You know, caffeine can mess with your energy, Lauren said. Its best to stay away from artificial stimulants.
It was probably the funniest thing anyone had said to her in weeks. Ill keep that in mind.
Im just saying, if you want to advance in the Church you should use every advantage, and one of them is keeping your power as sharp as possible. You dont want to
Yeah, thanks. So where did they findthem?
Laurens raised eyebrows told Chess exactly what she thought of the change of subject, but she accepted it. There. Come on.
Together they crossed the street, the heels of Chesss boots as silent as she could make them on the broken slabs of cement. The road itself looked like a patchwork quilt: squares of dirt, sections filled with dirty gravel, here and there a foot or two of blacktop.
It looked empty, and every alarm bell in Chesss head started ringing faintly. Downside streets were never empty, especially not at night. Like tall grass concealing a predator, it was when they were still and silent that they were at their most dangerous. Ready to strike. She knew there had to be at least a dozen pairs of eyes on her back at that very moment, at least a dozen hands reaching into pockets and belts and hairdos in search of weapons.
Laurens car was probably loaded with wards, safe as it would be inside the Church itself, but the womens tattoos were designed to protect them from ghosts and magic, not from Downsiders out to make their illegal livings.
She hadnt worried about that stuff in a while. Usually if she was out at night she was with Terrible, and nobody dared fuck with Terrible; hell, nobody dared even look at Terrible for more than a few respectful seconds. Even if she wasnt with him physically, everybody knew who she was, or rather, they knew who she was with; everyone knew Downsides Churchwitch worked for Bump.
But Terrible hated her, and she had no idea if Bump knew what shed done. What shed been doing. Stupid was one word for people who thought they could get away with betraying Bump. The other word was dead.
She had a funny feeling both those words would end up being accurate if they didnt get out of there quickly. The whole area felt off, even with the speed turning her blood into river rapids in her veins. Speed tended to mask her reactions to ghosts, but not usually to magic in general, and this corner vibed like a just-struck bell.
You feeling anything? she asked softly as they hit the patchy grass at the edge of the lot.
Hmm. A little. Lauren didnt bother to lower her own voice; it sounded like the first bird chirping at dawn. Chess cringed, tried to glance around without being too obvious about it. Still nothing, no movement. This was not good.
Dead grass whispered warnings against their shoes as they trod across it, heading for the inside corner. Rickety buildings leaned over it, ready to topple; they formed a ramshackle archway, a frame of sorts. Chess knew without being told that this was where the bodythe body partshad been found.
Still the presence of magic set her head buzzing, a little high that she would have enjoyed if she hadnt been half-numb with fear. This wasnt her neighborhood. She didnt know it. Inside those buildings could live a few families scratching out livings working the pipe rooms or at the slaughterhouse or crematorium, or picking pockets in better parts of town. People who kept themselves to themselves.
Or they could be half-mad hallucinating Nipheads with dead nerves and deader eyes. Or worse. No way to tell until they were right on top of her, and then it would be too late.
She shook her head, watched Lauren trot into the shadows in the corner with barely a pause. Either the Black Squad were a bunch of crazy-tough motherfuckers, or Lauren Abrams was dumb as dirt. Chess knew which theory she preferred.
She shook her head, watched Lauren trot into the shadows in the corner with barely a pause. Either the Black Squad were a bunch of crazy-tough motherfuckers, or Lauren Abrams was dumb as dirt. Chess knew which theory she preferred.
It was here. Lauren made a circle with her hand, waving it over an area about a foot square. Well, that was all the space that had been needed. It hadnt been laid-out corpses in those photos. More of a pile, really.
Lauren pulled a heavy silver flashlight out of the backpack slung over her shoulder and switched it on. The patch of ground flew into colorless focus, cast spiky shadows against the crooked boards of the wall behind.
Shit. Chess had two choices. Go stick her hand in what was certain to be a raging pool of nasty energy floating above the lit-up spot, or look like a total pussy. And given those options, touching horrible death energy sounded positively appealing.
Tingles ran up her hands, slipping over the new scars on her wrists. In the stark light from the flash the patterns beneath her skin were black; they shifted and curled with the spots energy, and she felt it like fingernails tickling her.
Darkness lurked there too, a slow chuckle beneath the surface. But not like she would have expected, not at all. This didnt feel like death magic, or even really like serious black magic. It felt like the kind of curse Church students tried out on one another: forgetfulness or clumsiness spells, charms to temporarily confuse the tongue so the bespelled victim couldnt speak clearly. Spells that wore off in ten or fifteen minutes. Harmless shit.