But on the astral plane it was a different matter entirely.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing, waiting until the sense of peace enveloped me. Then I imagined that cord hanging above me, and reached for it. This time, pulling free seemed faster and easier.
I didn’t hang about, simply imagined the dark and grimy warehouse area where I’d first confronted the no-face stranger, and suddenly I was there.
The first person I saw wasn’t our faceless killer but my Cazador follower.
Fancy meeting you here, I said, my voice dry.
He bowed slightly, amusement creasing the corners of his brown eyes. You sound about as pleased to be here as I am.
It’s more accurate to say I’m less than pleased about my reasons for being here. A soft vibration began to stir the air, a sensation that crawled across my skin and made me shiver. I rubbed imaginary arms and added, I gather you’re still on a watching brief?
Yes. His gaze swept me critically, one warrior sizing up another. Not that I’d ever be half the warrior Aunt Riley was, let alone go up against someone like him. But your energy levels do not seem up to scratch right now, so I will step in if he threatens harm.
I frowned. Why?
Because Hunter would not be pleased if you were in any way hurt during this.
Yeah, because then I wouldn’t be able to do her dirty work. The unpleasant vibration was getting stronger, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I turned and scanned the shadowy environs, glad that at least on the fields you couldn’t actually smell anything. With the heat of the last few days, the rubbish and putrid-looking puddles would have been close to rank.
The sensations rolling across my skin seemed to reach a peak. Once again both the Dušan and the charm at my neck reacted, the latter burning so fiercely it cast the figure of the man who suddenly appeared into stark relief.
Fear stirred briefly. There was something very wrong with this man. Yet he wasn’t evil. Just wrong.
I resisted the urge to retreat and studied him as intently as he seemed to be studying me. He still had no facial features, but lank hair that seemed to merge with the shadows around us covered half his brow, and he was dressed casually in faded jeans and an Adidas sweater. For some reason, that struck me as odd. I hadn’t noticed his hair last time, let alone his clothes, and I suddenly wondered why I was doing so now.
Was it deliberate on his part? Because he certainly didn’t look comfortable in them.
You came. His voice, as before, held little in the way of emotion, and yet I had an odd sense of amusement.
For the second time that day, I said, It’s not like I had any other choice.
No, it is not. You, huntress, are the type determined to save. It is your failing.
Perhaps. The air continued to roll away from him, washing his darkness across me in fetid waves. I resisted the urge to step back, sensing I couldn’t afford to show any form of weakness to this man.
If a man he was.
Right now, I wasn’t so sure.
If I am the type to save, then what is your type? Because it wasn’t me hunting on these fields, stranger.
He tilted his head sideways, and I had the sudden impression of a cat contemplating its prey. I was not hunting when you found me. My prey had been well and truly ensnared by the time we arrived here.
Why even hunt her in the first place? She was harmless—
No one who has the darkness within them is ever harmless, he cut in forcefully. The buildings around us shimmered, as if caught in a blast of heated air. She had to die. They all have to die.
I had a vague suspicion that if he’d had features I’d be seeing the glow of madness in his eyes right now. But why? Because you say so? Or is there an actual reason behind this madness?
There are always reasons. In this case, they are good ones. But they’re not ones I wish to share just yet.
Meaning he intended to string me along just like he was the Directorate. So what has any of this got to do with me?
Ah, he said, and once again his voice was even, without inflection or emotion. It was weird—almost as if he flowed between humanity and not. The speed with which you found dear Dorothy impressed me. I thought it might be interesting if we had a little challenge.
What is the point of another challenge if you’re only going to kill your victims anyway?