“It was you, wasn’t it?” he said in disgust. “You used your fucking nightmare talent on Latimer. The boss warned us. But he said you needed physical contact. How the fuck did you get close enough to—No, don’t move. You’re not going to pull that stunt twice. Where’s March?”
“Gone,” Alice said, adding an unstable edge to her voice. “That happens to me a lot. Men just up and disappear. I’m on my second marriage, but it looks like I might have a vacancy. Are either of you interested in becoming the next husband of the Deranged Bride? They say third time’s the charm.”
She giggled again.
“The boss told us you were insane,” Dempsey muttered. “No wonder March took off. He decided you weren’t worth the risk, didn’t he? Smart.”
“I think I scared him.”
“I believe it. You scare me. All right, let’s get this over with.” He angled his head at his partner. “I can’t risk a stun shot from here. At this distance it might not be effective. Get a little closer and ghost her. Just a close brush will put her on the ground.”
“Latimer tried to do that,” Hank said. “Look what happened to him.”
“You’re really afraid of the bitch, aren’t you?” Dempsey grunted. “When this is over, I’m never working with you again.”
“You’re the designated lead,” Hank said. “You take the risks. That’s how it works.”
“Fuck you. Just do your job before something else goes wrong. We need to get the sedative into her.”
A frisson of hot energy sparked across Alice’s senses. An instant later a bright, hot ball of acid-green fire exploded in front of her. It was still several feet away but it was already close enough to charge the atmosphere in the narrow confines of the alley. Adrenaline surged in her bloodstream. Her hair lifted in response. Sebastian’s fur stood on end.
“No, no, no,” she said, wagging one finger at Hank. “You’re not supposed to kill me. I’m no good to Kelbrook if I’m dead. You won’t get paid.”
“Relax, we’re not going to kill you,” Hank called from the other side of the ghost. “We’re just going to put you to sleep for a while so that we can give you a dose of the sedative.”
“I don’t want to play this game anymore,” she said, falling back into her normal voice.
“Your choice. One way or another you’re gonna get the fucking sedative.”
Sebastian rumbled. His paws tightened on her shoulder as he prepared to launch himself at the attackers.
“No, Sebastian,” she whispered. “Not yet. We just need another couple of minutes.”
Hank steered the ghost closer, but the action forced him to move toward her as well. It was obvious he was nervous. The ghost was no longer as tightly wound as it had been initially.
“Don’t you want to hear what happened to Mr. Latimer?” she asked. “He went down so easily. I didn’t even have to touch him.”
“You’re lying. The boss told us that your fucking talent only works with physical contact.”
“Do you believe everything your boss tells you?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Hank yelled. “Dempsey, get ready. I’m going to singe her good.”
There was no response.
“Dempsey, you stupid piece of ghost shit, I said get ready.”
Owen walked out of the warehouse, flamer in hand. He stepped over Dempsey’s unconscious form.
“Your partner decided he’s done with this job,” he said. “Kill the ghost or I’ll start flaming various parts of your anatomy.”
Already on edge, Hank whipped around to face the new threat. In the process he lost control of the ghost. It winked out as soon as he was no longer focusing his talent on holding the small storm of energy together. He froze when he saw Owen moving toward him with the flamer.
“Thought you took off,” he said, sounding both aggrieved and bewildered. “How did you get into the club without us seeing you?”
“Get rid of the mag-rez,” Owen said. “Slowly.”
“Yeah, sure.” Hank took the pistol out of the holster and set it on the pavement. “You going to tell me how you got inside?”
