City Of Ghosts Book 2 Novels & Stories

"Fever dreams bring up old ghosts and Damien has more ghosts than most." I took Damien's hand and felt how hot it was, his whole body burning from the inside while his mind retreated into memories that were probably worse than the present. He'd told me pieces of his past but never the details, never the names of people his father had destroyed or the specific ways he'd been broken into becoming a killer. "We're going to get you through this." I whispered even though he probably couldn't hear me. "And then you're going to tell me all of it, every ghost and every scar, and we're going to carry them together."

The neutral-zone apartment smelled of damp concrete, antiseptic, and the cheap copper tang of old pipes. It was a far cry from the marble-floored corridors of the Syndicate or the oppressive luxury of the Blackridge estate. Here, in the gray belly of the city where neither North nor South dared to claim jurisdiction, Anya was just another ghost in a city of strays. She lay on a threadbare sofa, her skin pale and clammy. Every breath felt like inhaling shards of glass. The rejection of Giovanni's roar of "Get out" hadn't just bruised her heart; it had fractured the very foundation of her soul.

I scream into the air. "Jessa!" Brixtius's voice is next to me. "Who are you talking to?" "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I tell him. "Let's go!" Brixtius shouts while pulling me down the street. In the same direction as the crowd. We run for a few minutes, the ash making it hard to breathe. Such deadly snow! The next rumble, I realize it is the end. The pyroclastic cloud that kills all the citizens of Pompeii is coming.

He drove with purpose, and I, like a phantom shadow, drifted along in his wake. I followed him as he made his rounds in a department store, buying things he had never once considered buying for me. It wasn't hard to see the distinction between love and indifference. My ghostly form seemed to grow heavier with every step, weighted down by the bitterness of seeing the man I had loved so deeply pamper another woman so thoroughly.

The air shifts. Ashen just lost ground in this district. I sip my champagne and let myself smirk. They think they’re clever. They think they’re building something I can’t see. But this is still my city. My ground. My game. Every inch I lose, I’ll take back twice over. Kaia doesn’t know who she’s playing with. She thinks her little ghost, her little secrets, make her untouchable. But ghosts can be hunted. And I’ve been hunting longer than she’s been alive.

Toward the heirs and toward the bloodlines they once served. The sight sent a wave of unease through me. Thousands of silver eyes stared from below. Watching, waiting and judging. Then one by one, the spirits lowered their heads. The gesture rippled through the city. A silent bow from an entire kingdom. The mountain trembled again. A powerful shockwave surged through the cavern. Several towers cracked. The stone collapsed into darkness. The ghosts vanished instantly. Every spirit disappeared. The city returned to silence. Then a distant scream echoed from somewhere far below.

The 'Deceased' file is still open in my mind's eye. If the world thinks I am dead, I will be the most dangerous ghost this city has ever hosted. I push open the glass doors to the balcony. The night air hits me, smelling of rain and ozone. Below, Rebirth City is a grid of glowing lights, flickering as the system struggles to maintain the illusion of stability. I see a shadow standing by the railing. He looks exhausted, his shoulders slumped, his dark hair messy. He doesn't turn around, but I know he feels the shift in the air.

Asher got out of the driver’s seat and climbed beside Logan, who was dialing to their HQ. “Neil, it's Logan. We need backup in the city graveyard. The suspect is moving quickly,” Logan informed their director as Asher’s eyes followed the green dot that was moving at an inhuman speed. It stopped in the middle of the forest and stayed there. “It’s not moving anymore. Come, let’s go.”

At the name Ghost, which sounded like something out of a nightmare. "No," I said. "Tomorrow. Tonight, I need to think." --- We didn't go inside. Instead, we walked. Through the city. Past the coffee shop where I'd met Maya. Past the hotel where we'd hidden from Daniel. Past the alley where Viktor had nearly killed me. Every street held a memory. Every corner held a ghost. "Where are we going?" Lucien asked. "I don't know." "You always know." "Not tonight." I stopped at a bridge overlooking the river. The water was black. The sky was blacker. Somewhere across the water, lights flickered. Boats. Buildings. Lives being lived by people who had no idea that a war was being fought in their midst.

It sat on my vanity, the white leather glowing with a faint, ghostly luminescence. “Ting.” The sound was soft, almost mournful. Task Thirty-Two: The Mother’s Audit. The Ledger is not a list of names. It is a map of the ‘Void-Nodes’ currently growing inside the North’s children. To stop the spread, you must find the ‘First Infection.’ Follow the silver thread that leads out of your window. I looked at the book, then at my sleeping husband. If I woke him, he’d burn the book and forbid me from leaving. He’d try to fight a ghost with a sword again.