Sin & Chocolate (Demigod of San Francisco 1)

“You let me know, and I’ll make you a roast that will knock your socks off,” the guy said. “You’ll feel like a million bucks.”

I bit back a snarky comment when I noticed the teenage girl from upstairs standing near the empty front desk. Her eyes were just as large, her body just as hunched, but this time she watched me with a hungry intensity.

I turned my gaze away, but it whipped right back when she stuck out her finger and pointed behind the empty desk.

Ah. This was where the blond guy must’ve gotten off to.

I sighed before elevating my voice. “You might as well come out from behind the desk. I know you’re there.”

“How could you possibly know that?” the guy carrying Mordecai asked.

“I cheat, that’s how. Why do you think no one wanted to play hide-and-seek with me as a kid?”

The blond guy, his hair nearly dry but still sticking out all over the place, stood slowly from behind the desk. His gaze lingered on the large man for a moment, something passing between them, before he stalked forward.

“Well, aren’t we a merry bunch,” I mumbled, nearly to the door now.

“Can you hear me?” the girl asked softly.

I sighed again, fatigue dragging at me. I really wanted to ignore her. I wasn’t in the mood for a last will and testament. But she’d helped me twice, now. I owed her.

“Hold up,” I told the others.

“What is it?” Mordecai asked, but I’d already turned.

“Yeah,” I said to the girl. “Do you need to get something off your chest? Or would you like me to send you across the Line? I can’t bring your killer to justice or contact anyone, but I’ll listen for five minutes if you want.”

“I can’t go beyond the Line.” She disappeared before reappearing right beside me.

I jolted and back-pedaled, a wall of my fuck off magic dropping down between us to keep her at bay. I stopped and clutched my heart, my eyes widened. “Did you learn to teleport after death, or what, because it is surprising. That’s why people don’t like ghosts, I’ll tell you that much.”

“Apporter,” she said, and the plant by the desk disappeared, only to reappear on the other side. The guys behind me all sucked in a surprised breath.

Surprising, indeed.

In life, she’d been able to teleport not just herself, but other people and objects. That was a rare and neat kind of magic. A spirit who could move objects in the living world must have been extremely powerful when alive.

“Okay, well…” I took a deep breath, letting my heart slow down. “Don’t do that to me again, okay? Walk like normal.”

A man in a brown suit slowed his pace as he walked across the lobby. He glanced behind him, confused, wondering if I was talking to him.

“Not you,” I told him, waving my arm to get him to go by.

“They killed me,” the girl said in a small voice. “They won’t let me leave.”

“They killed you to keep you from leaving?”

The man slowed further, his eyes searching for my conversational partner. He clutched his briefcase a little tighter.

The girl shook her head. “They killed me, and now they won’t let me leave.”

A wave of goosebumps washed over me.

I stalked to the glass wall before dropping my head, letting my surroundings disappear and inducing a light trance. Almost immediately, a strange feeling of electricity shocked into my hand, a repellent force I’d never felt before. It tried to push through my body, digging into my squishy middle where I was pretty sure my soul was housed. The place Kieran could reach into and poke with his most delving stares.

I shivered, hating to admit that, even to myself.

“How in the bloody hell?” I whispered, putting my other palm to the glass. Electricity spread through my body.

Ghosts could usually go wherever they wanted, but this girl literally couldn’t leave the building.

The girl drifted toward me. “They’re punishing me for moving a trainer outside of the window.”

“Wait…they killed you for moving a trainer outside of… Oh.” It dawned on me. “What floor were you on?”

“The fourth floor.”

“Right. So…yeah, if you kill someone, the powers that be typically serve you a piping-hot death sentence. That’s kind of how things work here.”

“I couldn’t help it! They were shocking me with a cattle prod to get me to behave. I was mad. I didn’t have complete control.” She balled her fists. “It wasn’t my fault.”

Who’d treated her like that?

This girl had been quick to identify Kieran’s minions. I blinked rapidly, then glanced over at the two guards waiting with Mordecai.

No, I couldn’t believe that. Kieran was a lot of things, but he’d never been cruel. Besides, her clothing suggested she’d been haunting this area for a few years, at least, given the stale style of her sweater and jeans. Daisy couldn’t afford the current teen fashions, but that didn’t mean she stopped pining for them. I vaguely knew what kids this age wore.

“Were you being groomed to be in the Demigod’s squad?” I whispered.

The girl drifted closer. “They called it his Elite. As in, I would be an Elite. But I didn’t want to be! They took me from my house. They didn’t even ask. It wasn’t fair!”

“How long ago?”

She picked at her button, suddenly unsure.

I’d asked an unfair question. Spirits had a hard time monitoring the passing of time. Time simply failed to register.

“And you’re talking about Valens?”

“Yes.” Spite and hatred rang through that word.

A picture was starting to form. My heart sank for Kieran’s mom. “Do you know how he is keeping you in the building? I don’t recognize this magic.”

“A man with white eyes and really long white hair. It moves around like it’s alive, his hair. Sometimes a stick appears in his hand. It sounds like rattlesnake tails when he shakes it. He can’t see me, like you can, but he feels me. Then he turns toward me with those white eyes. He tries to capture me. So I teleport away.”

“He comes often?” She nodded, fear crossing her face. “How long between visits?”

“I…” She shook her head, looking helpless.

“Right, right…” I scratched my temple. “Sorry, I keep forgetting about the time thing. Okay.” I exhaled. “Have you tried to move beyond the Line?”

“Yes. I see it. It’s flashing. Like a beacon. But when I move toward it, I hit a wall. I can’t get through.”

“Let’s see about that. Any last words?”

“Make sure my parents are okay. That they know what happened.”

“O-kay…” I was sure her parents already knew. An Apporter killing a dude and getting sentenced to death would have circulated through the news—and if she’d been stolen from her bed, no doubt her parents had been looking for her. This was all assuming the magical government hadn’t followed protocol and sent them an official statement, of course. Bottom line: I wouldn’t have to do anything for this one.

“Ready?” I asked. She nodded and fell back into the light trance. A soft breeze rolled over me as the plane shifted. The Line materialized, just off to the side, always in a different place, but ever-present. Blues and purples spread out from a long black center, their colors like a nasty bruise, but the feeling of its call—soft, urgent, and comforting—tugged on my soul. Around me, real-life colors bled into ultraviolets and neon shades, throbbing within the power of the spiritual plane. I was standing in the spirit crossover point, while also standing in the lobby of the magical government building. For some reason I’d never bothered to think more thoroughly about, this didn’t confuse or bother me. It just was.

That was when I saw it. A wall cut through the gloom, made up of shifting colors of reds, pinks, and yellows, stationed directly in front of the Line.

“That’s…weird,” I said, furrowing my brow. I grabbed hold of her spirit and shoved her toward the Line, ready to let go as she neared it. Since she was willing and ready, it should grab her and reel her in. It wouldn’t take as much energy that way.

When she was almost there, my grip on her loosened, I ran smack into that unnatural, color-shifting wall, and a strong electrical current surged, flinging me back. The effect flash-burned my body and fried my insides. I gasped and clutched at my chest, staggering backward. Tremors shook my legs and arms and my teeth chattered.

The blond guy flung a strong arm around my shoulders, preventing me from falling, as Mordecai asked, “What happened?”

I shrugged the blond guy off, needing to stand on my own.

“Someone is messing with my shit, that’s what happened,” I said, facing the Line physically, even though it wasn’t a physical realm. Anger rose through me, chasing away the uncomfortable residual buzzing from shock.

What in the holy fuck? Life was hard enough, but when a spirit finally wanted to be at peace, who would purposefully prevent that? You’d have to be the biggest turd alive.

And I would not stand for it.

I shoved the girl’s flickering form to the side. She didn’t need to be a part of this. I’d help her out once I burst through that manufactured wall of bullshit. Because while it was powerful, I’d only been pushed back because I’d allowed the shock get to me. I could rip it down. I knew I could.