Lost Soul (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 2) (24 page)

The journey back was long and tiring. As we walked, we watched out for lurking demons but we weren't followed or attacked.

I wasn't sure I was relieved by that.

***

When we entered Tara's house, I knew immediately the place was occupied. I sensed it in my gut the way I'd first sensed that Skates had been around.

"Wait." I held the back of my hand to Saleem's chest, preventing him from walking farther into the store. "There's someone here."

"It's empty. You're just paranoid. Or hallucinating from loss of blood." Saleem brushed it off and walked farther into the store only to stop in his tracks and suck in a breath.

I stepped around him to see a line of ghosts hovering within the inner portion of the store, out of sight of the main windows. I scanned the group for Skates. He wasn't there.

"What do you people want?" Saleem held out his gun and waved it at them. None of them moved. I guess none of them knew that both Saleem and I carried ghost-killing ammo as well.

"What do you all want?" I asked a little less threateningly than Saleem.

A movement at the entrance to the inner apartment drew my eye and a man walked toward me. A ghost, but someone with a fair amount of strength. He wore a hooded leather jacket and his face remained in shadows, yet there was something so familiar about him that I took a step toward him.

I felt Saleem's palm on my chest and looked down at it.
Not the best time for groping me, Saleem.
I took his hand of my breast and threw it off me.

"Sorry," he said, his voice sheepish.

"I'll survive," I answered but my gaze remained on the hooded man. I stepped close. "Who are you?"

Saleem stiffened behind me as the man dropped the hood. I could see his features clearly now, sharp ridges, strong jaw-line, high forehead and piecing blue eyes. So familiar.

"Do I know you?" I asked softly, a shiver running up my spine.

"Yes. We met once. Only for a brief moment, but you saved me."

"I didn't do much good if you ended up here, did I?" I looked around at the sad bunch of ghosts and then stared back at the man.

He stood out from the rest. He was more than just familiar to me. "You're a Walker?"

He nodded. "A Walker who owes you a debt. You gave me peace." And then it clicked into place. He was the skinned Walker I'd found in the community garden. The Cougar Walker Jeremy Ryan. My heart stilled.

"I found you on the side of the road." He nodded. "But you died. I didn't save you."

"But you did give me peace. You found my killers."

"If I gave you peace, then why are you still here?"

"I experienced a terrible trauma. It's still here . . ." He pointed at his heart and then his head. "And here. I can't forget as easily as that. Nerina helped me. She guided me to the light, but I couldn't go. The experience was too fresh, hurt too much. Maybe in time." He gave me a reassuring smile. "In the meantime, I can do something to help you."

"Thank you. We'd love your help. Only, how can we trust you?" Jeremy looked hurt. "Sorry, but we were betrayed not too long ago by another ghost. One that Nerina sent us to."

"The boy is weak. He is needy, looking for affection. His death is perpetually his curse."

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"He took his own life." I blinked. That was certainly news to me. I had to focus to pay attention to Jeremy's next words. "Here in the Greylands, it is hard to leave a traumatic death, especially one that is self-inflicted. We sometimes slip into a state where we experience our deaths over and over again. Coming to terms with facing such a death repeatedly is not an easy thing to do. Try not to be too angry with him."

"I'm not…" And I realized I really wasn't. What was wrong with me? I should be furious with the ghost boy.

"I am. I'd love to ring his sorry neck," said Saleem.

"Not if you can't hold onto him you can't." That got our ghost audience sniggering. Saleem looked pained as if he was recalling his pledge to find the stone. The stone I still had tucked away in my jacket pocket.

"How did you know he betrayed us? How did you know we needed your help?" I asked Jeremy.

"We are everywhere," was all he said.

"We didn't see any of you," I said and then I smiled as the line of ghosts faded away then returned to full power along with dozens more who filled the room leaving almost no space to move,

I blinked, shocked at the number of dead people I was looking at. There was definitely way more to the land of the freshly departed than I ever thought possible. I tried to get my head around the sheer number of dead that populated this plane, but my head just hurt reminding me of how little time I had left. "I see. Okay, so do you know why he betrayed us? Who was the boy working for?"

"He was working for Greer." That would explain a lot, but what if Jeremy was also working for Greer? I shut the thought out and focused on Skates. "So the boy was acting under Greer's instruction? How? Why?"

"How? We aren't sure. We think it has something to do with the fact that Greer is alive. Maybe that gives her a similar power over the ghosts that the demons have, given that the demons are also alive here in the Greylands."

I nodded. That was possible. Or it could also have something to do with my suspicion of her possible possession by the Widden. If so, then she could have some demon taint to her that could be working in her favor in terms of controlling the ghosts. But at this point it was all guesswork.

Jeremy continued. "Why? We don't know, but there is a way for us to find out more."

"Well, don't hold out on me."

"We can find the boy and question him directly."

I nodded, liking the idea and hoping at the same time that it wasn't another ruse to ambush us. "Do you have a way of tracking him?"

Jeremy nodded. "Just need to send the word out that we're looking for him and wait. It shouldn't take too long to get the message back. You can't really hide here. Even if you go invisible other ghosts can see your spectral signature."

"So someone, somewhere knows where he is right now?"

Jeremy and a few ghosts behind him nodded
.

"Well, then what are we waiting for?"

"For you to take care of yourself before you become one of us." The ghosts sniggered again. Even Saleem chuckled.

Everyone's a comedian.

"Fine." I felt the throb in my flesh and bones and couldn't argue with him.

"And what about Yanuk?" I asked Jeremy. The demon overlord had disappeared and I wondered when he'd decide to pop out from the blue and surprise me with another punch to the gut.

"Don't worry about him." Jeremy seemed to understand immediately my concern. "A few of the ghosts here are also bound to Yanuk and can track him. We'll keep an eye on him and let you know if he shows any sign of coming anywhere near you."

"Thanks," I said, more than just grateful.

He nodded. "I'll leave you for a while to treat your wounds and eat. We'll be back soon to take you to the boy." With that he left, and one by one the ghosts disappeared like little lights flickering out.

As soon as he left, I headed for the kitchen while Saleem secured the inner door between the storefront and the apartment. I tended to my wounds, re-bandaging them and cleaning myself up as best as I could.

Saleem hovered but it seemed like he knew not to offer his help. Instead, he prepared some tuna and crackers and I ate in silence. I checked my black eye and its busted blood vessel. I looked like a boxer fresh from a match. The loser.

My thoughts stayed with Nerina's possible role in this whole thing. She'd sent us to Skates. Had she known he would betray us to Greer? Was she also on Greer's side? Had that been what she had communicated with my sister when she had attempted her calling?

Skates had seemed so honest, so real. It was hard to accept he'd betrayed us but he had. And yet I forgave him. Because it wasn't his fault. Being controlled by someone else places the blame with the someone else doing the controlling.

Greer.

What was she up to? Why had she sent the boy instead of just meeting us? Was she enjoying playing her games or was she also part of a larger manipulation?

I sat on the bed and stuck a syringe in the wounds, repeating the procedure I'd performed not so long ago. How long ago anyway? I'd begun to lose track of time and that was not a good sign.

A few minutes of raging white fire passed and I lay down for a while. Not that I could sleep. My mind buzzed with questions and possibilities. After a while, when the burning receded and my energies seemed replenished, I rose and replaced my armband, shrugged on my jacket and headed to the kitchen.

I sat beside Saleem, facing the door. I wanted to see whoever entered the kitchen next. After the demon attack, I refused to let my guard down. Lines of fatigue traced Saleem's eyes
.

"How long will they be?" I asked Saleem. "Did you get some rest?"

"They should be here any minute now. And no, I'm fine. I'll rest when we are done with this mission."

I knew how he felt. I didn't want to close my eyes in case something happened while I was asleep and I missed my chance to save Greer. At least we now had a way to track Yanuk and we knew where Greer was holed up.

Jeremy entered the kitchen soundlessly, hood up, face still wreathed in shadows. "We can go if you are well enough."

I stood and grabbed my bag and satchel from the table. Saleem fiddled with his bag and came up behind me. "Let's get going."

The cougar nodded and headed out of the building, leading us into the opposite direction to the abandoned sector. Very soon, I began to recognize the area. Jeremy led us to my old school Crawdon High. The path to the front entrance lay bare, unlittered, unoccupied.

I followed him inside the darkened building. He walked with a confidence that said he knew the building or at least knew where he was going. Up one floor, down the hall and right into Mrs. Gallium's English class. Skates sat in the far corner, staring out of the window. He didn't react as we entered though he surely heard our footsteps. He kept his gaze focused on the grey skies.

I walked to his desk and pulled a chair in front of him. I spun it around and sat, waiting quietly for him.

He took his time, though I didn't feel he was being manipulative. He just looked hesitant and guilty. He sighed deeply and glanced up but didn't meet my eyes, his shoulders hunched over. Then he said, "I'm sorry. Hope you know that."

"I think I do." I leaned toward him. "Tell me why."

He looked frantic for a moment, as if he were about to flee. In one smooth move, and before he could blink, I pulled the blue stone out of my pocket. It was small enough that it fit within my cupped palm so he didn't see it until it was too late. I leaned over to him and touched the stone to his bare forearm. He'd shoved his sweater up his arms so it bunched at the elbows, baring a pair of skinny hands that were slowly taking on color and solidity. I gripped his wrist and stared at him.

"I'm not going to do anything to you. I want to talk and I think we both know you'll run as soon as you get the chance."

He stared at the stone for a moment, green eyes gradually gaining color in an olive-complexioned face. "Fair enough." He rocked in his seat, clearly uncomfortable but he didn't fight me, didn't tug at my hand to gain his freedom. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything," was all I said. I kept my gaze on Skates, keenly aware of Saleem beside me. Saleem who now would know I'd had the ghost stone all along.

"I think you must know by now that I have been lying from the beginning. Well, maybe not lying, but I didn't tell you the whole truth." He wrung his hands and that was where I should have been angry but I just couldn't. There was too much shit going on to be pointing fingers. I waited to hear more. "I've been working for Greer all along."

"You call her Greer?" I asked, frowning.

"Yes, it seems knowing her name has no power over her because she is still alive. Yanuk thought otherwise and ended up paying for that with his blood." Skates grinned at the memory of what happened to Yanuk. I wasn't in the least interested at the moment.

"So, she's your master? She has control over you?"

"It's not so simple." He frowned as he tried to find the words. "We have our own master and our master has his own master and we are linked to our master's master that way. And normally, masters don't control their slave's slaves, but Greer saw the opportunity to have more ghosts and demons working for her than Yanuk did so she . . . she lobbied. Like she was going out for class president or something. I think that's the best way to describe it. She talked to a few ghosts and then managed to get a few demons on her side. She never promised freedom but she was nice—unlike the demon masters. She's like a demon master but not. It's kind of hard to explain."

"So how did she end up putting you onto us?" I still wasn't keen on using our names even though the boy had explained it held no power.