“If I catch something because of you, Cross, you’re dead to me.”
I turn toward Dred, face blank.
“Who would want to possess you? You’re boring.”
He bares his fangs at me again.
“Just hurry up, mate.”
I step over the thick piles of black sludge dripping from the ceiling and make my way to the far back of the store. It opens to a short hallway with two doors on either side. The door on the left leads to a small office, where the poltergeist is still shuffling papers, and the door on the right leads to a narrow stairwell.
The picture from the alleyway is at an odd angle, zoomed in to accommodate the height from which it was taken, so we take the stairs, winding past four more floors before we reach the rooftop.
“What am I looking for exactly?”
I shrug.
“I don’t know. I think the picture was taken from here,” I say, moving to the northeast corner of the roof.
From this position, I can see clearly down into the alleyway, with a good vantage point of the back wall that marks its end.
I stand in place, and Dred follows.
“Here?” he asks for confirmation.
I nod, and he closes his eyes, slowly dissolving into the dark like smoke.
Sometimes I’m jealous of the creatures that wield magic. Pack magic is too internalized to be exerted. It’s meant for bonding, mating, and claiming, and it does not take kindly to being manipulated. But it sure would be useful to disappear into the dark like Dred does.
“See anything?” I ask.
There isn’t much to see on this plane.
Dred’s voice is quiet at the back of my mind.
“Don’t be a smartass, you know what I mean.”
Yeah, well, maybe you should shut up so I can focus.
I hold up my middle finger to the dead space in front of me, and contemplate cursing him aloud when my phone buzzes in my pocket. I reach for it, smiling like a fool as her name flashes on my screen.
Princess
I’m going to kill you.
Aw, baby, that’s so sweet.
Princess
What did you do?
I laugh as I read it. She must have found the other present I left her.
I don’t know what you’re talking about…
Princess
What did you do with Argent? He’s not in class…
