Haunted (2 page)

Shayne pushed open one of the tall bronze doors. Inside was a broad aisle that made Gillian think of a church. But there were no pews. Instead, to either side of the walkway, there were rows of what looked like desks. Some were broken and battered, but most were intact. Gillian stopped at one and ran her gloved hand over the still smooth wood.

“People sat here and wrote,” she murmured, taking in the ink stains, dents, and grooves. “I wonder what they wrote about.”

“They might have been scribes,” Shayne offered. “I remember a scriptorium I saw in London. Or maybe they were students.”

He had made his way to the front of the room where a large, wooden piece of furniture had fallen. With a single grunt of effort, he righted it, putting it up where it had once stood. It turned out to be a lectern, though one made for a much shorter man than Shayne. He stood behind it briefly before shaking his head.

“I can’t count the number of places I’ve stood where comrades have fallen. Something of those lives remained, even if it was just a feeling or a memory. Somehow those places were changed.” He glanced around at the desks. “But there’s something different about this. Something’s not right.” His gaze landed on her. “If you’re done, I think we should move along.”

Gillian nodded. He was right. She couldn’t put it into words either, but something gnawed at her, grating on already frayed nerves. As they retreated up the aisle, their footsteps echoed in the silence. But as they neared the doors, a different sound intruded.

“Do you hear that?” she said.

A shiver went down her spine. It was the sound of water. Before she knew it, she was outside and running up the street, Shayne beside her. Although it looked like any of the fountains they had passed, water was spouting in this new one. In the middle of a small plaza ringed with empty merchant stalls, the circular fountain had a stone fish that seemed to be leaping upstream. From its upturned mouth, sparkling blue water soared upward before splashing down.
 

Gillian sat on the narrow edge, feeling the mist of the water on her face, cool and refreshing. She closed her eyes to it, drinking in the feeling. But rather than marvel at how it had happened, it only seemed natural. She felt Shayne sit next to her, and heard him dip his hand in. For a moment, she was reminded of a cold, rushing river somewhere in Iceland. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Though her eyes were closed, she could smell the pine and the fresh mountain air.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” said a familiar voice, as Raina swam into view.

Though her eyes were still closed, Gillian saw her. The small, trim woman had appeared at the river’s edge.

“Wondering when I’d show up?” Gillian said.

“What?” Shayne said, putting his hand on hers.

“It’s Raina,” Gillian said, keeping her eyes closed. “At the river.”

It was Raina who had helped Gillian find her way back to her body, when a Templar had tried to kill her. Raina was a spirit walker, able to travel without her body.

“Is that Shayne there with you?” Raina asked. “It’s so dim.”

“Yes,” she said, clasping his hand. “Shayne’s here.”

“And where is here, precisely? Is that a fountain I see?”

“We’re in the Hollow City, Raina,” Gillian said, feeling a bit of excitement at her own words. “We made it to Tenebris.”

“Of course you did,” Raina said, grinning a little. “Was there ever any doubt?”

When gunshots had been flying, there had been.

“Oh Raina,” Gillian said as the memory spurred a thought. “Mathias didn’t come with us. He’s still in Göreme. Do you know if he’s all right?”

Raina shook her head. “No news on that front,” she said, but it was getting hard to hear her. “Marceline didn’t mention him.” Raina peered at her. “Looks like you’ve got to go.”

“No wait,” Gillian said. “How are you able to–”

The vision ended. Slowly Gillian opened her eyes.

“Any word about Mathias?” Shayne asked.

Gillian turned her face from the fountain’s mist to see Shayne staring intently at her.

“No,” she said. “Marceline never mentioned him to Raina.”

Shayne only nodded. “Well, I’m glad she’s still looking out for us––literally.”

Gillian had to smile at that. But as she gazed at the beautiful water again, the smile vanished. Swimming in the water were large, calico carp. Decked out in sparkling orange, white and black, they swam lazily in the fountain.

“They weren’t there when we sat down,” she said quietly. “We would have seen.”

“Yes, we would have.”

“We’re bringing the city back to life,” she whispered. She gazed back along the street they’d just come down. The cobbles were visible now. More windows had glass in them. “It’s like it wants to be brought back to life. Not the people, but the city itself. I think the people must have moved on.”

“Not Mina,” Shayne said.

Gillian jerked her head back. “What?” She blinked. “What did you say?”

“Not Mina,” Shayne said again. “Apparently she hasn’t moved on.” But as Gillian continued to stare at him, he paused. “What?”

“For a minute there, the way you said her name… You sounded so familiar.”

He abruptly shifted his gaze, and turned away from her. “Well, I should hope so.”

But something in his face had been troubled. Nor had Shayne ever said Mina’s name before.

“Shayne?” she said, but he didn’t look at her. She lightly grasped his chin in her hand, and turned his face to her. “What are you not telling me?” The look in his eyes… It was like Mathias’s when Shayne had woken them from their vision at the underground lake. “What have you seen? What happened?”

His brown and blue eyes searched hers.

“When we crossed over to Tenebris,” he said quietly, barely moving. “I didn’t just cross. It felt like someone pushed me.” She frowned, and her hand went to the side of his face. “Someone was angry with me,” he said. “They were furious. But, more than that…” He paused, staring into her eyes. “I knew they were right to be. I had done something very wrong, and I knew it. There was so much pain. They said they were going to take me to her.” He swallowed hard. “They did something to my eyes.”

The hushed way he spoke made her shudder. There was a kind of horror there that she understood. But it wasn’t the pain. It was the growing feeling that they were approaching something that was inevitable.

“Gods,” she whispered, cradling his face between her hands. He closed his eyes.

As she brought his face close to hers, she lightly kissed one eye, then the other, and then his lips. His quick response startled her. His arms wound around her waist, pulled her tight against him, and his mouth smothered hers. It was if he’d been holding back since they’d arrived. He kissed her with a passion that took her breath and blanked her mind. His lips kneaded into hers, melding, until she realized she needed this as much as he did. Her gloved fingers carded into his hair. He tilted his head one way and then the other. The musky scent of his skin filled her nose, as she tried to drag in air. He leaned into her, curving her back, as she quickly yielded. His tongue speared into her, owning her mouth, until she felt like she might drown. But finally, breathing hard, Shayne relented. Though their lips separated, he held her to his chest. As the water splashed and the sun shone down, they simply held one another.

“We need to find that portal,” he whispered against her hair.

She nodded.

THOUGH FINDING TENEBRIS had been the focus of Gillian’s short life, now she had to question it. As she and Shayne moved down the broader boulevards, looking for any sign of a portal, she began to understand her obsession with the place. It had never just been about research. Something more had always been at work. If her visions hadn’t been enough to tell her that, now she had to include Mathias and Shayne. The research had only been the means to draw them onto some ancient path. As she and Shayne passed public buildings and residences, open spaces and narrow alleys, familiarity began to stir, and Gillian had to wonder.

Could the Hollow City once have been her home? Had it been home for Mathias? What about Shayne?

With a start, she realized the streets no longer held rubble. All the doors and windows were complete. The buildings had their facades and adornments, and the true beauty of the place was revealed. There was a conscious design to it all: the tall and graceful architecture, the welcoming plazas, and cozy nooks. It had been made for people.

They passed an enormous aviary intricately carved out of stone in the center of one of the plazas. To Gillian’s amazement, a small flock of black and gold birds nested in it. They made soft cooing sounds but Gillian imagined a different scene, one where the hundreds of empty perches were filled. The plaza would have been alive with the raucous sounds of peacocks and the sweet music of songbirds.

Gillian’s foot kicked something that at first seemed like a couple of rocks. But when she glanced down, she stopped. They were small stone cubes marked with dots.

“Dice,” Shayne said, stooping to pick one up. He handed it to her.

It was beautiful, made of a dusty jade, with yellow dimples for the dots. On the ground was a circle with a square inside it and more dice, some sort of gaming area. She tossed her die to the others and watched it roll up three.

“A winner?” she wondered out loud.

“Definitely,” he said, gazing at her with a little grin.

She smiled and took his hand as they made their way further into the city. Though they kept to the main thoroughfare, they checked in every direction at each intersection.

“It has to be big,” Shayne said, looking down the crossing street. “Like the portal in Göreme. You said there was a stream of people.”

Looking in the opposite direction, she’d been about to agree, but she had to stop. Though she felt the tug of Shayne’s hand on hers, she didn’t move. Less than a block away, in a small public square all to itself, was a raised platform. Despite the plummeting feeling in the pit of her stomach, she dropped Shayne’s hand and strode toward it.

“What?” Shayne said. “What is it?” Though nothing in the atmosphere seemed different, it felt like walking into a freezer. “Gillian, what’s wrong?”

In moments they stood at the edge of the square. There was a post with manacles set at the rear of the dais. Now that she looked, there were stone rings set into the ground all around the area. Gillian knelt next to one. As if in a dream, she grabbed it and pulled. It was as solid and unbreakable as ever.

“The Bondage Wheel,” she whispered. “They brought slaves here from all points on the globe. But only the best for Tenebris. To merit a stone ring, you had to have a city order. To win an order there were…” She nearly gagged. “…competitions.”

Shayne crouched down next to her.

Without thinking, Gillian took off her glove and reached for the ring.

“No!” Shayne said, seizing her wrist. He snatched the glove from the ground and dragged her to her feet. “What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.

“I was here,” she whispered, unable to take her eyes from the ring. “I remember what it was like to see this place for the first time, to…to…”

The memory was gone. Barely half-remembered and gauzy thin to begin with, it had vanished. Only the dread remained. She covered her mouth with her hands, as tears sprang to her eyes. There was no denying it any more. She had been here.

Shayne pulled her into his arms, and held her tight. He wanted to protect her, she knew that. But as they stood there, Gillian felt the enormous tide of history rising around them. How could they possibly stand against its onslaught? She drew back from him and wiped her eyes.

“We have to find that portal,” she said.

“The sooner, the better,” he said, nodding.

As they skirted the slave market, Shayne picked up the pace. But as the sun moved through the sky and they turned down the myriad streets of the ever awakening city, there was no sign of it. They passed high towers that could only have been accessed by Wiccan flyers. They passed apothecaries like those in the Midnight Market, but bigger. They moved through neighborhoods of villas set back from the street, and herb gardens that were sprouting. There was even a domed observatory. But nowhere was there any sign of a portal. Though Gillian didn’t want to admit it, her feet were sore, she was tired, and also hungry. Shayne must have seen it.

“It’s getting dark,” he said. “We should–”

A faint, shushing sound surrounded them. With a curse, Shayne pulled Gillian behind him. Hands ready, his gaze darted all around them. But it was only the stone street lanterns. Every one filled with a soft white light.

“We need to get off the street,” Shayne said, taking her arm.

He hurried her to the nearest shadow. In every direction, Tenebris was renewing itself. There was a shifting energy to the city, something that made the very air vibrate. He ushered her into an alley. Small grated windows at street level looked down on basements. One revealed a kitchen. Cooking utensils were laid out on a counter as though the chef had just stepped away.

“I don’t want to run into someone who’s been woken up by whatever we’re doing,” Shayne said lowly, keeping her moving.

“At this point,” Gillian whispered, “I don’t know if they’re the ghosts or we are.”

At the end of the alley, Shayne brought them to a halt. He carefully checked in every direction. “This way,” he said, leading her out. “I think this will have to do.”

They were in another street, but not as broad. Across it were what looked like several narrow shops. But the wide wood doors that shuttered them were only half height. Shayne strode to the first, checked inside, and opened it.

“Do you recognize it?” Gillian asked, trying to see into the dark.

“Let’s just say I’ve spent enough time around horses,” he said.

He closed the door behind them, and lit a small fireball.

“Oh!” she said.

It was a stable. Though the stall was clean and empty, she could distinctly smell the sweet scent of hay.

Shayne crossed the small space to a similar door and opened it. He motioned for her to follow him. Inside, they stood in a central aisle, with a dozen gates on either side.