Page 54 of A Touch Of Death

He shrugs a shoulder, but his eyes tell me it's something important. Something he wants to keep to himself. Fine. He can keep his reasons. But I won't let my guard down.

"How can you help?" I warily ask.

He points at my arm again and says, "Just gotta touch it."

Before I can make any sense of those words, he dives towards me. Instinct takes over, and the ball of dust I have in my hands goes sailing towards the man in a flurry of gold sprinkles. His hand connects with my upper arm, and a warm sensation blooms from the contact. It's falling away a second later as he drops to the floor, dazed and sleepy, but not unconscious like it should have rendered him.

I'm breathing heavily as Igaze at him lying on the floor, watching me with droopy eyes and a tired smile. He tries to talk, but it's too quiet to hear. He must see the confusion on my face because he stops talking and groggily motions me closer. He seems to be out for the count, so I risk it, walking closer and leaning down to hear him.

With a strained whisper, he says, "Won't last long, but you've got some time. Get rid of it as soon as you can."

My eyes widen, and I look down to my arm to see the tracker glowing orange instead of green. He... he temporarily disabled the tracker. What... why...

I look down at the man on the road with tears in my eyes, seeing a ridiculously dopey grin on his face that does something funny to my chest. My voice is nothing but a strained whisper when I tell him, "T-thank you. So much. Thank you."

He slowly nods, like it's taking him all of his strength to do it since he's fighting a lot of sleeper dust, and says, "Don't thank me yet, Dusty. Now get out of here."

And then he passes out, lightly snoring while the dust finally drags him unconscious. Doing as I'm told, I move until I'm standing and back away slowly, searching the woods while I go.

When I'm sure I'm safe, and there's no danger surrounding me, I phase out. I keep phasing until I run out of energy. Once I grow exhausted, I'm forced to find somewhere to hide for a while so I can recuperate. I'd be worried about being caught stopping so soon after the sun breaks out over the horizon, but I have some time to spare thanks to the stranger.

Not much time, but enough.

Chapter 26

Novia

I spendthe entire day phasing in and out of the woods, popping up in random places before disappearing and appearing in the complete opposite direction in which it looked like I'd been going. Every now and then I'll stop to top up my energy, but I never stay in one place for too long. If there's one thing I know how to do, it’s lose a tail when I have enough of a head start. By jumping around the woods in all kinds of directions, I'm muddling any pattern whoever is looking for me would otherwise find. I'm spreading my scent everywhere, confusing any tracker who's been sent after me. With me hopping all over the forest, I'm making their jobs a lot more difficult.

After sufficiently spreading my scent everywhere, leaving trails that lead to nothing or that simply lead back onto themselves, I stop in the middle of the woods. The sky has already darkened again, and I'm in need of a place to stay for the night. I'll be damned if I'm staying here again since that didn't work out so well for me already.

Focusing as hard as I can, I picture the town the guys took me to when we went shopping for my room. When the picture is in my mind, I pull on my energy. Given that I've never phased more than a few feet away, I have zero idea of how much energy I'll need, so I draw enough to make sure I travel such a large distance and appear in one piece. With a deep inhale and a slow exhale, I phase out.

When I phase back in, I land on my hands and knees outside the store I'd been standing by when I saw Davis. I'm breathless and heaving for air as my lungs scream at me, head hanging between my arms as nausea rolls through me. I keep still until the feelings pass, and stand unsteadily, using the wall beside me for balance. I'm thanking the Fates that it's late enough for the street to be empty of people because a person popping quite literally out of thin air would have had a few eyebrows raising.

When I'm able to stand without the support, I move away from the wall and look around to work out which direction I should go. The street is deserted, the street lamps along the road lighting up the shuttered stores. It's quiet save for the sound of the howling wind bringing the threat of rain with it. Not even a minute later, the sky thunders, and the heavens open, sheets of rain pouring down on me with unrelenting force. I'm soaked to the bone in seconds, and the need for somewhere to stay for the night grows tenfold when I begin to shiver from how cold I suddenly become. My black shirt and leggings are soaked through, and my hair lies in a tangled heap, strands sticking to my face when the wind blows harshly.

One last look around has me heading to the right, my feet moving quickly down the street in search of somewhere to shelter myself from the weather.

I trudge through the rain for hours, and what feels like forever later, I find a building that looks like a hotel. I walk closer to the sign that sits out front, and it readsSerene Heritage Hotel & Spa. Taking a look around before stepping towards the front door, I spot a homeless man sitting at a bus stop just further down the road, but everywhere is otherwise vacant.

Just as I go to step inside the building, I remember that I have no money to pay for a room to stay in.Shit. I can't very well keep wandering the streets in this downpour. I'm already trembling with a chill that’s seeping into my bones, burrowing deep until my teeth begin to clatter together.

Taking a deep breath with the realisation that I'm going to have to use my abilities some more just to have a warm place to stay for the night, I check how much energy I have left. I have enough to go incorporeal long enough to snag a room without anyone catching me.

Deciding it's my best option, I focus on turning incorporeal. I feel my body turn colder, and the see through smoke tickles my hands and face. My vision goes completely white before my sight comes back to me. Everything around me becomes less vibrant, as though the hue of colours have been dimmed until they barely hold any colour at all. I push more energy out and look down to my hand to watch it fade until my body disappears completely. I move further into the building, noting the fancy chandeliers and polished floors. The walls are painted magnolia with dark wood accents all over, and the floor has some sort of cream and dark brown marble effect to it. This place is entirely too fancy, but I'm not complaining so long as it gives me a roof over my head for a few hours.

I glide toward the check out desk that's to the left as soon as I move through the door. A man who looks to be in his forties stands behind the desk, dressed in a crisp suit with his hair gelled to perfection. He shivers when I get closer but doesn't react further to my presence.

Behind the man is a large wooden shelf filled with small cubby-holes. Each cubby-hole is numbered, some without key cards, but some with a key card hanging on a hook by a ribbon to whichever room is still available. I move behind the man, having to stand closer than I'd like. He shivers again and looks around. Though I know he won't see me, I stand perfectly still until he shakes his head and focuses on the computer in front of him.

With his focus diverted, I make my hand corporeal and reach out for the key card on the highest number. As soon as it's in my hand, I pull it away from the hook and make my hand incorporeal, taking the card with me. I back away slowly and turn towards the elevator I spied when I walked through the door.

The doors are already open, so I walk into the elevator, turn my hand corporeal, and press the button to the highest floor. The elevator pings, and the man at the desk looks up in time to see the doors close. I catch the confusion on his face before the doors cut off my view, and I'm being taken to the top floor of the building.

The elevator pings again, and the doors slide open, revealing a clean and polished hallway. I stay invisible as I glide down the hall, just in case there are cameras along the hallway that will catch me. I check the numbers on the doors, looking for number one hundred and eight. When I reach the door furthest from the elevator on the right side of the hallway, I see the matching number to my card and make my hand visible.

A soft beep and the click of the lock unlatching is music to my ears. I nudge the door open and walk into the room, turning corporeal as I do so and feeling my energy waning already. The door shuts softly behind me, and I sag against it when the click of the lock latching sounds out in the otherwise quiet room. And what a room it is. It's spacious with a large bed to the right of the room with a bathroom next to it, a couch and armchair to the left, and glass sliding doors that lead to a small balcony. The colour scheme has me afraid to touch anything, whites and light blues scattered around the room. The lighting is soft when I flick the switch, giving the room a welcoming feel to it.

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