“Bitch.” He grabbed my hair and shoved my face against the car. Pain exploded across my cheek, my vision blaring red for a moment. By the time I could feel anything other than the sting, my hands were both cuffed. The goon hauled me back, dragging me away from the taxi.
Goon Two—I’d wondered where he was—opened the door to an ancient square monstrosity of a car as I was shoved toward it. The other skimmers just stood and watched, or ran to their own cars as I was forcibly abducted. PC ducked low in my purse.
I was a foot from the car when the raver chick popped into the space in front of me, blocking the door.
“Okay, we’ve reached a consensus,” she said, hands on her hips and nails boring into the plastic of her pants.
her hips and nails boring into the plastic of her pants.
“But for the record, I’m stil opposed.” The gray man popped into the space beside me.
I looked from one col ector to the other, and the goon gave me a shove. “I said to get in the car.”
Okay, so he might not have been able to see the col ectors, but they were very real, and very physical, to me, and right now the raver was blocking my path. As if she’d just realized that, the col ector glanced back at my abductor and then ducked into the car. I fol owed because the goon gave me no choice. I expected the gray man to fol ow, but the body that slid across the seat after me was much more familiar.
Death.
“What’s going on?” I whispered as I scooted over to give him and the gray man more room.
Death didn’t answer, but reached out and touched the cheek the goon had slammed into the taxi. Muscles clenched along his jaw as he gritted his teeth. His gaze went dark and shot to where the two goons were climbing into the front seats. The gray man pressed the length of his cane against Death’s chest, not holding him back exactly, but more like giving him a reminder.
The backseat real y wasn’t meant for four people, especial y when two of them were wel -built guys. The old beater lurched into motion and I ended up squished, my hips wedged between the raver and Death, my hands stil cuffed behind my back and a dog in my lap. The raver was crammed against the far door, and the gray man ended up twisted, with one hip more on the door than the seat.
As my bare shoulder pressed against the raver’s, she jumped, her eyes flaring wide. “What the—”
“It’s Alex,” Death said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, which gave everyone a smidgen more room.
“She’s touching you and the car.”
The raver’s eyes were stil a little too wide, like she wasn’t sure if she was impressed or pissed. She trailed her wasn’t sure if she was impressed or pissed. She trailed her fingers over the molding on the door, and I wondered, not for the first time, what the col ectors actual y saw and felt in this plane. She had, after al , climbed into the car, but clearly it hadn’t been entirely real to her until now. Just as long as I don’t accidentally pull them far enough across for them to become visible. Or maybe I should. It would give the goons a good scare if three extra people appeared in their backseat.
“Freaky,” she said, dropping her hand.
“So, uh, hi, guys. You might have noticed, I’m handcuffed in the back of a car and am being taken against my wil . So is this a social visit, or are you planning to help?”
Goon Two twisted in his seat and looked back at me.
“Did you say something?”
I dropped my gaze, focusing on PC. He was trembling in the purse, clearly aware that something was very wrong but not sure what to do about it.
“What do you expect us to do? Rip out their souls?” the raver asked, and I frowned. “Even that one”—she pointed at Death—“isn’t that foolish—yet.”
“And we intend to keep it that way,” the gray man muttered from the other end of the seat.
Why do I get the feeling I’ve landed in the middle of a long-running argument? “So why are we al crammed in this backseat together?”
“Like I said, we reached a consensus.” The raver twisted so she could look at me better. “You already know too much
—”“Though he swears he didn’t tel you.” The gray man tapped the skul -topped cane on Death’s knee.
“—So we’ve decided to employ your help,” the raver said, though she didn’t look happy about it. “You can go places we can’t.”
The gray man cupped his hands over the skul . “Namely, Faerie.”
I frowned at the col ectors. “You can’t go to Faerie?”
I frowned at the col ectors. “You can’t go to Faerie?”
The raver shrugged and her dreadlocks brushed my shoulder. They were stiffer than they looked. “Our planes don’t touch. There is no death in Faerie.” She smiled like she’d made a joke.