44. Stark and Ghostly
forty-four
Stark and Ghostly
Liam
Ijolt awake, overcome with the feeling of being watched—of a presence in my room.
It takes me a moment to get my bearings. The light’s still on, but there’s no one else here. The bed’s empty next to me.
Archer’s gone.
I guess I am alone after all.
That makes sense. He said he couldn’t stay. I guess he chose not to wake me. It kind of hurts, though. That he wouldn’t say goodbye.
I push myself up to sitting, then just about vomit with fear when the lights switch off, and a glow appears in the corner of the room. A tall and vaguely human-shaped glow.
That’s a ghost.
That’s definitely a ghost in my apartment, and maybe I shouldn’t be scared after the kind of week I’ve had, but I am absolutely, utterly shit-scared.
Until a bored-sounding drawl cuts into my world. “It’s just me.”
“J-just…” I sputter. “Just… Simon?”
He shimmers into existence. “The very same.”
I am so glad I have no idea where my gun is right now, or I might have aimed it at him. “What… What are you doing here?”
“Archer asked me to come and watch over you for mysterious reasons I can’t go into right now. But I’ve had a better idea. Instead, I’ve come to deliver one of those stark, ghostly warnings people are so fond of writing about in novels.”
“Oh. Like… Scrooge?”
He waves a dismissive hand in the air. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but yes, probably.”
“All right. Um. Go ahead?”
Simon stares dead at me, then drops his bomb. “Archer’s about to die. Tonight. For you.”
“What?” I’m already clambering out of bed, pulling on the first thing to hand: my filthy, oversized ExorSquad uniform. God, why can I never find a shirt when I need one? “What do you mean? How? Where can I find him?”
“Get yourself to East London Cemetery and get there fast. And don’t you dare tell him I told you.”
With that, he disappears into thin air.
“Simon?” I shout. “Simon!”
But I know he’s not coming back. And what the hell is Archer doing at a cemetery? Something dangerous? That could kill him?
The sick realisation hits me like a wave.
What would a necromancer be doing at a cemetery?
There’s only one answer.
Now I know why he stayed back in that office.
Now I know why he didn’t want to tell.
And now I’m absolutely fuming.
Fuming as I snap my overalls shut. Fuming as I find my gun that was knocked under the bed. Absolutely fuming as I call for a black cab, even if it’s more expensive than an Uber, because at least I know they’ll take the cash money Gerald’s been giving me as bonuses.
Absolutely, completely, thoroughly fuming every single step of the way.
And so deeply in love, I feel like my heart’s about to burst.