Chapter Eighteen
Reya peered through a pair of binoculars from the seventieth floor of the GE Building. They’d been here for almost two hours, both of them scouring tops of buildings from every angle for the elusive pyramid.
She felt Thane come up next to her. “Any luck?”
“Nothing,” she said, putting down the binoculars. “Talk about a needle in a haystack. You?”
He shook his head. Reya frowned. Maybe a helicopter would work.
Thane’s cell phone rang, and he answered it. “Yeah.”
He nodded a few times, his expression turning more serious as the one-way conversation progressed. “You’re sure about that?”
More nodding. Reya could hear Martin’s voice, but not what he was saying. Part of her hoped he’d located Ronald Smith. Part of her never wanted to face Surt again. Wishing wouldn’t change the fact that a battle was inevitable and soon. She just wished she had more ammo.
“We’re on the search for a pyramid,” Thane said. “Getting nowhere fast.” A pause. “Why? Because we think it’s linked to the location.”
Reya watched Thane’s demeanor change as he went on edge. It wasn’t about Surt. For Surt news, he’d get angry. This was different. This was unease.
Thane frowned deeply. “Sure, when?”
His eyes met Reya’s, and she could see the concern in them. What could possibly unsettle Thane Driscoll?
“We’ll be there in an hour. Thanks, Martin.” Then he hung up.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Ronald Smith’s residence is in Queens. However, he hasn’t been seen at that address since this all began. He works as a salesman for a company that makes church candles. Donates to charities. Volunteers in soup kitchens. A real saint.”
“My ass,” Reya muttered and headed for the building elevator. “He probably stole someone’s identity. Can we find him?”
“Martin said they haven’t had any luck yet. The guy just shows up wherever he’s needed. Maybe he’s psychic.”
More like he’s psycho. “Can we get on the list of people he calls when Smith makes an appearance?”
“Already are,” Thane said, sounding distracted.
She eyed him. “What is it?”
They got into the elevator alone and the doors closed. Thane was quiet for a moment. Then he shrugged and stared at the floor numbers. “I don’t know. Something feels wrong. Off. More than usual. Probably just being paranoid.”
Reya felt the tension simmering in Thane. He might be worried about nothing, but she doubted it. He had good instincts. She patted the crystal in her pocket, just to make sure. It felt warm and exuded energy. She was glad to have it. “So where are we going?”
“To meet Martin at the bar for lunch.”
* * *
The old panhandler sat on his piece of cardboard against the brick wall in the back alley of the bar. It was early by his standards, but he had had good luck with the late lunch crowd lately. He took a drink from a bottle of whiskey and tucked it back into his pocket. Wouldn’t want people thinking he was a drunk.
A man walked down the alley toward him. He looked familiar, and the old man blinked when he recognized him. It was the good man from the other night. He wore jeans and a jacket now, but it was the same guy.
He got to his feet using a nearby trash can for support. “Hey, man. You okay?”
The handsome man gave him a surly look. “Do I know you?”
“Yeah, I was here the other night.” Then he grinned. “You gave me a ten. Don’t suppose you have another one of those?”
The man glared at him until he stopped smiling. A chill settled over him as he looked into black eyes. They didn’t look like the same eyes. It was like he had no soul.
“What exactly did you see the other night?” he asked, moving closer to the old man.
Cold fear invaded his gut, just like it had the other night. He backed up and held up his hands. “Nothin’. I didn’t see nothin’.”
“I don’t believe you,” the nice man said, backing him up to a big steel Dumpster. “You saw them.”
He shook his head, terror gripping him. “No. I didn’t—”
The nice man grabbed him by the throat with lightning-fast speed and squeezed. The drunk froze in shock, and gripped the man’s forearms with his hands. They were cold as ice. He felt intense pressure around his neck, and then heard bones crack. His throat closed up, and he clawed at the man’s hands. His legs buckled, and the strength drained from his hands. He tried to make a sound, but nothing came out. The nice man’s face was distorted and dark. The darkness grew until that’s all he could see.
The next thing he knew, he was standing outside looking down at his own body and watching the nice man go through his pockets.
It wasn’t really his body anymore, just a shell. Like a heavy coat you wear when it’s cold.
Then he looked at the man who killed, and now ignored, him.
Why had he done that? There was no reason. He was simply an old drunk. Why murder him?
The killer looked up and down the alley before picking up the body and throwing it into the Dumpster. He tossed a bunch of empty cardboard boxes over the body and slammed the cover of it. Then he adjusted his jacket and went through the back door into the bar.
* * *
Thane was trying to ignore the free-floating anxiety he’d been feeling since Martin called. The bar seemed normal, but for some reason, the whispers were louder than usual. They were all sitting in a booth in the bar after having lunch. They’d discussed the latest developments, including what Jim had provided.
“So a pyramid, huh?” Martin said, taking the odd bit of news with surprising ease.
“Any idea where you’d hide a ten-by-ten-by-six-foot granite pyramid in this town?” Reya asked.
Martin took a drink of beer. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s in plain sight. Have you checked the landmarks? Statues? Fountains? We have a bunch of those.”
“Good idea,” Reya said.
“Too bad Jim couldn’t come up with more than that,” Martin said to Thane.
Thane nodded and stared at him. There was something different about him. He looked the same, he talked the same, he acted the same. So what was wrong? If Reya was picking it up, she wasn’t showing it. Were his legacy abilities just messing with him?
“What’s your next step with Smith?” Thane asked him.
Martin replied, “Trying to keep track of his whereabouts, who he talks to. See if I can find anything unusual. I can’t really put a tail on him since he’s the savior and all.”
Thane was struck by the way he said it. “You have to be careful around him.”
Reya added, “He is very powerful and very manipulative.”
“You sound like you speak from experience,” Martin said.
She cocked her head slightly, and Thane realized she saw something, too. Once they were outside, he’d tell her his suspicions.
Thane’s cell phone rang, and he answered it. Jim was on the other end, sounding very excited. “You gotta come to my office right now. I found it. I got a perfect fit.”
Thane glanced up at Reya and Martin, who were both watching him. “Thank you. That’s fine.”
He didn’t wait for Jim to answer. He pressed the End call button, and pocketed his phone. “Hotel. We left the TV on, and they asked if it was okay to shut it off.”
Reya eyed him curiously. She knew they hadn’t left the TV on. “Okay.”
Thane finished his beer and tossed a couple twenties on the table to cover lunch. “We need to go. You probably have to get back to work.”
Martin looked a little startled. “Right. Right. Yeah. So you’ll let me know if you find anything else?”
Thane stood up and let Reya out of the booth. “I’ll call you. Thanks for the info on Smith.”
“Anytime,” Martin said with a smile.
Thane led Reya out of the bar, and she stopped on the sidewalk in front. “What was the hotel thing about?”
He checked to see if Martin was behind them. “Jim found something.”
She frowned at him. “Why didn’t you say that in the bar?”
“Because I didn’t want to tell Martin,” he said.
“There’s something wrong with Martin, isn’t there?” she asked, watching him.
He had nothing but a gut feeling that was beginning to really roll. It was a poor basis for an allegation of his best friend and partner. He was about to tell her that, when she turned her attention to the alley next to the bar.
“Wait here,” she said suddenly and walked toward the alley. That’s when Thane saw the dead guy.
* * *
The old drunk motioned to her to follow him into the alleyway. She could see him, he knew it, and he was relieved when she noticed him. She was made of light. She was safe. She wouldn’t hurt him. There was another man with her, but he was staying back. That was good. His light wasn’t so bright.
“I’m Reya,” she said, speaking directly to him. “Are you okay?”
“Why did he do it?” he asked her, relieved that someone finally heard him. He’d been trying to talk to everyone. That’s when he realized he was really dead. “Why would he kill me? What did I do?”
She was gentle with her response. “You didn’t do anything wrong. How long have you been here?”
He didn’t know.
“Has the sun gone down yet?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No. It-it happened today. Right here.”
She nodded. “I’m sorry. Do you want to go into the light?”
“No,” he said, feeling frustrated. “I want to know why I’m dead.”
She gave him a smile. “You may not be able to find out until you leave here.”
“I know what he looks like,” he said, grasping. “He was really nice at first. Even gave me money. Then they came after him.”
The woman went very still. “Who?”
“Bats,” he said. “They attacked him and the next time, he was…different. Mean. He killed me.”
“What did your killer look like?”
The drunk thought. “Tall, middle-aged, brown hair.”
She pressed her lips together. “That covers a lot of men.”
She was right, but he couldn’t leave yet. “I want to find him. It’s important. I don’t know why.”
She said, “You can stay, but don’t wait forever.”
He would do that. He’d wait and watch. “Okay.”
* * *
“Did you see his body?” Thane asked her as they drove to Jim’s office.
“No, but it was certainly a violent exit. I’m not sure he’s fully coherent though. He seems confused,” Reya said. “He mentioned bats attacking his killer, but then the killer came back.”
“As in hellraiders?”
“Sounds like them.”
“So you think Surt is involved?”
“Yes.” Reya frowned. “I can’t figure out why he’d bother though. No offense to the deceased, but he was a panhandler. He wasn’t a Gridworker or anything.”
“Maybe he got in the way,” Thane offered.
“Perhaps,” she said, deep in thought. “He’s going to wait here in case his killer comes back. Unless he decides to go into the light. Then he’ll return to the spirit world and we won’t have a line on him anymore.”
Thane had given up on any semblance of a normal conversation. “I saw him standing there.”
Reya’s eyebrows rose. She knew it meant his legacy abilities were increasing. “Are you okay with that?”
“Do I have a choice?”
She shook her head. “No.”
As he suspected. “What happens if they find his body? Can he still stay?”
She nodded. “It’s just a shell.”
He didn’t like the way she said it. Frankly, he kind of liked his body and all the things it could do, especially with her. “So what’s the point of it? Why not just have everyone float around?”
Reya smirked at him. “Can’t experience the physical world without a body.”
He grinned. “It has its perks.”
“I particularly like the sex,” she said, and he nearly drove off the road.
“Please tell me there’s sex in other dimensions,” he asked.
“Whenever you want and with whomever you want,” she replied. “There’s no marriage, no divorce, no strings, no regrets.”
“You make it sound like one big orgy,” he said.
She shrugged. “Morality is man’s invention. Along with organized religion, laws, and pretty much every bad idea ever conceived.”
He wasn’t going to argue about religion or the morality of sex, but he definitely had an issue with laws. “We need laws.”
“No, you need a heart,” Reya replied. “If you have love, you don’t need man’s laws.”
He’d been a cop long enough to know firsthand how long humanity would survive without laws. “The only way everyone would have a heart if they became saints. And that’s never going to happen.”
She stared straight ahead, refusing to look at him. She knew.
“Will that ever happen, Reya?” he asked, point blank.
She blinked once. “Not saints exactly, but in your context, yes. Someday, believe it or not, all this will change. It’ll be good.”
He took that with mixed emotions. He’d be out of a job in exchange for world peace. He could live with that. If that actually occurred at all. Because so far, he hadn’t been impressed with the whole cosmic system.
“Will I see it happen here?”
Reya’s expression tightened as she turned to look into his eyes. The sadness was there, firmly in place. Thane held his breath, unsure of how he’d react, whichever way the answer went.
“I don’t think either of us will,” she finally said.
He hadn’t expected that. It didn’t even make sense. He was going to die someday, but she was immortal. How could she not be part of it?
“You’ll make it,” he said.
She gave him a little smile, but her eyes told a different story. She didn’t believe she would, even after everything she’d done here. All the sacrifice. If she didn’t make it, he wouldn’t have a prayer.
Thane rounded the block and saw people streaming out of the front doors of Jim’s building at a dead run, looking terrified. Alarms rang. The sky darkened. Thane heard the hellraiders even before he came to a full stop.
Jim.
Thane pulled the car over and raced for the building, with Reya right behind him. Overhead, the afternoon sky turned black, and he sucked thick air into his lungs.
They were here for Jim, he felt it. He yelled over his shoulder at Reya, “Upstairs. Jim’s office.”
“Let me clear the way,” she yelled back, passing him in the long hallway. Office workers were diving for cover, and dust swirled in mini-vortexes. The floor shook under their feet. They ran up the three flights of open stairs and out into the fourth-floor hallway.
Black creatures where flying down the corridor, knocking everything out of their way. Most of the people had already escaped. Abandoned carts and papers littered the floor. Someone tripped the fire alarm, which only added to the chaos.
Reya headed in the same direction as the creatures—toward Jim’s office—and Thane had a very bad feeling. She plowed through them with her staff, sending pieces of hellraiders into the mix. Thane swung at them, surprised to see them explode on contact with his hands. They both came to a stop just outside Jim’s door and were promptly surrounded by black wings, which Reya dispatched in a flurry.
Then they were gone, as quickly as they had appeared. Sulfur and ash hung in the air like a thick blanket. Fire alarms echoed through the hallways and offices. Sirens wailed in the distance, heading their way.
Then afternoon sun flashed once and spilled through the windows as if someone had flipped a switch. The eerie stillness was broken only by panicked workers escaping the building.
“Did they just show themselves to everyone?” he asked her.
“Yes, and I can’t help but wonder why.” Reya folded up the staff and stepped into Jim’s office. Thane entered behind her. The room was completely trashed—a tangle of overturned chairs, computers, wires, and paper.
They found Jim lying faceup on the floor behind his desk with his eyes open wide and frozen.
“Oh, shit,” Thane said.
His friend’s body was ripped to shreds. Blood spattered the walls and ceiling and pooled on the floor. Thane squatted beside him, feeling sick with guilt. This was his fault. They must have known Jim was helping them. Why the f*ck hadn’t the Universe stopped this from happening? How could they just stand by and watch?
“We don’t have a lot of time,” Reya said behind him.
He knew that. He just wanted to…what? Apologize to Jim?
“Is he still here?” he asked Reya.
“No. He’s already gone. He knew his way back. He must have been an experienced soul.”
As far as Thane was concerned, he had been good man who gave his life to help save this city. If he told Reya that, she’d say that this was part of Jim’s contract. That he had agreed to die like this before he even entered this body. But it didn’t make Thane feel any better.
The Universe may not care about pain or suffering or horrific deaths, but he did. Jim had been a person. He had a family. He had a life. His death would bring heartache and pain to the ones who did nothing worse than love him. Friends and family would grieve, even if it had been all planned out ahead of time. The suffering was here. This was not some game or some illusion. This was a real life, and it had been snuffed out way before its time.
“Thank you, Jim,” he said softly.
He was about to get up when he noticed something in Jim’s hand. He reached over and pried open bloody dead fingers to find a flash drive.