Betrayal - By Lee Nichols Page 0,66

been here before?” I asked.

“Only once,” Natalie said. “I never knew there was a real headquarters until Bennett finally brought me.”

“Once for me, too,” Lukas said. “This street is seriously old.”

Simon smiled. “You ought to visit Europe. Our ghosts go way back.”

“I’ve never been to Europe.” Natalie’s voice was wistful, probably wondering if she’d ever have the chance.

“I always wanted to go to Amsterdam,” Lukas said.

Natalie and I shared a look. Every teenage boy’s fantasy. Legal weed and the red-light district.

“To see the Van Gogh museum, right?” Simon said, only he pronounced it “Van Goff.”

“Uh …”

“He means Van Gogh,” I said.

“Oh, right,” Lukas said. “Yeah, I want to see the paintings.”

We all smiled knowingly. Then we were there. We rounded the corner and the Knell fortress glared at us from the end of the block.

Lukas stared at the shuttered houses and empty park. “Dude, last time I was here—”

“There were ghosts,” I finished. “Ghosts everywhere. And ghostkeepers.”

“What happened to them?” Natalie asked.

“They’re hiding from Neos,” I said. “He’s here.”

Simon parked in front of the Knell and turned off the engine. None of us opened a door. We just sat there quietly, looking at the house.

Natalie finally broke the silence. “I really like this car.”

It was enough to spur me into action. “Okay,” I said. “Let’s go slay a ghost.”

20

We crept past the ornate iron gates into the shadow of the looming trees, then stopped short. One step onto the grounds, and the impact of Neos’s cruel power hit us like a rock, his darkness seeping through every brick and blade of grass.

Lukas swore, and I nodded in agreement. Neos was strong—much stronger than when I’d faced him the last time.

Simon said, “Remember your training. Our job is to get Emma close enough to Neos to end him.”

“Oh, is that all?” Lukas said.

“Lukas, you take the siren when she attacks Emma. Natalie, you summon our allies—and keep an eye on Emma; you know her best. We’ve got to keep her from getting drawn into other fights. I’ll dispel any immediate threat.”

I drew my dagger as we approached the front doors. No ghostly servants this time, no sign of any activity.

And the doors were open wide in invitation. Neos was waiting for us.

We looked at each other, but nobody said anything. We just stepped inside and wandered the marble halls filled with antiquities. The house was stifling hot, and we shed our coats and tossed them on a wooden settee.

There was no way Neos didn’t know we were here, and I couldn’t help wishing we were better prepared. That we’d laid a trap for him. Instead, we were scrambling around like idiots in a horror film.

Waiting to be picked off one by one.

We stalked through the ground floor, feeling the oppressive weight of Neos’s proximity, tension rising in the silence, until Natalie said, “Whoa!”

Simon fired a reflexive burst of dispelling energy at the wall, and Lukas dropped into a combat stance as I shifted my grip on the dagger hilt. Then I saw what she was gaping at.

The tapestry with the sixteenth-century lady who looked just like me.

“Is that you?” she asked.

“My ancestor, I guess.”

“The likeness is extraordinary,” Simon mused.

“More like messed up,” Natalie said.

“No wonder you’re so emo all the time,” Lukas said.

“Thanks.” I stared up at it, trying to feel as powerful as that Emma looked. Had she ever faced someone as scary as Neos? Or been crushed by the voice of a siren? It didn’t matter. They were here, and I was going to kill them, because that was the only way I could stop them. That was the messed-up part. Even though I didn’t want to be like that Emma, I had no choice.

Natalie glanced at me, then at the tapestry. “Only one thing missing.”

“What’s that?”

“Her friends.”

Lukas rolled his eyes, but I smiled at Natalie, and she grinned. She was true and loyal and somehow made searching a haunted mansion for a killer wraith master almost bearable. She’d protected me at school, and now it was my turn. I had to dispel anything that threatened her. And Simon and Lukas.

“Whenever you two are done with your Hallmark moment,” Lukas said, “we might want to—”

My spine started tingling, and an instant later wraiths rose through the floor and attacked. The humanoid cockroaches swarmed toward us in a blast of frigid air. All my tension and fear dropped away as the hours of preparation kicked in. We were ready.

Instead of stepping away from the attack, Lukas lunged, using a wave