Wraith(4)

I sidled up to them, hovering just out of the candle’s range. Come on, I prayed, give me something good. I rarely had an opportunity to get close to society women like this and Isabella Markbury in particular had always been good at playing her cards close to her chest.

There was something odd about her that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. She moved with a sort of lithe elegance that I supposed was the result of years of ballet and tap lessons. I’d always felt there was more to her than met the eye; maybe it was the spark of self-serving intelligence that gleamed in her eyes.

‘It’s kind of boring in here,’ Twin One said. ‘The music is weird and the dance floor is miniscule.’

Twin Two took a sip of her drink before tapping the crystal glass with one long fingernail. ‘The booze is good.’

‘At these prices it should be.’

‘You’ve not been out the door for three months, Tilly. You must have plenty of cash squirrelled away. Quit complaining.’

Tilly tossed her head. ‘You might have noticed that there’s a siege on, darling. Even Daddy can only squeeze so much out of the city folk. He was forced to close down the dog food factory in May.’

There was a snort. ‘Well, what will the serfs eat now?’

‘Don’t laugh. They were our best customers.’

Both twins screwed up their faces in identical expressions of disgust. I didn’t react to their disdain; I’d heard far worse before now. Besides, I’d eaten more than one tin of dog food myself over the last couple of years. I’d not been able to afford any since Christmas – more’s the pity.

‘Ladies,’ Isabella murmured, ‘stop bickering. You know why we’re here. This might be the answer to all our problems.’

I straightened up. This was starting to sound promising.

Tilly shot a look at her friend. ‘You mean the answer to all your problems. We all know who he’ll be interested in.’

The tiniest smile crossed Isabella’s perfect bow lips before quickly disappearing. ‘We don’t know what his tastes are. But we do know that he can get us out of this godforsaken place without making it appear as if we’re running away.’

‘Appearances are everything,’ Twin One mocked softly.

Tilly raised a single tattooed eyebrow. ‘You pawned your favourite earrings for your last round of Botox.’

‘They weren’t my favourite.’

Twin Two wrinkled her nose. ‘Maybe you shouldn’t do this, Isabella. He’s dangerous. You know what people say about him.’ She shivered. ‘He has power. Too much power.’

‘We need power, idiot. Don’t be so wet.’

Bored by the sniping, I tilted backwards and glanced around, looking for any evidence of the man they were discussing. Although there were a few well-heeled males in evidence, I didn’t think any of them were the women’s focus. None of them seemed interesting enough.

It was useful to know that the Markbury family – and no doubt many others – were staying put when they could probably find a way out if they wanted to. They obviously continued to believe the siege was going to go their way and that they would end up victorious. When the city was ‘free’ once more, they could cry from the rooftops that they’d not abandoned her during her hour of need – then they could reap the benefits of being true and loyal citizens. The Filit goblins, who remained in situ and therefore in charge by the skin of their yellow teeth, would appreciate their loyalty. Assuming the Filits were the eventual winners, of course.

By the sounds of things, inaction was beginning to grate on Isabella and her friends. I supposed that the length of the siege meant that even her wealth and luxurious lifestyle had its limits, even if it seemed unlikely that she’d ever end up starving like the rest of us.

The atmosphere changed abruptly. Isabella and her crew suddenly sat up straighter. I stepped back, my shadow form absorbed further into the gloom by the far wall. I crossed my arms and waited. Whoever this was, my interest was piqued. Every eye in the place was on the door and all the staff, even the goblins, were standing ramrod straight as if on ceremonial duty.

Two smartly dressed goblins appeared. I’d have said they were scowling if I hadn’t known that their default expressions were snarls. At six feet tall, they were standard-issue Filits; the figure striding in behind them had the authoritative bearing of someone far superior .

I squinted, trying to get a handle on who it was. There was no doubt this was the person Isabella and her friends had been waiting for; they’d all but stopped breathing and the twins were clutching each others’ hands tightly under the table. But whoever the man was, he was wearing a hooded cloak and his face remained concealed. I edged forward an inch to get a better view.

A moment later, back at home, my shell of a body jerked. Someone had rung my damn doorbell.

I couldn’t pretend to be out. I lived in the sort of neighbourhood where people knew you’d farted before you did. If I didn’t answer, it was likely whoever was on the other side of the door would assume the worst and break in to scavenge all my belongings.

Yanking my consciousness away from my shadow self to the other side of the small city, I grimaced and stood up from my slumped position on my chair. Moving around without the shadow part of myself always made feel lightheaded. Hopefully, whatever this was it wouldn’t take very long.

I stumbled to my front door and gazed blearily through the spyhole. No one was there. Frowning, and still disorientated, I undid the flimsy lock but kept the door on the chain and peered out. When I saw Becky, my pint-sized neighbour from the flat upstairs, my confusion cleared. ‘Hey,’ I said, with the best smile I could muster. ‘What’s up?’

She gazed up at me, unable to speak, while my eyes refocused. That’s when I saw that her hair was unkempt, her cheeks were tear stained and there was a trail of half-dried blood leading from her ear to her cheek. My stomach flip-flopped with fear and my chest tightened. Becky wasn’t the type to get herself into a daft fight with another kid. She didn’t cry easily either. Something was very wrong. ‘What’s happened?’

Her eyes darted from side to side as if she were afraid of being overheard. There might have been no one in the corridor behind her but I got the message loud and clear. I gently gestured her in and closed the door before trying again. ‘What’s happened, Becky? What’s wrong?’

She hiccupped, trying to catch her breath. ‘My mum,’ she said with a ragged sob. ‘They took her.’

I did my best to quash my growing alarm. ‘Who?’

‘The goblins. They kicked in our door and dragged her away. When I tried to stop them…’ Her voice trailed away. The blood smudged on her skin was answer enough. ‘I ran away and hid in the caretaker’s closet before they caught me too. Now I don’t know where to go.’

I ignored the furious roaring in my ears. ‘Why, Becky? Did they say why they were arresting your mum?’

‘She broke the law.’ She gave a helpless shrug. ‘That’s all they said. They didn’t say what law.’ She blinked at me. ‘She was screaming the whole way out. Didn’t you hear her?’

I grimaced. The stairs leading out of the building were at the other end of the corridor. It didn’t matter how loud a noise was; when my shadow consciousness was in play, only the sounds in my immediate vicinity ever registered. Every goblin in Stirling could hold a rave in this very building but unless they were within twenty feet of me I wouldn’t hear them. ‘I must have been sleeping.’ It was a pathetic excuse but with any luck Becky wouldn’t question it. I quickly moved on, changing the subject as best as I could. ‘When did all this happen?’

‘Maybe fifteen minutes ago.’ She twisted her fingers together. ‘They’re still outside. There are three goblins. I tried to go out to follow them so I knew where they were taking Mum but I didn’t know how to get past without them noticing me.’ Two large tears squeezed out and rolled down her cheeks, mingling with the blood and grime.

I nodded. Whatever sick game the goblins were playing, Becky had done the right thing. It was typical for entire families to be arrested so the more vulnerable members could be used as collateral. But Ange did all that she could to remain on the right side of Filit-imposed martial law so why they’d arrested her made no sense.

‘You have to help her, Saiya.’ Becky clutched at my sleeve and I had to resist the urge not to pull away. ‘You have to tell them they’ve made a mistake!’ Her panic was rising. ‘Tell them!’

I swallowed. That was all very well but I couldn’t just get up and wander out the door. My shadow was currently trapped in a dark corner of Kanji; while physically I could manage for a full day without it, if anyone turned on the lights and noticed it hanging there – or indeed if anyone noticed my physical form happened to be shadowless – then my number would be well and truly up. I was a wraith. I knew very well how much the world hated my kind – and usually with good reason. In the event of my unmasking it wouldn’t just be the goblins I’d have to worry about; even Becky could turn on me.