Afterlife (Second Eden #1) (25 page)

Amber squeezed her fist so hard her nails bit into the skin. Liam just stared at the blackjacket, his face expressionless. The two men locked gazes for a long while. Liam snorted a great laugh and bent backward, slapping his belly. “She’s no fool, you fool! She’s my pretty lady and apprentice poltergeist, and you’ve got my word as an archduke’s man that we’ve got no part in the Errand.”

Frank snorted a laugh. He squeezed Liam’s shoulder and turned to Amber, giving her a curt bow. “If Liam speaks for you, then you’re good. There isn’t no soul in Afterlife a better man than him. Good day to you both.”

The blackjacket began marching down the path but stopped and pivoted on his heel before he was out of earshot. “Let me know if you see anything suspicious about. There was an attack on Census Hall and Record Repository Number Ninety-Six today by none other than Dino Cardona. He’s got some girl with him. Be on the lookout, will you? The Iron Council wants her, and they want her bad. Haven’t seen them out in such force in the inner districts since the Revolution.”

Amber sat still as a deer in headlights. Not a single muscle twitched, despite the adrenaline burning through her blood, screaming for her feet to sprint into the park. Her gaze shifted to her friend.

“We’ll be sure to keep an eye out,” Liam said.

Amber exhaled and smiled, pinching the brim of her hat. “A very sharp one.”

“See that you do,” Frank said. He twisted around and ambled down the park path. They both watched silently until he vanished behind a grove of old oaks.
 

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Was he right? Was it you?”
 

“Would it change things if it was? I’m not a criminal, Liam. I swear I’m not.”

“I don’t think you are either. But, Amber, Dino Cardona’s a dangerous man. He’s the man that’s given the blackjackets the slip since the days of the Revolution, and they want him very badly. In Afterlife, there are two people who tend to leave dust in their trail wherever they go. One’s Bone Man, the other, Dino Cardona. I won’t press it because it’s not my business, but if you or anyone you know has the slightest dealings with him, cut them off now and thank your stars the blackjackets don’t know a thing about it.”

She wanted desperately to tell Liam all about Dino and how much she loathed the man. But part of her screamed a warning. This was only their second meeting, and he already knew enough to make the blackjackets suspicious if they decided to question him more thoroughly.
 

“Thank you for the advice. I’m a good soul, I really am. I’ve got nothing to fear or hide, but I don’t want you to get into any trouble because of me. You should go if you feel worried. Forget about me.”

Liam arched an eyebrow. “That’d be the easier thing to do, wouldn’t it? Just turn and walk away and let the Errand use you or the blackjackets take you.” His flat lips twisted up in a grin. “But I’ve never been one to take the easy way out. I think you’re a good egg, Amber, and I don’t leave a good egg in the dust.”
 

“But why? Why do any of this?”

“You’re not the only soul in Afterlife who came here lonely.” He brushed his knuckles down her cheek. “What good is eternity if we’re too afraid to live it?”

Amber laughed and slipped from his grip. “You’re smooth, you know that?”

He took her hand, and together they meandered down the winding park path. “He called me girl,” she said. “I hate that. It happens too much here.”

“It’s a stupid way of trying to make you feel small. Don’t let them get to you. Show them you’re a woman. I see it in you.”

“At least someone here does. Thank you. It means a lot.”

They paused before an angel statue with his arms spread toward the heavens. Liam leaned against its pedestal and motioned at Amber’s pocket. “How’s the floating going?”

Six coins slipped from Amber’s jacket pocket. They rose between her and Liam, forming a spinning frame between their faces. Liam laughed, and he clapped as he stepped back to fully appreciate her work. “Wonderful job, Amber. You’re a natural poltergeist! What about weight? How are you with heavier things?”

“I can lift a few pounds and not much else. I lifted the chair in my room this morning, but not for long. I know what you told me about weight not mattering, and I understand that. But it seems like the heavier things are, the more the rational part of my brain fights me, tells me that I’ll never be able to float this or lift that because it just isn’t possible.”

“Rationality is a thing for mortals. Afterlife will have you a raving lunatic tossing boulders into the sky before long, don’t you worry about that.” He glanced around them, then leaned to her. “Okay, I’m dying to know. Why’d you break into the building?”

Her coins began to falter. “So you do think I did it.”

He raised his hands and flashed a smile. “If you’re not comfortable, I won’t press you on it It’s just—well, if you want me to help keep you safe, you might want to let me know at least a little more.”

Amber dropped the coins into her palm and pocketed them. She stared at him, the truth fighting for freedom on her tongue. She swallowed it down and smiled instead. “Liam, you’re crazy. I told you I’m new to the city. How could a poltergeist who can barely spin coins in the air break into an official government building?”

“Touché.” He bit his lip, looking her up and down.

She noticed and slowed. “What? Spit it out.”

“But you are seemingly doing quite well for yourself for being a new citizen of the city. You must see how it’s suspicious.”

She inspected the sleeves of her coat and nodded. “I can see that.”
 

His smile slipped into a frown, and his shoulders drooped. “So a husband, or maybe a lover then. It’s not uncommon to take the memory of your partner with you beyond the grave. Did you find him?” Liam stiffened and slapped a fist on his chest. “I give you my word as a gentleman, I will not profane your honor! If friends are all we may be, then let us be that and that alone!”

“My husband?” Amber laughed at the thought. She clutched his fist and brought it down. “Don’t worry. I don’t have a lover or husband or anything like that. There is a man, though. I have … my memory was of my brother. If you want to know my secret, Liam, it’s that.”

“Oh thank God,” he blurted. “My day got a lot worse there for a second.”

“And now?” she asked.

“It’s so much better.”
 

“You really would’ve been okay, even if I had a husband?”

“I gave you my word. There’s nothing more sacred in this city than your reputation. Wealth comes and goes, but immortal souls have long memories. Besides, I’d hope you’d still want to be friends, even if you ended up slipping through my fingers.”

“I haven’t slipped yet,” Amber said. She winked and turned to the park.
 

His gaze followed hers. He lifted his hand and wagged his fingers. A stone floated from the grasses, swirling through the cool evening until it came to rest before them. “Take it. Float it.”

“That’s got to be twenty pounds. I’ve never lifted anything that heavy.”

“Just do it. Believe it.”

“I don’t think I’m ready.”

Liam tugged at the rock, and it rose above them, then shifted until it rested a few feet above his head. “I’m going to release my hold in ten seconds.”

“What? Don’t be stupid! That’ll give you a concussion.”

“Well then, let’s pray there’s an able-bodied poltergeist somewhere around who can keep it afloat!” He closed his eyes and straightened. “Ten seconds.”

“No. Stop. This is stupid.” Amber grabbed his hand and tried to pull him, but he stood his ground.
 

“Five.”

“Liam! I can’t!”

“Three,” he murmured.

Amber’s wild eyes shot to the stone. “Shit.”
 

“One.”

The stone dropped. Amber tensed, her will lashing out.
Float, dammit
.
That’s the only thing you know!
 

The rock stopped. It trembled, an inch above his head, wavering as she strained. Liam cracked an eye open. “Well, my noggin’s not cracked like an eggshell, is it?”

“Would you move out of the way? Please?”

Liam stepped back. Amber exhaled, and the stone clattered to the cobblestones. Liam nudged the rock with his boot, nodding approvingly at Amber as it rolled into the grass. “I knew you could do it.”

“You really could’ve been hurt!”

“But I wasn’t. And now you know you can lift twenty pounds. If I were a betting man, I’d wager you could lift far more weight than that, although you won’t see me floating an angel statue over my head to prove it—yet.”

Amber smirked, gawking at her hands. “I freaking did it.”

She willed the stone to her, not by pulling it, but by simply understanding that she was the single law this stone obeyed. Nothing else in the universe mattered. Nothing else affected it. Her law was its law, and she was undeniable.

The clock rang its thunderous chime, and Liam sighed at the sound. He swallowed, stepping closer. “This is the best and worst part of my day, you know.”

“Why do you have to go?” The rock dropped to the ground and rolled into the grass. “Just stay a little longer tonight.”

“Would that I could, but duty calls.” He rocked on his heels and opened his mouth as if to say more, but no words came.
 

Amber clenched her teeth and stepped closer. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I … Dammit, why the hell not?”

Liam lurched forward, threading his arm around her waist and pulling her to his chest. He lifted her hat, slipping the veil from her face. His warm, soft lips pressed against hers, the heat of his breath washing from his nose down her cheeks.
 

Amber melted in their embrace. There was such warmth in his kiss, such strong passion. She clasped his jaw and closed her eyes, and the world drifted away.
 

They embraced in the dying light until the last chime sounded across Angel Park. Liam pulled her back then, stroking her ear with his knuckles. “I hope I didn’t overstep.”

“Not at all.” She pecked his cheek and grinned.
 

Liam placed the hat back over her and lowered the veil around her face. He bowed low and backed down the path. “Two days. Meet me at the fountain?”

“At the fountain.”

“Have a good evening, Amber. I’ll be thinking of you until then. Every hour. Every minute. Every second. You give me hope for a better Afterlife.”

She watched as he wove through the trees until he vanished behind a hill. Amber touched her lips and grinned, lingering in the deepening shadows.

The first bright stars began twinkling in the early evening sky. She lifted her gaze to them and spun around, dancing toward La Couronne and popping stones into the air along the way.

Dino stood on the rooftop’s ledge, toes hanging over the fatal drop. Below, the steady thrum of Afterlife ebbed and flowed with souls milling through its streets. A train blew its horn as it chugged by, winding its way on the elevated tracks that spread throughout the city. Paperboys squatted on corners, calling out headlines while street performers sung and danced with makeshift instruments. Laborers trudged down the lane, hammers resting on their shoulders, their thick overalls covered in soot and sweaty dust.

He smiled and closed his eyes, letting the sounds sink into him on the cool wind. It was in these moments that his life in the Fool’s Errand faded into oblivion, no one knew or cared about the archduke, and Zoe wasn’t dust in the wind.

His fingers found the simple gold ring hanging around his neck. So many days came and went since that night, since that awful, violent night. He still remembered the gaming house, the pungent cigar smoke that sunk into every fiber of his clothes and strand of hair, the bite of whiskey rolling down his throat, the door swinging open as he stumbled into the starry night and inhaled the fresh air, and Zoe, eyes wide and wet with tears, her scream bringing his joy crashing down.
 

She ran for him, she reached for him. A pale mask shaped like a skull melted from the shadows behind her, and steel glinted in the misty night.

“I thought I’d find you up here,” Faye said.

Dino started at the sound of her voice. His eyes opened, and his hand dropped from the ring. “Faye. I assume you read my report on the Census Hall mission.”

“Your
mission
was to learn about the curse on her and make her my loyal soldier, not to gift wrap the girl for the archduke. Who in the hell waltzes in to a Census Hall and Record Repository and asks the Census Master of all people for information?”

“Abel and I go back years before the Revolution. I knew I could get us in and out before the archduke’s blackjackets got us, and I did, didn’t I? Everything was under control.”

“No, you lucked out. You might be the strongest phantom in Afterlife, Dino, but you’re not a god. What if there was a spirit there to trick you? Maybe another phantom to chase you down? It was an unnecessary risk, and I don’t like those. The Iron Council’s putting their heel down on the inner districts. As many as three thousand souls have been dusted. Today. Anyone who looks crossways at a blackjacket is liable to get dusted by one. We survived so long because we could blend. We’re losing that advantage, and we’re losing it fast.”

“Well, you have half a key and so do I. We could raid the Black Palace tonight and end it.”

Faye laughed and licked her plump lips. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? No, the archduke’s doubled his patrols and tripled the scouts posted around its perimeter. He had to take forces from the expansion to do it, but his paranoia’s working to his advantage now. He’d rather there be riots in the outer slums than assassins in the palace’s shadows.”

“Then what do we do, Faye?” he asked.

“We have a weapon, and we need to know how to pull her trigger. Tell me you’ve made some progress on her.”

“She’s getting closer. I think … I think she used the spirit curse on the Census Master. Went into his mind and yanked the memories right out of his head. She fought his poltergeist curse too. If you ask me, coming here has only made her more powerful.”