I open my eyes, and a woman stands behind the man holding me captive. She reaches up tenderly and touches his cheek, but he can’t feel her ghostly caress. I stare at her in fascination as she flickers unstably from a translucent-blue shade to full, vibrant color.
I catch a glimpse of her strawberry-blonde hair shining like spun gold, then she’s translucent again, wavering like heat shimmer. I blink hard, remembering that I need to ask her who killed her, but I can’t speak against his crushing grip that’s slowly cutting off my air supply.
I open my mouth to try to speak but can’t tear my eyes away from the woman’s large round eyes that carry a bone-deep sadness I can feel resonating in my very soul.
Suddenly Malachi appears like a phantom assassin, stepping right through her spiritual form without even seeing her. In one fluid, lethal motion, he draws his blade across the man’s throat.
The red-haired man immediately releases me, his hands flying up to press his neck as blood pours between his fingers. Malachi shoves him roughly to the side, and he staggers backward before collapsing to the stage floor, making wet, gurgling sounds that fade into silence.
Malachi immediately grabs my face in his hands, his eyes scanning me frantically for injuries. His gaze lingers on the bruises forming around my neck and my split lip, and I can see murderous rage flickering in hisdark eyes.
“What’s happening out there? Are you all right?” I ask, my voice coming out as a rasp from my damaged throat.
“Meadow is back. I can only assume Marco brought her, but I don’t know who her target is yet. I was worried she was going to find you before I did.” He’s still examining my body like he’s expecting to discover more wounds hidden somewhere.
“She wasn’t responsible for the smoke bombs though. That was from someone with a lot of money and access to get fear gas like that.”
“So basically almost anyone here,” I reply, but the likely culprit is any of the Volkovs.
Malachi nods. “Someone blocked all the main exits from the outside, and there are only two hallways still open, but by the looks of it, they’re being sealed off too.”
I feel that supernatural chill still spreading through my chest from my contact with Viv’s spirit, and I visibly shiver, trying to contain the lingering effects.
“If Meadow’s here, then is Marco planning to attack Irina or us? What’s Irina’s endgame? Have you seen her?” I ask frantically, my mind racing through the possibilities.
He shakes his head. “I’m not sure, but I thought tonight would be more orchestrated than this. It’s quickly becoming a complete clusterfuck, and it’s gone way beyond trying to save anyone. I want to get you out of here alive. Everyone else can kill each other as far as I’m concerned.”
I like the sound of that plan. I did think we would be able to prevent innocent people from losing their lives tonight, but after seeing this gathering up close, I don’t know if anyone here would qualify as innocent.
“I have an idea,” he says, his tactical mind already working. “I’m going to stack some of this band equipment and try tobreak through the ceiling tiles over there. We could crawl through an air shaft and get away from here unseen.”
I nod, following his gaze toward the dark backstage area where abandoned instruments and sound equipment sit scattered in the shadows.
Malachi immediately gets to work, grabbing a large amplifier and dragging it across the stage with a harsh scraping sound that makes me wince. The noise seems impossibly loud in our hidden corner, and I keep glancing toward the curtain, expecting someone to come investigate at any moment.
“Shit.” I throw my hand over my mouth to muffle the startled curse as the now-dead red-haired man’s apparition emerges through the curtain, walking directly toward me with purposeful strides.
“What is it?” Malachi asks, looking back in my direction with concern.
“Nothing, hurry please,” I urge, staring transfixed at the man’s spirit.
He can’t hurt me. You can control this, Kat.
But then his wife suddenly materializes next to him, and they both charge at me in unison, running right through my body like I’m made of air.
I swirl around to follow their movement, but they’ve already vanished.
Mish appears at my feet, yipping frantically and clawing cool, ghostly marks up my leg before darting through the curtain like she wants me to follow her. Her distress is palpable.
I take a couple hesitant steps forward, finally leaving the safety of the wall I’ve been clinging to. My heartbeat is thundering so loudly in my ears that it drowns out the distant chaos, and my veins feel like liquid nitrogen is coursing through them. I rub desperately at my chest, willing the freezing sensation to go away, but it only intensifies.
Maybe it’s Meadow causing this. Maybe she’s actively searching for me. I felt something unusual when I encountered her before, and there’s definitely something not right about her. Who knows what horrific experiments Marco subjected her to?
I reach the edge of the heavy curtain and grab the corner with trembling fingers, peeling it back just enough to peek around the edge into the main ballroom.
I freeze completely.
The entire space is filled with spirits—dozens of them, maybe more—standing throughout the frenzy in their slightly luminescent forms. Some are clearer than others, their ghostly figures weaving between the panicking crowd of living guests who can’t see them. But I can see every single one with crystal clarity, and they’re all turning to look directly at me.
