We faced six, each with a varying amount of current flowing through them.

I filled my lungs, feeling the combination of frost and energy burning them. I’d faced all types of spooks during my life and even defeated demons, so these electrified freaks wouldn’t get the best of me. I just had to remember these phantasms might look like balls of lightning, but at the core they were just like every other spook. I could already see their edges blurring.

“Hey,” I called, hoping to grab their attention.

All black, hollow eyes turned to me and the buzzing increased until they sounded like a hive of bees ready to engulf us.

“You’re trespassing,” I said. “Come to me without resistance, or I’ll come and get you.”

Three of them shot from the other side of the room like colorful bullets and struck me in the shoulder. I almost stumbled, but I’d already caught one by the tail. I squeezed tightly, then shoved my other hand into where I estimated their chest used to be. As soon as I did, all color faded from the spook and it became a gray, lifeless thing.

“Catch!” I yelled.

Jana raised her canister, pressed the switch on the side and caught the phantasm. The mere shadow of a spook was promptly sucked into it like some sort of supernatural vacuum cleaner.

The other phantasms now whirred around me, moving so fast I came up empty-handed with every attempt I made at grabbing them. This wasn’t going to work. Not when the other phantasms were already creeping closer.

I closed my eyes, prepared to use my honed senses. Oren’s continuous attempt to help me learn how to meditate without astral projecting might not work how he wanted it to, but it had taught me how to use every sense except sight to feel and react.

With my senses spiked, I silenced my mind and reached in front of me. My hands plunged into solid matter. I dug my fingers into the phantasms very core and flung one useless husk after another. The satisfying click confirmed Jana had captured each one I flung her way.

“Three down, three to go.” I opened my eyes, surprised to find two of the power-driven beings hovering in front of me, as if they were giving themselves up to the inevitable. “Jana. They’re yours.”

She stepped up, canister at the ready. She was a fast learner, and within minutes had not only reached their core and obliterated their power, but had them safely tucked into the canister.

“Awesome! Well done.”

She flashed me a quick smile.

“We’ve got one more—” I was cut off by the slam against my spine. I collapsed onto my hands and knees, but quickly rolled onto my back as the electric shocks went through me. The force of the current tickled my nerves, causing my body to jolt like I was having a seizure. I’d just been tasered by a phantasm.

“Sierra!” Jana yelled.

I struggled to move my head, drool dribbled from the side of my mouth.

The final phantasm had struck me and now surrounded Jana like a tornado. She’d already dropped the canister. If I didn’t do something, she was going to end up worse than I. But what could I do when I was still twitching and the current was flowing through me?

Think, Sierra, think.

I wasn’t sure it would work, but there was only one thing left to do. The walls of the warehouse collapsed around us until only the dark patch was left. The phantasm was here, still circling Jana.

“What’s happening?” she yelled. “I can’t see anything.”

“Hold on,” I said. My limbs might not work properly right now but I could astral project out of my shell. I floated towards the phantasm until it was right in front of me. As soon as my fingers collided with its sizzling skin, it cried out and exploded into a thousand green sparks.

I was sucked back into my body like a retracting elastic band, and the black walls slipped back to reveal the warehouse office.

“Jana,” I whispered. Everything felt stiff but I was able to open and close my fingers.

“Sierra, are you okay?” Ebony was standing above me, a concerned look on her face.

I didn’t answer, instead crawled towards Jana’s motionless body.

“Oh my Goddess, what happened to her?”

“The phantasm… She’s not breathing.” Her chest wasn’t moving and I couldn’t find a pulse. “Her heart’s stopped.”

Claire stood near the door, crying.

“We can’t let her die too,” Ebony whispered.

I didn’t acknowledge what that meant. Instead, I got to my knees and straightened out Jana’s body. When I touched her, she twitched. Did this mean she wasn’t dead?

“Did you see that?” Ebony asked, wide-eyed.

“What?”

“The sparks on your hand… I’ve got an idea!” She reached for my wrist—keeping her fingers from touching mine by using her sleeve—and positioned my palm above Jana’s chest. “Do you see the sparks?”

The same colorful arcs the phantasms had been projecting were now flickering along my fingertips and palm. “What the hell?”

“Use it to pump her heart, I’ll do the rest.” She pushed my hand against Jana’s chest, and together we performed CPR.

It took several minutes of pumping Jana’s chest while my fingers zapped her heart and Ebony breathed into her mouth, but when I felt the first beat, I stopped. My vision blurred. Her first breath came shortly after, and Ebony sat back with a rueful smile.

“You did it,” Ebony said. “You better add miracle-worker to your resume.”

Claire rushed to help Jana sit up, who looked a little dazed but still alive.

“What happened?” Jana asked.

“You’re going to be all right,” Ebony said, patting her back.

“Ebony, did you just kiss me?”

She winked. “Did you enjoy it?”

Jana didn’t respond.

I looked down at my hands. Tiny sparks still coursed through my fingertips, making me twitch. “Is Juliet okay?” I finally asked the question I’d been dreading.

“I think she’s dead,” Claire said, holding tightly onto Jana now that she was standing.

Ebony looked around the office. “What the hell happened in here?”

I shook my head. “I need to check on Juliet.”

“Sierra, she’s gone,” Ebony whispered.

I headed for the door as my fingers buzzed. “I have to make sure…”

Several minutes later we were all gathered around the small hatchback and waiting for the police to arrive. Ebony had called them while I rang Gareth. He was also on his way.

Roe had advised us to call them, instead of removing Juliet’s body. A touch of my hands hadn’t helped revive her. I couldn’t believe the young spook catcher was dead. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
 

We weren’t supposed to lose someone else.

 
Claire held Jana while they sat together in the backseat crying. Ebony stood just outside the door, looking at them. I didn’t know how else to comfort the girls so I headed for my whale of a car with Lavie in tow.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked her. We’d left the warehouse and found Lavie helping the security guard. She looked paler than usual and moved slowly but seemed okay.

“I’m fine, it was just a shock.” She pouted. “I’m disappointed I missed out on all the action, and I’m sorry about Juliet.”

I lowered my head. There was nothing any of us could do about her loss. It was another burden to carry on my conscience. Yet, something bugged me. While we’d all known we’d be facing some sort of pesky spook before we got here, this situation didn’t sit well with me. The phantasms weren’t waiting inside the warehouse. They seemed to arrive via the train lines as soon as they detected our presence. I was sure of it.

Not to mention that I’d been able to draw one into the dark patch—where only those tainted by the demonic could venture.

I sighed, and turned to look across the street when my heart stopped for a few seconds. On top of one of the warehouse peaks, the air wavered. As I watched, the quivering slowly morphed into a humanoid shape. At first it appeared to be all shadow and smoke before solidifying into the outline of a pulsating beast. It looked as big as a gorilla but instead of being covered with fur, it was engulfed by a ball of electric energy.

I wanted to run towards it, but my feet were stuck to the road.

“Sierra, what’s wrong?” Lavie asked.

I swallowed. My mouth was suddenly dry. The shape was shifting again, and this time I recognized
who
it was. Mace Clamber stood on top of the warehouse with a huge smile plastered on his face. Even from this distance, I knew he was staring right at me.

That bastard!

I willed my limbs into action and ran towards the warehouse. My breath came in spurts and my lungs burned, but I ignored everything—even Lavie’s persistent calls.

As soon as my feet touched the sidewalk, Mace disappeared from the roof and reappeared in front of me. One of his hands cupped my cheek, sending a shock through my nerves. I didn’t dare move.

“Sierra, so glad you could make it,” he whispered. The shine in his black irises freaked me out. Not only did they match the leather jacket molded to his torso, but they were filled with flickering lightning bolts.

“You’re the”—there was only one spook capable of doing what he’d just done—“phantom.”

“You’ve already seen my handiwork.”

He was the reason Papan was knocked out at the Moss house, and Vixen was messed up. He’d managed to beat and burn them as an invisible entity. Now I knew why.

I gritted my teeth. His fingers were still zapping me. “How did this happen?” If Mace was already nonhuman, as well as affected by the demon Legion, what would this make him? Invincible?