The Downside Ghosts Series Books 1-3: Unholy Ghosts, Unholy Magic, City of Ghosts. Stacia Kane
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Название: The Downside Ghosts Series Books 1-3: Unholy Ghosts, Unholy Magic, City of Ghosts
Автор: Stacia Kane
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Ужасы и Мистика
isbn: 9780007493036
isbn:
But the thought failed to calm her. Something wasn’t right. She didn’t remember the lock giving so easily the night before, and she was just as strongly on her guard then as she was now. And that smell, wasn’t there an odd kind of smell in the air? A high, musty, sweaty kind of odor?
She’d tidied up a little before she went out. Now she was grateful she’d taken the time, because she could see the searchers had been back. The stack of books she’d placed on the arm of the couch had been turned so their spines faced the wall instead of the seat. Her papers had been shuffled. The little piece of malachite she kept on the bookshelf had fallen back to the floor. She knelt and pulled out the Blackwood box, then popped the lid.
Everything seemed to be there, though it had definitely been rooted through. Ha. It wasn’t great news, because they would know the amulet had to be on her person, but she still couldn’t help but feel some plea sure at having thwarted them again. Although she’d certainly paid for it. Even smiling made her eye and nose ache.
Everywhere she looked turned up tiny evidences of strangers’ hands, pawing through her belongings. Her skin crawled. They might as well have touched her, stroking their hard, dirty hands over her body. Her amusement at having won a small victory faded as reality set back in. Her home was all she had. The only place that was hers, even if it was rented. It was private. It was where she could be alone. And now someone had invaded that privacy, stolen it from her, as everything else had always been taken from her her whole life.
She didn’t want to look anymore. She didn’t want to do any of this anymore. She just wanted to go to bed.
Someone waited for her there.
He lay on top of the covers, his eyes wide and staring at the ceiling, his hands folded on his stomach. Chess stared, her breath stuck in her chest, her mouth desert dry, almost unable to take in the gaping wound at his throat, the tiny runes carved into the exposed skin of his scrawny chest. The symbol of the Lamaru on his forehead, lurid and bold like a rash.
Brain was dead.
“It’s tempting to view faking a haunting as an easy way to earn money. After all, the Church has promised to protect us, and to make amends when it fails. But be warned! You will be caught. Debunkers are among the most highly trained, intelligent, and skilled employees in the Church, and they are not easily fooled.”
—Families and Truth, a Church pamphlet by Elder Barrett
She flew to the door and flung it open, interrupting Terrible mid-knock. The sight of him hit her almost as hard as seeing Brain’s poor skinny body on her bed.
“Where—what?” He started into the apartment then stopped dead, his face paling. “They get you, Chess? They waiting for you?”
“What? No, no, nobody’s here, I—”
“Who then? Who hit you?”
“I—” What was she going to tell him? She’d thought of something, but it faded under the blazing fury in his eyes. “No, I fell down, that’s all.”
“It were Mr. Clean, aye? What the fuck, Doyle, you left with last night. Him.”
“No, I—How did you know?”
“Watched you. Watched, damn it, thinking you’d be safe.” He shook his head. “Knew I shouldn’t just let you go, fuck, why’d I just—” The flat of his hand slammed into the wall with enough force to make the whole thing shake, once, twice. He braced his palms on it and leaned forward, staring at the floor.
“He hurt you?”
“What?”
“Did he—did he hurt you. Dig?” He glanced at her, his face mottled with rage, his eyes black holes.
“Oh. No.”
He nodded, then nodded again as if he was trying to convince himself of something. “Right. Right.”
“I’m fine.”
Well, at least her worries about how she would face him again were gone. Tension broken. Maybe she should thank Doyle.
“Right.” He shoved one hand through his hair, resting it for a minute on the back of his neck. “Where Brain, then?”
She led the way, guilt slowing her footsteps. There was no way to look at Brain’s death as not being her fault, no way at all, even if she hadn’t been aware of it at the time. She’d let Doyle in, she’d even given him the kid’s name. She hadn’t searched hard enough for him, had forgotten about him. Yes, she had a lot of other things going on, but still … he was just a boy, and now he was dead, and she could have saved him.
Terrible stopped by the bed. “Them runes, do they trap he soul, too?”
“No. They’re just random. They’re not even from the same set. I think they’re a calling card, you know? As if I need one.”
“Damn. Poor kid.” He shook his head. “You got any ideas who done it? Who in the Church, meaning?”
“Yeah, actually. Um. I think it was Doyle.”
His nostrils flared.
“See, I was thinking about it la—this morning. Brain was here the other day, but he took off right after Doyle arrived. I didn’t think anything of it, I thought he was just nervous to have anyone here, but now … Doyle was snooping around in my apartment, too, one night when I left the room. And he was the one who first told me about the Dreamthief. He said a few of us had seen him and wanted to ask me about it. He wanted me to go to the Grand Elder with him and a couple of other people, to tell them what was going on.”
“Figure he playing you on that? Trying to sniff out your knowledge?”
“Basically.”
Terrible reached over and closed Brain’s eyes. “Poor kid,” he said again, then looked up. “Aye. So here’s the day I got. Bump waits for us out in the chiller, dig, where he got the body resting. Old-timer Earl visit the pipes on Forty-fifth round three most days, we stop there after. Then let’s us head to that Church, see who we can talk to. That fucker give you names? Other people seen the thief?”
She nodded.
“Good. We talk with them. Maybe you check with them Elders, give them the know. Cool?”
The clock next to her bed told it was just past two. “What about Brain?”
“Bump got people take care of it. Might want to buy you some new bedding, though.”
“Yeah. I already figured I would.” Tears sprung to her eyes, stinging the tender flesh, and she turned away lest he see СКАЧАТЬ