by Heather Karn
The team gathered on the sidewalk next to a large apartment building. A small canopy, like people set up over patios during the summer, had been erected beside the building’s front door, and several officers in uniform milled about, some searching through papers, others on the phone, and one stood over a table peering at what appeared to be a map of the city. Raven led our approach, and when the officer glanced up, his slightly flushed cheeks drained of color. This had to be the chief. He was thinner than the dead man I’d met last night, and his clothes were far too large. Had he lost too much weight recently?
“What’re we looking at?” Raven asked the police chief, skipping small talk, when we were all gathered around the area they were using as a headquarters for the operation.
“The kits went missing sometime in the middle of the night,” the man began, but stopped when Raven lifted a hand.
“Kits? You told me there was only one.”
The chief fidgeted, his face taking on a sheepish, and nervous, expression. “Well, we were just notified that two more kits are missing. Likely they ran off together.”
“Or were kidnapped,” Raven bit out. “How are you just finding out? Do the families of the other missing children live here?”
“Well, yes.”
“Then why weren’t they interviewed?”
“We’re stretched thin and have been out searching for them.”
Raven turned to Avery, his scowl chilling me. “Call Jonas and have his team come help us. Either we do have three children roaming the streets, and possibly the dumpsters together, or they’ve been kidnapped. I want this treated with the highest priority.” He turned back to the chief. “Do you have anything with the kits’ scent on it?”
“Now why would I have that? My squad here is only human.”
The chief’s eyes widened when Raven took a step toward him, towering over the man as his mood darkened further. I could see how my trainer had made people wet their pants. The chief’s legs had to be shaking.
“You called in my team. Half of us smell as well as a bloodhound. That’s why you should have called us in earlier.”
“Okay,” the man stammered, before turning to an officer who’d just walked out of the apartment building. “Carl, go get a scent sample from the kits’ parents.”
“Which kit?”
“Any of them,” Raven growled through clenched teeth, his hands white knuckled as he gripped the flimsy card table holding the city map.
The officer took one look at Raven and ran back into the building. The fiery rage simmering under the surface made Raven appear more like a dormant volcano ready to erupt as he stood straight and set his fisted hands on his hips. The chief fought not to squirm under the captain’s hard stare until Raven returned to our group where we stood several yards away. Avery ended his call and walked back to us.
“Jonas’s team is on their way. They’ll be here in twenty minutes. Apparently there’s been an accident on the fastest route so they have to go around it.” Avery tucked his phone into his back pocket as his eyes scanned the area. “You want to calm down and give us our orders so we’re ready when we have the scent?”
Avery was likely the only person alive who could talk that way to Raven and survive. And not only survive, but have his direction followed by the captain. Raven took a deep, steadying breath and some of the fire left his eyes. Not nearly enough, but he didn’t appear ready to blow up in the next second. Maybe three.
“Koda, what do you think we should do?” Raven asked me, his bright eyes unreadable as he stared at me. My mind went blank in a heartbeat and I fought not to stutter as the team turned their collective gazes on me.
“I don’t understand,” I murmured. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand his directive, but the why behind it.
A flash of annoyance crossed Raven’s face before he masked it. “You have vast knowledge in that head, but it’s useless if you don’t use it as more than an encyclopedia. We need you to be street smart as well as book smart. Use the information stored in your mind, and take as long as you need, but I should remind you that we are also short on time.”
The way he worded his direction stung. It sounded more like an insult than helpful. But he was also right, and that hurt worse. With everyone still staring, I closed my eyes to block them out as I opened up the pool of knowledge in my head.
We already had enough shifters and magic users. If any one of them had any ideas of how they could be anymore help besides sniffing out the kits or knowing what spell to use, they would’ve already suggested it. They knew the regular routine. It was up to me to find a loophole.
That meant digging into my knowledge of the Others. Several popped to mind right away, but I shoved them to the bottom of the list. Teleporters were useless without an actual destination to arrive at and mind readers couldn’t help us without a person who knew what happened to the kits. Other species were just as useless in our situation.
Gritting my teeth, I kept ticking through the pages of our textbook that had discussed the Others. The problem was, there were so many varieties that not all of them were listed. I wouldn’t give up, though. One of them had to be in a position to help us.
A gasp left my lips when the perfect supernatural came to mind, but like the previous options, I squashed it. They were so rare, having one on hand or even knowing where one was would be highly unlikely. Impossible, even.
“What?” Raven growled when I remained silent. Too bad I’d given myself away.
“It’s nothing. Stupid probably,” I muttered, keeping my eyes closed as I repeated the list, searching through the pages in my mind for another option. “Highly unlikely.”
“Stupid and highly unlikely are better than not having a scent and waiting for the next team to arrive. Talk. Now.”
The order, and the tone that went along with it, left little doubt in my mind that if I didn’t spill something now, the volcano would explode. And this time, it would be aimed at me.
“A Stalker.” When everyone remained quiet, I opened my eyes to stare at them.
Shannon was chewing her lip, deep in thought while Avery and Raven were staring at one another, holding a private conversation that only they could read. Lee was too busy bouncing his attention from everyone in the group as even Luella contemplated my words.
“But it’s no use,” I piped in when they remained quiet. “You’d have to know one, or where to find them. Most hide from the world and rarely come out of their holes.”
“Then it’s a good thing we know where a hole is,” Raven finally murmured, his voice so quiet it wouldn’t have carried past our group. My eyes shot to his, but I knew better than to speak. After a few seconds, Raven continued. “Avery, call Jonas back. His team has lead here. We’re going hole hunting.”
A grin split Avery’s lips as he dug his cellphone out of the back pocket of his pants again. Slipping away, he spoke to Jonas in a soft voice no one else would hear. That didn’t concern me. Raven knew a Stalker? Then again, that shouldn’t have surprised me. He was Raven after all.
“Someone want to explain to me what’s going on?” Lee grumbled, crossing his arms as his trainer returned, still wearing his smile.
“Yes, my trainee,” Avery chuckled, slapping Lee on the back. “We’re climbing back in the truck so Koda can chauffer us around some more.”
His words sunk in. We’d been parked there for less than ten minutes. Likely less than five, even, and now I was having to drive away.
Next time, I was finding a pull through parking space.
Chapter 10
“Koda, why don’t you tell your brother what a Stalker is?” Raven grumbled after we’d been on the road for three minutes and were already caught in heavy traffic from the same accident Jonas was trying to avoid. It wasn’t my fault we weren’t using the GPS. Instead, we were using Raven’s directions. Those didn’t account for traffic.
“A Stalker is like a tracker, only far scarier,” I murmured. “With one touch they can find
any person that you’ve ever touched, as in they’ll know exactly where they are in the world. You can’t hide from them. Plus, once they’ve touched you, they won’t have to retouch you to find the person, or anyone else. They could touch you and then ten years later still find your best friend’s cousin’s girlfriend who you accidentally bumped into at some random wedding and your arms barely brushed.”
“Well, that’s terrifying.” Even I could hear Lee swallow.
“So is your lack of supernatural knowledge,” Raven grumbled. “Avery, besides physical training, he needs a good dose of studying in his daily routine.”
“Yes, Captain.” Avery didn’t sound the least bit happy. I doubted anything studious entertained him, just like my brother. It would likely be torture for both of them, but necessary for Lee.
After we managed to find a backway around the worst of the traffic jam, Raven continued giving me verbal directions. It wasn’t until he had me turn off the main highway onto a street I knew for sure led to the older, more rundown side of town that a knot tightened in my stomach. I’d known going into the Elite program that I’d likely have to venture to the rough side of town, any town, but that didn’t make me feel any more at ease having to do it now. Human dangers were the least of my worries here. At least it was broad daylight so the worst of the creatures lurking in the rundown, windowless buildings would stay hidden.
“Park in that lot,” Raven directed, pointing to an empty, grassy lot beside the pot hole infested road. If it could be called a road. When I pulled in parallel to the street, Raven groaned and rubbed his temples. “Back in so that in case we run into trouble, we don’t have to back up or pull a U-turn to get out of here.”
“Do you want to drive?” I screeched at him, thumping the wheel, completely fed up with the stress of driving and his orders. It likely wasn’t my best or smartest move, but after the ghoul incident, it wasn’t my stupidest.
“Back. In.” Raven directed, his words choppy and his magenta eyes almost glowed.
“Yes, Captain.”
Checking traffic, I pulled back out onto the road, perpendicular to it, and reversed so that we faced what had to be an abandoned hardware store. Most of its windows were shattered, but a few were still intact. The painted sign was too faded and peeled to read, and grass grew up around the building and in the cracks of the uneven sidewalk. Turning the SUV off, I waited for instructions, the ones beginning with “Stay here.”
Raven unbuckled himself and turned to the rest of the car. “Koda and I will go find the Stalker. The rest of you stay here, and do not get out unless it’s an emergency. Avery will be in charge while I’m gone. Don’t do anything stupid.” He shot Luella a hard stare, and she responded by flashing him a sweet smile. Rolling his eyes, Raven grabbed his door handle and muttered, “Let’s go.”
I couldn’t believe it. He was taking me with him. I’d thought if anyone, he’d take Avery and I’d be confined to the driver’s seat, once again waiting for his return. Either he didn’t think we’d run into trouble, or he guessed I could handle whatever came at me from the buildings in broad daylight. Then again, he could probably protect both of us using the long knives he had attached to both thighs. He carried a few more weapons out in the open, but I wasn’t stupid to think those were the only ones he carried.
After handing the keys back to Avery in case of an emergency, I climbed from the SUV and made my way around it and jogged to catch up to Raven. He’d already begun his steady stride down the sidewalk on our side of the street. Reaching him, I slowed to fall into step beside him. He barely acknowledged me while his eyes scanned the street ahead and the buildings on either side of us.
We turned down a side street which was lined on both sides with dilapidated houses. Most of the windows were intact and doors were closed. Yet, the curtains were open and inside the houses was too dark to see much beyond the windows. A crawling sensation started from the small of my back, climbing up my spine with the knowledge I was being watched. I tried not to be obvious, but compared to Raven’s steady gaze, I likely looked like a paranoid seagull.
Finally, I couldn’t take the quiet anymore. Everything around us was too still and silent. And I had questions that needed answered.
“Can I ask a stupid question?”
Raven’s voice was dry as he continued scanning, stuffing his hands in his pockets, trying to act as casual as an Elite on duty could appear. “You can ask.”
“You just may or may not answer.”
“Correct.”
“If you know a Stalker, why didn’t you just go find him in the first place?”
Raven ran a hand through his hair as he pivoted into a dilapidated yard. The once bright yellow house was more of a disgusting mustard color, and it needed its roof replaced. Its appearance didn’t stop Raven from his steady approach. “I try not to use him as often as I can. It’s dangerous for him and for us if he helps with every situation we encounter. There are those who will do anything at all to acquire a Stalker, and most Stalkers are so afraid of the outside world that they can’t physically defend themselves.”
“So then why are we using him now? Maybe I’m wrong, but are finding these kits so important to you that you’d use your Stalker source to find them?”
“What do you think?”
“I think if you wanted to use your source, we would’ve come straight here.”
“You’re right. I wasn’t planning on using him, but you’re the one who mentioned a Stalker. You came up with an idea I didn’t think you would, so call this a reward.”
Arching an eyebrow, I stared up at him when his voice turned almost jovial. “You’re rewarding me for coming up with the idea of a Stalker? But you already knew it was possible.”
“Yes, but you didn’t. Most people don’t even know they exist, or they don’t care to acknowledge they exist. The knowledge of what they can do is terrifying to most creatures, so they would rather not think about them.”
It made sense. “So, what’s my reward?”
He motioned me forward. “Knock.”
My reward was to knock on the door? Without asking for clarification, or hesitating so I wouldn’t irritate my trainer, I raised my fist and rapped on the door. I could feel Raven’s eyes on me, but I tried to change my focus from him to what I could hear inside. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“Raven, I have a question,” I murmured, continuing to stare at the door.
“Ask.”
“Can a Stalker see people a person touches after the original person is touched?”
“Do you mean can this Stalker know where you are now that we’ve touched? No. He would’ve had to touch me since you and I touched to know where you are, and he likely won’t try to touch you, but accidents happen. Be careful not to touch him. The fewer people a Stalker touches, the better.”
Narrowing my gaze at Raven, I asked, “So, he’s touched you?”
“Once. A long time ago.”
“Is he even home?”
“Just wait. He’ll open up soon.”
We waited another five minutes, but the door remained shut. I’d taken to staring around at our surroundings so that nothing, or no one, could sneak up behind us. Raven was as calm as I’d ever seen him. After a few minutes, he changed positions to lean against the door frame and tucked his head down to block the sun from his eyes. His pale skin could probably use the daylight, but then again, he might receive a nasty sunburn if he was anything like me, so I kept my exposed skin away from the sun as best as I could.
When I was ready to march myself back to the SUV, the doorknob jiggled. My breath caught in my throat as anticipation boiled through my veins. It was all I could do to keep from hopping on the balls of my feet at the idea of meeting such a rare Other.
“Hand,” a mild tenor voice with a light accent ordered when the door cracked open, a security chain near the top still latched to the doorframe.
“Not today, Louis,” Raven drawled, keeping his head down. “You know who
this is.”
“Yes, but not the girl.”
Raven turned, placing his face inches from the door’s opening. It would be so easy for Louis to stick his hand out and graze Raven’s cheek. All it took was a touch. Hands were easiest, but any exposed skin was free game. Then again, I wouldn’t want to touch Raven without permission, and it didn’t appear Louis wanted to as well.
“She’s with me, and I trust her more than I trust you. Grab a hoodie and your gloves. We have a job for you.”
“Compensation.” It wasn’t a question, but more of a statement for information. This would almost seem like an illegal dealing if not for Louis’s quivering voice.
“The usual, plus ten percent to put a rush on it. There’s a time frame.”
“Fifteen percent. The sun is still up.”
“Twenty percent to be out of here in two minutes.” Raven quirked a grin at me when the door closed in his face. One minute later, it opened to reveal a tall human shape hidden under a large, black hoodie with the hood tied tight around his face, thick leather gloves, and a dark pair of jeans without a single area of wear. No skin was exposed.
I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t stop myself. For the last ten years I’d studied about supernatural creatures, and I’d met so many, but they were common shifters and magic users. To meet one of the rarest supernaturals of them all was something I should’ve put on my bucket list. Okay, tonight it was going on the list and then being crossed off.
“Let’s go,” Raven stated before he pushed himself off the doorframe. We’d all taken not two steps before he stopped and placed himself in front of Louis, who stopped as suddenly as Raven had. “Under no circumstances will you touch Koda. None. I will have your head if you do.”
Predatory Raven was back, and this time even I shivered. Louis nodded, his hoodie bobbing. “I understand.”
Raven and I boxed Louis in as we headed down the street. Like our way in, I could feel eyes on us, but I didn’t see anyone. It unnerved me to no end that people could hide that well.
