Dance with Darkness - Ghost Dance

Chapter 17

Nakoma still had me standing in exactly the same spot as where we had first been when Jin had come crashing through the ceiling.  I wasn’t sure what was wrong, but after a few moments of my pestering, she finally relinquished her control on me.

Matthieu silently watched her drift across the room, but the hunters were more focused on the hunks of dried-out clay scattered across the disaster of what used to be a living room floor.

“Matthieu?” I asked hesitantly.  His eyes flicked from the ghost to me.

“Yes?”

“So if you’ve been helping the Dracule, then, at the gala—did he know you took his phone?”

He smirked.  “I wouldn’t have dared to do something so traitorous, only that it helped solidify my trust with the Decayer.  Andrei understood, once I explained the matter.  You see, this ‘Decayer’ person  reached out to me under the assumption that I begrudge Andrei’s high position—probably because I’ve been known to not always play by the vampire code of conduct.  There were almost certainly those on his side at the gala, and by borrowing Andrei’s phone, I enforced that belief—that is, if they were quick enough to see.  If not, then it didn’t hurt anything, anyway.  Although it did unveil the daemon’s involvement in all of this.”

“But even though the Decayer trusted you, he didn’t even tell you his name?” I asked.

Matthieu’s expression turned more serious.  “No, unfortunately.  I dared not press the matter, for fear of raising suspicion.  We only communicated through an untraceable email, and I never met anyone else who worked for him.”

Kamali stood up from where he had been kneeling by the crumbled remains of the golem.  “And what about who the Decayer is after?”

“The Chinese vampire?” Matthieu said.  “Yes, we’ve figured that much out, though we’re still working out the why of it.  We were attempting to keep his identity confidential as a precaution, but I suppose we’re past that, now.  His name is Min—Grand Dracule Min.  Unfortunately, after this debacle, the Decayer will realize my façade was just that, and I will no longer have an insight on any future plans to attack the Grand Dracule.”

“So you pretended to be this Chinese vampire, at the risk of blowing your cover?” Evanna interrupted.  “That’s pretty stupid.  Why didn’t Moldovan hire a different flunky to be the bait?”  She crossed her arms and cocked her hip, narrowed eyes studying the vampire before her.

The Blueblood’s bottom lip curled in distaste at Evanna’s way of assessing the situation.  “Understandably, we have come to be cautious of whom we completely trust,” Matthieu answered.  “Besides, the Decayer was under the impression that I had tricked Andrei and the other vampire into meeting here, so that he might, as you say, kill two birds with one stone.  Once he inevitably found out that the other vampire was not, in fact, the one he was looking for—whether or not we successfully apprehended him—my ruse would be up.”

“And what of Jin?” Nakoma asked.  “Has he truly been working for Dracule Moldovan?  Can he be trusted?”

Matthieu tilted his head curiously.  “What was that you said, chéri?”  He held up his hand to show a ghost ring-less finger, and I was reminded of the undead’s ability to see—but not hear—the dead.

“She asked about Jin, and if he can be trusted,” Kamali supplied.

“Of course!” Matthieu exclaimed, turning back to Nakoma.  “He is assuredly nothing to worry about.  Though you may not have a reason to trust him, the Dracule has no qualms about the matter.  As you can see, he showed up this time.”

I didn’t completely understand what he meant by that, but something about it made Nakoma furious.

“How dare you—” she began, advancing towards him, but, only a few feet away, she suddenly disappeared.  I spent a good minute staring at the spot where she had just been.

“Ah, yes.  I’d almost forgotten about the witch’s charm,” Matthieu stated calmly, pulling out a flat pendant from beneath his shirt.  “Ghost repellant.  I suppose she got to close.”

Judging by his flippant attitude, I assumed Nakoma would be fine, and so took her momentary absence as an opportunity to ask him about her.

“What did you mean by that, when you said that to Nakoma?” I asked him, trying to put the clues together.  “Does she know Jin from somewhere—have they met before?  You said something similar at the gala too…”

Matthieu simply tutted and shook his head with a wry smile.  “If would be rude of me to gossip,” he said.  “I will only say that if you’d like, you may ask her yourself, but it is not for me to tell you.”

I opened my mouth to object, but then Kamali called the vampire over to inspect the golem’s remains.  As the two commented on the size and texture of the clay—the vampire taking precautions not to get too close—Thane and Diane helped the injured Chase out of the apartment, while Evanna began picking up the weapons the hunters had dropped in the scuffle.

A hand landed on my shoulder, and I jumped—only to find Owen standing behind me.

“You look tired,” he said, giving a quick smile.  “Come on.  We’ll drive you back to base.”

“Nakoma…?” I began.

“She’s fine.  Just got pushed a few miles away, probably.  She’ll be back eventually.”  He steered me in the direction of the van waiting outside.  “Although, you were probably were hoping she wouldn’t be.”

I began to protest, but the guilty heat I could feel creeping on my cheeks gave me away, and he just shook his head with a smile.  “Don’t worry about it,” he said.  “She can get on all our nerves, sometimes.”

The ride back to Triple H was mostly quiet, save for the occasional pained hisses from Chase every time the van went over a bump in the road and jarred his hand.  We had left Einar, Evanna, Louise, and Kamali at the apartment with Matthieu to finish the investigation of the golem, and they would return probably much later in the night.

I checked my phone, surprised that it was already so late—10:45 pm.  With nothing better to do, I decided to check my email—after all, tomorrow was a brand new day at work and I couldn’t let my indentured servitude get in the way.

Maggie’s email was the first to stand out to me—perhaps it was the desperate “SOS” or the panicked series of twelve exclamation marks in the title?—and I quickly opened it with a growing sense of dread.

Mandatory office meeting tomorrow!  One of the ladies from the upper floor is coming down to make an announcement.  Make sure you’re there!

It ended abruptly with only her auto-signature, and the words made me uneasy.  What could be so important as to involve the upper-floor offices, and at such short notice?

I thought about it all the way back to headquarters as I gazed out the dewy window to the black sky above.  Clouds had rolled in to obscure the moon and stars from view, tripling the ominous atmosphere that night naturally brought with it.  Consequently, my feeling of unease only continued to grow.

When I finally made it back to my apartment, it was a long night of tossing and turning before I finally drifted off to a fitful sleep.

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Dun dun dun!!  Any guesses as to what the announcement might be?   You'll find out in the next chapter.  And now that I've decided on the rest of the chapter breaks, there are now three chapters remaining until the second book.  As always, thanks for reading!  :)