The Ghost and the Darkness Volume 1 (The Fallocaust Series Book 2) (33 page)

I saw a flicker out of the corner of my eye. I raised my head and glanced over. My body froze as I saw a silhouette in the direction I had just come in. It was someone standing beside a row of dumpsters.

Cautiously I took a step away from him, but as I did he stepped forward. He was half-shrouded in the darkness, wearing ratty black clothing; I could see a remote clenched in one hand.

I took another slow step back and gave him a nod so he knew I could see him. My body tensed in on itself as he stepped forward into the light. The dim lamp illuminating crimson hair that still looked deep red even in the darkness.

Oh fuck...

“Garrett.... Garrett....” I whispered, not taking my eyes off of him. “The red-haired guy from the Penguin. He’s here... he’s –”

“Get off the phone!” a sharp voice said behind me. I spun around and saw the golden-haired one only a foot away with a burly guy behind him. I looked back towards the crimson one and felt my heart lurch into my throat. He was holding a baseball bat in one hand and the remote in the other.

“What?” Garrett’s voice was sharp. “He’s there? Reno hold on. Nero! Follow me, NOW.”

“Get off the phone...”

“He has a remote detonator,” my voice rasped. “There are three –”

The golden-haired one hit me hard in the shoulder, making me drop the phone onto the ground. It split in half, the battery skidding off underneath the dumpster. I fell to my knees feeling a wave of nausea come over me.

The next blow was to my face, a flashing white light blinding my eyes, sending a buzzing heat to my ears. A cold sensation on my cheeks and bare arms told me I was on the cold pavement. I felt another thump hit my face which filled my mouth and nose with blood. I coughed, my body automatically trying to bring me to my feet.

The next cracking blow knocked me unconscious.

...

“Garrett?”

...

“When?”

....

“I will be there by nightfall.”

Jade thought it was a dream, a cold voice that tickled the outreaches of his subconscious. A conversation that he thought was just the last lingering cords of a recital before his mind would awaken to Elish beside him.

But when he woke up, the room was dark and Elish was gone, the sheets beside him disturbed and the pillow still holding the shape of Elish’s head.

Jade sighed, thinking it was nothing but his blond chimera waking up early, but when he walked into the office the laptop as gone and so was his master.

Chapter 11

Reaver

I pulled the blankets up to my face and told whoever was stupid enough to turn the bedroom lights on in the middle of the night to kindly fuck off.

“Get up and get ready, we’re leaving within the hour,” a cold voice said from the doorway.

I pulled the covers down and looked towards the voice, trying to adjust my eyes to the light.

“What happened?” No need to mince words here, if Elish was in my doorway something had happened and something bad. “Is Silas coming?” I got up; ignoring the fact I was naked. If there was anyone in the world to not give a shit about that it was Elish Dekker.

“Get dressed and grab everything, now.” Elish turned and left the room.

I stared at the door as it slammed shut, a myriad of questions flooding through my head, urging the rat in my brain to attempt to make sense of this. I looked down at Killian for help, but he just looked at me petrified

“Maybe he went to Skyfall and got the key card?” Killian said quietly. The tone suggested he was trying very hard to keep himself from panicking, but the anxiety was already chewing my gut.

“He wouldn’t be that hurried...” I mumbled and lit a cigarette.

We both got up and as we got changed we packed everything we had in our bedrooms into his satchel, my shoulder bag, and the black weapons bag.

When we walked out of the bedroom it was like we had stepped into a different house. Jade and Perish were both running around panicked, both dressed in winter clothing and footwear. I briefly mused at how different Jade looked with clothes on; he didn’t seem like Jade when he wasn’t dressed like a slut holding an opiate cigarette.

My eyes scanned the room and focused on Elish who was typing away on his computer, an ear piece in his ear that was connected to his phone. He was out of everyone else’s earshot but with my hearing I could pick up the conversation easily.

“No, Shale, like the rock... is that right, Jade?” His eyes turned to Jade, who seemed to sense his master was looking at him.

I watched as the boy turned around and nodded. “Shale Eddik. He was raised in the orphanage like me.”

Elish nodded and typed on his computer. “They’re disposable, it’s Meirko and Kerres who is the ringleaders in this.... yes, he’s the one with the red hair.”

I stopped midway from tying my boots as I saw Jade’s mouth twitch; his yellow eyes were heavy. It looked like he was almost avoiding me.

“What’s going on? What happened?” I asked

“Jade, speak to Kessler. He wants apartment addresses and any family members you may know of.” Elish took the ear piece out of his ear and held it out to Jade. Gently he put the laptop down and stood.

He was dressed for winter as well, a grey wool long coat with untied tails that dangled below thick black pants and a white sweater. His gloves were black and lined with fur I could smell was real, and his hair tucked into the jacket giving him a very un-Elish appearance.

His purple eyes fixed on us. The Cold One must’ve taken pity on our confused expressions because he motioned for us to sit down on the couches.

“There was a bombing at a chimera-occupied event last night.” The calmness to his tones was deceptive, but his face held the anger that his voice wouldn’t submit to.

Elish looked pissed off.

Well, I wasn’t; I hoped it wiped a few of those fuckers off the planet.

“Reno, two pets, and a partner of Caligula were kidnapped, and we have reason to believe they’re being held for ransom.”

Jesus fuck.
I took a deep breath, refusing myself to explode over this.

“You said he would be safe.” There was no hiding the edge to my voice, my head felt hot and the anger creeped up my chest. “Silas laughed when I tried to trade Killian for Jade and he laughed again at trading Perish. I’m to assume Reno isn’t high up on the chimera save list. So he’s screwed then?”

“No.” Elish shook his head. He looked down at his laptop and turned it to me. On the screen was an almost newspaper looking document. I read the top.
The Bulletin
it said, this was some sort of Skyfall newspaper.

My heart dropped when I read the top headline.

President of Skytech’s fiancé kidnapped.

Reno got engaged to that guy? I reached out to the touch pad and scrolled the page down only for the page to reveal a photo.

I didn’t recognise him at first; he looked so different. I heard Killian swear beside me and clench my hand. Probably also wondering who this guy was, since he certainly couldn’t be my dirty greywaster Reno. The same guy who once preferred to wash his hair with flea shampoo ‘just to cover his bases’.

My friend’s hair was now all silvery, and longer than it had been before. His face was healthier and full, and holding a smile I could see wasn’t put on. He was being led through a crowd by a strangely dressed guy with a thin moustache and a tuxedo: Garrett Dekker.

“What do they want?” My voice was cold and unwavering; my only outlet for the helpless frustration boiling inside me was to squeeze Killian’s hand. I quickly tried to scan the printing above and below the photo.

“Me.” That word seeped into my skin, leaving me cold. I glanced up at him, wondering if now I would see some emotion on that face but he was as collected as ever. “Jade? Perhaps you would like to explain why this has happened, and perhaps for my own amusement: tell them just why Kerres is still a problem.”

Jade appeared into the corners of my vision, by this time I could hear the timer in my brain, clicking down to the moment where I start flipping out and throwing shit.

Jade gave the phone back to Elish, who was packing up the laptop now. He looked nervously at all of us, before lowering his head. “Kerres is my ex-boyfriend, he’s... I, well, he’s still determined to get me back, and he joined a terrorist organization to try and achieve that.”

“Isn’t it rather obvious that isn’t going to happen?” I swallowed the acid starting to flow into my mouth.

“Yeah... yeah it is; he’s gone kinda crazy...” Jade’s voice was submissive and flooding with guilt. I followed Elish as he rose, and the blond chimera signalled for Jade to gather the bags. Behind us I saw Perish packed up with Deek, looking worried but staying quiet.

“So what’s going to happen now? How are you going to get him back?” I demanded. Without even a goodbye to the bunker that had been my bright little coffin we all walked into the hanger.

I crossed my arms. “And most importantly, where the fuck are we going?”

“Kreig.”

“Seriously?” I held onto Killian’s hand and jumped into the plane. I felt bad for the kid, he hadn’t gotten more than a couple words in and I knew he was just as confused as me. He liked notice when his life was going to change but that was a luxury we had left behind months ago.

Elish opened the cockpit door and Jade walked in. I jumped out and grabbed my last carton of opiate cigarettes even though all of our bags were full of them, and gave the hanger one last sweep. The dog was in, and Perish, Jade, Elish, Killian... supplies were check and the little belongings we had.

When I jumped back into the plane, the door closed behind me. Elish was still in the hanger, but he was holding a blue folder in his hand.

“I left for Skyfall an hour after midnight, I have already been there and returned. I have the key card we need,” Elish replied.

The metal ribbed ground shook under my feet as the engine turned and rumbled to life, muffled and quieter than I had imagined in my head. A moment later I heard the teeth clenching sounds of the gears turning before the bunker house disappeared below us.

“And Reno? You’re going to help save him right? You’re fucking immortal just... give them you and shoot them all or do your lightning touch.” My feet started to move without me telling them and I realized I was pacing back and forth. I saw a cigarette out of the corner of my eye and took it, nodding a thanks to Killian.

“Reno is the fiancé of one of the most powerful men in Skyfall, they will not hurt him.”

I gritted my teeth, a sour feeling filling my gut. “That stupid president brainwashed Reno and got him kidnapped, real nice fucking guy.”

“Brainwashed?” I narrowed my eyes as I saw the amusement in his voice and his eyes. “I assure you Reno is quite happy with his new fiancé and the feeling is mutually shared.”

“Reno likes anyone who pays attention to him,” I snapped, my mind temporarily turned to mush as I said those words. I think halfway through I realized that I was mad at Reno. Mad for him agreeing to marry Garrett, and mad at him for –

No, no it wasn’t that... I swallowed, and realized I was hurt and perhaps a bit jealous. “Just... bring him back, go get him and bring him back.”

That was
my
Reno, no one else’s.

“That is my intention, which is why I am leaving for Skyfall right now.” Elish reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper. He handed it to me. I took it with a wary look and started to unfold it.

It was a map, though a bad one. It looked like something thrown together in haste. I scanned through it Elish continued to speak. “I was planning on accompanying you to Kreig, but it goes without saying that plans have changed. What has also changed is that I have reason to believe this plane is being tracked. I’m dropping you off here.” A slender finger pointed to a small red X, a few inches away I saw Kreig and much farther away almost off the map, I saw Skyfall Island. “I can’t risk diverting my usual course, Silas woke up last week and he has eyes everywhere, some of which are blind to me. You will be proceeding on foot a several day walk from the city.”

“Then what?” I asked, showing the map to Killian and Perish who were hovering by my shoulders. I could feel their anxious energy behind me, Perish’s especially.

Elish handed Killian the small blue folder. “Perish knows where the building is and he will know how to get inside. Once you’re inside, look for hard drives I want all of them, every piece of software you can find. I’ll come and collect you once Garrett and I have resolved this business with Reno.”

“How long will that be?”

“It could be over a month, possibly two, I am not sure but right now the longer you are hidden the better. Use that time to help Killian’s emotional recovery and your own. I want no emotional baggage when I return.”