The Watcher (Crossing Realms Book 2)

by Rebecca E. Neely

  Silently, Meda wiped the warm stickiness from her cheek, stared at her fingers. Her temples throbbed.

  “Has this ever happened before?” he demanded.

  “No. But I’m okay,” she croaked. “Because of you. And your clan.” By degrees, she regained clarity, and cleared her throat. “It makes sense. The dark energy. Jordan’s. And Haenus’. His memories. All powerful.” She shifted in Dev’s embrace, and he set her gently on her feet.

  “Powerful,” she repeated, locking eyes with him. With an arm around her, they turned as one toward the desk.

  The Betrayer sat, unmoving, her eyes closed, chin drooping against her chest.

  The stone glittered under the fluorescents.

  Black as jet.

  Meda’s pulse pounded.

  Similitude.

  CHAPTER 35

  In the alley adjacent to the warehouse the brood had been spying on for days, Abel crouched in the shadows, fully healed, only hours after the Keepers’ attack. All that the city was eager to rid itself of hung trapped in the humid night air, assaulting his honed Betrayer’s sense of smell. From the odor of industrial waste streams to the stench of garbage, to a host of negative human emotions.

  Kemp stooped beside him. “Why would Jordan turn on us?” he asked, wounded.

  If you want to see Jordan alive, come to the warehouse.

  The bitch’s name mocked him, driving home Dev’s invasion of Abel’s Vista. I may have given us away, through my own weakness. He would never forgive himself for that. But the story he’d devised around her would work. Not only to permanently sever ties with her, but to cover his own ass about why they were really here.

  “That has to remain between us. If the other brood members knew . . .” Purposely, Abel trailed off, allowing Kemp to fill in the devastating blanks. “Her father would be crushed, the gods rest his soul. We must remain united. This isn’t a rescue mission. It’s damage control.”

  “I can’t believe . . . does Magpie know?”

  The shadows hid Abel’s expression, carved in stone. “She’s the one who first found out,” he said, desperately trying to reject the image of Magpie. Smiling up at him as they strolled through Market Square. Singing, off key.

  Instead, he conjured his own images. Of her sharing shy glances with Kemp, when she thought he wasn’t looking. Of her combat boot hitting the floor as he choked her.

  And the seeds of sorrow and regret evaporated.

  For all he knew, Magpie and Jordan had been in cahoots.

  Jordan. He glowered into the night. The brood’s weakest link had refused to die.

  Tonight, he hoped the Keepers would take care of that for him.

  And yield him the fruits of their labor. Fruit that would guarantee his safe passage when he crossed realms.

  Tonight.

  Where Haenus had failed, Abel would emerge victorious. And lead his brood into a new age.

  “We have two goals,” Abel snapped. “Snatch the human, and eliminate Jordan.” If it came to it, it’d be poetic justice to have Kemp murder the woman Magpie called a daughter. With any luck, it’d break him, and he’d become pliable. Abel rested an arm on Kemp’s shoulder. “I know it’ll be hard on you.”

  Kemp glanced nervously from Abel’s hand to the warehouse. “What about the Flint? What if they have more?”

  “Then we fight.” Either way, Abel wouldn’t be around to see how it played out.

  He aimed a glance at the car they’d parked a block away. Macen and Ramsey emerged from the darkness and took their places.

  Adrenaline coursed through him. His blood hummed in his ears. “Everyone clear on the plan?”

  “Dammit, Abel,” Macen whispered fiercely. “There must be another way to get Jordan back. We’re walking into an ambush.”

  The words were no sooner out of his mouth when the loading dock doors rolled open.

  And the scent of energy, dark and achingly familiar, greeted them.

  In the shadows, Dev crouched on the east side of the warehouse, his back flat against the building, the heat of the brick and cement permeating his skin.

  Meda knelt alongside him, her every muscle poised to spring into action, same as him. The Similitude they’d created was safely tucked in her pocket.

  Abel sauntered onto the loading dock, feet from where they hid, flanked by Kemp and one of the brood he’d seen at the salvage yard. Macen.

  Mosquitoes swarmed the dusk to dawn lights on the dock. Humidity hung, cloying and thick. Lightning flickered in the distance, illuminating the cityscape for a split second.

  Nick spoke, and Dev pictured him, Curtis on one side, Saxon on his other. “No one needs to die today. We’re willing to negotiate. For the release of your brood member.”

  “Negotiate what?” Abel sputtered. “For me to call off this war? Because that’s what you’ve got, Keeper. I’ll tell you what I’m willing to negotiate. You give me all the Similitude you’ve created, and the human who helped. And I won’t kill all of you.” Planting his feet wide, he folded his arms across his chest. “And one other thing. Where’s Geary? We’ve some business to settle.”

  Silence, dark and endless, melded with the night and the storm, primed to unleash its fury.

  Finally, Nick spoke, his voice barely audible. “You asked for this. Not me.”

  The stillness erupted in cursing, shouts, and the crack of punches connecting with their targets.

  Don’t look back. Wasn’t that the last thing Nick had told him?

  The cries of those being drained by Flint and Similitude, as Keeper faced off against Betrayer, rang in his ears.

  Dev spun to face Meda. “I can’t leave them,” he whispered. “And I can’t run away from this fight.”

  “You’re not running away. You’re doing the best thing you can, for everyone. We have to get to the network,” she argued.

  “I know,” he said quickly, memories of the salvage yard hammering at him.

  She studied him in the darkness. “What can I do?”

  “Hide,” he told her, loving her for being unquestioningly accepting and supporting. “Under the loading dock.” He dug in his pocket. “Here’s the key to my bike.” At the motel, she’d told him she knew how to ride. And he didn’t doubt it for a moment. He counted himself a lucky man. “Just in case.”

  Before she could respond, he leapt from his hiding place and streaked through the night toward the loading dock, the gravel crunching beneath his boots.

  Five yards away.

  Four.

  Three.

  He sensed, more than heard, movement. To his left. A shadow.

  “Dev!” Meda screamed.

  Pain exploded in his leg and he tumbled to the ground.

  “Back off with the Flint,” Ramsey shouted. “If anyone tries to fight us, the human gets it.”

  The tip of the Betrayer’s knife nicked Meda’s throat. She sucked in a breath, pain and fear one hideous sensation.

  “Excellent, Ramsey,” Abel boomed. “Where’s Geary?”

  Ramsey chuckled, and Meda’s skin chilled. “On his face in the street. Dying, I imagine.” With a casual grace that sickened her, she tossed something to Abel.

  Dev’s Vitality stone.

  She had to get to him.

  He would die without it. The way he almost did as a boy.

  Catching it, Abel held it out for all to see. He clucked his tongue. “Not good to be without that, is it?” He turned to Macen, who corralled Nick, Curtis and Saxon. “Come to think of it, the human can lift them all for us. On your knees,” he barked at the Keepers.

  “No,” Meda whimpered.

  “Do it,” Ramsey threatened. With her knife’s point neatly wedged in the soft flesh of Meda’s neck, Ramsey dragged her
toward Nick, Curtis, and Saxon. “Give them to her.”

  “I’m sorry,” Meda cried. Her knees nearly buckled as they removed their stones and handed them to her. Nick met her eyes, his stare resolute, silently ordering her to do what they said.

  “Shut up, human.” Ramsey slid the knife beneath the strap around Meda’s neck. Her Vitality stone dropped into the bitch’s hand.

  Abel paced, then stopped suddenly in front of Meda. “Now. Hand over the Similitude you just created. It’s in your pocket, isn’t it?” He winked. “I scented it as soon as I arrived. Good work.”

  Meda struggled in Ramsey’s arms. “Go to hell.”

  He leaned in, patted her cheek. “Do it, or I’ll have her give you a scar to match this one. And worse.”

  Shaking, Meda commanded herself to reach into her pocket and hand over the spoils. She curled her fingers into fists. Hadn’t Dev told her Vitality stones were difficult to separate from their owners? Hadn’t she herself experienced it? It had to be the dark energy of the Similitude. In the blink of an eye, it seemed, they’d all been rendered helpless.

  The Keepers had already done battle, and they were likely weakened as a result. How long can they last without their Vitality stones? Nausea threatened. Being drained by Similitude was one thing. Having one’s life force stolen was another.

  Abel nodded toward Ramsey, who kept her knife on Meda. “Take her back to the shelter. She can be of use to us. Drain the Keepers. Make sure they’re dead. And find out where Haenus’ stone is. Kemp.” He waved a hand in the direction of the office. “Take care of business.”

  His eyes darting between Abel and the Keepers, Kemp hurried to the office. In under a minute, he returned, his face pale. “It’s done, Master,” he said, his voice rough. “And no stone that I could see. But we’ll keep looking.”

  Abel nodded. “I’ll be sure to give the Watchers your regards.” Saluting them briefly, he sprinted toward the loading dock and into the night.

  Macen turned to Ramsey. “He didn’t say how to kill them. Would you prefer to shoot them, or gut them?”

  The corners of Ramsey’s lips curled. “How about a little of both?” she purred.

  One section of the overhead lighting flickered, and blacked out.

  “What the hell?” Ramsey whipped her head around, loosening her grip on Meda. Without hesitation, Meda reared back and punched the Betrayer in the stomach. She’d won the advantage, if only for a moment.

  Charging headlong into the warehouse, Meda raced to where Nick, Saxon and Curtis lay, motionless.

  Please let them be alive.

  Feet pounded the floor behind her.

  She threw a look over her shoulder.

  A bed flew through the air, slammed into Ramsey, and knocked her to the ground.

  Covering her head, Meda screamed.

  His aim was pretty accurate for having no Vitality stone and his leg slashed open.

  Dev stood on the loading dock, focused, channeling all the energy in his possession. And sent the other bed, then the refrigerator sailing into Macen and Kemp as they tried to retreat. Both crumpled to the ground.

  Stumbling forward, he did the same. “Meda,” he cried.

  Charging him, she threw her arms around him. He glowered at the cut on her neck, the blood staining her tank top.

  “Dev! I was terrified you were dead. He took their Vitality stones.” Frantically, she gestured to the fallen Keepers.

  “Hurry,” he gasped. “There’s more in the office. In the safe. I don’t travel anywhere these days without some spares.”

  She raced to the prefab structure and back again, armed with the stones. Between the two of them, they channeled energy to the others.

  Minutes passed. Slowly, they rose. Nick coughed. “Thank you. Both of you.” Curtis and Saxon grunted their appreciation. “We’re not a hundred percent. We will be soon.”

  Meda sank to the floor next to Dev, clasping his hands. For several moments, she channeled Vitality energy to him. It sluiced through him. Like Nick, he wasn’t fully restored, but he would be. In the meantime, the gash on the back of his thigh had stopped bleeding.

  She pulled him close, kissed him. “How did you do that?” she asked, pointing in amazement to the overturned beds and the refrigerator.

  “Keepers are able to use energy in its many forms,” he said, exhausted as if he’d pushed a piano up forty flights of stairs. He stood, with Meda helping him to his feet. “Using it to move objects isn’t something we do all the time. It depletes our store of energy quicker than anything else we do.”

  “Ramsey stole your Vitality stone. And on top of that, you’re hurt. How are you all right?”

  “Partly because I’ve been powered down for hours, I kept a store of energy in reserve. And my connection with you and the clan. Mostly, it’s because I’m a Watcher.” He knew that truth in his bones. “In their realm, I didn’t wear a Vitality stone, since the quarry was so close by. Maybe some of that rubbed off on me here.”

  “Dev.” Nick hobbled toward him. “Speaking of the quarry. The network is down. He only has about a ten-minute head start. You have to cross realms before he does,” he urged. “No pressure.”

  Dev bumped fists with Nick, then Curtis, and Saxon. “Guess I’ll be seeing you.”

  Nick yanked him into an embrace. “Later.”

  “You’re not driving. I have the key, remember?” Hustling outside, his leg throbbing, Dev and Meda climbed on the bike. She donned a helmet and fired up the cycle. “Just tell me where to go.”

  Meda sped along city streets, bridges, her loose hair streaming behind her in the night air. Dev kept a firm grip around her waist, leaning in perfect time with her, turn after turn, mile after mile.

  A light turned yellow ahead of them, and she gunned the engine, roaring through.

  As they passed the Methodist Church about two miles from the Keepers’ network, he spotted a familiar Chevy, its battered blue weaving in and around traffic. Lightning cracked, followed by a sonic boom of thunder.

  “Abel,” he shouted.

  Nodding, Meda shifted gears, testing the Harley’s speed. And it responded.

  She gained on him steadily, till they were neck and neck. Gunning the bike, she edged in front of him, with Abel a hair’s breadth away for the next mile. Downshifting, she maneuvered city streets, following the shortcuts Dev shouted out. Roaring up Willoughby Avenue, she jerked the bike to a halt in front of Sean and Charlotte’s house. They jumped off.

  Sean, Charlotte, and Libby flew out of the house and onto the porch.

  “Nick phoned us to tell us you were on your way,” Libby cried.

  Sean gripped Dev’s arm. “Let’s go!”

  “Meda, come with me.” Charlotte steered her toward the front door, her long braid swinging behind her.

  Meda whipped her head around just as Sean and Dev sped across the street and into the neighbor’s backyard.

  The skies opened up. Torrents of rain lashed the neighborhood.

  A car fishtailed, its tires squealing at the bottom of Willoughby Avenue.

  Abel.

  They had only seconds.

  Dev turned and faced her for a split moment, lightning illuminating his face clearly.

  Behind her, Meda heard the front door swing open. Charlotte dragged her through it.

  “I love you,” Meda shouted.

  To the night. And an empty yard.

  CHAPTER 36

  Surrounded by a paradise of color, Dev sat on top of the mountain he’d climbed only days ago. Instead of a challenge to be conquered, a chance to be ‘between the inches,’ it now served as a haven to think and reflect. He would have closed his eyes, but then he could only see Meda’s face. And hear her parting words to him, as he crossed realms.

>   I love you.

  Digging his fingers into the ground, he crumbled it in his hands.

  Eons could pass and he would never forget her face. Her voice. Her bravery.

  “You have succeeded.”

  Dev didn’t turn around. “Mataeus.” He paused. “I don’t know if I’d agree with that.”

  “Look around. Mists do not surround our realm, like before.”

  Dev marveled at that, as he had before when he’d crossed. Rising, he faced Mataeus. “How is that possible? You chose to channel the energy to me. To shut it down.”

  “Both your presence in the human realm, and your early return, helped save us.”

  “I’m deeply grateful for that. But how have I succeeded otherwise? The Betrayers stole what we created.”

  “Material things can be replaced. Knowledge, wisdom, experiences, cannot. And the Flint is a good start.” The old Watcher paused. “You have also failed.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The conditions. You have disobeyed every one of them.”

  Dev lifted a shoulder, prepared to accept the consequences. “I made mistakes.”

  “Yes. You did.” Mataeus spread his hands. “You have also honored every one of the conditions. By finding strength in your weakness. You faced your childhood fears. You sought revenge, you didn’t allow it to conquer you. You refused to allow your guilt to rule you. You have begun to heal, both because of your character, and because of Meda.”

  Instantly, Dev’s heart ached at the mention of her name. But Mataeus’ praise stunned him, and he clasped the old man’s hand in his. “Thank you.”

  Mataeus nodded. “I chose you to return to the human realm because I knew you would take the risks that needed to be taken. However, you did it in a way that esteems you. Your clan. And us. You put everyone ahead of yourself. You came back, two days early, to save all of them. You have learned lessons there that you never would have here, in our realm.”