Technomancer (Unspeakable Things: Book One)

Holly now. I fumed all the way to her apartment door.
    “Are we still friends?” she asked me quietly, standing there in the dark.
    I nodded after a moment. “Yeah.”
    I worked my magic on the door and it popped open. I had time to give Holly a smug smile. She kissed me on the cheek and pushed her way through a mile of yellow tape and stepped inside.
    I should have been on my guard. I should have gone in with my gun in my hand—but I didn’t. I was too busy thinking about Holly and impressing her with my little sunglasses trick.
    The Gray Men were waiting for us.
    The door had been sealed, but of course that didn’t matter to them. They could go anywhere they wanted. The first Gray Man was standing right there in front of the coffee table as we stepped inside and snapped on the lights. Only, it was a Gray Woman this time. She was the first alien female I’d encountered—unless Ezzie counted. I was surprised, even though I shouldn’t have been. She wore a hood, ashad others I’d seen. I noticed her hands didn’t have spurs on the backs of them. Perhaps the females of the species didn’t get spurs.
    In the split second before I fumbled in my pocket for my gun, I realized the alien was examining objects on the coffee table. She had Holly’s TV remote in her hands, holding it high. She ran some kind of cube-shaped, metallic device over it. The metal seemed to shine and twist in her hand as she scanned the TV remote with it. I had no doubt it was some kind of scientific instrument.
    “Hey, that’s mine,” Holly said, reaching for the remote. I came in behind her, and I had my gun out now, but no clear shot with Holly in the way.
    The alien glanced at us, and Holly froze. I think she hadn’t realized the stranger wasn’t human until that moment. She hadn’t seen the gray fingers and understood what they meant. The eyes were particularly strange—they were gray as well, but looked more like silver due to being wet. The hood slipped away from the head, and I got a good look at her. There was no hair on her head. None at all. A smooth gray skin covered everything except those eyes.
    I took aim. But that’s when something touched my head from behind. It touched me just behind the ear. A blinding jolt of pain and numbness filled me. I tumbled forward, passing out. I stayed conscious long enough to see the second alien step over me and grab Holly, applying his weapon to her skull as well.
    I wanted to rise. I wanted to pull out my gun and shoot them both—but everything went black before I could do anything further.

When I woke up, I could barely breathe and couldn’t move my limbs. For a good minute, my arms wouldn’t obey me. I figured I’d been shocked—or something like it. My nerves weren’t operating properly. I dragged myself up with legs that flopped and stung like they’d been bloodless for several minutes. Slowly, with a great deal of unpleasant tingling, my body began to function again. I sat down on the couch, rubbing my head. I didn’t see any sign of the Gray Men or Holly.
    As soon as my mind was working again, I located my possessions. They were all there: the photo, the sunglasses, the ring, and the finger around my neck. They hadn’t even taken my gun. I found that strange, but I didn’t have time to puzzle it out now.
    When I could stand, I stumbled through the apartment calling for Holly. There was only one bedroom, and I found the rip there. It was shrinking already, the colors those of adying flame. I could see through the rip this time—which was good. Unlike with Gilling’s failures, I at least had some warning as to what I was going to find at the other end. I also assumed that I would be able to return—if I moved quickly enough.
    I opened up my cell and called McKesson.
    “Jay here,” he answered.
    “Detective? It’s Draith.”
    “Talk fast.”
    “They’ve got Holly. The Gray Men were in her apartment—two of them at least.”
    “Oh, so that’s where I’m headed,” he said. “Thanks for the tip.”
    I realized he must be coming here already, having followed the directions of his watch. “They knocked me out and stepped back out,” I said. “They must have taken her with them.”
    “But not you, eh? How come nothing ever happens to you? Are you sure you aren’t the one on the wrong side, Draith?”
    “Screw you.”
    “Just a question. Stay there. I’ll arrive in one minute flat.”
    “No chance,” I said. “I’m stepping out after her.”
    I