The Ghost and the Darkness Volume 1 (The Fallocaust Series Book 2) (18 page)

Garrett? The president of Skytech, if I remembered correctly. I listened in as well as I could.

“Yes, he is doing fine, thank you for asking, and how is Otter doing?”

Otter? That’s a stupid name.

“Indeed, I knew you would. Oh, did he know? Put him on the phone then, yes, I would rather you leave without me asking. Indeed, yes.” I was surprised when Elish looked over at me before standing up behind his desk. He motioned me over.

“Yes, Reno, he’s – yes, he’s right here.”

Reno? My eyes widened in shock and I realized my mouth had dropped open, before I could demand it Elish handed me the phone.

I put it up to my ear. “H-hello?”

“BRO!” His laughter filled the phone; it started to loosen the rope seemingly bound around my heart. “Man, you sound so different on the phone, like all raspy and sinister. Fuck, how are you, you immortal bitch?”

I laughed, feeling the warmth come into my bones. I was so relieved he was safe. “I’m... I’m good... are you in Skyfall? Are they keeping you safe? Is that chimera fuck the one taking care of you?”

“Dude, he’s like my master right now!” Reno hissed with another chuckle. “I’m helping get some shit for you guys. He’s a really awesome dude though but I haven’t banged him yet, but I will soon, I promise.”

Really now? I glanced over at Elish who wasn’t even trying to pretend he wasn’t listening in. I wondered if he was waiting to snatch the phone away if Reno said something he didn’t like.

Well, he was going to be disappointed. I walked away from the desk, found their master bedroom. I closed the door.

“Alright, I’m alone, are you okay?” I whispered. I picked up one of their pillows and pressed myself up against the back wall. I knew Elish could hear as well as I could.

He chuckled. “I’m not pretending, bro. I just need to hide cause Garrett doesn’t know why I’m really here, and he’s great I don’t wanna hurt him. Reaver... I think we’re cool. It makes sense, eh? Him being so cush with Leo and Greyson? I mean... there is no going back, right, hun? This isn’t home, it will never be home... but with the hand we got dealt – it could be so much worse, babe.”

I sighed and momentarily closed my eyes. I missed home. “I know, I just... I don’t know what’s supposed to happen now. What did you mean Elish has you getting something?”

“Key card for Kreig, where you were born, my immortal Pop-Tart. Apparently Elish needs me to sneak in and get them because it would be suspicious for him to request that card. He hasn’t told you this yet?”

“He was just briefing me when you called,” I said shaking my head, even though that was obviously a dumb thing to do alone in a bedroom. “I just came back last night, Killian seems okay though. I’m not taking him and leaving only because he seems to be returning back to his normal self.”

“No, don’t leave. The Legion and the chimeras might not be looking for you in the greywastes now but as soon as Silas comes back they will be. Look, baby, I don’t know... I’m just a dumb fuck but I trust them. I know I have shitty taste in men, but Garrett isn’t like the others and he’s Elish’s best friend on top of being his bro. I think these are like... the good ones? I don’t know, man, but I trust them. Elish wants to kill King Silas so he can’t be that bad.”

Hearing this from my friend meant more to me than Elish’s words ever could, though I found this whole situation just frustrating. I shouldn’t even be in a situation where I need to trust chimeras; I hadn’t even known what the fuck they were before I met Perish.

But Asher had made it personal, he raped my boyfriend and he murdered my dads.

“Reno... if there is anyone listening on your end... if they’re making you say this shit... just ask me if Killian is okay,” I said quietly.

“But I actually want to know if Killian is okay... can’t it be a code word like banana?”

“Sure.”

“Is Killian okay?”

I really hated that man sometimes.

After a few more minutes of him telling me about his new master (though he sounded more like a giddy teenager) Reno handed the phone back off to Garrett and I handed it to Elish. I assumed Garrett would be led to assume Reno had been talking to Elish.

“How is he?” Killian whispered to me, tugging on my shirt sleeve.

“Happy... too happy for my liking, he’s getting pretty cozy with his new master,” I grumbled, looking over as Elish pressed the end call button on the phone.

“
New
master!? You sold him?” Killian’s voice rose several octaves, but with a slight raise of Elish’s gloved hand Killian’s mouth clamped shut.

“I assure you, though your experiences with my brothers have been rather one-sided. We are not all...” One of Elish’s blonde eyebrows rose. “Bloodthirsty beasts.”

I could see that, every one of those mutants seemed to contrast the next.

Elish pushed a file folder towards me. I opened it and saw a paper clipped photo of a smiling clean-cut man in his early thirties. He had short black hair that looked parted on the side, with a suit and tie, a bowler type hat sideways on his head, and a trimmed moustache. He was handsome like they all were, a thin face, manicured eye brows over large eyes and to top it off a cigar stuck between white straight teeth.

“Garrett Dekker as you probably know is the president of Skytech and a very prominent business man,” Elish continued as I picked up the folder. The first page was a list of his stats, mostly body statistics. From his eye colour (green with yellow flecks) to his shoe size (9) even as far as his food preferences (liquor). On the next page I saw numbers and graphs I didn’t understand, but I saw the words DNA so I assumed it was his chimera makeup.

“Somewhere in his house or in his office are the old passwords and cards to get into a lab in Kreig. I believe Lycos’s office and a small area of the lab was protected and not destroyed by the explosion,” Elish said. His voice seemed even more cold and ominous the further he went on. I realized with a hard swallow that this went deeper than I could have imagined. “I am of top council, I help run Skyfall and its surroundings, but when it comes to Skytech there is no reason for me to dabble in Krieg’s files. Therefore my probing would bring unwelcome questions from my brothers and most of all King Silas. I need to maintain my routine without waver, especially once he resurrects.”

“Lycos’s lab is in Kreig? So that was where Reaver was born?” Killian asked. He pressed a finger down on the raised folder so he could take a peek. I lowered it for him.

“Yes, he was born in Kreig, a large city further east inland. What I need from there is all the documentation regarding Chimera X,
you
,” Elish explained, glancing at me. “I will not send you to Kreig unless I know you can enter the lab safely. I will not send you on a fool’s errand.”

“Errand?” Killian’s voice filled with questions, but Elish ignored him.

“Reno is already with Garrett and has been doing well; they’re quite enchanted with each other as you could probably tell, Reaver.” Elish went on, “As you know your companion Reno has...
magnetism
and it mixes well with my brother’s quirks, needless to say they’re getting along well.”

“You’ve whored out Reno?” Killian’s voice climbed another octave.

“More like he’s playing matchmaker,” I mumbled looking on the third page; this guy seemed to be a very flamboyant character. “Is he going to whip and beat my friend or is he actually going to treat him decent?” Shit, the moment those words left my lips I knew I should’ve swallowed them. I had seen the scars on Jade’s body. I hadn’t meant to make that a personal attack.

My eyes lifted from the folder to see Elish staring at me, if my words had any resounding effect he wouldn’t show it. “The paper will show you that Garrett has low aggression, he is rather docile. His gift is with business, not so much interpersonal relationships.”

“Why do you need Reaver’s files?” Killian asked quietly, his voice decreasing to an acceptable level.

I decided to answer this one. “We don’t know how to kill Silas; we just know that I can.” I raised an eyebrow at Elish. “I’m assuming you think this information can be found in the lab research?”

“I am hoping to be able to dissect your makeup and see how it differs from that of a normal human and a normal chimera.”

I put the folder down and pushed it towards Killian in case he wanted take a look. “Do you have a file like this on everyone?”

“Yes.”

“Even me?”

“Especially you”

My brow furrowed. I wondered what information he had on me; he had probably got a lot of it from Leo. Did he really have this much secrecy that he could have files on me out of Silas’s reach? I could only hope the king was too busy playing games to notice what had been going on right under his nose. I hope for this, because it meant he wasn’t as clever as I feared.

But what did he have on me? How much had Leo told him? These questions sat uneasy in my stomach.

I think he read my mind; he looked right at me and said without hesitation. “No, you cannot see it.”

“Why... why are you doing this?” I turned, surprised at Killian’s brazen question. He was looking up at Elish with his eyes wide and scared. I focused my hearing and noticed his heart rate had never slowed down.

“My reasons are my own, as yours are, Mr. Massey.” Elish’s voice was dipped in arctic waters, I felt Killian freeze. I knew that would be the last loose-tongued comment to come out of my boyfriend. The look those purple eyes were giving him could quench the flames of hell. “I will be meeting with you privately throughout my time here, Reaver and if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask me. I am sure with what you have learned you have a lot. In the mean time I encourage you to continue to enjoy my residence but out of respect... do not smoke outside of your bedroom.”

“What about other drugs?” The question slipped through my lips before I could stop myself.

Elish rose from his seat, I watched him for a moment before I rose as well, remembering this was his private office. Killian rose beside me.

“I have no issue with your drug consumption but my pet is only permitted to partake at my leave. He is a recovering addict and I wish to keep him that way. Though he is a chimera, he has a weak immune system and falls into poor health easily,” Elish said. I noticed his eyes were focused on Killian. I looked too to see what he was staring at. I cringed as I saw it right away. Didn’t that kid have long sleeve shirts?

“I would suggest you start weaning Killian from this heroin.” Elish’s eyes narrowed at the pink track marks going up Killian’s lower arms. “The state of those in your possession is a direct reflection on you, remember that.”

I hated my body the moment my ears started to go red, I tried to push down the humiliation bubbling in my throat but it was no use. My face darkened around the same time Killian cowered and tried to shyly hide his arms behind his back. His shoulders started to tremble from Elish’s smouldering gaze.

“He’s not my possession, he isn’t a pet,” I said in a level tone, desperately trying to hide my embarrassment over him. In my brain I justified it a thousand times over but my emotions were filling me with shame. “He has trouble coping with things; this helps him not break down.”

“Yes I have done similar but he is safe now and it is time for him to start facing reality sober,” Elish responded. ‘You as well, Mr. Merrik.”

I opened my mouth to let out a more scathing retort but Killian pulled on my sleeve. I knew he knew me well enough by now to know I was bordering on saying something that would cause friction. I practiced my social skills and closed my mouth.

Killian smiled at me. “We can try and quit together, hun.”

I grunted and we both carried on up the stairs. A thousand thoughts inside of my head and a thousand more I pushed down.

Chapter 7

Reno

Plink Plink Plink...
With every tap of the ivory keys I was only more convinced that I was a talentless hack. How the hell could Killian make all that music on that piano he had in Aras? I couldn’t even perfect Hot Cross Buns without messing up at least twice.

What a job. In the greywastes we scratched a living from eating people and scavenging old pre-Fallocaust shit, in Skyfall they had enough free time to demand everyone learn instruments or textbooks. My new master had been adamant that I start learning some culture. Fuck culture; give me cigarettes, booze, sex, and drugs. I liked my greywaste culture, much easier than learning to bang a note on this over-sized xylophone.

I twirled in the chair a few times, watching Luca spin around into a blond blur complete with a pair of black cat ears held up by a headband. He was cleaning Garrett’s apartment to give him something to do. He had already scrubbed every single surface in Elish’s and was starting to get antsy and bored. Even Biff was getting tired of him petting him all the time. Biff had his own Luca-free zone, which was a tall window ledge above our heads.

“I’m Henry the eighth I ammm, Henry the eighth I am I am!”
I sang as I spun around in circles on the swivel chair. I didn’t know the rest of the song, so I just sung the rest of the tune with the same lyrics. When I was done I got up and flopped on the couch.