Skeleton Crew

“So what now, you’re a ghost?”

“Yeah, I guess, but I’m stuck here.” Tony floated toward me again and then stopped abruptly. “See? This is as far as I can go from where you lit me up. It’s like I’m chained to the fucking muslim.”

“Mausoleum.”

“What?”

“It’s a mausoleum, not a Muslim. So you’re trapped in the place where your body was destroyed.”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “Keshawn still over there, too. We was talking earlier, before you showed up. He can’t leave his hole.”

I had a spell that bound ghosts and I thought I might be able to reverse it to free Tony. I even had a spell that could banish a ghost to the Beyond. Problem was, I couldn’t cast either spell in this place. I could try to summon Tony into the mortal world but the odds didn’t seem good with him tied down in the Between. “Have you tried to manifest in the physical world, Tony? If you can, I might be able to cut you loose.”

“Nah, Domino, I can’t go nowhere. Like I said, I’m stuck.”

“I could shoot you. If I destroy your ghost form or what ever, maybe it would set you free.”

Tony didn’t say anything for a few moments and I got the feeling he was looking at Ned. “Maybe we could try something else.”

“I can’t really think of anything else, Tony.”

“I can wait. Maybe something will come to you.”

I nodded and was about to respond when a writhing mass of fleshy tentacles flashed down from above and coiled around the shadow. Tony screamed as the tentacles lifted him into the air. I looked up.

A severed head hovered in the air about ten feet above us. It looked male and mostly human, though the skin was a mottled gray and the features were twisted hideously. Long, black hair hung in greasy strands from the head, and the thin, glistening lips were drawn back to reveal a mouthful of pointed teeth. I realized the “tentacles” were actually flayed strands of muscle and tendon, impossibly long, extending from the severed neck. The tentacles were lifting Tony toward the toothy maw, and drool spattered down on the helpless shade.

All of this was enough to bump zombies down to Number Two on the list of things I just can’t tolerate. I brought Ned up and aimed, but just before I squeezed the trigger I saw the thing’s yellowed, bloodshot eyes snap to me. I fired, but the severed head dived with dizzying speed and the shot missed. Tony fell to the ground again and the tentacles released him. The creature turned its attention to me.

It zigged and zagged in the air as I tried to draw a bead with Ned. I fired and missed again, and then one of the tentacles flashed out and wrapped around my arm, immobilizing it. I struggled against it, but the tentacle was like a meaty vise and I couldn’t bring Ned up to take another shot. More tentacles shot out and wrapped around my legs and my waist, and the creature laughed. It sounded wet and diseased. Blood and saliva sprayed from the thing’s mouth and neck.

I reached for the fairy magic inside me, but I suddenly didn’t have the strength. I could feel my magic being drawn from me, into those tentacles, and they throbbed like bulging veins as my juice pumped into them.

The creature extended yet another tentacle, slowly this time, and it coiled around my throat, almost gently, like a lover’s caress. Tony finally picked himself up and flew at the monster, but its head snapped around, its mouth opened and Tony was swallowed up like smoke being sucked into an air cleaner. The creature made a vile gulping sound and licked its lips. Then it turned back to me. It drew close and its jaws stretched wide. Its hot breath smelled like rotten meat.

An arrow burst from the thing’s throat, just above its Adam’s apple, and blood and pus spattered my face. It was in my eyes and my mouth, and somewhere deep inside I started screaming.

I reached out with my free hand and grabbed a tentacle, pulling the creature to me. I took hold of the arrow and twisted it, grinding it against the raw edges of the angry wound, and then I head-butted the thing in the face. The creature shrieked and recoiled from me, and the tentacles withdrew.

“Big mistake, motherfucker.” I brought Ned up and fanned the hammer with my left hand. The monster jerked around in the air like a kite in a gale, but it couldn’t dodge all the ethereal lead the weapon threw its way. One shot pierced the wrinkled gray skin of its cheek and the other took it just above the eye. Black blood trickled down its face and sprayed from the exit wound in the back of its skull.

I heard a sharp snap and another arrow slammed into the side of the creature’s head. The arrow penetrated the monster’s temple and burst out the other side. It looked just like the arrow-through-the-head party gag, and I couldn’t hold back the giggle that bubbled up from the part of me that had gone a little mad.

The creature remained in the air for a few moments, bobbing like a cork in a pool. Then its eyes rolled up in its head and it collapsed in a twitching mass of tentacles. I stepped up to it, stuck the Peacemaker’s barrel in its ear and pulled the trigger a couple times. Maybe more than a couple.

I felt a hand on my wrist, pressing firmly but gently. “That’s enough, miss. It’s over.”

I looked up and saw a ghost. He was wearing a long leather coat and a wide-brimmed hat. Brown hair shot with gray spilled down from the hat to his collar. He looked to be in his fifties, and his face had a seamed and weathered appearance that suited him. He was holding an antique wooden crossbow in one hand and a large leather pack was slung over his shoulder. I nodded and reluctantly holstered Ned.

“That was a disembodied head that eats ghosts,” I said.

“The Karen tribesmen of Burma call it the kephn.”

“Around here we call it Pac-Man.”

The ghost shrugged and extended his hand. “I’m Abe,” he said. “Abe Warren.”

I shook his hand. “Thanks for your help, Abe. I’m Domino.”

Abe nodded and then squinted at me. “You’re alive.”

“Yeah, barely. Like I said, thanks.”

“What I meant was, you’re not dead. You’re not a spirit.”

“Right on.”

“So you’re a witch.”

“I prefer sorcerer. Or sorceress, if you have to be gender-specific about it.”

“A witch spirit-walking in a boneyard at night…I probably don’t want to know what you’re doing here.”

Abe didn’t seem too fond of witches but at least he was polite about it. “Well, why are you here?”

“I’m a ghost-hunter.”

“You’re a ghost yourself, Abe.”

“Well, yes, I was a ghost-hunter in life. I never saw the point in changing vocations just because I died. Matter of fact, it’s a lot easier to find the bastards this way.”

“What do you have against ghosts?”

“Oh, nothing against most of them, just the troublesome ones. The haunts, revenants and vengeful spirits—those are my prey.”

“Well, I don’t think there’s any ghosts like that here. Tony got eaten and Keshawn can’t leave his grave.”

“I’m glad to hear it. I’m on patrol, you see. It’s my job to make sure there aren’t any malevolent entities on the prowl.” He drew a gold watch from his vest pocket and snapped it open. “Since there aren’t, I should be on my way.”

“Yeah, just the head. Thanks again for that.”

“My pleasure. Well, there’s plenty more graveyards to visit before the dawn.” He smiled and tugged on the brim of his hat. “Good evening, miss.”

He turned away and I watched as he walked across the cemetery toward the edge of the mist.

“Say, Abe,” I called. He stopped and turned back to me.

“Yes, Miss Domino?”

“You got any idea why Tony and Keshawn were trapped here? It’s like their ghosts were chained to the place where their bodies were destroyed.”

Abe looked down at his feet and rubbed his chin. He looked back up at me and shook his head. “No, I’m afraid I don’t know anything about that,” he said. “But I reckon a powerful witch such as yourself will get to the bottom of it.” Then he turned and disappeared into the fog.

I didn’t want to chase him into the mist but I thought about going after him. Not because I needed the company, but because I was pretty sure the son of a bitch was lying.

“Why didn’t you tell me the Koreans were making noise about Terrence’s outfit?”

I was meeting with Adan in the second-floor office of his father’s strip club, the Men’s Room. It was early afternoon and there was a light lunchtime crowd in the club below. The girls danced onstage and gossiped in back of it. The men paid their money and pretended they weren’t lonely for a while.

“It’s a political matter, not directly related to the war effort. I figured you had more important things to worry about, and besides, Dad left this kind of thing to me. Anyway, I’m telling you now.”

“Terrence is our ally, Adan. Supporting our alliances is critical to the war effort, and you damn well know it.”

Adan’s voice softened. “I’m not trying to undercut your authority, Domino. Really, I’m not. I just think you’re being soft on Cole because you feel like you owe him something.”

“Yeah, he saved my life.”

“And we’re all grateful for that. I’m grateful.” Adan smiled and looked at me with his dark, soulful eyes. I’d gotten lost in those eyes once before. I didn’t plan on doing it again.

“So you want to show your gratitude by stabbing him in the fucking back? Remind me never to do you a favor.”

“No one has to get hurt, Domino. I’m not talking about taking him out. He’d get bumped down to lieutenant again, but in a stronger outfit. It’s still a promotion for him, from where he was before. We annex his territory and he runs it for us.”

“I’m pretty sure Terrence wouldn’t see it as a promotion. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t blame him.”

“Maybe. He’s not stupid, though, and I think he’d come around. He’d listen to you, Domino.”

“I’m not going to push him out without giving him a chance.”

Adan sighed. “What do you suggest, then? The current situation isn’t stable. If we don’t push him out, someone’s going to put him down.”

“Simeon Wale’s crew is going to cross. Terrence will give him lieutenant.”

“No one mentioned this to me.”

I shrugged. “I thought you had more important things to worry about. Anyway, I’m telling you now.”

“You’re weakening our outfit to support Terrence.”

“Letting Wale cross doesn’t make us weaker. I know I’ll sleep better at night.”

“The other outfits will know you’re supporting Terrence. It will involve us in the conflict. It could escalate.”

“I don’t see how. The move is between Terrence and Wale. I’m just stepping aside.”

Adan frowned and shook his head. “I don’t like it, Domino. I should have been consulted about this. I don’t like you dropping it on me after it’s already done.”

I smiled. “Yeah, it stings a little, doesn’t it?”

“This is different, Domino. Okay, I didn’t tell you about the Koreans. You made a move that impacts my responsibilities without discussing it with me.”

“There wasn’t anything to discuss. If we can help Terrence get right, we’re going to do it. That’s the way we treat our allies around here. Maybe it’s different where you come from.”

Adan flinched, and I had to admit it was a low blow. Adan may have been the crown prince and maybe he’d made his triumphant return, but he was still an outsider to most of the guys in the outfit. A few even suspected King Oberon of running a long con on us. They figured Adan would turn out to be some kind of Manchurian Candidate even more dangerous to our outfit than the changeling had been. Adan had inherited a certain amount of power—enough to make life difficult for me—but he was isolated. In the underworld, that’s an uncomfortable place to be.

In my experience, men weren’t usually very complicated, and Adan was no exception. In the last couple months, he’d made it pretty clear he wanted to be friends. Problem was, I needed an associate I could count on a hell of a lot more than I needed a friend, even if he was nice to look at.

“We’re on the same side,” Adan said, as if he knew what I was thinking. “I’m just trying to protect my father’s interests, the same as you. We don’t have to be rivals, Domino.”

I wasn’t sure how we could avoid being rivals if he challenged all my decisions. Maybe he thought we could avoid it if he were the one making all the decisions. If that’s what he had in mind, he was going to be really disappointed.

“There’s something else,” I said. “Terrence had to bury two of his nephews yesterday. I was at the cemetery.”

“That’s rough, but from everything you’ve said about Mobley, that’s the way the Jamaicans play the game.”

“That’s not what I’m getting at. After the service, the kids got back up and tried to eat us.” I told Adan about the zombies and about my visit to the Between.

“And you’re sure it wasn’t something Mobley did?” I shook my head. “There was no magic on the kids. I’ve been down that road before so I don’t want to make too much of it. But it wasn’t sorcery and it wasn’t glamour.”

“So what does that leave?”

“I was hoping you might have an idea.” Avalon, where Adan had grown up, was in the Beyond. He’d had more experience with this kind of thing than I had.

“It could be a plague, like in the movies.”

“Jesus, Adan, I was hoping you’d have something a little more solid than fucking Hollywood. Anyway, I got bit by one of them and I haven’t been feeling any cannibalistic urges or anything.”

“Sorry, Domino, I really don’t know. We didn’t get much in the way of zombies. I guess it could be an Unseelie thing. They were hooked up a little more closely with the realms of the mortal dead than we were.”

“The Unseelie?”

“Yeah. There are twin kingdoms in Faerie, one light and one dark. The dark one is called the Unseelie Court.”

“So the Seelie are supposed to be the good fairies? They swapped you out for a changeling, killed a lot of my guys, tried to kill me and planned to take down your father.”

Adan grinned. “Light and dark, not necessarily good and evil. The distinction is more about personality than morals. The Seelie fey are usually in a better mood.”

I didn’t know the Seelie king well, but I had to admit even when he was conspiring to kill me he’d been pretty cheerful about it. “So you think the Unseelie fey might be raising zombies?”

“I don’t really know, Domino. I was raised by the fey but I was never one of them. Everyone knew who I was, what I was and why I was there. I wasn’t trusted. If I had to guess, I’d say no. The Unseelie are still fey. If there were Unseelie glamour on the zombies you’d have seen it.”

“Should we be expecting the Unseelie to move on us, just like the Seelie did?”

“Another thing I don’t know. There wasn’t much contact between the courts, except for the occasional war. I do know King Oberon has an army of spies whose only job is to keep tabs on them. You could ask him.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll stay in touch.” I stood up and left. Adan might have called after me but I was already out the office door and heading down the stairs to the club.

I’d like to say I was thinking about Terrence, about the Jamaicans, about zombies and the possible involvement of the Unseelie Court. But I wasn’t. I was thinking about Adan. I was thinking about how badly I’d wanted him—or at least, the creature that had taken his place—just a few short months ago. At least I’d thought I wanted him. Looking back, it was hard to remember why. But then Adan would smile and those fucking dimples would soften his chiseled face, or he’d tilt his head to the side as he listened to what I was saying. Just like the changeling. I’d catch the scent of apples and cinnamon and I’d feel that familiar pull. It was just like waking from a pleasant dream and wishing for a moment you could go back to sleep.

This Adan wasn’t a changeling. He wasn’t a monster. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous.

I’d averted a war with the Seelie Court by giving them Hollywood. King Oberon had taken over a club on Sunset Boulevard that had belonged to one of the conspirators, a vampire I’d gotten to kill. It had been called the Cannibal Club under the vampire’s management, but Oberon had since changed the name to the Carnival Club. He’d done some remodeling and redecorating, too. The Mardi Gras theme was a lot less played out than the Goth thing, and I had to admit the purple, gold and green decor was a lot more festive—gaudier, too, but what do you want from fairies? All in all, Oberon could have done worse. It wasn’t like the world needed another Irish pub or anything.

I spun my parking spell and left my Lincoln out front, then went inside the club. I found Oberon behind the main bar polishing glasses with a white cloth. He was wearing a plain white T-shirt and faded jeans and looked more like the drummer in a garage band than a fairy king. The Carnival Club wouldn’t open for hours but a few sidhe were hanging around, lounging at the tables and booths or drinking at the bar. The fairy queen, Titania, was there, and she didn’t look old enough to be in the club.

“Domino, welcome,” Oberon said. “Tequila? I’ll join you.”

“Too early for me, King. How about some of that apple cider you make?”

Oberon reached below the bar and brought out a carafe of the amber liquid. The cider wasn’t too sweet, a little spicy, and I was pretty sure it had some narcotic qualities. I didn’t care—it was one of the best things I’d ever tasted and it reminded me of better times.

“With ice,” I said as he filled a glass.

“You’re a barbarian, Domino,” the king said, but he dropped a few cubes in my glass. He pushed it across the bar to me as I sat down. “What brings you in?”

“The Unseelie Court.”

Oberon frowned. “What about it?”

“I maybe got a problem with zombies. Adan thought the Unseelie fey might be involved. He said they were more closely aligned with the realms of the dead, and all that.”

“Queen Mab has, at times, made the mortal dead a part of her court. Mostly to torment them, from what I’ve seen.”

“Queen Mab? Is she your sister or something?”

“They were lovers,” said Titania.

Oberon glanced over at her. He looked worried. “That was a long time ago, my dear. We’ve been enemies far longer than we were lovers.”

“She doesn’t do zombies, though,” Titania continued. “Very few mortals can cross physically into Avalon, so you’re not likely to find any animated corpses there.”

“Many of the Unseelie sidhe can raise the dead, though,” Oberon said. “When they cross into Arcadia.”

“She hasn’t crossed, husband. None of them have. I’d know.”

“She will.”

“But not yet. And Domino doesn’t care about that. She’s asking about zombies.”

“Yeah,” I said. “One thing at a time.” Arcadia was the sidhe name for the mortal world. The idea that a grouchier sidhe nation would eventually cross over—that was a problem for another day.

“Tell me about your zombies,” Oberon said. I gave him the whole story, and I have to say, neither he nor his queen seemed all that interested.

Oberon kept polishing his glasses. “I know of the kephn. Human souls are its food of choice, but it’s been known to hunt the fey and other spirits in lean times. It feeds on juice and so it can be quite dangerous to the lesser fey. Graveyards, as you might guess, are its primary hunting ground.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s my problem. It’s dead, and any way, it seemed to have a hankering for ghosts, not zombies.”

“Yes, the kephn is incapable of manifesting in the mortal world. It would have no use for zombies so I doubt it was responsible for their creation.”

“So what’s creating them?”

“What makes you think there will be others? Perhaps it was just something that happened to those two and you’ll never know what caused it.”

“Yeah, I’m not going to waste time hoping there won’t be more. I’m not that lucky.”

“Maybe it’s a plague—a viral outbreak or something.”

“Everyone watches way too many movies.”

Oberon shrugged. “This is Hollywood.”

“So you’ve got nothing for me?”

“I’m no expert on zombies, Domino.”

I sighed. “All right, thanks anyway. How’s everything else going? You settling in okay?”

Oberon grinned. “It’s perfect. Hollywood may not be much to look at, but there’s so much juice here. We’re all quite content, I assure you.”

“That’s good.”

“Are you coming to the Bacchanal Ball?”

“What’s that?”

“I’m throwing a party. Here at the club. You should have received an invitation.”

“Sometimes I forget to check my mail. When is it?”

“Tomorrow night. You must attend, Domino. It will be a celebration quite unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.”

“What are we celebrating?”

“Him,” said Titania. “What else?”

Oberon frowned at her. “Our return to Arcadia. The ceremony with which you celebrated our arrival was simple and elegant, but a little understated. That’s not really how we roll.”

“Yeah, okay, I’ll be here. Thanks for the invite. Is it formal?”

“It’s a masquerade, of course.”

“So I need a costume?”

Oberon laughed. “You stole my shapeshifter’s glam our, Domino. I’m certain you’ll come up with something wonderful.”

“All right, but I’m bringing Honey.”

Oberon shrugged. “That’s fine. I don’t hold grudges.” That was a lie—he held them better than just about anyone. “There’s one more thing, Domino, a somewhat more serious matter.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s Terrence Cole’s outfit. We’re concerned. We feel as though we’ve left the back door open while our family sleeps.”

“I’m handling it, King.”

“I’ve no doubt you’ll do what you can, within the limitations of the political situation. I understand you’ve given him Simeon Wale’s crew.”

That didn’t take long, but then Oberon’s spies were better than most. “Wale crossed on his own. Wasn’t my idea. I can live without the bastard, though—if it helps Terrence, that’s just a happy coincidence.”

Oberon nodded and smiled. “I don’t know this man Wale as well as you do, of course, but I’m concerned that it won’t be enough. I’m concerned that I was…too diplomatic…when I agreed to surrender Cole’s territory.”

I let the feeling drain from my face and looked at him. “Your diplomacy meant we didn’t have to kill each other. That’s still what it means.”

Oberon held up his hands in mock surrender. “Easy, Domino. I’m not proposing a breach of our treaty. I’m merely pointing out that I could hold Cole’s ground better than he can, with or without Simeon Wale.”

“You couldn’t hold it without the other outfits behind you. And we’re not. Remember that. Maybe there’s something for you in Reseda if you’re feeling cramped.”

“What the fuck would I do with Reseda? Open a carwash?”

I shrugged.

“And it’s not about feeling cramped, Domino. It’s about security. You of all people should understand that.”

“Yeah, I do. I remember when another outsider tried to move in and take my ground.”

“Precisely. And the same thing can happen to Cole, only this time, the outsider may not be as understanding as I was.”

“That’s why we have a treaty, King. Something comes in, we’re united against it. That’s the way we do it. We protect each other. The strong don’t feed on the weak.”

“That’s the way you’d like to do it. That’s not the way it was done in the past. You can’t even be sure your way is going to work. You still don’t know if you can make an army out of a gang. The old way was less risky.”

“Maybe now it is but not in the long run.”

“In the long run we’re all dead.”

“That’s an odd thing for an immortal fairy king to say.”

“Okay, in the long run you’re all dead.”

I laughed and the king did, too. “That’s better,” I said. “The point is, you should appreciate that we can’t be shortsighted about this. You’re the master of the long-term plan. We’re going to need Terrence. We’re going to need all the outfits to be strong.”