The Ravaging in Between (The Reanimation Files Book 3) (15 page)

“Let’s have a look.” I braced one arm on Carlos’ desk and leaned forward to get a better view of the screen.

“This one is from a week and a half ago,” Carlos said. That timing was before he’d attacked Mark or me.

Carlos brought up the first video file and played it. It appeared to be from a building’s security camera. I couldn’t be sure what neighborhood it was. The quality wasn’t stellar, but when Jack came into view, I could tell it was him. All the video showed was Jack walking by.

“Well, I doubt that was very helpful to you,” Carlos said. “Let’s try another.” He played another video. We watched three more like the first one before I finally saw something interesting. Carlos had brought up more security camera footage, but this time he was able to jump from different camera views since the building they belonged to had cameras all around the perimeter.

In the first couple video streams, Jack was striding past, but he seemed different than in the last videos, almost as though he was stalking something. His fists were clenched and his gaze remained straight ahead as he moved forward.

Maybe this was when he’d attacked Mark Spatz?

Carlos switched to another camera and it showed Jack walking down an alley between two buildings. He ran forward and seemed to grab hold of something, although there was nothing else in front of him that I could see. But I didn’t have to see; it was soon very apparent what he was doing. His forearms remained rigid and his body started shaking slightly.

“He’s absorbing a ghost,” I whispered. My mind flashed to the memorial when I had seen him absorb Leora. Because the other ghost in the video wasn’t wearing energy runes, I was unable to see them, but it was just as well. I didn’t want to witness another ghost being sucked out of existence and feel helpless about it all over again.

“Absorbing?” Carlos said. I could see his disbelief from the corner of my eye, but my focus was still on the screen. After Jack was done, he squared his shoulders and left the alley. The cameras lost him soon after.

“Play another,” I said to Carlos. About thirty minutes later I had watched all the videos Carlos had been able to find, and in three more I’d witnessed Jack absorb a ghost. I stood back and blew out a breath. The ill-ventilated room was already making me feel overheated and irritable, and those feelings were amplified by what I’d just seen. Leora weren’t the first ghost Jack had absorbed. He was already well juiced up on ghosts by the time he tried to kill me.

I gave Carlos the names of the other ghosts in the file, and after watching a lot of videos and feeling as though I would pass out from dehydration the longer I stood there, it was clear that each of the crossover ghosts were making it a mission to absorb other ghosts. Almost twenty ghosts had been absorbed, and I feared how many more would get sucked up if these ghosts weren’t rounded up.

“Seen all you wanna see?” Carlos asked. After his first shocked inquiry, he hadn’t asked any more questions, which was wise of him. The less he knew about the crazy shit going on out there, the better.

“Yeah,” I said. “How much for the info?”

“Four hundred,” he replied.

I winced. I was out of a job and had a month’s worth of bills that I was ignoring, but I guess saving the world was my bank account’s top priority. I gave him the money.

“Can you do something for me? For the next few days, continue to track these guys. When you have a real time location on where they are, can you let me know?”

“Sure can.”

“Great, my number is…”

“Don’t need it,” Carlos said, waving his hand at me.

“Oh right, you can just hack your way to it,” I said. “My bad. Thanks again.”

“Always great doing business with you,” Carlos said.

“Likewise. Use the money to put a window in here. Even a slit would help.”

Carlos gave another snort and I left, happily breathing in fresh air. Once I was seated in my car, I sat there for a while drumming my fingers against the steering wheel and contemplating my next move.

There was a pattern with the crossover ghosts. They were absorbing other ghosts as well as taking out the revenge that had been denied to them. But one of them had also come after me. Would the others as well? I did not relish the thought.

I called Micah and told him what I had found out. I told him where I’d gotten the info since he already knew about Carlos, but warned him not to mention his name to Tielle. He promised, and said he would see what knowledge about the ghosts absorbing other ghosts could lead to, then we hung up.

I was exhausted. The shenanigans at the PCC and the horrible knowledge it’d dropped on me, coupled with playing detective, had wiped me out. Time to go home, regroup, and figure out what to do next.

* * *

I had a sizable headache by the time I got home because I’d spent the entire ride thinking everything over and getting nowhere.

Once I was home and had taken care of Luna’s stomach and bladder, I collapsed onto the couch, lay my head back, and closed my eyes. My mental stress was causing me to feel even more off balance than I’d been feeling without my reanimation power.

It was getting dark, and every time I looked at a shadowed area it seemed darker and more sinister than it should be, almost like it was a tangible entity that would rise up like a wave and crash over me. I felt like I was behind a flimsy door and that dark wave was banging on it to be let in. It was right there on the edge of my psyche and I had no idea what it could mean.

I needed a drink. I opened my eyes and stood up, intending to head to the kitchen to find my bottle of rum, but that whole off-balance thing kicked in, and I plopped right back onto the couch while my head continued to pound. I also felt vaguely nauseous. It was like I was already hungover.

Alcohol would not be the best choice right now. What I could really use was some of Ilyse’s soothing tea. Tea couldn’t wipe my problems away, but it would give me some calm and I’d take any moment of peace that I could get.

I actually might have some tea here. Ilyse had given me a blend and I think I’d put it in one of my bags of runes, which was all I was carrying at the time. I wouldn’t be surprised if I also found some loose change and a Metrocard in there.

I headed to my bedroom and started rooting through the stuff on the floor of my closet. That should indicate how much I needed some soothing tea, even if it had been under a junk pile for months.

Luna was curious about my junk and kept sniffing around and trying to run off with something that she could sit in a corner and savage.

As I looked through various pouches and bags, I came across the bag that contained my grandmother’s runes. She’d left them to me, but I’d saved them as a keepsake instead of using them. I felt kinda bad that my keepsakes had been sitting under a bunch of old clothes I’d meant to donate, but had never gotten around to.

I scooted out of the closet and upturned the bag of runes onto the floor. I gently ran my fingers over them and smiled. They felt familiar, felt like Grams. I missed her more than I had in a long time. With everything I’d been through the past couple months I really could have used her strength and support.

I put Grams’ runes away before I started crying. The loss of Ilyse was a fresh wound and the loss of Grams was an old one that still burned. Combined, they had the power to undo me. I didn’t want to break down right now.

I spied a dusty box that I knew contained pictures from my life with Grams but I resisted opening it. Going down memory lane would have to wait for another time.

I was about to give up on finding the tea when I spied the pouch that contained all the binding runes I had used to hide my reanimation power. I opened the bag and carefully took out one of the runes, staring at it with a mix of emotions. These runes had been so much to me over the years, first helping me stay safe, and recently assisting in my tussles with Larry, Michael, and Renton. And now…

Now I frowned and my trail of thought got lost. The binding rune in my hand felt slightly warm—which wasn’t unusual because of their permanent state of being active—but there was something else that was sending a tingle of electricity throughout my body. It felt familiar, it felt like me. I felt a connection to the binding rune and confusion ran through me for a moment until it clicked. Then I gasped, my eyes widened, and I was suddenly looking at the binding runes in a whole new light.

It was clear now why I hadn’t died permanently. It was because some of my reanimation power really did still exist. Inside these binding runes.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I recalled what I had learned about the binding runes from Ilyse. She had told me that once my reanimation power activates the rune, the rune remains active, which is why I could only use each rune once to hide my reanimation power.

It was also because my reanimation power caused the rune to evolve into the powerful and dangerous thing I knew it was. All runes were activated by energy, but after a while that energy runs out; that’s why a ghost can only wear an energy rune for a certain period of time before it dissipates and they become intangible again.

But with a binding rune, even though I always took back the reanimation power I stored within them, a spark always remained to keep the rune active. It might only be a small amount, but it was undoubtedly the reason I was still alive.

I was excited—then hesitant and worried.

Would I be able to retrieve my reanimation power from these runes? If so, how the hell would I even do it?

I was none too eager to try and mess with these runes on my own because I was fairly certain it would lead to me blowing myself, my dog, and my house to pieces.

Or—with my luck—some random ghost would choose that moment to stroll through my house and touch the rune, and I’d find myself bound to a ghost again.

No, with this I had to be ultra-careful. The first person who came to mind to help me was Ilyse, and that wave of sadness was back. Then I thought about Tielle. Would she be able to help? I was hesitant to bring this to her though, because I was not supposed to be in possession of binding runes. At the end of the day, Tielle was still the person who had tried to strip my reanimation power, regardless of the consequences to my life.

With the way things were now, I was almost sure she wouldn’t try to do it again, especially since I could potentially be the only one who could help with the current ghost problem, but I still wasn’t running to my phone to call her up. I’d try to figure it out on my own, and if all else failed, then I’d approach Tielle.

I put the binding rune back into the pouch, but placed them on my nightstand instead of back in the closet. Then I gave one last look, found Ilyse’s tea, and headed to the kitchen to make myself some.

* * *

A few hours later, around five-thirty, Micah showed up. We hadn’t really left things on a good note when I left the PCC, and I wasn’t in the mood to rehash it. However, before I could even say hello when I opened the door, Micah stormed in, dropped his messenger bag, and turned a very unhappy face to me.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me that you were attacked in the Underground?”

I had almost forgotten about that with everything else that was going on, but it was in fact a big deal. And I still had no idea who’d done it. But I couldn’t blame Micah for being mad that I had withheld something like that from him. In my current state of mind, I just did not want to deal with it right now though.

“I guess Tielle told you.” I flopped down onto the sofa. My headache had finally receded, but I was still weary. Micah stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, but I preferred to be a bit more comfortable while being bitched out.

“Imagine how great it was to find out from Tielle that you’d been stabbed in the chest,” Micah said. “And that you didn’t die or end up in the hospital because part of your soul is missing, and that somehow means you can’t get seriously injured. I wasn’t even able to hide the fact that it was the first time I was hearing that. She assumed I already knew. Why the hell would you keep that from me?”

“I…I don’t know.” I sighed. I really did not want to deal with yet another difficult fight with Micah, even if I was the one at fault and had brought this on myself. I was tired of all the back-and-forth between us. One minute we seemed fine, the next minute we were butting heads over some huge, devastating revelation.

Where the hell had all the normal parts of our relationship gone?

“You don’t know?” Micah could not have sounded more incredulous. “Selene, we’re supposed to be working on fixing our relationship, on being closer again. I’m supposed to be the first one you tell something like this to!”

“I know Micah, but I didn’t and I don’t really know why, OK? I don’t have an answer that would make you happy. I just dealt with it on my own.”

“No, you went to Tielle. You dealt with it with the woman who—not too long ago—was your enemy.”

“Yeah, and she’s your new boss, so what’s your point?” I shot back. “You can be chummy with someone who once tried to hurt me, but I can’t? Look, I’m not saying Tielle and I are best friends, but Ilyse is no longer here so she was my best option for finding out why I wasn’t much affected from having a knife plunged into my chest. I’m fairly certain even with your new Alchemy knowledge, you would not have been able to give me the answers I needed. Tielle did.”

“But you still should have called me,” Micah stressed. “So I could be there for you.”

“I’m fine, Micah. I got through it without needing much hand-holding.”

Micah looked angry and sad at the same time. I didn’t like seeing that expression on his face and knowing I was the one who’d put it there. I liked even less that I had been doing so a lot lately, and vice versa. I felt like Micah and I were always two seconds away from doing something that hurt the other one. I was so sick of it.

“But what about the fact that part of your soul is missing?” he said. “Are you going to be OK?”