but each individual moved faster than I ever had at my best time.
“What the fuck just happened?” Simon’s voice was shrill, and I turned to face him. “Who were those guys? Were they—”
“The Unsettled, yes.” I staggered after them, slipping on the muddy ground. “You’re on shield duty. Come on.”
I couldn’t see Odessa through the glowing ghosts, so I just tramped off after them, with Simon close behind me. He was avoiding getting too close to the Unsettled. He was seeing them for the first time, and it was understandably unnerving.
One of the men, short and broad-shouldered with a neatly trimmed beard and some kind of officer’s insignia, hung back slightly, keeping pace next to us. The officer seemed to glow more than the others, and he was paying rapt attention to every move I made. He looked vaguely familiar, but I didn’t have time to figure it out. We made eye contact, and I gave him a nod, wishing I could get his name. They hadn’t put names on uniforms during the Civil War.
When Simon and I reached the far edge of the circle, it took me a second to figure out what I was seeing. It looked like Odessa had crouched near the brick gutter to open the circle, but she’d fallen back on her butt, the book on the ground next to her. Now she was staring up in terror at the rows of glowing men who’d wedged themselves between her and the exit. They weren’t physically threatening her, but she couldn’t even get to the gutter without going through two rows of them.
Odessa must have heard Simon and me approach, because she mumbled something we couldn’t hear, and then Whitney Finch and the blonde girl—Emmaline—were running toward us. Simon turned around, holding up his hands to create the shield again. “You got them?” I said to Simon over my shoulder.
“Yes.” His voice was terse, but calm. “Do your thing.”
I tuned out what was happening behind me and focused my attention on Odessa, stepping sideways so I could see her face.
“Get them away from me!” she cried, slapping one hand ineffectually against the grass. Her hair was plastered to her head now, and mud had smeared on her raincoat where she’d probably fallen down. She still held the dead man’s switch, but she looked terrified and petulant. I almost felt sorry for her . . . except no, no I didn’t.
“Give me my bloodstone,” I said. “Carefully.”
Her expression soured, but Odessa grabbed the bloodstone and yanked it over her head, her hair rippling as the leather cord swung free. She tossed it to me in an underhand throw, and I caught it easily with my right hand. I put it on, ignoring the damp and tucking it under my shirt. I immediately felt better.
“Now get them away!” Odessa yelled.
“I can’t do that.” I was still moving, easing my way closer to her, but she was too focused on the Unsettled to notice. “Not until you disable that trigger.”
Odessa looked at the switch in her hand as though it had just appeared there. “That’s my only leverage,” she whined. “If I give it up, Beau’s gonna kill me.”
“He’s not going to kill you,” I said. “He’s going to turn you over to the police.”
She finally took her eyes off the Unsettled to stare at me, completely dumbfounded. “The police? Why?”
That pissed me off. “Because you murdered an innocent human. One who was trying to protect you.”
“Oh. Her.” Odessa tossed her hair out of her eyes, and for a moment the confident, manipulative young woman returned. “I’ll hire the best lawyer money can buy. Whatever shitty evidence you think you have—”
“No, you’re going to take a plea deal,” I said calmly. I was only a few feet away now. “And then you’re going to serve your time.”
There was some shouting behind me, but when I took a quick glance, it seemed like Simon was holding his own. Emmaline was down on the ground, and Whitney appeared to be playing an elaborate game of cat’s cradle with a piece of rope in her hands. She looked frustrated.
“Why would I do that?” said Odessa, and I turned back to face her.
“Because if you don’t, I’m going to let these guys eat you.” I gestured to the Unsettled. I hadn’t really realized they were following the conversation, but at my words, the men closest to Odessa grinned happily, displaying crooked, rotten teeth. I didn’t think they were corporeal enough to touch anyone,