Grave Dance (Alex Craft, #2)(88)

material. “And I’d rather he stay away. There are reasons for our laws.”

Laws? “Fine, then I’l talk to you.” I pushed myself upright.

At my ful height I was tal er than she was, even with her wearing platform boots, but she didn’t look impressed. I hoped I was about to change that. “You have a rogue reaper on your hands. He’s jerking souls out of people who aren’t dying, and those same souls are showing up powering magical constructs. I want to know how to stop him.”

The haughty expression dropped off her face. Then, without a word, she vanished.

Well, that could have gone better. I looked around at the destruction that was Falin’s apartment. The couch was shredded, the TV was overturned and smashed, the iron supports in the wal s were visible behind busted drywal , and glass shards littered the carpet. Oh, yeah, and then there was the fist-sized hole into the Aetheric. So much for Falin’s security deposit.

Sirens sounded in the distance, drawing nearer. Damn. I couldn’t stay here. Once the cops got to the scene, the FIB

wouldn’t be far behind. There was no way a giant gryphon flying around downtown Nekros had gone unnoticed, but I flying around downtown Nekros had gone unnoticed, but I needed to.





Chapter 25


I managed to hail a cab as soon as I reached street level, which I took as a good sign that I was supposed to get the hel away from the scene. I wished I could have left a message for Falin, to let him know I was al right, but I had no idea who else might find it first. He would know by the disk and the hole into the Aetheric—which I was leaving around like cal ing cards these days—that a construct had attacked and that I’d dispel ed it. Hopeful y I’d be able to let him know I was okay once I got, wel , wherever I was going.

Unfortunately, you can’t just tel a cabbie to drive you somewhere safe. An actual address is a must.

I gave him an address for two streets away from my house and then spent the entire drive fretting over that decision. The FIB had been at the house earlier, so what was the chance they weren’t watching it and waiting for me to return home? Of course, only an idiot would go home, and if I worked on the assumption that they assumed I wasn’t an idiot and thus wouldn’t go home, it would actual y be one of the safest places possible.

Yeah, okay, it was crappy logic, but the letter Caleb had mentioned was there. I knew the fae had taken Caleb, but I had no idea what had happened to Hol y. Caleb’s cryptic message made it sound like the letter would give me a clue.

It took the rest of the money in my purse to pay the cabdriver, and that was with so little of a tip that he almost ran over my toes as he drove away. Night had fal en while I’d been in the car, and I was actual y thankful that my vision I’d been in the car, and I was actual y thankful that my vision was on the fritz—light didn’t matter so much when you weren’t looking at the world through physical eyes.

I walked through backyards, stepping around forgotten toys and over sprinklers. As I neared Caleb’s yard, I tried to stay out of view of the street. I didn’t know where hidden watchers might be lying in wait, but whenever I’d had to stake out a place—not often, but for one case involving a falsified wil and some misappropriated items—I’d stayed in my car, watching for movement in the house.

“Hey, Alex,” a male voice said, and I was so tense I actual y dropped flat to the ground before I realized the voice belong to Roy. “Man, I’ve been looking al over for you.”

I pushed myself out of the dirt. “That’s good, because your timing is perfect.”

“Oh, you have no idea. I saw Bel run off last night, so I went after him. Man, that glowy stuff messed with his head.”

I guessed that by “glowy stuff” Roy meant raw Aetheric energy. I nodded. “Okay, but, Roy—”

He didn’t even pause, but paced as he spoke faster, his hands doing half the talking with him. “Wel , he and a few of his fol owers got away, and they were, like, high on magic.

Casting al kinds of random shit. Until they crashed. Now they want more. Bel sent his men to find you. Said he was going to make you open a path for him.”

Great. “He’l have to get in line.”

I waited to see if Roy would continue, but he’d apparently exhausted the story.

“So, uh, why are you hanging out here in the dark?” he asked as if he’d only just noticed the location.

“Because the FIB are after me. I need you to do me a favor. Can you see if anyone is in the house?”

“No. I just came from there. It’s empty.”

Perfect.

I stayed low as I crossed the backyard. Once I reached the back porch, the wrongness in the house hit me and I the back porch, the wrongness in the house hit me and I stopped. The wards had been busted open from the outside, and they had clearly put up a good fight before they went. I let my senses stretch beyond the now defunct wards, searching for any traps or alarm spel s. There weren’t any.

At least, not any of witch creation, and that was as good as I could ensure. I eased the back door open and slipped into the kitchen.

When I looked around, my sight showed everything in ruins, but the ruins were al where their unruined counterparts usual y sat. Cracked plates were in the dish drainer, pots and pans with rusted-out bottoms hung above a stove that should have been condemned, and even the broken chairs were tucked neatly under the bowed table—