Sky Ghosts: All for One (Young Adult Urban Fantasy Adventure) (Sky Ghosts Series Book 1) Read online

  Jane came to sit next to her sister.

  “Peter found out about those two Beasts from last week,” Pain said with a crooked smile. “They were Chuck’s, as it turned out. It’s a pity he wasn’t with them. Peter said, Eugene ordered Chuck to scrag me if I show up.” Her smile stretched out into a satisfied grin.

  “And why am I not surprised that you’re excited about this…?” Jane muttered.

  “Peter says, one more incident like this one, and Eugene will set a price upon my head.” Her grin became exultant. Jane had heard that to ignore someone’s bad behavior was the best way to get rid of it. “How much do you think it’ll be?” Pain shouldered her lightly, watching the expression on her face with enthusiasm.

  “I think it’ll just be your katana,” Jane answered, grimacing, “an honorable enough trophy already.”

  Her sister laughed, relaxed and carefree. Jane wasn’t bothered by this, really. She knew what was behind this behavior: years of experience and infinite hours of practice. Pain was a walking nightmare for their enemies, and not without a reason. The more their ranks grew, the more the sisters exterminated in the streets; the more heated the battle was, the more excited her sister got, and just her attitude alone scared them off sometimes. Not that it would help any of their opponents: hunting them down had always been her favorite part.

  Jane sighed, standing up and jamming her hands in the pockets of her pants.

  “Now that we got a shift, we better get to our sector in time,” with these words, she turned and headed to another door that led to the ground floor. Pain got to her feet and hurried after her, adjusting the sword in her back sheath on the run. Together they reached the red-painted metal door and disappeared inside the building.

  By the time they got to their sector and began their walk across the rooftops, the city had already fallen into darkness. They, as usual, made most of the way underground, and when it got dark enough, through the air. And now, almost invisible in their black gear against the background of the sky, they were walking idly over the roofs, watching the streets and alleys from above, looking for anything suspicious.

  The small wind was warm and nice. It freshened up the mind and took away sleepiness. There were no stars visible in the city, but the full moon stood out brightly against the dark, stripped of the clouds sky, lightening plane silhouettes of the roofs ahead of them.

  “Let’s get to the street’s end and go to that skyscraper?” Jane suggested, pointing with her chin at the tallest building in the area.

  Pain squinted at the skyscraper, two big moons reflecting in her dark eyes.

  “Okay,” she replied tonelessly after a moment.

  They leaped onto the next roof, which was only a few yards away from the previous one and created a narrow alley between the walls. A group of people was standing there at the moment, but nobody noticed the girls.

  “Patrick told me that yesterday they found two bodies in this sector.”

  “Civilians?”

  “Yeah,” Pain answered. “Beasts did it. They were mutilated, their purses and cell phones gone.”

  Jane only shook her head. They had just reached another alley and prepared to jump, when a shout sounded from behind. The sisters looked at each other, raising their eyebrows identically, as if one of them was just a reflection of the other, and froze for a second on the roof edge. Then they raised their face masks, turned in the same synchronized manner, and ran back soundlessly.

  The building was four stories high, and when they got to the edge, they lay on the dusty surface of the roof and cautiously looked down. There was a streetlight near the far corner of the building, and its light illuminated the alley, dumpsters, blocking it, and a group of men. They were arguing heavily. Two of them, dressed casually in jeans, were backing away from the other five that were dressed mostly in leather. They were stalking after them, pressing them against the dumpsters.

  “I’ve no idea of what you guys want, but I’m sure we can solve any problem in peace,” one of the retreating men said, throwing up his hands to ward them off.

  “Do you know any of these clowns?” Jane whispered to her sister, meaning the men in black.

  “No, but that guy in the jacket and jeans,” Pain said, pointing with her chin at the talking one, “I know. This is Mister Curiosity,” she added with a crooked smile.

  “Mister who?” Jane asked incredulously.

  “I told you about him! Last week, two Beasts, a witness? It was this guy.”

  “O-o-oh, I remember now. But what has he got to do with Eugene’s men?” Jane asked with a frown.

  Pain just shrugged, and they continued watching the scene below. It seemed now the men in black were arguing among each other.

  “Eugene has ordered to finish him, why would I take him to the office??” the tallest of them boomed, pulling out a short broadsword from his sheath and gesturing with it energetically. The fighter was twice as big as his opponent, and patches of light reflected off his bald head.

  “And I got an order to deliver him there alive! If we kill him for nothing, Eugene himself will finish us like dogs!” the other man parried, short and chunky brunette.

  The two in jeans just stood still and looked from one to another with wide eyes. ‘Mister Curiosity’ – the guy in a black leather jacket – looked like he had just got back from a vacation, with his tanned skin and coal-black hair. The other one had a big tousle of brown hair and was wearing a thin beige sweater and blue jeans. And if the first one was lean and lanky, half a head taller than the other, the second looked more athletic with his shoulders twice as broad as his friend’s.

  “You know, I’m not surprised to see that dark-haired dude with the Beasts. He’s clearly screwed up,” Pain whispered.

  “Yeah? And why is that?”

  “To see me, wielding a sword on a dark street, and just come to take a look at me? Who do I look like, Fairy Godmother?”

  “Only if he took your katana for a wand,” Jane grinned with mischief.

  “Exactly. You see a weirdo with a sword on a New York street, you run away screaming bloody murder. You don’t come up, making an acquaintance: ‘Hello, I’m Mister Curiosity, who are you?’ I really didn’t expect him to come back after I scared him off,” Pain said, shaking her head with disapproval.

  Jane laughed with her hand covering her mouth.

  “Oh, come on, he must be brave to come to you like that. Maybe he liked you?” she said, gloating. Her sister just shoved her in the shoulder.

  Meanwhile, the scene below continued.

  “Let’s call Eugene right now, and if he says that I can kill them both, I’ll finish you as well,” the tall man rumbled, glowering at the other.

  “Go ahead and try, Bob,” his companion replied with contempt, waving his hand at him. The other had already brought a phone up to his ear, not taking his eyes off his comrade.

  “I’m so curious which one of them Eugene wants,” Jane whispered. “It’s a pity his men obviously don’t know what they’re doing. We could have eavesdropped something very interesting.”

  “I think it’s time for us to step in. Even if Eugene won’t order to kill them, we can’t let the Beasts take them to his office,” Pain responded. “I don’t see any other choice but to take them to Peter.”

  “These two can probably tell us themselves what they did to irritate Eugene,” Jane added with an approving nod.

  “Then it’s settled. We go down there and kill everybody. Finally!” Pain beamed at her and jumped off the roof. Jane’s troubled eyes caught only a glimpse of her sword.

  “Wait!” she called out in a hushed voice, but it was too late: the big sister had already landed soundlessly ten steps away from the gathering. “Dammit!” Jane muttered under her breath and jumped down after her.

  Meanwhile, Pain came closer to the men with her hands clasped behind her back decently. Her mood was disastrous, though. The fight she had had with her boss was pretty intense, and she desperately looked forwar
d to the shift, hoping that some fighting would come along. It did, and now she felt a little relieved, but already knew it wouldn’t be enough. Still, it didn’t mean she had to miss all the fun.

  She paused and whistled sharply. The men whirled around, their faces frowned with surprise. As their expressions slowly changed into vague recognition, she smirked and wiggled her fingers at them playfully.

  “Look, it’s her!” Bob exclaimed to his companions.

  “So what? We’ve got an order,” the short man snapped. They all were staring at her now, and she was looking back at them, undisturbed.

  “Forget the order! These fools won’t run far. Get the girl!” Bob snarled, and before the others could say anything else, ran toward her, swinging his broadsword.

  Pain just stood there before him, her face dreamy and smiling under the face mask – a wicked angel, clad in leather and steel. Bob barreled to her, gaining speed in three long leaps, and drew back his sword, ready to strike—

  But the air was empty where she had stood a moment ago. Instead, a slim darting figure fell from above, hitting him square in his back with both feet. He flew forward and sprawled on the ground awkwardly as she was already in front of his comrades, swinging her katana. Two of them collapsed to the ground, their heads tumbling down next to their bodies. She turned around, expecting a blow, but the other two were already engaged in a fight with Jane. A few feet away, Bob got to his feet painfully, his hand pressed to his head. She could see a trickle of blood run down his cheek from under his palm. She smiled to herself, and seeing her, he snarled and dashed forward, clutching the hilt of his sword. Behind her, the young men stared at Bob, terrified. His enraged, bloody face resembled a human’s very little, and only a few steps separated him from Pain now. She was anything but scared, her eyes bright with excitement, her grin feral and ecstatic, she waited for him with her sword still dripping scarlet after beheading his comrades.

  Bob reached her, swishing his broadsword and hitting hard, but there was only the empty air again, and Pain was already behind his back. She whistled, making him spin around, and gripped her katana in both hands. She didn’t intend to play with him forever, so this time they engaged in a vicious fight, slashing at each other without a single pause.

  Behind them, Jane was parrying blow after blow from her opponents. Eventually, she got bored of it and plunged one of her swords into the first Beast’s chest. Another one took his place, swinging his long sword – Jane fended it off with one of her blades while slicing at his left arm with another. He swore, aiming for her arm, but she was faster, and his sword encountered only the wall. With a corner of her eye, Jane saw that her sister’s opponent caught her in the shoulder with his blade, but then Pain made a feint and cut off his left hand. The guy howled like a wolf, clutching the bleeding stump with the other hand.

  Jane’s opponent got angrier, striking faster and faster, but he would never be able to keep up with her. The sisters’ small size gave them a serious advantage: they were faster, nimble and hard to catch. Jane quickened her moves, making him back off, and in a few seconds he was dead, pierced through his stomach with both swords. She pulled them free and turned to her sister, who was already standing over the body of her enemy.

  “Was it so hard to wait for my answer? You always rush into fight like- ”

  “Yeah, here it goes, grandma mode on…” Pain rolled her eyes, turning away lazily. She headed to the two young men, who still stood pressed into a corner, as if hoping the girls would forget about them.

  “…you have to torture them every time, one good blow is not enough…” Jane continued, ignoring her mockery.

  “…and you’re such a buzz kill… ” her sister parried.

  “…they didn’t know about us, so we had an advantage. But no-o-o-o, you had to land right on their heads, though we were outnumbered three to one!”

  “It’s already over- ”

  “It would’ve been over sooner if you were more professional, but you’re a butcher, of course, and you’ve ruined your gear again. Just look at it, you have more scars than all our fighters combined.”

  “And that’s ’cause I’m the best one,” Pain muttered remotely, stopping in front of the guys, her figure covered by the shadow.

  Jane just sighed, assessing the guys’ tense expressions as she stood beside her sister.

  “Are you going to kill us now?” ‘Mister Curiosity’ asked carefully.

  “No,” Jane answered.

  He looked younger than his friend, though she couldn’t pin down exactly why. Maybe it was because of his features, fine and elegant. He had dark-brown eyes, gazing at them with anxious interest, and thick black eyelashes cast small shadows around them. His nose was thin and straight, his accurately shaped jaw shaved perfectly clean. There was a touch of polish on his appearance, something that gave Jane a feeling that this wasn’t an average citizen before her. His clothes, looking ordinary from the distance, were expensive, his haircut fresh and well-suited, his cologne subtle but exquisite.

  The other one wasn’t anything like the first. From his clothes to his posture, everything was casual about him. His features were rough and sharply-defined, his jaw and cheekbones square. Alerted green eyes, framed with long eyelashes, watched the sisters carefully, like a cat’s. He had brown hair reaching almost to his thick sloping shoulders, pushed back from his strained face in tangled, messy curls. But when his friend looked obviously scared and nervous, he just seemed cautious, waiting for what would happen next with alarm.

  The brown eyes flicked to the big sister as she entered a pool of light, and ‘Mister Curiosity’ threw up his hand, pointing at Pain.

  “Hey, I know you!” he exclaimed.

  “No, you don’t,” she snapped arrogantly and took off like a tornado, snatching his collar with her hand abruptly and making him cry out in surprise. She carried him higher and higher as he twitched and screamed in her grip. Soon they vanished in the darkness, and his friend gasped, turning his astonished look back to Jane.

  She sighed and shook her head, holding her gloved hand out for him.

  “It’s okay. We have to take you with us, and if you don’t want to be dragged like that, just give me your hand,” she said.

  For a minute he just stood there with distrust and incredulity written all over his face. He measured her with his eyes, once, twice, shaking his head, as if not agreeing with his own thoughts. At last, he reached out hesitantly, and Jane grasped his palm. Her other hand closed around his belt, and then she darted upward, carrying him with her. They rose high over the sparkling buildings, and soon they were rushing after the first pair.

  Chapter 2

  They landed on the roof of their building. There were two guards at the corners, but they only followed the sisters with their looks, remaining still like statues. From the corner of her eye, Jane saw her sister hit the roof hard and drop the poor guy roughly. Her jacket was torn at the shoulder, and blood was still oozing from under it.

  “Don’t you want to take care of that, or you intend to come to Peter like this?” Jane asked, touching her own shoulder absently.

  “Don’t care. He should see what happens when he sends me patrolling,” Pain retorted.

  Behind them, ‘Mister Curiosity’ got up from the ground with a groan, brushing off his clothes. The flight hadn’t gone without consequences for him: he looked pale, his hands were trembling, and his face was wide-eyed with shock. Muttering something incoherent, he kept straightening his clothes with his back to the others.

  “Dave, you alright?” his friend asked, tired of waiting. He shot Pain a sharp glance, at the same time looking as if everything inside him was warring with what he had just experienced.

  Dave snorted, making Jane turn around and look at him.

  “No-o-o,” he drawled, putting as much dark sarcasm into one single word as possible. “I’m not alright! How can I be alright after being dragged across the city like a puppy and then dropped on a roof by some ff- ” h
e broke off, shooting a glare to the girls, “freakin’ ninja??”

  Pain went still all over.

  Like a furious lightning bolt, she whirled and crossed over to him, making him back off hastily until he froze at the roof edge. He stared at Pain from above with big scared eyes, and Jane suppressed an urge to interfere, knowing it would only make her sister angrier.

  Pain stopped right in front of him, hissing poisonously,

  “Oh, I’m so sorry, your majesty, that we didn’t leave you on that street so you would be cut into pieces and left to rot with garbage!”

  Dave gagged, speechless, as his eyes got even wider. He glanced around, obviously looking for some help, so Jane dashed to them. She grabbed her sister’s hand and pulled her away,

  “Let’s go, we should report to Peter.”

  Pain shook her off nervously, and with one more indignant glance at Dave, walked away and through a low, squeaking attic door.

  A few minutes later, passed the attic and the upper floor, she threw open the doors of the waiting room and strode inside, pushing the guard off her path.

  “Hey, I have to notify him first! Did you see the time, by the way?” he complained, annoyed, trying to block her way.

  “Back off, Jerry, it’s important,” she waved him off and then added, “Sector ten, clean-up team.”

  He took a radio from his belt, pressed some button, and repeated her words into it.

  “Sector ten, clean-up and cover.”

  All this time he didn’t take his eyes off her.

  Since the girl’s attention was on someone else, Dave used this time to study the place. The room was small and semicircular, with dark wood floor and walls painted beige over the wooden paneling. There was a desk in one corner and a row of chairs along a concave wall. All the wood made the place feel somewhat homey, and Dave relaxed a little, seeing that they weren’t dragged to some bunker where they would be quartered and dissolved in acid. He ran his eyes over the walls, looking for anything that could have identified the organization, but there were only heavy paintings of landscapes in patterned frames. The guard’s radio creaked loudly, and Dave flinched, brought back from his musings.