Ghost of Doors (City of Doors) Read Online Free PDF Page B

MOON?
    "Then I'll stay and help," he said. "We can go when it's over."
    She took out another cigarette and a match from somewhere on her cat suit with a natural sleight of hand that rivaled magic. "Fair enough," she said, lighting up.
    "Yeah, well, I don't want to be no party pooper," Johnny said as a wisp of Marie's cigarette smoke became a curl in his hair, "but I don't want to die, especially not for you."
    Wolfgang bristled. "Who said you had to?" he asked.
    "I mean, for humans," Johnny explained. "In general. I'm beginning to rethink this whole 'humans are just like us' stuff."
    "Aren't we?" Wolfgang asked.
    "Can you fly?" Johnny asked.
    "Look, SUN has a plan..." Marie began.
    "No they don't!" Johnny argued. "Trust me. They just want us here as a living blockade. Soon to be a dead blockade. For the greater good, or some crap. What about my good? Why is theirs greater than mine? Don't I count, too?"
    "Okay, so humans suck. Fine. What about this neighborhood? These are your own people."
    "The neighborhood was going to turn, Wolfgang," Johnny said. "With or without us. That's why most of SUN already beat it out of here a long time ago. That's why the neighborhood is gone. If we get in MOON's way, it's only going to slow them down, not stop them."
    "That's a crappy way of looking at it," Wolfgang said.
    "Dying is worse than having a crappy attitude," said Johnny. "Look, I think we should fight them, too. But not like this, where we can't win. SUN needs more foot soldiers, or it's just a matter of time." He rose up high above the ground, looking like he was going to take off any second, as if he wanted to escape just before it was too late, if he had to. "What about you, Wolfgang? You joined SUN yet?"
    Wolfgang didn't answer. Johnny knew as well as anyone that Wolfgang wanted no part in Doors anymore. He had, in fact, just told him that he wanted to leave.
    "You remember," Johnny goaded, "SUN, the only faction in Doors who actually bends over backwards to protect humans?"
    Marie avoided everyone's gaze. Even Pilgrim volunteered nothing. Wolfgang knew where his friends stood. No one wanted him to leave this hell.
    "No," Wolfgang answered finally, when it became apparent that Johnny wouldn't budge until he got his answer--until Wolfgang admitted that Johnny was right.
    "Yeah, that's what I thought. Don't you want to help your 'own people?' SUN is on your side, fighting for you. And you won't even join them. But I'm the bad guy. Whatever." And with that, he lunged deep into the sky, looking for all the world like a white rocket streaking through the gathering clouds.
    "He's right," Marie said with a soft sigh. "What can the two of us do when MOON bursts through those doors from the human world?"
    "Wait a minute," Wolfgang said, "you mean no one else is coming? Where is everyone?"
    "Holding off other parts of the city," Marie explained. She took a deep drag on her cigarette. "Wolfgang," she said quietly. "Sometimes I don't know what you want from me. I'm just a shapeshifter."
    "I know, Marie, I know." He patted Pilgrim gently. Lost in thought for a moment, Wolfgang scanned the empty streets. His father would be several minutes. Cars and motorcycles, mere status symbols here, always traveled slower than the fae, who could by nature move much faster, some faster than a human could think. "My mom should be at home. I wonder why she hasn't shown up yet." Shrugging, Marie put out her cigarette. Looking up at his parents' apartment building, he said, "Let's go find out."

Chapter 3

    T HE DOOR TO HIS FAMILY'S apartment building and the door to the apartment itself were just normal doors. There were, of course, many like them in the city, maybe more of them than the enchanted kind. Wolfgang got a strange feeling before entering his family's apartment. It had been set on fire and burned to a cinder on the other side of that door, everything inside burnt to a charred, black mess, and the front was a facade. The door gave way to his