Sky Ghosts: All for One (Young Adult Urban Fantasy Adventure) (Sky Ghosts Series Book 1) (2 page)

Jane caught up with her sister outdoors: she was sitting on a bench, chatting idly with another fighter, Patrick. When the glass doors opened before Jane, the sun was right on the horizon, and night had begun to fall over the city.

“I told you to wait for me,” Jane said crossly and a little wearily, looking at her sister from a few steps away.

“I wanted to get outside sooner,” Pain replied, her voice bored and drawling.

Jane approached the two fighters, coming to stand in front of her sister.

“Yeah, by the way, why are we patrolling tonight? Was it your idea? And did you have a fight with Peter again?” she asked in a calmer voice, deciding not to push the waiting-for-each-other topic. She had learned long ago how to play down all squabbles with her sister because it was the only way to stay in a good relationship, and that was already a hard task.

Seeing the hardened expression on the face of his companion, Patrick got up clumsily and mumbled, “Hmm… I think I’ll go. My men must be here already,” he headed for the doors, “good luck on your watch!”

“Thanks,” Jane responded, smiling, “You too.”

“Thanks.”

He turned and walked away. In the scarlet sunset glow, his almost colorless hair looked translucent pink. Patrick was nineteen, but he had been training since childhood, so he was beginning to get his share of respect from the older fighters already. He was in charge of his first group, a small one, but still. Jane believed he would become one of the best with time, but he was too shy to be a leader.

He stopped in a few steps from the entrance when the glass doors slid apart and three boys came out.

“Here you are! We’ve been looking for you everywhere…”

God, they’re even younger than me,
Jane thought.
They should be trained again and again before letting them go on patrols.

Pain followed her gaze with her own and noted, as if reading her thoughts,

“You do realize that you’re no different from them, don’t you?”

“No, I am different. I’ve been training since I’d learned how to walk; they just got here a couple of months ago,” Jane objected.

“Whatever,” her sister shrugged it off. “Another shift was Peter’s idea. He said that I’d go – quote –
‘cruising for a bruising’
anyway, so I could make myself useful as well,” Pain explained, nodding with irony.

She looked very much like her little sister. Her dark-brown eyes were framed with long black eyelashes, her skin was pale, and her hair blue-black, lying long and straight over her shoulders. She, too, was of middle height and very slim, clad in matte-black gear and light boots. They both could be considered attractive, even beautiful, but in different ways. If Jane’s features were more round and soft, her sister’s face was more sharply planed, her cheekbones more prominent, her lips less full. Even her eyes were always narrowed to watchful, suspicious slits. They were outlined with coal-black eyeliner, while Jane didn’t use a lot of makeup at all.

“I wonder what I have to do with that,” Jane grumbled.

“Well, he wouldn’t send Marco with me. You know how he gets distracted and can tear apart half of the city in the process.” Pain shrugged apologetically.

Jane grunted in reply and looked around the darkening yard, stretching her arms wide. Two short swords weighed down her belt on both sides, as always. She relished in the last sunbeams of the day: they painted the inside of the semicircular building reddish-pink and turned the green trees around them solemn and eerie. There were only a few more fighters aside from them, standing in pairs or small groups, smoking and chatting in low voices. They were all wearing the same black gear, and some of them had black face masks, lowered because there was no need to hide their faces yet. They didn’t have to worry about civilians seeing them here. The building was located remotely from the living area of Brooklyn, and even if people would pass it by, they wouldn’t be interested in the shabby yard that was enclosed in a half-circle of small trees. The building itself was long and six stories tall. It could pass for an old factory, painted dingy-red and looking abandoned, but there was a certain purpose to it – keep strangers away.

Jane came to sit next to her sister.

“Peter found out about those two Beasts from last week,” Pain said with a crooked smile. “They were Chuck’s, as it turned out. It’s a pity he wasn’t with them. Peter said, Eugene ordered Chuck to scrag me if I show up.” Her smile stretched out into a satisfied grin.

“And why am I not surprised that you’re excited about this…?” Jane muttered.

“Peter says, one more incident like this one, and Eugene will set a price upon my head.” Her grin became exultant. Jane had heard that to ignore someone’s bad behavior was the best way to get rid of it. “How much do you think it’ll be?” Pain shouldered her lightly, watching the expression on her face with enthusiasm.

“I think it’ll just be your katana,” Jane answered, grimacing, “an honorable enough trophy already.”

Her sister laughed, relaxed and carefree. Jane wasn’t bothered by this, really. She knew what was behind this behavior: years of experience and infinite hours of practice. Pain was a walking nightmare for their enemies, and not without a reason. The more their ranks grew, the more the sisters exterminated in the streets; the more heated the battle was, the more excited her sister got, and just her attitude alone scared them off sometimes. Not that it would help any of their opponents: hunting them down had always been her favorite part.

Jane sighed, standing up and jamming her hands in the pockets of her pants.

“Now that we got a shift, we better get to our sector in time,” with these words, she turned and headed to another door that led to the ground floor. Pain got to her feet and hurried after her, adjusting the sword in her back sheath on the run. Together they reached the red-painted metal door and disappeared inside the building.

By the time they got to their sector and began their walk across the rooftops, the city had already fallen into darkness. They, as usual, made most of the way underground, and when it got dark enough, through the air. And now, almost invisible in their black gear against the background of the sky, they were walking idly over the roofs, watching the streets and alleys from above, looking for anything suspicious.

The small wind was warm and nice. It freshened up the mind and took away sleepiness. There were no stars visible in the city, but the full moon stood out brightly against the dark, stripped of the clouds sky, lightening plane silhouettes of the roofs ahead of them.

“Let’s get to the street’s end and go to that skyscraper?” Jane suggested, pointing with her chin at the tallest building in the area.

Pain squinted at the skyscraper, two big moons reflecting in her dark eyes.

“Okay,” she replied tonelessly after a moment.

They leaped onto the next roof, which was only a few yards away from the previous one and created a narrow alley between the walls. A group of people was standing there at the moment, but nobody noticed the girls.

“Patrick told me that yesterday they found two bodies in this sector.”

“Civilians?”

“Yeah,” Pain answered. “Beasts did it. They were mutilated, their purses and cell phones gone.”

Jane only shook her head. They had just reached another alley and prepared to jump, when a shout sounded from behind. The sisters looked at each other, raising their eyebrows identically, as if one of them was just a reflection of the other, and froze for a second on the roof edge. Then they raised their face masks, turned in the same synchronized manner, and ran back soundlessly.

The building was four stories high, and when they got to the edge, they lay on the dusty surface of the roof and cautiously looked down. There was a streetlight near the far corner of the building, and its light illuminated the alley, dumpsters, blocking it, and a group of men. They were arguing heavily. Two of them, dressed casually in jeans, were backing away from the other five that were dressed mostly in leather. They were stalking after them, pressing them against the dumpsters.

“I’ve no idea of what you guys want, but I’m sure we can solve any problem in peace,” one of the retreating men said, throwing up his hands to ward them off.

“Do you know any of these clowns?” Jane whispered to her sister, meaning the men in black.

“No, but that guy in the jacket and jeans,” Pain said, pointing with her chin at the talking one, “I know. This is Mister Curiosity,” she added with a crooked smile.

“Mister who?” Jane asked incredulously.

“I told you about him! Last week, two Beasts, a witness? It was this guy.”

“O-o-oh, I remember now. But what has he got to do with Eugene’s men?” Jane asked with a frown.

Pain just shrugged, and they continued watching the scene below. It seemed now the men in black were arguing among each other.

“Eugene has ordered to finish him, why would I take him to the office??” the tallest of them boomed, pulling out a short broadsword from his sheath and gesturing with it energetically. The fighter was twice as big as his opponent, and patches of light reflected off his bald head.

“And I got an order to deliver him there alive! If we kill him for nothing, Eugene himself will finish us like dogs!” the other man parried, short and chunky brunette.

The two in jeans just stood still and looked from one to another with wide eyes. ‘Mister Curiosity’ – the guy in a black leather jacket – looked like he had just got back from a vacation, with his tanned skin and coal-black hair. The other one had a big tousle of brown hair and was wearing a thin beige sweater and blue jeans. And if the first one was lean and lanky, half a head taller than the other, the second looked more athletic with his shoulders twice as broad as his friend’s.

“You know, I’m not surprised to see that dark-haired dude with the Beasts. He’s clearly screwed up,” Pain whispered.

“Yeah? And why is that?”

“To see me, wielding a sword on a dark street, and just come to take a look at me? Who do I look like, Fairy Godmother?”

“Only if he took your katana for a wand,” Jane grinned with mischief.

“Exactly. You see a weirdo with a sword on a New York street, you run away screaming bloody murder. You don’t come up, making an acquaintance:
‘Hello, I’m Mister Curiosity, who are you?’
I really didn’t expect him to come back after I scared him off,” Pain said, shaking her head with disapproval.

Jane laughed with her hand covering her mouth.

“Oh, come on, he must be brave to come to you like that. Maybe he liked you?” she said, gloating. Her sister just shoved her in the shoulder.

Meanwhile, the scene below continued.

“Let’s call Eugene right now, and if he says that I can kill them both, I’ll finish you as well,” the tall man rumbled, glowering at the other.

“Go ahead and try, Bob,” his companion replied with contempt, waving his hand at him. The other had already brought a phone up to his ear, not taking his eyes off his comrade.

“I’m so curious which one of them Eugene wants,” Jane whispered. “It’s a pity his men obviously don’t know what they’re doing. We could have eavesdropped something very interesting.”

“I think it’s time for us to step in. Even if Eugene won’t order to kill them, we can’t let the Beasts take them to his office,” Pain responded. “I don’t see any other choice but to take them to Peter.”

“These two can probably tell us themselves what they did to irritate Eugene,” Jane added with an approving nod.

“Then it’s settled. We go down there and kill everybody. Finally!” Pain beamed at her and jumped off the roof. Jane’s troubled eyes caught only a glimpse of her sword.

“Wait!” she called out in a hushed voice, but it was too late: the big sister had already landed soundlessly ten steps away from the gathering. “Dammit!” Jane muttered under her breath and jumped down after her.

Meanwhile, Pain came closer to the men with her hands clasped behind her back decently. Her mood was disastrous, though. The fight she had had with her boss was pretty intense, and she desperately looked forward to the shift, hoping that some fighting would come along. It did, and now she felt a little relieved, but already knew it wouldn’t be enough. Still, it didn’t mean she had to miss all the fun.

She paused and whistled sharply. The men whirled around, their faces frowned with surprise. As their expressions slowly changed into vague recognition, she smirked and wiggled her fingers at them playfully.

“Look, it’s her!” Bob exclaimed to his companions.

“So what? We’ve got an order,” the short man snapped. They all were staring at her now, and she was looking back at them, undisturbed.

“Forget the order! These fools won’t run far. Get the girl!” Bob snarled, and before the others could say anything else, ran toward her, swinging his broadsword.

Pain just stood there before him, her face dreamy and smiling under the face mask – a wicked angel, clad in leather and steel. Bob barreled to her, gaining speed in three long leaps, and drew back his sword, ready to strike—

But the air was empty where she had stood a moment ago. Instead, a slim darting figure fell from above, hitting him square in his back with both feet. He flew forward and sprawled on the ground awkwardly as she was already in front of his comrades, swinging her katana. Two of them collapsed to the ground, their heads tumbling down next to their bodies. She turned around, expecting a blow, but the other two were already engaged in a fight with Jane. A few feet away, Bob got to his feet painfully, his hand pressed to his head. She could see a trickle of blood run down his cheek from under his palm. She smiled to herself, and seeing her, he snarled and dashed forward, clutching the hilt of his sword. Behind her, the young men stared at Bob, terrified. His enraged, bloody face resembled a human’s very little, and only a few steps separated him from Pain now. She was anything but scared, her eyes bright with excitement, her grin feral and ecstatic, she waited for him with her sword still dripping scarlet after beheading his comrades.