Keeper

by Kim Chance

  I tried to pull my arm out of his grasp, but the man growled, tightening his grip. With my other hand free, I yanked the dagger from my waistband and, with the last bit of strength I had, rammed it into his gut.

  Blood sprayed from the wound, and the Scavenger screamed, releasing me.

  Circulation returned to my arm, and I cried out from the pain of it. I staggered backward, clutching the bloody dagger in my hand. The Scavenger was doubled over, his hand clenching at the wound as blood ran down his fingers.

  The dagger was shaking in my hand, but I gripped it tighter and lunged at the Scavenger, angling it upward toward his throat.

  The tip was inches from driving home when the Scavenger twisted at the last second, the dagger slicing his cheek and jawline instead.

  With a roar, he leapt at me. One hand clamped around my throat while the other pried the dagger from my fingertips. He tossed it on the ground and roared again, rivulets of blood dripping down his face. The gash, from hairline to jaw, was deep, but looked like it was already beginning to heal.

  “Stupid bitch!” he spat, both hands now at my throat. He growled and pressed his fingers deeper into my skin. I clawed at his hands, desperate for air. My chest was on fire, and I couldn’t see anything but a swirl of black and red.

  Just as I was about to lose consciousness, I heard a warlike cry, and Ty was there, his face contorted with rage. He slammed into my captor, driving his fist into the man’s face. There was a loud crunch, followed by another spray of blood that spattered over my face. The Scavenger screeched in pain and released me. I dropped to the ground like deadweight, choking and coughing.

  Ty leapt on the man’s back and wrapped his arms around the Scavenger’s head, entrapping him in a tight headlock. The man was transforming again, his features snarling and snapping. But then it was over—the muscles in Ty’s arms tensing as he jerked the Scavenger’s head to the side with a sickening snap.

  The body hit the ground. The body of another Scavenger, the one with short hair, lay a few feet away. The third was nowhere to be seen. Ty was panting, and blood poured from the split knuckles on one of his hands. Another trail of blood dripped down his face from a cut above his eyes, but that appeared to be his most serious injury.

  I was frozen on the ground, numb and unable to move.

  “Lainey?” Ty knelt down, inching toward me the way one would approach a wounded animal. He reached out a hand. “It’s over now.”

  His fingertips grazed my cheek, and I launched myself at him, nearly knocking him over.

  He groaned, but wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly. “I’ve got you.”

  The warmth of his skin and the beating of his heart beneath my cheek brought tears to my eyes. I blinked them away, but gripped him tighter.

  I closed my eyes, only to jerk them open a second later. “Maggie!” I wrenched myself away from Ty and stumbled to where Maggie lay unmoving in the grass.

  “Maggie, can you hear me?” I tried to shake her awake.

  “Looks like she hit her head,” Ty said, examining her.

  “Will she be okay?”

  “I think so, but we should get her somewhere she can rest.” He gingerly scooped Maggie into his arms. “Come on, before anyone notices us.”

  I picked up my dagger, wiping it on the grass, and followed Ty.

  People were starting to flood the parking lot. Given the general scene of mayhem that surrounded the corn maze, no one had seemed to witness the fight in the parking lot. My head was pounding and my limbs were like lead, but I forced myself to focus on Ty’s back, to keep moving.

  By the time we made it to the car, my last ounce of energy had evaporated, and I slumped against the cool metal of the door, gripping the handle to keep from toppling over. After laying Maggie in the backseat, Ty helped me inside and ran around to throw himself into the driver’s seat, slamming the keys into the ignition. The back tires squealed on the gravel road as he tore out of the parking lot and onto the dark road.

  My eyelids drooped despite my best efforts, and the gentle hum of the engine and the movement of the car as it sped down the road were making it difficult to stay awake. Every cell in my body was depleted, and even though I knew we weren’t out of the woods yet, the only thing I could focus on was how much I wanted to close my eyes. Instead I forced my mind to go through the ordeal again, frame by frame. Now that the shock was wearing off, the details were crystal clear.

  “He got away, didn’t he?” I finally asked. “The third Scavenger.”

  “Yes,” Ty answered, his voice strained. “He was a Shifter, and he kept changing form. I thought I had him, but then that one in the hat had his hands on you and I . . .” His cheeks turned pink. I wasn’t sure if it was from embarrassment or guilt.

  “We’re alive,” I said, reaching over to squeeze his shoulder. “That’s what matters here, okay?”

  Ty nodded, but the muscles in his back were still tight under my hand.

  “We should probably get off the main road,” he said, his eyes flitting to the surrounding area. “He may still be tracking us.”

  “What about Maggie? Should we take her to the hospital?”

  “Serena’s place is probably safer.” Ty leaned over and trailed a gentle finger down my sore neck. “Too many questions at a hospital.”

  I nodded, but a thought struck me and I gasped. “Serena!”

  “What?”

  I didn’t answer. I pulled my purse into my lap and starting digging around for my cell phone. “Why didn’t Serena warn us that the Scavengers were so close? Her vision would’ve changed, right?” I glanced over at Ty, whose face had paled.

  “Yes,” he answered. “She would’ve seen it. So why didn’t she call?”

  I stared at the phone in my hand. “She did.”

  I flipped the phone over so he could see the screen. Twenty-five missed calls. “I must have accidentally put it on silent,” I whispered as a feeling of dread washed over me, but then an icon in the top left-hand corner of the phone caught my attention. “She left voice mails.”

  With a shaky hand, I pressed the voice mail button and placed the phone against my ear. The first few voice mails were what I expected, Serena urging me to call her back. But as the voice mails progressed, Serena’s tone grew more and more frantic. By the time I got to the last one—left only a few moments ago—I felt like I was going to throw up.

  I listened carefully and hung up the phone.

  “What did she say? Lainey, what is it?”

  I gripped my cell phone tightly as though it were the only thing keeping me anchored to earth. “The vision changed,” I whispered, my voice eerily calm. “Serena saw me die.”

  “I still think we should take you to the hospital.”

  Maggie plucked a fresh ice pack from the table and applied it gingerly to the knot on the back of her head. “No way. I’m fine. Just a bad headache. I promise, I’m okay.”

  “You really scared me back there,” I said, trying not to yell. “What were you thinking? Jumping on that guy’s back like that, huh? He could’ve killed you!”

  “He could’ve killed you. I wasn’t going to let that happen.” Maggie reached over and squeezed my hand. “We’re in this together, remember?”

  “Like Batman and Robin?”

  Maggie grinned. “See? Now you’re catching on, Styles.”

  I reached over and hugged Maggie’s shoulders. “Seriously, though, if you do that again, you might just find a few of your precious comic books with pages missing.”

  “You wouldn’t!”

  “Wanna bet?” I smiled but fixed my eyes on Maggie’s face. “Maggie, you have to promise me that you won’t take unnecessary risks me for me, okay? Things are going to get dangerous—more than they already have been. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  “You’re not getting rid of me
that easily.”

  I started to protest, but Maggie clamped a hand over my mouth. “Like I said, you’re my best friend, Lainey, and we do this together. I’ll be more careful, I promise.”

  “I know you will, but it’s not a good idea. If something happens to—”

  “Together, Styles. Batman and Robin. You and me.” Maggie’s face was set in a determined line, and I’d seen that look before—I was more likely to convince a mule to take a bubble bath than talk Maggie into leaving.

  “Fine. Batman and Robin.” I sighed. “Now, will you please lie back and try to rest?”

  Maggie snorted. “We both know there’s no time for that.” She peered around my shoulder where the sound of heated discussion was coming from the office in Serena’s shop. “What have I missed?”

  “A whole lot of nothing. If you’re feeling all right, you should join us.”

  “I’m guessing we still don’t have a plan.”

  “No. All we’ve really managed to do is argue back and forth about what we should do next.” I wiped my face with my hand, kneading at the tension in my temple. “Despite the visions, Serena thinks the Master still doesn’t know I exist, but she said the power I used at the carnival is enough to raise suspicion. The third Scavenger got away; he will have reported back to the Master by now. We need to act now.”

  “But it’s not like the Scavenger knows who or what you are.”

  “No, but he has my scent. The Master is cunning. It won’t take long for him to figure out that there’s another DuCarmont witch to contend with. He will come for me. I think it’s just a matter of when at this point.” I sighed. “Serena is spooked enough. She thinks we should go into hiding.” The words settled in the pit of my stomach like rocks, and I frowned. “We can’t get in touch with Gareth. I keep calling, but his phone goes straight to voice mail. It’s freaking Serena out—that and her vision.”

  “Well, what do you want, Lainey?”

  I stopped chewing on my bottom lip and stared at Maggie. “I . . . I don’t know.”

  “I think you do,” Maggie said. “You’re just afraid to say it out loud.”

  I shrugged. “I’m absolutely terrified of what the future might hold for me . . . But I keep thinking about Josephine, and my mother, and all of the other Keepers who came before me. They didn’t run.” I looked down at my hands and took a deep breath. “I don’t want to run either. I’m through with being afraid and refusing to accept that this is my destiny. When I saw what the Master did to Josephine . . . it sparked something inside of me. I’m afraid . . . but I’m more afraid of failing myself.”

  I reached for Maggie’s hands, needing her to believe it too. “And I know this is right. I can’t walk away from this.”

  “That’s my girl, Styles.” Maggie grinned at me. “So what now?”

  I bit down on my lip again. “I think I have a plan. But it’s absolutely crazy and it probably won’t work.”

  Maggie scoffed. “You know, I think all great ideas are a little crazy.”

  I cracked a smile and helped Maggie up from the couch. “Come on.”

  We walked arm in arm to the office where Serena and Ty were still arguing.

  “I have a plan,” I said, interrupting the conversation. Ty and Serena turned to face me. “I know what we need to do.”

  “What we need is to get you someplace safe,” Serena said. “Something’s wrong. The vision I had . . .” She shook her head as if to shake the image from her thoughts. “I promised Gareth I’d look after you while he’s gone. We need to get you far away from here.”

  “No.”

  “What?” Serena stared at me.

  “I said no. I’m not going to hide, Serena. It doesn’t matter where we go, or how long we run. Eventually the Master will find me.”

  Ty reached over and grabbed my hand. “You know we’ll protect you, Lainey. I will protect you. No one will hurt you.”

  “I know,” I said softly, “but I’m not gonna run from this. I know who . . . what you are, Ty, but you can’t protect me from my destiny. I’m not going to let you or Serena or anyone hide me away from the world again.” I took a breath, my voice stronger now. “I’ve always wanted to find out who I really am, to go out and see the world, to make my own discoveries—sure, it’s not how I always pictured things to be, but this is it. This is my time.”

  I smiled at him, my own version of the half smirk he was always flashing me. “Besides, once the Master figures out who I am, he’ll never stop hunting me. I refuse to spend my life hiding.” I took a deep breath, bolstering my courage. “Therefore . . . I propose an alternative.”

  Serena looked uncertain. “But Gareth said—”

  “Let her talk,” Maggie said, moving to stand beside me. “It should be Lainey’s call.”

  I squeezed Maggie’s hand. “It’s simple, really. If the Master gets ahold of me, he’ll force me to unlock the Grimoire, right? For the spell Lane DuCarmont stole from him?”

  Serena nodded. “Yes. The dark magic has made him incredibly vulnerable. He needs that spell.”

  “Well, isn’t it obvious, then?” I couldn’t stop the grin from forming on my face. “We have to steal back the book.”

  Serena’s laugh made me jump. “You’re joking, right?” When I didn’t respond, her smile faded. “Lainey, you can’t be serious. Stealing the Grimoire from the Master? It’s suicide. He’d kill us all.”

  “The way I see it, if the Master unlocks that spell, we’re dead anyway. We can’t just sit back and hope he never finds me. He may have already figured out some other way to unlock the Grimoire. Some other form of black magic, for all we know.” I moved to Serena and grabbed her by the shoulders. “If that spell is the one thing that’s keeping the Master from completely conquering the Supernatural realm, then we can’t let him have it. We’ll steal the book and destroy it. He’d never get the power he needs.”

  Serena shook her head. “It’s not that simple. You can’t just destroy the Grimoire. It’s infused with generations of DuCarmont magic. The effort alone would kill you.”

  “Well, we’ll hide it, then,” I said. “Put it someplace that he can never find it. As long as the Master possesses the Grimoire, I’ll never be free to live my life, and there’s a good chance he’ll figure out some other way to open it. If the Master gets ahold of that spell . . .”

  “He’d be unstoppable,” Serena whispered. “More powerful than anything our world has ever known.”

  “So don’t you see? Stealing the book is the only way.”

  “But Lainey, you’d be putting a target on your back. Gareth would never agree to this.”

  “Gareth’s not here. I’m deciding this. Besides, I already have a target on my back. I’m the last DuCarmont Keeper, and it’s my job to guard that book. My mother died protecting it, and now the job belongs to me. I have to get it back. My death is . . .”—I let out a breath—“inevitable.”

  Serena flinched away at my words, but I gripped her tighter. “You’ve seen it. If I do die, I want to know I died fulfilling my destiny. Or at least giving it my best shot.”

  “We’re not sentencing you to death just yet, Lainey,” Ty said, his voice low and serious. “The vision can change.”

  “I hope you’re right, but if it doesn’t, I need to know I’ve done everything in my power to keep the Master from getting his hands on that spell. Or else Josephine, the others, my mother—everything they have done has been in vain.” I stood a little taller. “I’m the Keeper, and I’m going to get that book back.”

  Ty’s eyes were pulsing with gold—his Praetorian senses on high alert. “Lainey,” he said, “we can find another way.”

  I reached for his hand. “You told me that I have a choice in all of this. That I’m the one who chooses my own path, my own destiny.” I gave him a small smile. “Ty, this is what I choose. Are you with me or no
t?”

  He stared at me for several long moments. Then, with a deep breath, he nodded, leaning forward to whisper in my ear. “My hands, my blade, and my life. Yours.”

  I squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

  “We’re really going to do this?” Serena asked, sinking down onto the couch. “I don’t know. I don’t think this is a good idea. Gareth—”

  She looked at me, her eyes wide as she choked on the words.

  Then all sound cut off from her throat, and her entire body went rigid.

  “What’s happening?” Maggie asked, her voice shaky.

  “I think she’s having a vision,” I said, my own heart pounding in my chest. I reached for her, but Ty held me back.

  “Don’t touch her,” he said. “It can be dangerous to interrupt a Seer’s Sight. All we can do is wait for it to pass.”

  I nodded, and we all stood frozen, waiting for Serena to come back to us.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Serena shot up from the couch.

  It startled Maggie and me so much we both jumped, butting heads. “Ow,” she mumbled, as I moved over to Serena. I rubbed the throbbing pain in my temple but didn’t comment.

  “Serena! Are you okay? What did you see?”

  Her face was pale, but life danced in her eyes. “I didn’t think it was possible,” she said, propping herself up on the pillow. “We heard whisperings and rumors, but we never thought—” She laughed then, covering her mouth as tears sprang up in her eyes.

  I stared at her, wondering what in the world she was talking about. Ty and Maggie looked equally puzzled.

  “Um . . . Serena?”

  “Sorry,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Let me explain. You see, no one’s been able to confirm it, but I Saw it myself. Just now. The Hetaeria has gathered.”

  The painting Gareth had shown me what felt like years ago popped up in my mind. The faction leaders, the balance keepers, the Hetaeria.