Lost Soul (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 2) (11 page)

He stared at me in surprise. And for a moment I thought he was going down.

He wasn't.

The Wraith came straight for me, slamming into me so hard my head hit the wall and I almost passed out. The gun slipped from my grasp. I made a grab for it, but I missed and the weapon clattered to the ground.

He grabbed for my neck, his claw-like fingers fitting around my throat like a murderous collar. A growl escaped his throat as he squeezed. And I recalled that weird golden glow on my hands when I'd attacked Todd's Wraith. I'd been desperate that night, almost passing out—desperate to save a boy from a Wraith possessing his father. Could I recreate that power?

Gus's nostrils flared as he pressed harder.

I tried to regenerate that glow, tried to see if it worked, but nothing happened. I kicked out at the Wraith, helpless without my gun. I lifted my leg to reach for the dagger.

Gus was focused on squeezing the life out of me. He didn't see me raise the dagger. I plunged it into his side and he grunted, moving back to hold a hand to his abdomen. He looked surprised and a little hurt. Gus's body was failing the Wraith. When he lunged toward me, I stabbed at him again, slicing across his gut. I expected a rush of warm entrails but Gus held his stomach closed and lunged forward
once more. I was about to swipe at him again, aiming at his throat but he dropped hard.

And landed on his knees at my feet with a thud
.

I looked up. Lily stood staring the Wraith down, a triumphant grin on her face as she held the dagger out in front of her.

"Good job, side-kick." I shot the words at her as I grabbed the gun from the ground a few feet from me. I put two shots into the Wraith's brain just to be certain he was on his way to being deader than dead.

The Wraith clutched his chest. His breath clattered in his throat, Adam's apple bouncing in tempo. His eyes bulged, his face caught in a horrible grimace. His muscles pulled taut in a gross parody of shock and agony. He crumpled to the unforgiving concrete
.

Dark, wispy shadows spewed from his mouth. As we watched, shadows writhed and curled and twisted away from the body, grey smoky fingers reaching for the tiny rips in the Veil, seeking to escape to the questionable safety of the Wraith world. The body of Gus, the human host, lay discarded, a dried husk of the man. Desiccated skin lay sunken on bones, papery thin and fluttering in the breeze.

Lily gasped as the last bits of the Wraith disappeared. Her hand fell, and she held the dagger loosely at her side. Adrenalin must be pumping through her veins right now. I knew the feeling.

"Come on. We need to get out of here." I pulled on her stiff arm as the sound of a groan reached me. "The other guy's waking up. Let's go." I pulled her along, pausing only to grab my rucksack from beside the dumpster.

We hurried across the street. I glanced back at the girl. She stood on the sidewalk staring at the card I'd given her.

She looked up just before I took the corner. Her eyes met mine but they were unreadable. I couldn't tell if I'd made a difference. I hoped she'd call. Storm would be able to help her.

And then we turned the corner, hurrying to my apartment with Walker speed. I felt the pull of my panther stronger than ever. But I had to resist. I'd never change in front of Lily. Not unless I knew she'd be okay watching my transformation.

We reached the apartment, relieved and slowly coming off our adrenalin high, and stumbled inside. I glanced over at Lily, the exhilaration on her face. Her eyes shone. "That was so cool."

I shook my head. I certainly didn't think it was so cool. But Lily had been everything I could want in a partner. "I have to say you did really well. That took a lot of courage."

"I have no idea how I did it. One minute I was on the fire escape, the next I was pulling the knife out of that thing's body." Lily shuddered. "Man, I've never seen anything like that before. So creepy."

"Yeah. It's what happens when they die." I wasn't sure how to make her feel better. "You'll get used to it."

"Creepy but cool."

I glanced up at Lily and laughed.

She was grinning from ear to ear. What had made me think she needed to feel better?

***

I'd had to chase Lily home with threats of never training her again if she didn't leave. She'd loved the hunt way too much but that was a good thing. And she had good enough aim that some solid practice would make her an ace shot.

I sank into bed and managed to fall asleep almost immediately.

When the phone rang, I barely heard it at first and I had to force myself to answer it.

"Hello." I grunted into the phone. What I really meant was "Who the hell is bugging me this early in the morning?"

"Hey, Kai." Logan's voice filtered through the phone and my stomach did a little somersault. I'd missed him.

"Hi." I tried to clear the sleep from my throat. "You got any news for me?"

"We're still waiting to hear back from Nerina. It's looking good to get her to see us. The rest is up to her I guess." He sounded tired.

"Thanks for doing this." I rolled over and stared at the ceiling, blinking against the sunlight streaming through the window.

The other end of the line was silent for a moment. "Kai, do you want to get out and get some air? You must be getting claustrophobic by now."

I snorted. "I've been out most of the night with Lily. But sure. What's up?"

"There's someone I want you to meet." His voice sounded guarded.

"Where?"

"O'Hagan's? How about one?"

I glanced at my cell for the time. "Sure. I'll be there."

Logan rang off and I squinted at the phone, deathly curious now. I stowed the weapons and neatened up the apartment a bit. Grams' door was open a tiny crack and I peeped in to see if I could disturb her. She lay flat on her stomach, a hand at the side of her face
, serenely, deeply asleep. I smiled and pulled the door shut softly.

I left her a message taped to the kettle "Don't leave without speaking to me!!"

***

O'Hagan's was dark and cozy. I hurried inside and chose a secluded booth. With another half hour to go before Logan arrived, I ordered a burger and chips to sate my hunger, watching the door for Logan.

Logan entered on time. Alone.

So much for meeting someone.

He grinned as he sat across from me, ordering a drink with the waitress before shucking off his jacket and heaving a great sigh.

"You sound like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders." As I spoke the words I realized how much better they suited me and my predicament. How much did Logan know about the Niamh anyway?

"You look like you're on your way back to being bedridden," he said in answer.

"Yeah, I know. The poison's taking over again. Pretty powerful stuff I'd say." When he rubbed his temples and pressed his fingers to his skull I asked, "Are you okay? When did you sleep last?"

"I'm fine. And I think that was on your sofa."

"You need your rest, you know. How can you help me if you're exhausted?" He glanced at me sharply as if the thought hadn't occurred to him. "So who is this you want me to meet? I noticed you're alone. Did they bail?"

He shook his head. "He'll be here soon. Just don't freak out."

"Okay," I answered slowly, warily. Who or what was he trying to spring on me?

Just as I answered him the air beside Logan twisted and shimmered. We were hidden safely within the dark corner of the booth, watching the moving shadows spin and coalesce with a spark of orange embers into a grinning man.

Dark-haired, olive-skinned, black-eyed, Arabic-style tattoos covering much of his visible skin. He leaned forward, grabbed a chip from my basket, dunked it in the bowl of ketchup and proceeded to munch on it in the silence that followed.

I raised an eyebrow at him, then moved my attention to Logan who looked a little sheepish and just shrugged his shoulders. "This is Saleem."

"Nice entrance," I said to Saleem.

"Thank you. It's what I do," he said, giving me a quick wink.

I wanted to giggle. There was a quiet sensuality about him, quite overrun by a playfulness that gleamed in his black eyes.

Logan cut in. "Saleem is a djinn. And because the djinn are of the shadows, they are able to enter the Greylands. Unlike the trackers and Death-talkers, the djinn can enter in a corporeal state just like you."

"Ah. I see." I leaned back and grabbed a chip. It finally made sense. "You want Saleem to come with me?"

"Yes. I think it would be wise for you to have some sort of protection. And he was the only person I could think of capable of doing the job."

"What can he do to protect me?" I asked, sounding like I was interviewing a potential employee.

"He is right here," Saleem offered but neither Logan nor I paid him much attention.

"He's an excellent fighter, excellent with weapons. As far as being good company goes, I'm not so sure but he'll do."

"I'm still right here." Saleem pouted then stole another chip, which didn't work well with the pouting.

Logan and I turned to look at Saleem. I was silent for a moment. I wasn't stupid and it would be stupid to pass up the opportunity to have someone with me, someone able to fight with me and get through the mission alive. It was just that he was an Omega operative that worried me. But then, so was Logan and he knew almost everything there was to know about what I was or was not doing.

"Fine. You can come."

Saleem inclined his head in thanks. "I won't let you down." A shadow of seriousness wiped away the humor for a moment. "I know you don't know me, but you can trust me."

My gaze narrowed. "I trust Logan, and if he trusts you, then I guess I can give you the benefit of the doubt." Saleem grinned. "But, just one thing. If you ever cross me. Even once. You're out. No second chances."

Saleem glanced at Logan and his eyebrows moved up a little. "I see what you mean about her."

"What did he say about me?" I glanced between the two men, very interested in the answer to my question.

"He said you were strong, determined, feisty, don't take any shit and are a pain in the ass."

I laughed. "And he's right." I looked at Logan, who grinned back at me. My heart soared for a moment and I hoped I didn't look lovesick. "So what do you need in terms of weaponry? Are you kitted out well enough or do we need to get some weapons made for you?"

"I have my own djinn-forged weapons that have been designed for combat on any of the demonic planes." He inclined his head, an enigmatic smile on his face. "Thank you for the offer, though."

"So your weapons aren't from Omega?" I asked, curious.

"No. Omega has obeyed the High Council and has never breached the Veil. This is the first time they are sending an operative to one of the demonic planes."

"Well, there's a first time for everything, isn't there?" I said, watching Saleem and Logan exchange an odd look.

***

Saleem, with his quick wit and penchant for the funny, reminded me of Anjelo and I spent a few moments missing him terribly. Assuming he and Mom had each other for company in whatever Wrythiin jail they've been stuck in was a reach for me.

I didn't believe for a moment that either of them would be well treated. The New Army of Wrythiin sounded ominous. I just hoped my family wouldn't end up in the middle of their battle.

Right now, I hated Uncle Niko with a passion. The fault was his. Anjelo would never ha
ve been careless and gotten caught if he hadn't been desperate to find me. Of course, he'd been rash and a little naive to think he'd make it in and out of Niko's hideout without detection. But his heart had been in the right place as always, and he'd gotten caught, drugged, beaten up, imprisoned, and possibly tortured because of it.

I shuddered at the thought of torture.

Mom was there too, at the mercy of the Wraiths. Torture was something they wouldn't shy away from given Mom's reputation for killing them.

I blinked away hot tears. Thinking of Mom made me want to see my family. And maybe that was exactly what I needed right now.

***

The wind tugged at my hair, scraped at my face as I ran
.

I'd wanted to transform and run through the forest on my way to see my father, but Logan's warning and my increasing weakness stopped me. My panther was constantly wanting out these days. A different sort of problem to the days when the last thing I'd wanted was to change.

I released my panther ears and sight to better assist me as I ran. It didn't take me long to reach the colony, and by then, I was reasonably refreshed and not in the least tense.

The last time I'd come home was to see my father, a time filled with tension and anger and blame. Today was different. He'd called me regularly to check how I was doing. Acted more like a father than he ever had. The negative side of me thought it was a pity it took my mother's imprisonment in a demon plane to bring him around.