consisting of Grace sitting on the bed with the book in hand. With nothing appearing suspicious, I pushed the imitation of a scratch at her and backed away, disconnecting us.
Since I had a few matters that needed to be resolved, I yanked my pants on and found my cloak. Everyone besides Grace, Shadow, and me were asleep, and I didn't mind at all. What I had planned didn't involve any reaping.
After closing the door quietly behind me, I pulled my Soul form forward and aimed myself towards the Soulless part of town. Few others were out, though I did notice a pair of Guards dragging a young Soulless female between them. I slowed, but her cuffed hands told me I could do nothing for her.
Shortly afterwards, I saw the run-down buildings that signaled I'd almost made it to my destination. As I turned the corner, I watched Con duck into our customary meeting spot, the dispensary. An instant later, I stopped and solidified before pulling the door open. The Old Merchant glanced up and identified me. With a cursory wave, he tilted his head towards the rear. I passed the ancient Soulless, knocking on the counter in front of him as I strolled by.
Con waited for me in the cramped room that we utilized for our more private meetings. His doughy face broke out in a smile as I threw my hood back and stepped forward. After gripping his arm at the elbow, he pulled me in close, patting my back. It seemed like an odd greeting to me, but the Soulless weren't like Reapers or Angels.
“Zella! I wasn't certain you would show up.” He laughed and jerked me towards him again. “How have you been?”
Untangling myself from his hold, I put distance between us as I leaned against the dirty wall and answered, “Just wonderful. I'm now a Master of Masters, as in the ass in charge of a brand new Office.”
“Well, that's not good. Anything I can do?” His bouncy demeanor became more restrained as the news killed some of the high he floated on.
Con took more tabs than I ever had, but they were the only way the Soulless truly experienced emotions like the rest of us, so I didn't fault him even if I didn't understand. They all felt fear, though, and once it circulated through their system, it damaged the hold the tabs had on their brains.
“Maybe. Is your portal still fucked? Because I'm not going through that again. By the way, you're lucky I had other things to do. I considered a ton of torture scenarios for you while I tried to recover from that last trip.” The last time we'd used his illegal portal to travel to Earth, it nearly killed us. All because he had a blown fuse that he hadn't informed me about. Asshole.
He rubbed the back of his neck, the green tint of his skin growing darker as he ducked his head. “Now I warned you about travelling too soon, remember? And no. I haven't been able to replace it yet. I was hoping that you could do that for me.”
When his head popped up, he had a broad smile, the one he pasted on when he hoped he could wheedle something out of me for free. His grass-green eyes were wide as he blinked too rapidly, causing me to laugh.
“I'll get you the fuse. Same one as last time? Fine, give me a few binals. In return, you will allow me and whoever I deem necessary full access to the portal.” When he opened his mouth wide, ready to protest, I lifted my hand to halt him. “Everyone will be vetted first, and I will provide you and your crew with a time and location to move it before we need to use it. It'll probably be somewhere near my Office. Make sure your crew wears something to disguise themselves.”
“You want us to carry the entire portal across town? A portal that would get us all murdered?” Con shook his head and scoffed.
My face twisted into a snarl, and I launched myself forward, placing myself against him and forcing him to step away. Following as he kept backing up until he had nowhere to flee to, I left no space between us. My gaze bored through him, and I itched as the monster inside me rose, prepared to join with me if only I would grab onto its outstretched arm. Unfortunately for it, I didn't need it for him.