LITMIR.BIZ

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like. So translucent he could see the wall through her lithe body, like a cloud of steam, but shiny, and so, so beautiful. Soft, the color of a see-through pearl, and she floated upward like a helium balloon set free, her muscular limbs graceful and lovely.

      A freaking ghost. The last doubt exploded in Sergey’s mind, leaving a blast pattern of shrapnel embedded in his brain--a thousand questions, starting with What the hell? And ending with, Is this Demyan thing just a crazy coincidence? Because if Anya was a rusalka, and the fairy tales were true, she wanted revenge against the man. Most days, his mother was too listless and apathetic to want anything more ambitious than a bowl of custard.

      At the moment, Anya didn’t look particularly vengeful. In fact, her pretty features had fallen in despair. That was, until her obsidian gaze sharpened on him. “You can see me?”

      “Sure can.”

      She raised her chin. “Then wipe that pitying expression of your face. Grab my slipper and let’s go.”

      “Perfect.” Dmitri shooed her away. “Now you can take her. And if you get sick of the little harpy, just leave the box somewhere. She can’t go more than about fifteen yards from the ballet shoe inside.”

      Anya’s left hand fisted around Gregor’s walnut-sized signet ring. Like a magic amulet, the thing had made her visible to the rest of them without her having to hold on to the old guy. And she was tethered to a slipper. Sergey’s cop-mind raced to make rational deductions, but really, this situation required the logic of a fairy tale, and not the ones Walt Disney had turned into cute children’s stories.

      This was the stuff of his mother’s nightmares and paranoid fantasies. Vengeful rusalkas, demonic incubi, and that bony-legged Baba Yaga who professed to smell something delicious, then licked her lips and devoured the person who had dared to visit her chicken-legged hut.

      And he hated this irrational world, this fucked-up logic of magic and creatures that defied the laws of physics. Hated what it had done to his mother, hated the way it had darkened the corners of his childhood homes with vague, shadowy fears. Her hushed whispers that they were always in danger, the way she clung to superstitious objects and compulsively whispered prayers to Mary, the mother of God.

      He’d become a police officer to get away from this shit, so he could be a just-the-facts-ma’am kind of cop, could gather evidence and draw well-substantiated conclusions. And now he was supposed to go on a road trip with a goddamn ghost.

      She whooshed over to him and hovered so they were at eye level, her dark brows arching over her still-mocking eyes. “Shall we go?”

      This was a terrible idea.

      He should work alone, phone Gregor if he had questions. But the truth was, this ghost was the best chance he had of ever finding his father.

      Maybe Demyan would be some stable, established businessman who’d welcome a long-lost son, or maybe a doctor who--

      He slammed the door on those thoughts. How often as a kid had he fallen asleep, lulling himself with a litany of father fantasies? Someone, anyone who could help him deal with Mama. Every time, he’d woken with trails of dried salt on his cheeks.

      From this ghost’s blustery determination, Sergey had to think he wasn’t going to find a happier reality than he’d woken to on those sad mornings. But at least he would have answers.

      “As it happens, ghost, I will need to stop off at home and pack a bag, after I tell my boss I’m taking those vacation days he’s been pestering me to use. Then we’ll catch the train.”

      “Don’t bother.” Dmitri tossed Sergey a key fob. “Take the company car.”

      “No way.” He set them back on the table. “Didn’t you hear me say I don’t want to be part of your organization?”

      “I also heard you say you’re taking a vacation. I don’t see any conflict of interest in borrowing my car.”

      “Plus”--Sonya pointed at her pretty, pearlescent sister--“you can hardly take her on the train.”

      He glanced at the ghost, who was grinning like a fool, water dripping off her hair and disappearing into God knew where--a puddle in the spirit world?

      “What are you smiling about?” he asked, though the answer seemed obvious. She had gotten her way.

      “We will find him. I feel certain of it.”

      An icy chill curled around his spine. She made it sound so frightening. And irresistible.

      She took the ring off so they could spirit her through the station unseen. At the car, Sergey accepted her shoebox and Gregor handed over his signet again. Sonya strung a bit of twine through it so the ghost could wear the ring around her neck.

      Anya said an awkward good-bye to her sister and fell silent. She simply stared out the window as he drove her through the city and occasionally gasped when they passed a sky-high building walled with glass.

      “Things changed a lot?” he asked.

      “You could say that.” Her tone was clipped, not exactly inviting further conversation.

      Problem was, the silence made his mind itchy, wanting to stray down the dark paths of leapt-to conclusions that made the crazy things his mom believed true. So what if Anya Truss was a ghost? That didn’t mean witches cooked children in giant pots or that soul-sucking demons lay in wait for the vulnerable around every corner. Did it?

      No, of course not. But better to change the subject than fixate on the questions.

      “What part of Kiev did your family live in?” he asked, though he’d seen the Truss family address on the old case file. Her father had owned a jewelry shop on a street near the opera house, and the family had resided in the apartment upstairs.

      “Look, Yuchenko, I’m not interested in reminiscing. You want to know about Stas, I’ll tell you. He smokes Sobranie cigarettes. His tailor in Odessa is on Kinna Street. He frequents the Cafe Bosporus for Turkish Coffee.”

      “It closed. Now it’s an American chain. The tailor might still be there, though.” He signaled, then turned right. “But I sure hope you remember more than that.”

      “I will, once we arrive in the city.”

      She sounded certain, but he wished she’d turn and look at him so he could see whether the confidence also showed on her face. Of course, she didn’t comply. Not even with his unspoken wishes.

      Which raised a frightening possibility. “Can you read minds?”

      “What? No. Of course not.” She shook her head as if he were the biggest imbecile alive. And he felt just like the puppy she’d called him, wagging its tail in hopes the pretty ghost would deign to chitchat with him.

      Which was exactly how he felt.

      Parking in his neighborhood was scarce, with all the apartment buildings packed so tightly together. When he spotted a space nearly a full block away, he pulled in rather than risk getting closer with no luck.

      With his hand on the door lever, he turned to her. “Be right back.”

      “No!” She floated out of her seat and hovered closer, right over the gearshift. Panic coursed through him at the prospect of her touching him, the instinct to flee nearly overwhelming his reason. But a sudden breeze blowing inside the car grounded him enough to notice how huge her eyes had gotten. She was scared too.

      “What’s wrong?”

      “Nothing.” Her nostrils flared and she crossed her translucent ghost arms over her chest--just enough to obscure but not completely hide those plum-sized breasts he had a hard time looking away from. “I want to go with you is all. I’m curious to see how pathetic and slovenly your bachelor pad is. Or do you live with your mother still, and have a toy train that circles your bedroom?”

      “I don’t live with my mother.” He’d clenched his

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