The Spectral Agent is my first full-length novel and an experiment. We are independent creators, publishing chapter by chapter as a podcast and text. It’s designed to be heard. We’d love to receive your feedback so we can tell stories better.
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Text copyright © 2025 Jan Herrington
⚠️ Content Warning: Discussion of murder/violence, medical care, abduction
Last time on TSA
Viktor, Finn, and Rue’s plan to help Chaus escape fell apart.
I exhaled sharply, then lifted my hand to touch the earring. Chai’s presence was still there, lingering inside me like a dull ache. My hands shook, exhaustion hitting all at once.
That’s when Finn saw the blood. “Oh shit, you’re bleeding.”
“What?! Was Levitsky hit?” Rue burst into both our ears over the phone.
My body finally registered how close I was to dying and collapsed.
Pain barely keeps Viktor half-conscious as Finn drags him toward safety. Chai is silent. Plans to confront the Contagion crumble the moment Kira calls in terror. Now Viktor’s fight isn’t just his own. It’s personal.
Chapter 18
The pain hit hard on the way to the hospital. I awoke in Finn’s car, him driving, convincing me to go—that I needed it. I protested. If we went to a hospital in the city, someone in the org would hear about it. So, he decided to drive south to an urgent care in northern Jersey.
The stinging in my leg eventually settled into a dull, throbbing ache that spiked with every slight movement. I kept my eyes half-lidded, focusing on my breathing. I felt everything more now that the adrenaline was gone.
“You’re not dying on me, are you, detective?” Finn asked after a while.
I opened my eyes to stare at the rolling hills. The bright city lights had already faded into a memory.
“Not yet,” I muttered.
Finn took that as his cue to turn on the radio. He switched the channels before giving up and playing some crappy Korean hip-hop—K-pop?—from his phone. I reached for the earring, feeling the cool metal out of habit. Waiting for Chai’s inevitable sarcastic comment or dramatic gasp about our escape.
Nothing.
But I could still feel him. Faint. Distant. A smoldering ember. After being beaten nearly to death, killed in Klaus’s body, then jumping back into me, he was utterly drained.
When we finally pulled into a dimly lit urgent care parking lot, Finn got out first. He went around the front of the car to open my door. “You gonna make me carry you?”
“Shut up,” I grumbled, forcing myself to move. My leg screamed in protest, but I managed to get out of the car. I leaned on Finn heavily as we made our way inside.
The waiting room was mostly empty, save for a tired-looking receptionist and an old man flipping through a magazine. Finn got me signed in, and within minutes, a nurse ushered us into a small room. Must not be a busy night for them.
I sank onto the exam table while Finn leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “So,” he said once the nurse left, “what’s the plan?”
I stared at the ceiling for a minute, realizing that I didn’t really have a plan. Not yet. “Rue said to find Anna. Then through her, we find Ben and get to the old man.”
“The Contagion...” Finn trailed off. I looked over to him. He was trembling slightly, I could see it in his fists. Was he scared, or just angry?
The room was silent for a moment, interrupted every second by the ticking of a tiny clock on the wall. I decided to say something to try to calm him. “When we find him, we’ll end this.”
“We have to kill him,” Finn blurted. A beat of silence filled the room again.
“I know,” was all I could say.
I wasn’t sure how we were going to get to The Contagion, or even Anna, but I knew one thing. If I didn’t stop them, the disease would keep spreading. “But how? That’s the question.”
“I got it—we could use you as bait,” Finn suggested.
I frowned. “And then what? Let them take me in and hope I can get close enough to the Contagion before they put a bullet in my head?”
He shifted. “Essentially. But I’ll be there too. The org still thinks I’m on their side. We could use that.”
“That won’t be enough. What about Rue? If we could get her help—”
Before I could finish, the door swung open. A doctor stepped in, clipboard in hand. A pair of glasses perched on her nose.
“Viktor Levitsky?” she asked. I nodded. “You have quite a lot of injuries,” she observed. “Let’s take a look at your leg.”
She pulled on a pair of gloves, sat on a stool, and wheeled over. I tensed as she began assessing the damage, probing around the worst of the glass wounds, but I kept quiet.
“You’re lucky,” she said after a bit. “No major arteries hit, but you’ll need stitches. And–” she chuckled “—just how did this happen?”
I looked over to Finn, panicking for a second. Then I calmed and fabricated a response, “Just dropped a bottle of liquor.”
“Yeah, he’s real clumsy. Could never shake it from his childhood,” Finn added, earning a glance from me.
The doctor sighed before getting to work, first cutting my pant leg off at the thigh. I kept my gaze on the ceiling, trying not to flinch as she stitched me up. Finn was quiet, but I could tell he was watching.
Eventually, the doctor finished, patting my uninjured knee lightly. “That should do it. Take it easy for a few days. Keep the wounds clean and change the bandages regularly.”
I nodded. “Got it.”
She stood up, turning to the door. “And by the way, try to be more careful next time.”
The door closed. I let out a slow breath, rubbing my hand over my face.
“That was fun.” Finn pushed off the wall.
“Yeah. Let’s never do it again,” I muttered. He smirked but didn’t argue.
I was about to slide off the table when my phone buzzed in my remaining pocket. I pulled it out. Kira.
I hadn’t talked to them in a week, was too busy investigating. I expected them to scold me about being distant when I picked up, but something entirely different happened. “Hello?”
Their voice came through, slightly breathless. “Viktor.” Something was wrong. I could hear it in the way they said my name.
“What happened?” I stood, ramming pain into my leg.
Kira exhaled shakily. “Someone tried to kidnap me.”
The words sent ice down my spine. “Are you safe?”
“Yeah, I–I got away. But they almost got me, Viktor.”
Finn’s gaze snapped to me, his body tensing at the shift in my expression.
“Who did it?” My voice was low, my jaw tight.
“I don’t know. I didn’t see their faces. But they knew my name. They knew where to find me.”
A cold rage settled in my chest. I had already realized that the org knew exactly who I was, but I never expected this. I never expected them to go this far. The org had tried to take Kira. That meant this wasn’t just about me anymore.
“We’re coming to you. Stay put.”
Kira hesitated. “Wait—”
“Stay put,” I repeated. I ended the call and shoved my phone back into my pocket.
When I looked up, Finn was already walking out the door. “Let’s go.”
Neither of us needed to say it. We both knew this wasn’t just a fight anymore.
This was war.
✹✹✹
The long drive to Kira’s location was more nerve-wracking than I expected. I noticed the smell of Finn’s car even more now. The old leather and cheap cologne scents filled my nose. I’ve always hated strong smells. I leaned my head against the cool window, watching the rain fall over the city.
Every second of the forty-five-minute drive felt dire, like at any moment Kira could be taken. I couldn’t stop fumbling with the exposed threads on the side of my cut-off pant leg.
Finn glanced at me, one hand on the steering wheel. “You’re quiet.”
I laughed sharply. “I’m always quiet.”
“Yeah, but usually you look like you’re gonna kill someone.”
That made me smirk, just a little. “I don’t have the energy.”
Finn drummed his fingers against the wheel. “Seriously, are you okay?”
I answered how everyone does. “I’m fine.”
✹✹✹
By the time we pulled into the emptying parking lot on Coney Island, my body had stiffened from sitting too long. I winced as I stepped out of the car. Finn got out to stand leaning against the hood, arms crossed, watching.
Kira sat on the edge of a bench near the entrance. I felt a wave of relief wash over me as soon as I saw them. I figured they must have come here because the crowd of Luna Park was a better choice than hiding out on some random street.
A red blur fluttered past me. Chai, the crow, less vivid. As he landed on Kira’s shoulder, their head snapped up, squinting in confusion. “What the hell are those pants?”
I followed their gaze down to my leg. More specifically, to the pant leg that had been cut off at the clinic. It looked ridiculous, like I had gotten into a fight with a lawnmower and lost.
Kira’s expression shifted from confusion to something closer to concern. “Wait. Are you covered in bandages?”
I shrugged. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
The white bandages wrapped around my leg blended into my skin almost perfectly. I guess I didn’t realize how pale I’d gotten since Chai possessed me. Must have been a side effect. I glanced at their shoulder, but the crow was gone.
Kira scoffed, standing up. “No, Viktor, you look like you’re about to pass out.” Their eyes flicked from my face to my exposed arms.
“Why are you so pale? Were you in a hospital?” Their voice sharpened. “You don’t have a car. How did you get here?”
I felt Finn’s gaze burning into my back, but he didn’t say anything. I sighed. “It’s complicated.”
They crossed their arms. “Oh, great. Because nothing in my life has been complicated lately.”
I exhaled, tired out of my mind, and turned towards the car. “Look, I’ll explain later. We need to leave. Now.”
They didn’t move. Their eyes darted to the car, then to Finn. “Who the hell is that?”
Finn just gave them a lazy half-smile. I ran a hand through my hair, hesitating before speaking. “That’s Finn. He’s—helping.”
Kira narrowed their eyes. “You get kidnapped or something? Blink twice if you’re being held at gunpoint.”
That almost made me laugh. “No, look—”
Kira took a step back. “Okay, nope. No way. You show up in a stranger’s car, looking like you just crawled out of a tomb, and now you want me to get in?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Kira, I don’t have time for this. We don’t have time for this. You ran here after almost getting kidnapped. You don’t have anywhere else to go.”
Kira looked between me and Finn again, then back at me. “I swear to God, if this is some weird undercover cop shit—”
I raised a hand. “I’ll explain later. In the car.”
They waited for another second before groaning loudly and stomping toward the car. “Fine. But if either of you end up pulling something insane, I will grab the wheel and crash this vehicle into the ocean.”
I turned to face the car. Finn was finally grinning. “Damn. I like them.”
I glared at him. “Don’t you dare think of hitting on my little sibling.”
✹✹✹
Once I got in the car, I glanced in the rearview mirror. Kira slid in behind me and sat with arms crossed. Next to them, Chai’s apparition slumped against the window, eyes closed, pale, fading in and out with bad reception.
I dialed the number Rue gave me.
“I can’t believe you’re alive,” Rue said when she picked up.
I exhaled. “Good to hear your voice, too.”
“Levitsky.” Her tone was sharp. “I thought you were dead.”
I looked to my bandages, then to Kira from the mirror. “Not quite.”
She let out a long breath. “What do you need?”
“A safe-house. Somewhere for me, Finn, and my sibling.”
“Three people?” She made a strange noise. “That’s pushing it.”
“I know.”
Rue cursed under her breath. “You need it immediately?”
“Yes.”
I heard something rustle on her end of the call. “Fine. But if I’m giving you a place, I’m coming too.”
I wondered why she would need the safe-house. Then I remembered she left the org. I hadn’t thought about what that might mean for her. “Won’t that be pushing it even further?”
“I’ll make it work.”
I glanced at Finn, who was watching me. He raised an eyebrow, waiting. I exhaled. “Where?”
“Come to me, then I’ll lead you there.”
She gave me an address then hung up the phone. Kira’s voice came from the backseat, confused and concerned. “Who was that?”
“Rue,” I said simply. I still needed to investigate Rue, so I decided to do that while we were on the way to her.
“Are you finally gonna tell me what the hell is going on?”
I sighed, rubbing my temples. “I made enemies. Bad ones.”
“Enemies. Yeah, that’s not gonna cut it.”
“A gang. I was investigating them. Undercover.”
Kira’s eyes were still on me. I could feel the suspicion radiating off of them. I guess that was a family trait. “That doesn’t explain why you look like you got thrown in a blender.”
“Things got messy.”
Kira let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Wouldn’t have guessed. How does Finn figure into this then?”
Finn, to my surprise, answered before I could. “I work with the gang. Well, not really.”
Kira sighed. “And you trust him?”
“...Yes,” I confirmed with my own sigh.
“This is insane.”
I didn’t disagree.
The conversation died out after that, so I started digging, first with Zoe’s dossier I had saved on my phone. Nothing. I texted Zoe for info while we traveled.
✹✹✹
We met up with Rue. She was in a matte black Jeep.
“Where’s the bike?” I asked.
“It won’t make it up the rough road to the safe-house, and I needed more... gear.”
We followed in silence—the night’s events had exhausted everyone. Eventually, the city lights faded, replaced by dark trees. The road narrowed, twisting into gravel paths.
Finn slowed the car. A cabin sat at the end of the road, quaint, hidden between the trees. It was the kind of place that no one would find unless they were looking for it.
We got out and walked up to the Jeep.
“This,” Rue said, stretching as she stepped out, “is your new home.”
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