Split at the Seams (6 page)

“Of course I’m still in,” I snapped. I bit my tongue before I reverted into the immature brat I’d just convinced myself I wasn’t.

“Good.” Oren pulled out a small dagger and held it in his right hand. The shiny silver blade glowed under the patchy sunlight. “Can you hold this for a sec?”

“Whoa, what are you doing? Someone will see us.” I frantically looked over both shoulders. We might be hiding like trolls under a bridge, but there were still plenty of people and cars around. If someone saw us with a knife out here, we could be in a lot of trouble. Not to mention that with the Council so close, would they detect whatever magic Oren was about to perform?

“Don’t worry, they can’t see us.”

“What?”

“I’ve set up a cloaking spell around us,” he answered, still pointing the hilt of the dagger my way. “Now take this and relax. I know what I’m doing.”

When I took it from him, I felt a jolt of familiarity. I’d used this double-edged weapon before, but chose not to dwell on it. Instead, I turned my attention to Oren.

He pulled out a wooden stick and held it out to me. “Okay, now take this and hand me the athame.”

I followed his instructions, even if I didn’t know why he needed a tree branch and a knife.

“Give me your hand.”

“Uh-uh. Is this so you can take another sip of my essence?” I couldn’t take my eyes off the dagger. I had a feeling he wanted to use it on me.

“No, I just need some of your blood.”

I couldn’t believe this. “Are you serious? And what’s this stick for?”

“You’re holding a dowsing rod.”

“It’s a
stick
!”

“From a willow tree,” he said, as if that explained everything.

I closed my eyes for a moment and took several deep breaths, letting them out very slowly. “Okay, let’s just say I go with this…what will my blood do?”

“Well, I’ve been using my own blood for weeks, trying to get a sense of the location. But this is as close as I can get.” Oren’s eyes searched mine, as if he was trying to say so much more and he wanted me to read between the lines, to understand what he wasn’t saying. “I’ve gone as far as I can with my own power, but I think your blood will lead us the rest of the way.”

“What are you trying to find?” I asked. “I know the ultimate goal is my grandparents, but this dowsing isn’t going to locate them, is it?”

“No, it won’t lead us straight to them, but it will point us to the closest ley line. I believe wherever this ley line is, that’s where the problem stems from.” He sighed. “There’s something really strange going on around here, I can feel it.”

So he actually had some answers. Suddenly, I didn’t care if he wanted a few drops of my blood, or a pint. He’d actually investigated deep enough to find out this much. What he didn’t know was that if we did locate this ley line, I was pretty sure it would also help me figure out why Mr. and Mrs. Wicker had faded.

My pulse sped up as I nodded. “Are you sure this will help?”

“I think it will.”

I held out my left palm. “Then do it, take some of my blood.”

Oren closed the distance between us and took my offered hand in his. His skin made me wince because it was always so cold. He wrapped his fingers around mine and held my hand steady as he ran one of the dagger’s sharp edges over the middle of my palm so briskly I didn’t even feel it. He pocketed the blade and forcibly closed my hand into a fist.

“Squeeze it tight, and give me the dowsing rod.” He held the end of the branch beneath my hand and a line of blood dribbled onto it. Instead of coating the wood, the drops were actually sucked into the stick, as if it were drinking them up.

Oren then kneeled and shoved the stick into the concrete tiles. As bizarre as it seemed, it sank in easily. As if he’d pushed it into sand, dirt or mud instead of hard concrete. A pink neon line raced out from the stick and continued all the way along the ground. Up and into the Spook Catcher Council Tower which was situated on the other side of the overpass.

A cool chill ran through me, because something deep down inside set off warning bells. I’d been trying to avoid what was towering nearby the moment we’d stepped into the shadows, but had tried to convince myself the Council would stay in the distance and not have anything to do with this. Now, the sound of the passing traffic, the monorail and the people who couldn’t see us dimmed, and my surroundings darkened until all I could hear and see was the tall glass-and-metal building shining like a pink beacon with a cloud of mist writhing around it.

The dark patch was closing in.

Oren had once told me I was like a beacon, calling out to anyone who desired great power and wanted to possess or manipulate it. It was why the Slevani brothers had set their sights on me in the first place, also why Mace Clamber tried to seduce me back into the Council’s fold and then threatened my life for refusing him.

Funny how the building I’d barely escaped was now the place responsible for some very bad things. Mace had admitted trying to use my grandmother’s power before me, so why was I surprised?

“It looks like we’ve found the ley line,” I said, blinking and swallowing the lump in my throat. My ears popped and the darkness dropped away to allow the afternoon to settle around me.

Trust the Council to have set up shop over a ley line.

Oren rubbed the back of his head. “I was looking for the closest ley line, but it looks like we’ve actually found the location.”

I nodded, keeping my hand squeezed tight.

“This really isn’t a surprise. I just needed to be sure.” Oren stared at the towering building. “After all, Mace did try to kill us at the cemetery.”

Well, he’d tried to kill Oren. He’d had other things in mind for me. The Council was corrupt, but I wondered if they knew what Mace tried to do last month.

The ground beneath us trembled and I looked down. My blood drops were still hitting the concrete and were being sucked into it, making the ley line’s neon pink too bright.

“Here, wrap this around your hand.” Oren handed me a white handkerchief. “The last thing we need is for every network of ley lines to light up and announce what we’ve found to others who might be watching.”

I wrapped the smooth fabric around my hand and felt the cut stop bleeding almost instantly. “How did you know my blood would work better than yours?”

“Yours is a lot more potent. Besides, after using some of it to close off a tear in a ley line, I’m pretty sure you’ll have some sort of connection to the entire network.” He winked at me. “And as we’ve just seen, it’s definitely the case here in Sydney.”

“What do we do now?” Better to move on than concentrate on such an admission. I didn’t know how it made me feel to realize this network of ley lines had developed a taste for my blood like some sort of vampire.
Creepy.

“We need to get inside the building.”

I could finally help, instead of totally depending on Oren. “Well, lucky for us, I happen to have a few empty spook canisters in the car. If we pretend we’re going to bring a deposit, we can get into the building.” Not to mention that Roe, who happened to be the canister collector, would fill me in on any questions we had. If something strange was going on, he’d know.

I was about to pocket the handkerchief when Oren held out a hand. “What?”

“I’ll take care of it for you.”

I shrugged and handed it to him, watching as he tucked it back into his jacket pocket.

“Let’s not waste any time then,” Oren said with a proud smile. “The sooner we can get some answers, the sooner we’ll be able to find out just what’s going on inside this ominous building.”

I had to agree. Staring at the tall structure with the stylish foyer, offices in the middle and personal spook-catcher accommodation levels at the top, I’d always felt a certain negativity about the place. There’d been too many shadows and not enough light. Too many secrets and not enough answers, and a very greedy man at the very center.

In all my time living, studying and working inside the Council building, I’d never actually met any of the bosses. The only people the spook catchers had any real dealings with were Mace and the handful of instructors. While these handpicked individuals kept the catchers busy learning, Mace was there at the end of the week to make the girls feel special and romance the pants right off them.

At the time I hadn’t known he did the same thing with every other girl. We were all in love with him at some stage, and believed his romantic lies until the blur of pleasure wasn’t enough to hide the truth—he was the scout for a business that used catchers up and then spat them out.

I was lucky to get away with my life.

“Sierra, are you ready?” Oren was almost at the automatic doors already.

“Yeah,” I whispered.
As ready as I’m ever going to be
. Was Mace hiding inside, doing something he hoped would get me back into his clutches?

I shook such self-centered suspicions from my mind.

As soon as I stepped into the Spook Catcher Council Tower, nausea rolled through my body so violently I stumbled.

Oren grabbed my forearm to help keep me steady. The intensity of my physical reaction to this place was getting worse. At least his cold touch on my overheated skin helped to keep me centered enough to walk straight, and pretend everything was normal. I could only hope the effects would pass soon.

“Are you all right?” Oren whispered near my ear.

I managed a nod. “Let’s just get this sorted out, huh?” A mild stir of queasiness and headaches were common due to the amount of ghostly activity concentrated within these walls, but this was torture.

His grip tightened, and I was glad for his support.

I kept my eyes glued to the large reception area up ahead, watching the cascading wall of water behind the reception desk. It helped to soothe my mind but I was still feeling shaky when I stopped in front of the desk.

“Welcome to the Spook Catcher Council Tower, how can I help you?” the new receptionist said. She was a pretty brunette with dark eyes and a friendly smile.

I made a show of raising my duffel bag so she could see the canisters inside. “Yes, hi, I’m Sierra Fox and I’ve got a few canisters to deliver.”

“Oh.” She glanced at the bag and then started typing into her keyboard. “Ah, yes, I’ve got you registered as a spook catcher. Do you have your license on you by any chance?” The smile never left her face.

“Actually, I do.” I fumbled in my pocket for my wallet and flashed my license.

The receptionist leaned forward enough to see my photo and details before nodding. “Okay, go ahead. I’m sure you know where to go.”

“Thanks.” I hitched a thumb at Oren. “I’ll be taking one of my associates with me today.”

The receptionist frowned. “Oh, I don’t know…” She nibbled on her bottom lip and peered at Oren, who flashed her one of his most charming smiles as he flicked his white braid over one shoulder. “Sir, as long as you sign the visitor book, you’ll be able to accompany Sierra.”

“Certainly,” he said, taking the pen from her, scribbling his name and signature before returning the book with a wink.

The girl actually blushed, and I couldn’t believe the effect he had on women of all ages. Was it just his natural charm, or did he expel a little of his magic into the air?

“Thank you, darling.” Oren waved as we moved away.

“How do you do it?” I asked while waiting for the elevator.

He shrugged. “It’s all in the way you treat a lady.”

“I’m sure it is.”

Luckily, the elevator arrived and we stepped inside without having to discuss his charming ways any further. I pressed my thumb against the small panel next to the sixth floor button and we were granted access to every floor above—all the way up to the twentieth.

“The thirteenth floor, huh?” Oren snorted.

“Yeah, someone’s idea of a joke, I suppose.”

“I doubt anyone here has a sense of humor.” He sniffed the air. “There’s so much malice and wrongness inside this place.”

“You can smell it?”

“I can feel it.”

“Oh.” I looked down at my palm. It was still red and the cut hadn’t sealed but it didn’t really hurt, though it was a little itchy.

“It looks like you can feel it too.”

“What?”

Oren pulled another handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed it under my nose. “Your nose is bleeding.”

“Ah shit.”

“Just relax for a minute.” Oren stepped closer, removing the handkerchief that was now dotted with blood. He skimmed his fingers under my nose, closed his eyes, chanted a word I didn’t understand, and then nodded. “There you go, that should take care of it.”

“Thanks, but what the hell?”

“Do you always get side effects when you step into this building?” He looked concerned, his light blue eyes narrowed as he waited for my answer.

“Well, yeah, but it’s gotten a lot worse lately. Something’s changed, and whenever I step anywhere near this place, I feel really sick,” I answered, feeling lightheaded. “But it usually wears off. The nosebleed is a new thing.” I’d bled from my nose before, at times when I pushed my ability to the limits, but never just by wandering into this building. Maybe something had changed inside me. Or something truly horrible was going on inside the council that had thrown the precarious balance off whack.