Guild Boss (Ghost Hunters #14)(44)

“It’s dead,” Lucy reported. She tucked it into her pack.

“It’s not just the local grid that has failed. The amber in our weapons and the flashlight aren’t connected to the city’s power station. Something has killed all of the amber-based energy in this part of town.”

“I’ve never heard of anything that could do that,” Lucy said.

“Neither have I. But this is Illusion Town. Some very powerful forces were unleashed here a long time ago, forces that were strong enough to rip holes in the Wall and topple the towers in the Dead City.”

“And now we’ve started opening up the Ghost City down below,” Lucy said. “Maybe we’ve disturbed those forces.”

“If so, I’m going to be very glad I didn’t invest in a lot of new furniture.”

“Is that another example of Guild boss humor?”

“Sorry.”

Screams echoed in the night.

Lucy stiffened.

Gabriel listened for a few seconds. “Relax. It’s just the people trapped on the roller coaster.”

Lucy shuddered. “They’ve got a right to scream. I’d be screaming, too. Looks like it’s going to be a long walk home, but at least we’re on the ground and can actually walk home.”

“True. I’ll secure the vehicle.”

“How? Everything in the car is amber-powered. We’re lucky the doors are mechanical.”

“Standard safety feature. Don’t worry, there are other ways to protect a vehicle like this.”

He slipped the mag-rez back into the shoulder holster, opened the door, and went around to the rear of the SUV. Lucy jumped down to the pavement, Otis tucked under one arm. She watched curiously.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“Leave a note on the car requesting people not to steal it when the power comes on,” he said.

“A nice little note requesting people not to steal it? You really think that will work?”

“It usually does.”

He rezzed his dissonance talent. Because the Dead City Wall was so close, there was plenty of energy available. A small ball of green ghost light burned in the night and quickly coalesced into a miniature fireball about six inches in diameter. He positioned it above the license plate.

Lucy whistled softly. “Okay, that will certainly send a message. Guild boss’s car. Don’t touch. No smart car thief is going to risk stealing it.”

“That’s the plan. The flaw is that not all car thieves are smart.”

People climbed out of nearby cars to see what was going on.

“It’s the new Guild Boss and his girlfriend,” a man said.

Lucy whirled to face the small crowd. She raised her voice. “The name is Lucy Bell. I’m a weather channeler currently under contract with the Guild.”

“Jones and that weather channeler were on the front page of the Curtain this morning,” a woman exclaimed. “Looks like the press is right. They’re dating.”

“No,” Lucy said. “This is a business relationship, damn it.”

Otis chose that moment to wriggle out from under Lucy’s arm and hop up onto Gabriel’s shoulder.

“He knows an audience when he sees one,” Lucy said.

Otis chortled at the crowd.

“Look, there’s the dust bunny,” a man observed. “Must be the same one that destroyed the fancy engagement party cake last night.”

“The article in the Curtain said that cake cost a couple of thousand dollars,” a woman announced.

Lucy stared at her. “A couple of thousand dollars?”

She sounded as if she had just had the breath knocked out of her lungs.

The woman who had quoted the price spoke up again. “Well, it was a Covenant Wedding engagement party, not some cheap Marriage of Convenience affair.”

Lucy looked as if she was in a trance. “A couple of thousand dollars?”

This time her voice was a thin whisper.

“Forget the cake,” Gabriel said. He took a firm grip on her arm. “Let’s get our packs. It’s been a long day, and we’ve got a hike ahead of us.”

“A couple of thousand dollars.”

Now she sounded numb.

“Don’t worry about the damn cake,” Gabriel said. “Put it down as a business expense when you submit your invoice to the Guild.”

Lucy snapped out of her trance. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“But it wasn’t really a business expense—”

“Call it collateral damage.”

“Well, if you insist.”

“I insist.”

He opened the door of the vehicle, hauled out her pack, and handed it to her. A thought occurred to him. He took out one of the amber pendants he had taken off the attackers. It glowed a deep blue.

“Check your pendant, Lucy,” he said.

She pulled it out from under her shirt. It was illuminated. “It’s still hot,” she said. “What does that tell us?”

“That it’s not standard rez amber. It isn’t affected by whatever shut down the Strip. Interesting.”

Before he could pursue the matter, the lights of the casinos and cars flared. Loud cheers went up the length of the Strip.