Page 24 of Stalked By Pestilence
Snatching my mobile from the bedside table, I texted the only person I trusted who was capable of finding the answers I sought—and there was no telling if he’d answer the call.
After Emily slipped away to shower, I went to the door. He was already there waiting for me. The black hood he’d pulled over his staggering white hair only made his obscenely white skin stand out more.
“I didn’t think you’d show, Ghost,” I greeted.
The silent Horseman’s red eyes slipped up, his uncomfortably attractive features as emotionless as always. It didn’t fit the rest of him. Mortals always fell all over themselves around him, though he never stayed long to watch it happen.
His head canted to one side. “I could say the same about your text.”
The unease he summoned with a single glance was something mortals always found the most staggering about the Horseman they called Famine. Everything about him gave the impression of a human’s idea of a ghost—haunted, skulking in corners, silent, and the farthest thing from warm.
I’d never seen the bloke crack a smile or really show any reaction that wasn’t stoicism or boredom. I wasn’t much for the types I couldn’t pin with a glance, and Limos was the hardest to read of them all.
I didn’t see him hanging around mortals often. His powers didn’t require him to be around them quite like the rest of us. More around the things they relied on for survival. So, if he ever was, it wasn’t on purpose. He found almost no value in exchanges with mortals. Well, and the stoic Horseman barely interacted with anyone who wasn’t Ares.
But that disposition of his had its uses. Not only was he incredibly good at uncovering things and unnervingly intelligent, but angels and demons couldn’t sense him at all. He literally became a ghost to all beings if he so chose it.
Even Dead couldn’t sense him if he wanted to remain hidden. The only person who could find him was Ares, or as I lovingly called her, Commander. The Horseman—or was it Horsewoman? I wasn’t a bloody sexist like these humans—always found what she searched for and cleverly hid what she didn’t want found, including herself.
Limos would be able to move in ways I couldn’t, in ways my underlings couldn’t. This matter required a delicate touch if we were dealing with a higher demon that had sway with Lucifer. I was powerful, but even I couldn’t take on the Devil.
After ensuring the shower was still going, I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorframe. “I need to find the demon seeking out this human and where the demons they send are crossing over.”
Ghost’s red eyes slid past me to where he sensed the human. “Your Counter Soul, then?”
He might only be asking out of curiosity, but I stiffened at the question. The idea of admitting to anyone who she was didn’t sit right with me. So, I evaded it. “Can you do it? I think it’s a powerful demon. Someone close enough to bend Lucifer’s ear.”
That snagged his attention enough to miss I hadn’t answered his question. Limos stared at me and stayed perfectly still, portraying his most convincing imitation of a stone statue yet. “You’re sure?”
I scoffed and smirked at him. “Twenty demons in one day, and some with enough power to come in shadow form, yeah, Ghost, I’m bloody sure.”
Still, no emotion. A stretch of silence passed between us before he gave a short nod. “I’ll find out, but I’ll need something in return.”
Always tit for tat in this business.
I nodded. “Whatever you need. A bird or two? You thinking it’s about time you pop that cherry of yours, mate?”
His face stayed frustratingly passive, unaffected by my taunt. “I’d like to know where you last crossed paths with Ares,” came his surprising request.
My eyes widened a bit at that. “You mean she hasn’t been in touch?”
That was news. Ares never failed to mother him any chance she got, and she was nothing if not a stickler about checking in with him. Ghost had a tendency to do as all ghosts do and disappear. The overly protective Commander was the only one who could ever find him when he did.
The emotionless wanker just stared at me, those unnerving red eyes of his expressing nothing but bored interest. “I haven’t heard from her in a while. I—”
His gaze slowly moved to something behind me, and with a curse, I realized that Emily had come out of the shower. She was now staring at our guest like she couldn’t decide if he was a human or demon. My Viper was hilariously under the impression that everyone and everything was a demon now that she’d discovered they existed.
Emily stepped out ahead of me. “Hello there. Are you a friend of Songbird’s?”
A sneaky smile crept across my face when Limos looked as though he had no idea who she was talking about. But his clever brain pieced it together quickly enough.
Instead of answering her question, his deep baritone that didn’t match his pretty face and ghostly features said something I hadn’t expected. “You’ve been marked.”
My smile disappeared in an instant as a crease formed between Emily’s brows.
“Marked?” she asked.
I grabbed the tiny human by the shoulders and redirected her back inside, tossing an agreement over my shoulder so he’d get on with it. “It’s a deal. Get me what I need, and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”