Free Lost Soul (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 2) by T.G. Ayer Page B

went there if you had to.
    The abandoned factory entrance sat at the end of a long dark alley. We sped down the alley, which was unusual for what it was. It didn't have the usual rank odor of human waste and garbage. Abandoned long ago, nobody came around here long enough to use the stretch of empty concrete as a latrine.
    "Here." I beckoned Lily to follow me toward a metal door.
    Every inch of the door was rusted, so it looked more like bronze than steel. I cranked the handle and motioned for Lily to follow inside, wiping crusty flakes of rust and metal off my hands and onto my pants. I barred the door and followed Lily up a short flight of stairs.
    I'd been here many times so the place was already set up with bull's-eyes pasted on many of the concrete pillars dotting the empty floor. An office building in a previous life, it was now abandoned. All the partitioning and interior decor had been removed leaving just bare concrete floors and pillars, and yards of electrical wiring hanging from the ceiling.
    I knelt at my usual spot and began to empty my bag onto an old foldout table I'd brought over months ago. I glanced over my shoulder and met Lily's curious gaze. "Over here. I like to lay all my weapons out next to each other." Lily did as I did and then stepped away ready and waiting for the next instruction.
    "We'll start with the gun. It's your standard revolver and it has a bit of recoil, so tense your muscles for it, or you could get hurt."
    "Recoil?" Lily frowned.
    "When the gun goes off, the power it takes to push the bullet out of the chamber is enough to generate a reverse power into the gun. And since you're holding it, that power goes into your hands and your body too."
    "I see. Okay. Gotcha." She nodded, her eyes still sparkling with excitement.
    I positioned Lily in line with the target, lifted her elbow, got her jaw and eye in line, and shifted her hips. Everything my siblings and I had been taught when we were growing up. I'd almost forgotten we'd all received the same military-style training. Made sense what with Dad and Mom and Grams all working for Sentinel.
    My gut tightened. That, of course, meant Greer could look after herself to a certain extent. The only question is for how long?
    I refocused my attention on Lily and asked, "Ready?" She jerked her head up and down in a stiff, nervous nod. "Okay. Fire when you're ready."
    She stared the target down, an almost comical look of concentration on her oddly angled face. Her finger closed over the trigger. Then she pulled it.
    And stumbled three feet backward, stripping and landing on her butt, a look of shock spreading slowly on her face.
    I would have bet she was about to burst into tears.
    Instead she giggled and said, "Cool."
    It was near one in the morning when we packed up and left the abandoned building. I didn't want to go for too long. Lily had gotten a good feel for all the weapons and it was enough for her first session.
    We hurried back through the dark streets. No streetlights worked in this part of town. It was as if the city council deliberately wanted to forget about the area and its people.
    Our route took us through the edge of the darker red-light district. Both Lily and I were used to the sight of the working girls, garishly painted, barely clothed, pacing their spots until a client drew up beside them. But I stopped walking so suddenly that Lily continued for at least twenty feet before she realized she was alone. My heart thudded and I prayed I'd been wrong.
    "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." The honey of Lily's lynx eyes glowed with worry. Even for a Pariah she still had some underlying feline instinct.
    "Not a ghost." I breathed, gaze moving between Lily and the girl. "A Wraith. Or the trails of one at least."
    "What? Where?" Lily tensed, searching the street as if she would see what I did.
    "Across the street. The girl in the fishnets and red corset." I looked at Lily who stared over at the girl.
    "Dear Ailuros. She