by AR Colbert
In Pursuit
The Lost Keepers #4
AR Colbert
Ramsey Street Books
Copyright © 2021 AR Colbert
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Previously in The Lost Keepers
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
A DEEPER LOOK
ABOUT THE SERIES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Previously in The Lost Keepers
Millie tries to help Everly acclimate to her new world by bringing her into the apothecary and teaching her about herbs and healing. While flipping through a dusty textbook, Everly stumbles upon an old incantation and realizes there are ways to practice magic even without full Keeper powers.
Meanwhile, Millie discovers that a fractured soul is poisoning Abby’s father. Everly discovers who the man is, and calls upon her friends to help catch him. Unfortunately, this places her even more firmly on the radar of the hunters.
After another strange interaction with the owl that won’t seem to leave her alone, Everly finally decides to attend Columbia. She hopes an education in Keeper history will help her locate her mother and better understand the dangers she now faces.
PROLOGUE
The streets were slick with light drizzle falling from the New York City sky. Lights reflecting from the wet pavement glittered in the darkness, undisturbed by pedestrians. The only people still out in the city were due to begin stumbling out of the bars at any moment, just in time to crawl into their beds before the warm glow of dawn could reach them.
A girl with fiery red curls giggled about twenty paces ahead. Her short pink dress did little to hide the dark liquid staining the front of it. Tate could smell the fruity alcoholic scent of the stain even from as far back as he stood.
Stupid mortals. So careless with their actions.
He moved ahead, noting the burly young man who prowled out of a nearby bar toward the girl. She giggled again, seemingly unafraid, but something about the man didn’t sit well with Tate. His movement was too deliberate. His expression determined. His sobriety unusual for a man chasing after a girl as inebriated as the redhead he followed.
She giggled again, stumbled over her own feet, and landed against the wall, propping her sluggish body up against it for support. The man glued himself to her without a moment’s hesitation. Only he wasn’t helping her back to her friends or hailing a cab. Instead, he leaned in close, whispering something into the girl’s ear.
Tate watched as her drunken grin faded to confusion, then slowly morphed into a scowl. She blinked, and it looked like a struggle for her to open her eyes again.
“Hey!” Tate shouted.
The man looked over his shoulder. “Can I help you with something?” His voice came out like a growl through his forced smile.
“Yeah, actually. You can get away from the girl.” Tate picked up his pace, jogging over to what he knew was an already bad situation before it got any worse.
“She’s fine. She’s just had a little too much to drink. I’m gonna take her home and get her nice and taken care of.” A street light glinted off of his menacing eyes.
“No, you’re not.”
“Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it, chump?”
The man reared back his hairy fist, but Tate knew it was coming. He’d already drawn power from the well deep within his mind. “Stop.”
The man froze.
“You will never step foot into another bar again. You will never drug or take advantage of another woman. In fact, you will never even date another woman. Prepare for a life of solitude. Now get out of here before I hit you and give you a life with a crooked nose, too.”
The man ran down the sidewalk. Maybe Tate took it a little too far with the life of solitude bit, but he was tired of these mortal men feeling all high and mighty. That ought to knock him down a few notches.
Two other girls ran out of the bar a moment later. “Lacey! Oh my goodness, are you okay? We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” One of the girl’s friends glared at Tate. “What did you do to her?”
“I saved her life. Now get her home so she can sleep this off.”
He left, certain now that the girl was in good hands. Besides, he had more monsters to face tonight. If only this next meeting could go as smoothly…
Something scuttled across the road as he finally reached the warehouses at the edge of Hunts Point. Tate never liked this part of town, but especially not in the middle of the night. He could handle whatever the city might throw at him of course, he just didn’t prefer to. But Rossel insisted this was where they meet.
He knocked on the door, eager to get off the streets just in case someone in the area recognized him. He didn’t want to be seen associating with Olympians. If she found out somehow, the entire plan would be ruined.
“Come in,” Rossel’s creaky voice called out.
The interior of the warehouse wasn’t much brighter than the streets outside. Rossel’s hair appeared to glow in the silvery moonlight filtering in through the dingy windows overhead.
“You’re late.”
“I had something to take care of.” Tate wouldn’t apologize. Not to Rossel.
“Mm.” Even his grunts sounded condescending. “Well, I’ll keep this brief. I’m sure we both have other places we’d rather be. I brought you here tonight because it’s time to see some action. He’s growing impatient.”
“There’s not much else I can do. I’m not even convinced there are any powers to reveal. She might truly have a mortal soul.”
“Impossible.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I—” Rossel choked, grabbing at his throat as he fought for a lungful of air. He couldn’t have been more than 700 years old, but he sounded like he was on his deathbed with all that wheezing.
“She does not have a mortal soul,” he whispered at last. “I don’t care how you force her powers to reveal themselves, I just need you to do it. Seduce her, or terrify her. Bring her to the edge of her life. It doesn’t matter! Just get the proof you need to extract her soul.”
“I’ve tried those things. She doesn’t seem to be responding to me. I think we just need more time.”
“There is no more time. I was assured you were the right man for the job. But if you can’t do it, I’m happy to call—”
“No.” Tate clenched his fists. “I’ll do it.”
“Good. Find me when it’s finished.”
Tate didn’t delay his exit. He leaned against the outside of the warehouse, allowing the cool night air to work against the weight on his chest. He couldn’t fail this mission. Too much was on the line. He may not understand their infatuation with the girl, but he wouldn’t let them down.
He would extract Everly’s soul no matter what it took. Even if that meant calling on his friends for some help.
With a sigh, he pulled out his phone and dialed. The line rang four times before a groggy voice finally answere
d with a muffled curse. “What in the world do you want at this hour?”
“Sorry man, but I need to call in that favor you owe me.”
CHAPTER 1
“I have a confession.” Gayla crinkled her nose and hid behind one of the throw pillows on her couch. Or, I suppose it was our couch now.
Ever since I’d agreed to attend Columbia, the girls had been moving at a hundred miles per hour to get me comfortable and settled into my bedroom in their apartment. Our apartment. It was going to take me some time to get used to saying that.
“What did you do?”
She scoffed, pretending to be insulted. “I didn’t do anything. I’m basically the most angelic friend you have.”
I snorted at that. Gayla was a sweet girl, but “innocent” wasn’t at the top of the list of adjectives I’d use to describe her.
“It’s more like I saw something…” She bit her lip, playing up the suspense.
“Well, are you going to tell me what it was?” I laughed. Gayla almost seemed nervous, and that wasn’t like her at all.
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “I knew you weren’t going to NYU.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I knew it before you decided. I saw you at Columbia with me and Dom.”
“Like in a vision?!” I pulled my feet up underneath me and turned to face her, throwing the pillow away to get a better look at her.
Gayla nodded.
“That’s incredible!”
“You’re not mad at me for keeping it from you?”
“No, I’m not mad at all! In fact, I’m glad you didn’t tell me before. If you had, I probably would’ve stayed at NYU just to prove you wrong. Then we’d all be grumpy.”
She grinned. “Yeah, I figured as much. Plus, with as wonky as my visions are, I never can be too sure if it’s real or a daydream, you know?”
I nodded. She hadn’t had a single successful vision in the short time I’d known her, until now. “Maybe your lessons with Rossel are paying off.”
“Ugh. I hope they pay off quickly. I’m sick of seeing that smug sonofa—”
“Helloooo!” Dom burst through the front door with more fervor than usual.
“Hey!” I glanced over my shoulder to greet her, and immediately jumped out of my seat when I caught a glimpse of her. “Dom! Your hair!”
Gayla jumped up too and followed me over to our smiling friend. Dom did a small circle in the entryway, then twisted her mouth nervously to one side. “Do you like it?”
“I love it!” Gayla squealed.
“I do too. It suits you.” Dom’s platinum blond hair, which once hung in waves a few inches past her shoulders—just like Gayla’s, was now chopped short. Layers jutted out at fun angles, framing her high cheekbones like a rock star. She looked a little like Blondie from the 80s.
“Whew!” Dom exhaled. “I mean, I love it either way, but I’m relieved to hear you like it too. I finally feel like I’m ready to tackle the first day of classes on Monday.”
We spent the next few minutes gushing over Dom’s new ‘do before I finally had to call it a night. In just three short days I would walk onto campus and finally get a little backstory on who I was and where I came from. The only problem was that I had about eighteen years of catching up to do just to even the playing field with my peers. They’d all grown up in this world. They knew what it meant to be a Keeper.
I didn’t.
But with a few books from my aunt and the girls, I was absorbing as much information as possible. I wanted to be ready on Monday. Or at least come prepared with enough background information to not look like a total dunce if the professor called on me. Did professors call on students in college?
“Night girls!” I retreated into my room and pulled out my toiletries bag. The amber bottle that housed my vitamins clinked at the bottom. There were only a handful left now, and I still wasn’t sure where I could order more. I’d swing one by Millie’s shop tomorrow to see if she knew what they were. Millie knew everything about medicine and supplements. Surely she could get me some more even if she didn’t know where my mom originally ordered them from.
Wait a minute. My mom ordered them… “Gayla!” I darted back out of my bedroom door, an idea still stretching its way through my mind like taffy. “Gayla! I need your help!”
My roommates startled, with wide eyes and open mouths as I burst back into the living room, stumbling over the throw pillow I’d tossed haphazardly on the floor earlier.
“Here!” I shoved the amber bottle into her hand. “My vitamins. My mom was a freak about me taking these every day. She had them special ordered and everything. Do you think there’s a strong enough connection to her that you might be able to use the bottle to induce another vision?”
“Everly, you know my visions are only mediocre at best. And that’s if I can even get them to work.”
“But you’re getting better. You knew I was coming to Columbia, didn’t you?”
Dom raised a knowing brow. That traitor. She knew it too, and neither one of them admitted it to me.
“I did,” Gayla said. “But that was like one in a hundred. I’m still really bad at this.”
“Will you try? Please?”
Gayla twirled the bottle around an inch from her nose, taking a closer look. “These look kinda sketchy.”
“Nevermind the vitamins,” I huffed. “Do you think they have a strong enough connection to my mom for you to see her? I’ll take anything. Anything you can learn about where she might be.”
She shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”
Dom and I followed her back to the couch. Gayla sat cross-legged on the floor in front of us, holding the bottle between both hands. Eyes closed, she began mouthing something so quietly I only heard the softest ghost of a whisper drifting across the space between us.
One minute stretched to two. Three. Her mouth stopped moving but her eyes remained closed. I glanced at Dom who gave a small, reassuring nod. Maybe it was working.
After about five minutes, Gayla still hadn’t moved. I was nearly ready to chalk it up as a failed attempt when at last her eyes popped open.
Her normally rich brown irises were stained black and enlarged until the whites of her eyes were just barely visible around the edges. She stared into the distance, beyond the room we sat within, seeing something I couldn’t even begin to name.
And when she spoke, her voice wasn’t hers. It was deeper. Raspier. Full of authority. And I knew… Gayla saw my mom.
“The bars,” she began, “are firm and unrelenting. There’s nowhere to go. It’s impossible to run.”
My breath hitched. Dom gripped my hand in hers as we both scooted to the edge of the couch, leaning in closer to Gayla so as not to miss a single word.
“The woman has great power. Her eyes glow with it—blue like the ocean. It’s bursting at the seams, but it cannot be released. She must wait until he returns to set her free.”
She dropped her chin and closed her eyes again. No one moved a muscle. I didn’t even dare to take a breath.
After several more seconds of silence, Gayla’s body was wracked with tremors. I jumped to her side, but they passed just as quickly as they had come on. She lifted her head and blinked her pretty brown eyes a few times before grinning. “I think it worked!”
“You saw her? My mom?”
“I think so.” Gayla nodded emphatically. “She looked a little like you. But her eyes were so mesmerizing. Your mom’s kinda hot.”
I shook off her commentary and grabbed Gayla by the knees. We were all on the floor now, anxiously waiting to hear what else she might be able to reveal. “Okay, tell me everything.”
“I did.” Gayla looked confused. “I spoke out loud during the vision, right?”
“Yeah, but your language was vague. What did you see?”
“I saw your mom behind bars. She was in some kind of cell. And her eyes were glowing with power.” She shrugged. “That’s about it.”
&nb
sp; “You said she was waiting on someone to release her. Who?”
“I don’t know. The visions aren’t always clear, especially when they involve the thoughts of a subject rather than physical details.”
“It’s okay.” Dom patted my back, picking up on my frustration. “She’s got her powers, so she’ll be able to bust out of that cell in no time. She was a messenger, right?”
“She had her powers bound after I was born.” My shoulders slumped as I realized we were no closer to finding her now than we had been before.
“Not true,” Gayla said. “If her eyes were glowing, she’s got her powers back.”
“How can that be? And if she has her powers, why is she still hanging out in the cell?”
“The binding only works on earth,” Dom said. “If she’s in Keeper territory, her powers would be fully restored. And if that’s the case, there are different enchantments placed on Keeper prisons to prevent escape.”
“But Millie reported her as missing to the council. They said she hadn’t been located. Wouldn’t they confer with the other Keepers?”
“I’m sure they did. But they may not get the truth if whoever took her as a prisoner doesn’t want anyone else to know.”
“But why? Why would someone want to take her at all?” I buried my face into my hands. None of this made any sense. I wanted to ask Gayla to try again, but the way she was sprawled out across the floor now told me that it had probably taken a lot out of her. She was awfully pale.
“Can we go to the Keeper territories ourselves and try to find her?”
Dom frowned. “Even if it were that easy, which it’s not, you’d die if you tried to access the Keeper lands. You’re still a mortal.”
I cursed under my breath. The answer was so close, and yet there was still not a thing I could do about it. Not unless I somehow got my powers to shift into gear.
Assuming I had any, that is.
