Chapter 43
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
GHOST
I stand in the back alley with Kain and Maverick, breathing in the rot and sewage lining the streets around us. It’s such a stark contrast from the pale yellow-hued building towering above, bathing the back alley in shadows. From my crouched position, I reach up and run my fingertip along the veins of gold ore running throughout the stone, my chest gripping as I do so. I used to think this place was a heaven—back when I was too young to know better. Now, I wonder how something so vile could be wrapped in such a pretty package. It goes against every law of nature, everything I was taught to believe. It fuels the hate blazing through my veins, letting me know that I’m doing the right thing .
And still, there’s that thing in my chest. Warning me. Telling me to go back—that it’s my last chance.
“Are you ready?” Kain asks. I jerk my gaze toward his half-masked face, twirling my dagger nimbly between my gloved fingers as I take in the tension etched across his brow.
“Does a bear shit in the woods?”
Kain rolls his eyes as he reaches a hand to his waist, drawing his weapon. “How many by the door?”
“Two Reapers and a Disposer,” I murmur, inching my head around the dumpster we’re currently crouched behind. “Make that three Reapers—but the last one is shit-faced, it seems.”
“That fancy little mask tell you that?” Kain askes, his eye squinting dubiously.
“He’s stumbling around like a drunken ox. It doesn’t take a genius to see that he’s shit-faced.”
“ Ladies, ” Maverick grumbles, closing his hand in a “shush” motion. This earns him a murderous glare from Kain—which he ignores. “Can we please stop the bickering? I’d like to at least make it a foot inside the building before we’re discovered.”
“Tell that to him .” I jerk my head at Kain. “He’s deliberately questioned me at every tur?—”
“ Quiet!” Maverick whispers, ducking behind the cover of the dumpster as one of the sober Reapers jerks his head toward us. “We’ve been fucking spotted.”
“Of course we have,” I groan. “I hope you realize this is your fault, Mr. Hellfyre,” I scoff, reaching for my gun at the same time Kain presses the tip of his to my forehead.
“You wanna try that again?” Kain snarls, his one eye darkening murderously.
“Oh my God,” I groan, rolling my eyes to the star-less sky. “If I knew you were going to be such a pissant, I would have done this by myself.”
“What the?—”
The three of us whip our heads at the unfamiliar voice, coming face-to-face with one of the white-masked Reapers.
“Who the fuck are you guy?—”
There’s a loud bang, and a perfect black circle appears in the center of the mask, right where his forehead would be. The Reaper teeters on his feet, and a moment later, his body collapses to the pavement, limbs splayed like a broken rag doll.
“Fuck!” Kain snaps, turning his glare onto me once more. “That one was mine.”
“My bullet lodged in his gray matter says otherwise,” I taunt, waving the hot-tipped pistol in the air to prove his point. “Not my fault you’re a slow shot.”
“Would you two shut the fuck up?” Maverick groans, holding his head in his palms as I lean past the edge of the dumpster to line up my shot. The other three Masks haven’t so much as looked this way, leading me to believe all of them are inebriated. It would make sense, considering the first Reaper’s reaction to discovering a couple of strange men holed out near the Sanctum’s secret entrance.
Holding my breath, I steady my hand, clearing my mind of any thoughts and forcing my pulse to steady. One one thousand…. Two one thousand…. Three one thousand.
Bang! BangBang!
The last three men slump to the ground in a heap, several cracks ringing out as their metallic masks smack against the asphalt.
A satisfied smile makes its way over my face as I turn back to Kain and Maverick, currently shaking their heads in disbelief. “What? Someone had to do something.”
Kain just rolls his eye while Maverick laughs, holding a hand to his thin, suit-laden chest. “And here I was, thinking we were trying to be quiet.”
“A little too late for that,” I grumble, my smile falling as I jerk my head toward the first fallen Reaper. “Plus, it’s fucking Moriton. You really think a few shots are going to cause alarm?”
Kain grumbles under his breath as he stands, following close behind me and Maverick as we race toward the entrance.
Kain and Maverick wait a few paces away while I break open the door, their heads moving on a swivel as they watch the alley, listening for the sound of booted footsteps coming to kill us all.
“Got it,” I announce, waving a hand at them to follow me down the tunnel-like hallway. My boots are silent against the plush gold carpet as I glide down the main stretch, my chest tightening as the golden walls appear to close in on me from all angles, threatening to bury me alive in their luxurious, molten hue. Warm light emanates from embossed sconces lining the walls, leading our way like a trail of expensive breadcrumbs. When I think about where the trail ends, my chest constricts further, squeezing all the air from my lungs.
At the very end of the hallway is an old wooden door, the handle made of tarnished brass—and, therefore, the only thing in this place not glimmering in shades of gold.
The service shaft .
I discovered it years ago when I was just a young Phantom. This shaft is basically a master key to every floor in the building, used by the maids, cooks, and Masks that tend to the Sanctum’s every need. When I first found it, I couldn’t believe they just left it unguarded. Of course, when you think the only threat comes from the outside, I guess you spend less time trying to protect the inner workings of your home.
With one last look down the way we came from, Maverick and Kain follow me into the damp service shaft. It reeks of mildew and rot, but the iron staircase is still sturdy, and I waste no time hurtling up flight after flight. After about a dozen floors, we step out onto a landing with a sleek wrought iron, and I hold a hand up to signal them to stop. Stepping up to the door, I pull a silver beetle-shaped device from my pocket and place it where the handle would be. The device glows molten red, emitting a high-pitched whirring noise. A few moments later, the beetle cools to a dark silver, and I push against the door, smiling when it swings open easily.
“The fuck was that?” Kain asks, his eye wide in amazement as he palms the silver beetle.
“Boring Beetle,” Maverick explains, pushing through the door after me. “The tech is pretty out of date, though. We’re lucky they haven’t bothered to update their security on the maintenance entrances.”
“Yeah, lucky,” I murmur, peeking around the door into yet another long hallway—this one pitch black, the gold on the walls barely visible due to the lack of lighting. “You think they know we’re here yet?”
“Hope so. I haven’t gotten to shoot a single one of these fuckers,” Kain grumbles a second before letting out a small curse as he stubs his toe on the wall. “Why the fuck is it so dark?”
“So we don’t get distracted by your pretty face, Reinholdy,” I coo. Kain swings at me and hits Maverick in the shoulder accidentally, and a low chuckle bounces around my chest as Maverick spews a curse.
“Would you two children pull yourselves together?” Maverick says, his tone one of exhaustion. “This is hardly the time to?—”
WAH… WAH… WAH…
The three of us exchange glances as the floodlights flip on, accompanied by the ear-piercing shriek of the alarm.
“Well, at least it isn’t dark anymore.” I shrug, earning me a murderous scowl from Kain as he draws his weapon. “What? You know I’m right.”
“Petulant imbeciles, ” Maverick groans, pulling a sighted sidearm from his waist. “Focus! Or we’ll?—”
Bang!
Maverick dives to the side, and a bullet lodges into the wall where his forehead just was. He snaps his head up, his body already moving in a full-on sprint toward the stairs leading to the upper levels.
Bang! Bangbang!
“Kain!” I yell, chasing Maverick as he begins returning fire. “Come on!”
He rolls his eye, firing off two more shots before lumbering after Maverick and me. At the end of the hallway is another staircase laden with gold leaf and practically glowing.
“Where are we going?” Kain huffs, taking the stairs three at a time to catch up to us.
“Hopefully, the Madam’s floor,” Maverick answers, shooting a look behind us to make sure the Reapers aren’t too close. “By the disgusting amount of gold on this stairwell, we’re on the right track.”
Gunshots fill the air as we climb, mingling with the pounding of boots in a terrifying, cacophonous symphony. My mind is numb, reminding me of the days before Brett. The days when the only thing that mattered was my duty, where there wasn’t a single thing in the world I desired. The numbness fills my head with static, blocking out the sound of the bullets whizzing past me.
Would she forgive me? If she knew the only reason I’m doing this anymore is for her?
I don’t think about that. I can’t think about that. Especially when we near the landing and a stray bullet pierces Maverick’s calf. In slow motion, he pitches to the side, and I hold my arms up, steadying his body so he doesn’t fall to his death.
“Come on, Maverick,” I snap, shoving him forward onto the landing with a grunt. He crawls the last few steps, a trail of red staining the floor as he drags his leg behind him.
“Fuck,” he groans, holding himself up at a strange angle. With a shaking hand, he reaches into his suit pocket and pulls out a syringe, the cylindrical cavity swirling with and opaque silver liquid. With a grunt, he rips the cap off with his teeth and plunges the needle into the wound, a hiss of pain falling from his lips as the medicine enters his body. The flesh around the wound bubbles and ripples, rejecting the strange substance. But then—miraculously—the edges of his skin meld together like someone raised a zipper on the wound, quelling the flow of blood instantly. Maverick sighs as he inspects his handiwork, then rests his head on the floor while Kain thunders to the top of the landing.
“You good?” he asks Maverick, holding out a hand for him to stand. Maverick nods, but still takes the offering, wobbling slightly when he’s back on his feet. “Shit, I could have used some of that stuff a couple of months ago.”
Maverick coughs, pushing off Kain as soon as he’s able. “It’s only temporary and just for small—small wounds,” he says, his voice breaking in the middle as he fights for breath. “I forgot how much this hurts. I envy you, Ghost.”
“You shouldn’t,” I answer simply.
Boots thunder against the stairwell, shaking the foundation as the Reapers race to get to us. Taking my attention away from Maverick’s injury, I place another Boring Beetle on the golden door, the seconds passing painfully slow as it glows and whirs through the sounds of gunfire filling the room.
“How long is that thing gonna take?” Kain demands, firing off the last of his rounds. He curses, falling into a crouch just as the beetle clicks. I yank the door open, allowing Kain and Maverick to mass through first.
I close the door behind us— if only to offer protection from stray bullets—and race down the hall after Kain and Maverick. To his credit, the former Phantom is keeping up well despite his injury. And when a red masked Disposer steps around the corner, he’s even able to deliver a killing blow quick enough to avoid alerting any other masks in the area.
However, when we take a stairwell to a higher level, three Reapers step around the corner to block the next stairwell, and I know the entire building is about to be alerted to our presence.
“What the…?” The mask in the middle reaches for the gun at his waist a moment too late, and Maverick's bullet sails through his forehead. Two more shots ring out, and the masks at his side slump on top of his body, utterly dead.
I give Maverick an appreciative nod and follow him up three more levels, where we’re met with another couple of Disposers. However, these guys were looking for us, so we don’t have the element of surprise. While Kain fights the one on the right, Maverick goes to the left, leaving me with the two in the center.
The dark-haired one charges at my middle, and I twist out of his reach just in time to downswing my dagger into the center of his back. As he howls in agony, I turn my attention to the other, barely having enough reaction time to duck before his blade pieces my jugular. I sweep my leg under his feet, and the giant man falls to the floor like a felled tree. I use my momentum to roll to the side, grabbing the knife from the first’s back and leaping to my feet.
I flick my knife between the first guy’s eyebrows, a demented smile lighting my face as it hits home with a sickening schunk, then leap forward, pulling my gun from my waist midair and firing off two rounds into the second Mask’s chest. His body jerks as each bullet hits home, and when I land, I add one for between his brows for good measure.
When I realize Kain and Maverick have handled their opponents as well, I retrieve my dagger from the first Mask’s forehead and hurry after them down the hall, my movement slowing for some strange reason.
I shake my head, forcing my legs to move faster despite the fuzziness growing in my mind. I only stop when Kain yells out, looking down in horror at the large trail of red I’ve left behind me.
“Shit,” I murmur, looking down at my pant leg saturated with my blood and dripping rubies onto the carpet. “Fuck, he must have clipped an artery. ”
Maverick rushes over, pulling another silver syringe from his pocket. “Here. It’ll only hold for an hour or so, but you’ll bleed out in a fucking minute otherwise.”
I raise my brows, but still take the thing and jam it into the large gash situated on my inner thigh. “Don’t suppose you have any more of these?”
Maverick shakes his head. “Just the two.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to do this quickly.” I sigh, waiting until the room stops spinning to continue down the hall. We move as fast as we can through the rest of the levels, taking out Reapers and Disposers whenever we come into contact with them.
but it doesn’t stop us from charging through the last door. Unlike the last corridors, this one is bathed in rich, red stone—the gold sconces illuminating a series of pictures situated every couple of feet along the length of the passage, though I’m in too much of a rush to see what they depict.
The three of us come to a halt before a plain red wall, and Kain lets out a curse as I inspect the seamless slab of stone. “Don’t suppose there's any chance that little beetle thing can bore through stone, is there?”
I sigh, shaking my head. “Maverick? ”
Maverick puts his hand on my shoulder, pushing me to the side as he steps up to the wall. Like he’s done it a thousand times before, he raises his wrist to an inconspicuous spot on the stone, pressing the flesh flush against it. A moment later, a section of the wall slides back and to the side, giving way to a small golden tunnel.
“Ghost didn’t just need me for backup, you know,” Maverick murmurs, patting Kain on the shoulder before stepping forward into the confined space. “You coming?”
Kain murmurs something unintelligible under his breath as he follows, and I have to stifle a laugh despite the gravity of the situation. Find the silver lining , I say. Or in this case—gold.
We wind through a series of small tunnels, each stretch veering off to the left or right every couple of yards, disorienting me and bathing me in claustrophobia as we navigate through the maze. We take the next left, and a spot of light appears at the end of the tunnel, brightening my chest with something like hope. We’re almost there. We almost made it ? —
WAH… WAH… WAH… INTRUDERS… INITIATE EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN SEQUENCE… WAH…WAH…
“Come on!” Maverick yells, charging ahead toward that little light. Shadows appear in the center a moment after he says it, their Reaper-shaped frames blocking out most of the light. Maverick raises his weapon, firing off two rounds into the head Reaper’s chest. He collapses, his massive shoulders creating a kind of roadblock for all the other Masks trailing. Maverick fires off three more rounds as the Reapers try to clamor over their fallen brother, ultimately collapsing on top of him and making the problem worse.
Maverick stops a few yards away, leaving enough room for Kain and me to squeeze past him as he lines up his shot. Two more rounds whiz past my head, landing square in the chest of the unfortunate Reaper, who happened to clamber over the pile. He falls to the ground a few feet away from the others, one hand clutching his chest as the blood bubbles past his fingers.
Kain leaps over the fallen Mask like he’s a damn track star, barrelling headfirst into the next wave of Reapers appearing to block our escape. With a mighty roar, he raises his dagger and begins slashing wildly, incapacitating the Masks just long enough for me to jump in and finish them off.
I’m in the middle of dragging my dagger across the third Reaper's throat when screeching metal fills the hall, and I jerk my head up in alarm. At the end of the tunnel, I can make out the Madam's elaborate golden door—but more importantly, I can see the thick metal slab sliding into place.
“Ghost, you need to go!” Kain yells, twisting his hands and snapping the neck of the Mask between his palms. Sensing my hesitation, he rolls his eye and physically pushes me toward the exit. “We got it from here! Go! Now!”
I make the mistake of looking back toward Maverick only to see a swarm of white-masked Reapers emerging from the shadows of the tunnels we just came through. My feet are frozen as two masks descend on Maverick, who, out of bullets, tries to smash the butt of the handle against the first Reaper's skull. He dodges the blow easily and bends low, sweeping a leg under Maverick’s feet and sending him crashing to the ground.
“Maverick!” I yell, about to rush as help when Kain swings an arm out, holding me in place.
“I’ll help him,” he grumbles, jerking a thumb in the direction of the disappearing golden door. “You need to fucking go! Like yesterday.”
A third Reaper rushes past Maverick, his dagger poised to strike. With a murderous growl, Kain rushes forward, easily overpowering the Mask and quickly maneuvering him into a headlock. Over his shoulder, three more Reapers descend onto Maverick, their own weapons drawn and ready to end his life.
“Go now, Boy!” Maverick yells, sensing my gaze—the fact that I can’t fucking leave him there to die like that. I look helplessly from the door to Maverick to Kain, who is too busy fending off his own opponent to help Maverick in time. I have to make a choice, and I have to make it now. Kill the Madam or save Maverick.
“Go, Boy!” he yells, slamming his elbow back into one of the Masks as the other stabs his dagger into Maverick’s shoulder. “That’s a fucking order!”
I almost disobey. But then, I see the third mask slam his dagger through Maverick’s stomach, and I know my choice has been made. Maverick will die, and I will be left to avenge him. I take a moment to breathe, steeling myself for what’s to come. Madam is a skilled fighter, and with her tigers and Table members, there is almost no way I’m going to make it out alive—even without my current injury. But then I think of Brett, of the world I’ll be leaving behind if I’m not successful. And I step into the mouth of the beast.
“I’m sorry, Maverick,” I murmur, turning on my heel and racing toward the closing sleet wall as his pained grunts ring out behind me. I make it to the door just in time, barely having enough time to slide through before the steel wall slices me in half.
“ Hello ,” I greet, reveling in the shocked expressions hiding behind the Table member’s gold masks. Then I turn my gaze to the Madam, and the shock of fear in her cold green eyes confirms my every wish: she’s fucking terrified of me. Of the thing she created.
“Tell me…” I croon, taking a daring step toward her. “Have you ever wondered what it’s like to die?”