I slid down the alley on the far side of the building, looking for anything off. I sensed something strange, and just as I turned to see what it was, a dark figure lunged at me. I ducked and jumped out of the way just in time. My eyes adjusted to see what looked like a human figure with sharp spikes on its hands, but not only was it translucent the way spirits were, it was dark like there was a shadow over it. I’d never seen a spirit that resembled that before. “Who are you?”
Instead of answering my question, the creature lunged at me again. I bent over just before it reached me and slammed its torso with my shoulder. I half expected it to glide through me as spirits did, but this shadow was different. I felt its impact as it was thrown backward, stumbling and falling. I ran over and put my foot against its chest. “What are you?”
I could see it clearly here. It was a person, but the face was fuzzy, like a grainy picture taken from just outside the camera’s range. The creature was mostly gray-scale. Its clothes were loose and haggard and just as transparent as it was, and the spikes on its hands were claws. It shrieked at me in response. That certainly wasn’t the answer I was looking for.
It threw my leg off and scrambled to its feet. I recognized the shriek. It was similar to that of a wraith, but slightly different, almost higher in pitch. I grabbed my scythe from my back and widened my stance to steady myself. The creature flinched at the weapon, screeching again when the light from the sun reflected off the blade and hit it. I smirked a bit. “If the light hurts, this is gonna feel like a bitch.”
I turned to generate momentum into the weapon and swung it at the blurry head of the creature. It jumped back, but not out of range. My blade managed to catch it across the collarbone, and it fell back against the wall, falling to its feet as it tripped over a garbage bag. I ran over and stepped on it again, pressing my blade against its neck. “Hold still.”
It squirmed its body but knew to keep still from the chest up, lest it lose its head prematurely. I invaded the creature’s thoughts and was surprised to find two minds separate from one another.
One mind was cold and blank like it had been turned off. There were memories, but they were distant. The other mind, however, was dark and chaotic. It was what had caused all of those things to happen at the store. It set off the alarm when the boy got near. Then, it punched the cashier in the gut, pushed the boy out the window, and sank its claws into him.
I felt bad for the cashier. That would be impossible to explain, and I didn’t know how to help him without explaining the existence of whatever creature lay beneath my feet.
The mind of the chaotic creature felt familiar in one way: fae magic was present. I dug deeper and found a memory of it the way it used to be. It was the child of a banshee and a wraith and had lived a perfectly content life, causing minimal disruption to the world around it. A few months ago, amidst the chaos Minerva’s minions had caused, it had been cursed by a fae and driven mad and possessed a wandering spirit, no different from Elaine.
I took a deep breath. I didn’t know what else to do to help the creature, but I could save the spirit. I lifted my scythe just enough for the creature to shriek one more time before slamming it down to sever the head from the body. I stepped back, lifting my weapon. I looked at the blade, dripping with a black liquid that looked closer to the texture of gas, sort of like dry ice. Beneath the liquid, there was a glint that hadn’t been there before. I looked closer and realized the soul was now inside my scythe. I smiled a bit, resolving to visit the Bay that evening to set it free, all the while wondering what it must be like to exist within a scythe. Meanwhile, I had other business.
I looked at the creature before me, driven wild from possession, and knelt next to it. I knew no one else would be able to see it, but for the sake of what had once existed, I felt I owed it some sort of disposal. I placed my hand over the torso and concentrated my hellfire until the body lit up, purple flames burning like a bonfire. I sat and watched it, allowing the heat to warm me from the unnatural chill. It was a few minutes later that the fire fizzled out, leaving nothing but ash in its place.
15
Syrion
I stepped away from the Seelie, letting him drop to the ground.
“I told you, I don’t know anything else,” he coughed.
“Do you believe that?” I asked Daath.
“No,” my brother growled. “It sounds like a load of bullshit to me.”
It wasn’t bullshit, unfortunately. It was the truth. Leonne had no access to the memories
