Sky Ghosts: All for One (Young Adult Urban Fantasy Adventure) (Sky Ghosts Series Book 1) (3 page)

Bob reached her, swishing his broadsword and hitting hard, but there was only the empty air again, and Pain was already behind his back. She whistled, making him spin around, and gripped her katana in both hands. She didn’t intend to play with him forever, so this time they engaged in a vicious fight, slashing at each other without a single pause.

Behind them, Jane was parrying blow after blow from her opponents. Eventually, she got bored of it and plunged one of her swords into the first Beast’s chest. Another one took his place, swinging his long sword – Jane fended it off with one of her blades while slicing at his left arm with another. He swore, aiming for her arm, but she was faster, and his sword encountered only the wall. With a corner of her eye, Jane saw that her sister’s opponent caught her in the shoulder with his blade, but then Pain made a feint and cut off his left hand. The guy howled like a wolf, clutching the bleeding stump with the other hand.

Jane’s opponent got angrier, striking faster and faster, but he would never be able to keep up with her. The sisters’ small size gave them a serious advantage: they were faster, nimble and hard to catch. Jane quickened her moves, making him back off, and in a few seconds he was dead, pierced through his stomach with both swords. She pulled them free and turned to her sister, who was already standing over the body of her enemy.

“Was it so hard to wait for my answer? You always rush into fight like- ”

“Yeah, here it goes, grandma mode on…” Pain rolled her eyes, turning away lazily. She headed to the two young men, who still stood pressed into a corner, as if hoping the girls would forget about them.

“…you have to torture them every time, one good blow is not enough…” Jane continued, ignoring her mockery.

“…and you’re such a buzz kill… ” her sister parried.

“…they didn’t know about us, so we had an advantage. But no-o-o-o, you had to land right on their heads, though we were outnumbered three to one!”

“It’s already over- ”

“It would’ve been over sooner if you were more professional, but you’re a butcher, of course, and you’ve ruined your gear again. Just look at it, you have more scars than all our fighters combined.”

“And that’s ’cause I’m the best one,” Pain muttered remotely, stopping in front of the guys, her figure covered by the shadow.

Jane just sighed, assessing the guys’ tense expressions as she stood beside her sister.

“Are you going to kill us now?” ‘Mister Curiosity’ asked carefully.

“No,” Jane answered.

He looked younger than his friend, though she couldn’t pin down exactly why. Maybe it was because of his features, fine and elegant. He had dark-brown eyes, gazing at them with anxious interest, and thick black eyelashes cast small shadows around them. His nose was thin and straight, his accurately shaped jaw shaved perfectly clean. There was a touch of polish on his appearance, something that gave Jane a feeling that this wasn’t an average citizen before her. His clothes, looking ordinary from the distance, were expensive, his haircut fresh and well-suited, his cologne subtle but exquisite.

The other one wasn’t anything like the first. From his clothes to his posture, everything was casual about him. His features were rough and sharply-defined, his jaw and cheekbones square. Alerted green eyes, framed with long eyelashes, watched the sisters carefully, like a cat’s. He had brown hair reaching almost to his thick sloping shoulders, pushed back from his strained face in tangled, messy curls. But when his friend looked obviously scared and nervous, he just seemed cautious, waiting for what would happen next with alarm.

The brown eyes flicked to the big sister as she entered a pool of light, and ‘Mister Curiosity’ threw up his hand, pointing at Pain.

“Hey, I know you!” he exclaimed.

“No, you don’t,” she snapped arrogantly and took off like a tornado, snatching his collar with her hand abruptly and making him cry out in surprise. She carried him higher and higher as he twitched and screamed in her grip. Soon they vanished in the darkness, and his friend gasped, turning his astonished look back to Jane.

She sighed and shook her head, holding her gloved hand out for him.

“It’s okay. We have to take you with us, and if you don’t want to be dragged like that, just give me your hand,” she said.

For a minute he just stood there with distrust and incredulity written all over his face. He measured her with his eyes, once, twice, shaking his head, as if not agreeing with his own thoughts. At last, he reached out hesitantly, and Jane grasped his palm. Her other hand closed around his belt, and then she darted upward, carrying him with her. They rose high over the sparkling buildings, and soon they were rushing after the first pair.

They landed on the roof of their building. There were two guards at the corners, but they only followed the sisters with their looks, remaining still like statues. From the corner of her eye, Jane saw her sister hit the roof hard and drop the poor guy roughly. Her jacket was torn at the shoulder, and blood was still oozing from under it.

“Don’t you want to take care of that, or you intend to come to Peter like this?” Jane asked, touching her own shoulder absently.

“Don’t care. He should see what happens when he sends me patrolling,” Pain retorted.

Behind them, ‘Mister Curiosity’ got up from the ground with a groan, brushing off his clothes. The flight hadn’t gone without consequences for him: he looked pale, his hands were trembling, and his face was wide-eyed with shock. Muttering something incoherent, he kept straightening his clothes with his back to the others.

“Dave, you alright?” his friend asked, tired of waiting. He shot Pain a sharp glance, at the same time looking as if everything inside him was warring with what he had just experienced.

Dave snorted, making Jane turn around and look at him.

“No-o-o,” he drawled, putting as much dark sarcasm into one single word as possible. “I’m not
alright!
How can I be alright after being dragged across the city like a puppy and then dropped on a roof by some ff- ” he broke off, shooting a glare to the girls, “freakin’ ninja??”

Pain went still all over.

Like a furious lightning bolt, she whirled and crossed over to him, making him back off hastily until he froze at the roof edge. He stared at Pain from above with big scared eyes, and Jane suppressed an urge to interfere, knowing it would only make her sister angrier.

Pain stopped right in front of him, hissing poisonously,

“Oh, I’m so sorry,
your majesty,
that we didn’t leave you on that street so you would be cut into pieces and left to rot with garbage!”

Dave gagged, speechless, as his eyes got even wider. He glanced around, obviously looking for some help, so Jane dashed to them. She grabbed her sister’s hand and pulled her away,

“Let’s go, we should report to Peter.”

Pain shook her off nervously, and with one more indignant glance at Dave, walked away and through a low, squeaking attic door.

A few minutes later, passed the attic and the upper floor, she threw open the doors of the waiting room and strode inside, pushing the guard off her path.

“Hey, I have to notify him first! Did you see the time, by the way?” he complained, annoyed, trying to block her way.

“Back off, Jerry, it’s important,” she waved him off and then added, “Sector ten, clean-up team.”

He took a radio from his belt, pressed some button, and repeated her words into it.

“Sector ten, clean-up and cover.”

All this time he didn’t take his eyes off her.

Since the girl’s attention was on someone else, Dave used this time to study the place. The room was small and semicircular, with dark wood floor and walls painted beige over the wooden paneling. There was a desk in one corner and a row of chairs along a concave wall. All the wood made the place feel somewhat homey, and Dave relaxed a little, seeing that they weren’t dragged to some bunker where they would be quartered and dissolved in acid. He ran his eyes over the walls, looking for anything that could have identified the organization, but there were only heavy paintings of landscapes in patterned frames. The guard’s radio creaked loudly, and Dave flinched, brought back from his musings.

“Rodger that.”

Jerry only nodded and put the radio back on his belt, raising his eyebrows at the girl questioningly.

“Okay. So I’ll come in and notify Peter about your arrival. Then he’ll tell me if I should let you in or not. See? Following rules is easy,” he said slowly, standing in front of her with his arms crossed. He was of medium height and build, but even his stature and swift, careful moves gave out that he was a skilled fighter. He wore the same gear as the girls: a black jacket and pants of thick, matte leather alternated with stripes of flexible fabric of the same color. From under his unzipped jacket stood out a white T-shirt with a thick silver chain over it. His face was fine-featured, but there was something unpleasant about his eyes: they were of a very light color and looked almost translucent, like water. He was no more than twenty-five, and his fair hair stuck out in different directions; only his heavy, massively looking sword kept him from looking careless.

“Go ahead,” the girl replied, rolling her eyes.

He went to the other door, but just as he opened it, she slipped inside right before him.

“Hey! I thought we came to an agreement!” he exclaimed, frustrated.

Jane followed, glancing at him with an apologetic smile and leading the guys after her. The office looked a little ascetic: the same dark wood floor, same wall panels, only it was painted white, and there was a big window across from the door. This room was much wider and longer, but it looked empty, save for a few black cabinets with neat rows of books and folders, and a long conference table of the same dark wood. There were a few frames on the walls, too, only instead of paintings they had photos of places around the world.

As they crowded at the door, a big leather chair at the far end of the table spun around. A man in a blue shirt and black pants got up from it, putting away the papers he had been reading. Peter was about fifty years old, but it was only his fully gray hair and deep lines on his face that gave away his age. He was a big man, tall and broad-shouldered, and he stood straight and square. With a curious, ironic look he came out from behind the table and leaned with his side against it. His features were sharp and stern, but his short gray beard and graying eyebrows made him look softer somehow. The girls were silent, so he raised his eyebrows in a question, looking from one to another.

“We brought you something interesting,” the older sister said at last. Jane glanced at her quickly, but didn’t add anything. “We stumbled upon these two just when Eugene’s men were about to finish them, but got into an argument at the last moment. It’s likely that Eugene wants them alive. Actually, one of them,” she added. “We thought that you might be interested. And well, we couldn’t just leave them out there.”

“Probably, you know something about them or Eugene’s plans,” Jane said. Her sister nodded.

“Anyway, to get them out of there was our job, and yours is to decide what to do with them. You can…” Pain shrugged, “sell them into slavery, I don’t know.”

Peter grimaced and speculated for a second, eyeing the guests. A strange look passed his face – in fact, two different expressions – as he glanced first at one, then at the other. As if he recognized them, but wasn’t quite sure of it. He unfroze off his spot and paced across the office, reaching out his hand.

“My name is Peter. I’m the head of this organization, and I want to tell you first of all that you’re absolutely safe here. I hope you won’t mind answering a few questions before we decide what to do next.” He shook their hands with a polite smile and stepped back.

The guys considered his words – both silent – and then nodded carefully. Jerry was still standing behind their backs, arms folded on his chest. But it wasn’t like they had a reason for rejecting Peter’s suggestion or for not trusting him. His fighters did save their lives just a few minutes ago, so there was no point in backing out now.

“David Forrester,” Dave said at last. “And this is my friend Chad,” he jerked his chin toward him.

“David Forrester!” Peter exclaimed, relieved. “I thought you seemed familiar. I’m glad to meet you both. Why don’t you have a seat?” He pointed to the chairs that stood in rows on both sides of the long table.

They followed without another word: Chad sat on the left side with Jerry next to him, and Dave in the opposite seat. Only the girls remained standing, looking at Peter with expectation.

“I’d prefer you to stay, too. Sit.”

Jane nodded, coming to sit beside Dave without a word, but her sister apparently couldn’t hold back a loud sigh as she dragged herself to the table. Peter ignored that and cleared his throat.

“Let’s get straight to business. Do you know what Eugene Zhorr could want from you?” he asked, giving Dave and Chad a pointed look.

“No,” Chad answered instantly.

“We didn’t even hear about him till tonight! We were heading to a bar, didn’t bother anybody, and all of a sudden those guys in leather, real cutthroats, rounded us and said they had some business with us! Shoved us into that alley…” Dave fidgeted in his chair, glancing at the girls uneasily. “And started to discuss some nonsense about killing and everything,” he spilled it all in one breath, gesticulating with both hands nervously. Indignation boiled inside him, making his hands tremble a little, and he clasped them together so that nobody would notice.

Peter’s face darkened with every second of Dave’s speech.

“David, I know your father and I met him once,” he began, but Dave interrupted him.

“Oh, please just call me Dave.”

“Alright, Dave. So, your father is a well-known man. Have you heard anything about his business with a man named Eugene Zhorr? Maybe Eugene wants to kidnap you so he could use it against him?” Peter raised his black-and-gray eyebrows and stared at Dave.

He contemplated it for a few seconds with a troubled expression, worrying on his bottom lip. Peter’s idea seemed pretty logical, but Dave wouldn’t agree with anything unless he was one hundred percent sure it was true. It didn’t seem even one percent possible: in his life he or his father never had to doubt his safety. He had never used bodyguard service, never had been threatened or stalked. And he didn’t think his father would keep secret if someone was a threat to him, either.

“No, honestly saying, I haven’t heard anything about him, and I don’t think my father wouldn’t tell me if there was something…” he said and rubbed his chin with his hand, turning his gaze to Peter. “I don’t know whether you’re aware or not, but my father’s been in Germany for a year now. He’s there for treatment. He’s managing the business remotely, and I’ve been there a few times, but never heard a word about either Eugene or Zhorr. And before Germany, too.”

Peter exhaled loudly, switching his look to Dave’s friend.

“What about you, Chad? Is there anything in your life that could be connected with Eugene? In your relatives’ lives?”

Chad quickly shook his head.

“I can’t imagine that. I’m just an auto mechanic, and my friendship with Dave is probably the most outstanding thing in my life. I can’t think of one reason why would anybody want to kill me or anything like that,” he said calmly, but his face was frowned again as he finished talking.

“What about your relatives, what do they do?”

“I have only my father. He’s a farmer and lives far from here. I doubt that he has any common business with this Eugene,” Chad answered with a shrug.

The door cracked open – it was the second guard coming to replace Jerry. He peeked inside, looking for Peter. His boss waved for him to join them, so he came in, getting full attention of Chad and Dave immediately.

The fighter was at least seven feet tall with shoulders about three feet wide. He had dark eyes that looked black from the distance, and the hard line of his jaw was framed with dark stubble. It had been long since anybody used his name because his specific appearance had earned him a fearsome nickname: Skull. His head was shaved and had a big tattoo of a skull on the back, and though in battle he was the Devil himself, usually Skull was unexpectedly amiable. He didn’t look scary or ugly, though. His features were fine with a Latin look to them, and there was only one striking detail – a long scar that ran diagonally across his left eye. He wasn’t as young as the other three fighters in the room: he could be thirty or older, it was hard to guess. Hanging from a thick leather belt on his hips, there was a heavily looking sword in a scabbard. Skull wasn’t wearing a jacket, preferring just the gear bottoms and a black T-shirt, but he didn’t need the full gear to send chills through Dave’s veins as he watched the giant look over the gathering with apathy and come to one of the chairs. His look was heavy as his eyes traveled slowly around the room. He sat across from him and laid his hands on the table, and Dave couldn’t help but glance downward, at those huge tattooed fingers. For some reason, he imagined those fingers wind around his neck and strangle him. His stomach churned.

“Dave, where is your mother now? Other close relatives?” Peter asked, unaware of his uneasy reverie.

Dave turned back to him and sighed: he could almost see himself in a bar, enjoying his beer, chatting with his friend, telling him all about his trip to Bangkok and the crazy days there.
Such an unfortunate turn of the events,
he thought grimly.

“Mother is in Germany with my dad, and my sister lives in London with her husband,” he answered.

Peter looked at Chad with his eyebrows raised.

“I’m in the city by myself. Again, I have only my father, and he lives at the farm upstate,” he said.

All this time, the girls were silent. Jane watched the men talk with a curious frown, braiding her long black hair idly, her eyes resting mostly on her boss. The situation seemed to be of interest for her, which couldn’t be said about her sister. Pain sat sprawled in her chair and looked from one to another with martyred boredom. Every now and then, she glanced at Jerry in front of her and grinned, all teeth, her expression predatory. Dave wondered if she was doing it to annoy him, and if she would rather be out on the streets, chopping heads off.