Finding Insight

by Katherine Kim

  There was a moment of silence through the phone, then a series of noises that could only be Kai grabbing his jacket and keys.

  “Where are you and where’d they go?” he asked.

  “I’m on an access road near the cave. I’ve got Gabe marked with my foxfire so I can follow him,” Sebastian answered. He scrubbed his hand through his hair and snarled again. “I wasn’t fast enough, Kai. If I’d gotten here sooner, I…” He let his words trail off because honestly, he wasn’t sure what he could have done. He would have been outnumbered and probably killed. Fighting wights was one thing: they were mostly mindless zombie-like creatures who folded fairly easily under the effects of the foxfire he used. Hunters on the other hand tended to be very human and more clever than was healthy. Not to mention prone to violence.

  “Don’t. Don’t beat yourself up Sebastian. You tagged Gabe, that’s the important part. We can follow them wherever they go now, unless they find your spell.” Kai’s voice in his ear was meant to be reassuring.

  “I promised him we’d keep him safe, Kai,” Sebastian said. He heard something slam through the phone.

  “We’ll get to him. I’m in the car now and I’m coming to pick you up. Get out of the woods and meet me on Jones Road, I’ll be there in a few minutes and we’ll follow them.” Kai’s voice was tight and controlled. He was trying to keep himself from getting too angry, Sebastian realized, and for a moment wondered if it was directed at him. He shook his head sharply and agreed before hanging up and gritting his teeth. He turned away from the route the SUV had taken and in a few moments was dashing back through the trees towards his brother.

  20

  Sebastian slid into Kai’s old blue Mustang and growled as he buckled his belt. He could feel his teeth grinding together and his whole body vibrated with the tension. It had been a good half an hour since the hunters took Gabe, and lord only knew what they were doing to him now.

  “Where am I headed?” Kai asked, starting down the street to the first corner. Sebastian took a breath and concentrated on the faint tug of his own magic.

  “North of here. Not up the peninsula,” he said. “It’s going to be a game of hot and cold. Sorry.”

  “I know, I remember when we played hide and seek back in the day. It took me longer to figure out how you kept finding me than it really should have. Jerk.” Kai smiled and Sebastian appreciated what he was doing, but there was no way he could relax at this point.

  “They took him, Kai. They jumped him when he was on his way to pack up his camp. I should have gone with him. I shouldn’t have let him go on his own. God, what if they take him in through a warding of some kind? You know how those people like to repel all the magic they can.”

  “Take a deep breath, Seb,” Kai said as he steered the car toward the freeway. “Now can you try something for me?”

  “Will it get us there faster?” Sebastian grumbled.

  “No, but it might help us keep track of where there is,” Kai answered. At nine thirty at night the rush hour traffic had mostly died down on Route 17, so at least once they got on the freeway they could push their speed a bit. It still was too slow for Sebastian but it was better than not moving at all. He hoped Gabe could hang on until they got there.

  “Sebastian! Hey, focus for me, man. He’s going to be okay, they’re not likely to hurt him,” Kai said.

  “How do you know that?” Sebastian turned to stare at his brother’s face carved out of the shadows by the surrounding headlights.

  “Because a dead seer isn’t very helpful to anyone, and that’s the only reason they’re going to be interested in him. You said that this David guy wants answers to something? He’s not going to get them if Gabe’s dead or too injured to talk. He’s going to be okay, assuming we can find them fast enough.” Kai’s voice was steady and calm. Sebastian had known him long enough to hear the worry in it, though, and oddly that reassured him more than the confidence.

  “Okay. That makes sense, I guess. God, I still wish—”

  “Stop. Blaming yourself isn’t going to help anyone, Gabe least of all. Neither of us thought of going to help him pack up his camp. Nobody thought to walk him home tonight. Nobody expected David and Olivia to be hunters, though we probably should have. I think we’re going to start being much more careful from now on.” Kai sighed and his shoulders slumped for a second. “Anyway, what I need you to do right now is see if you can modify your foxfire. You’ve got it tagged to Gabe right now, can you adjust that from this far?”

  “I can try, why? What are you thinking?” Sebastian gave Kai his full attention.

  “Can you make it so that the tag will stay active but reposition itself if it hits a ward? Instead of dissipating, I mean,” Kai asked.

  “You mean like just have it scrape off Gabe and stay there? Wow, that’s… yeah, I can try I think,” Sebastian said. He frowned and started to reach for his magic.

  “Just be really careful, Seb. We don’t want to lose them.”

  Sebastian stared blankly out the front window, concentrating hard on his connection to the foxfire. He wished he could hear what was going on through it, but his magic didn’t work that way. It could be hot or just warm, or room temperature to simply provide light. It could be bright as a flashlight or practically invisible. The day he’d figured out that it could be both invisible and room temperature had been a lot of fun, and from that he’d realized that he could always find it, even if he’d stuck it to something that was moving, and pretty soon after that people stopped wanting to play hide and seek with him.

  He never thought it would come in useful in this sort of situation, though.

  He concentrated on adjusting the spell, carefully modifying his magic to make sure it would mark where it was separated from Gabe in case that came up.

  “I think I did it,” Sebastian said after about ten minutes. “And they’re veering a bit east now. Still north of here though.”

  “Like towards Fremont?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. I’m heading the right way then. I guessed while you were working.” Kai flashed him a grin. “There are more options for hiding people this way.”

  “Fair enough.” Sebastian leaned against the window and stared blankly at the freeway as it flashed past. Kai’s phone rang and the bluetooth in the car picked it up automatically, making Sarah’s voice ring out with worry.

  “Kai? I think there’s trouble. Sebastian went out to help Gabe move and I haven’t heard from him in a while.”

  “God, I’m so sorry, Sarah. I totally forgot to call you.” Sebastian wondered how much worse he could screw up tonight.

  “You’re right, there is trouble. As you’ve heard, Seb’s with me now and we’re following the hunters that kidnapped Gabe.” Kai filled her in on what they knew and she swore like a sailor when he finished.

  “Hunters? I knew there was something off about those two. I knew something was wrong! Damnit, I should have stayed late today and walked him back—”

  “I’m going to stop you right there. Like I told Sebastian, it’s not our fault. We couldn’t have known they’d pull this, and we’re going to get him back.”

  “Well, I’m going to call Doc and the gang so we can be ready when you guys get home, or if you need us for back up,” Sarah said. “You two be extra careful now that we know they’re hunters. They must not have been actively looking for you since they haven’t made any threats.”

  “We don’t know that for sure, but I think that one of them is connected to the two that worked with Eric. We’ve got a lot of questions at this point,” Kai said.

  “The first one being where they’re taking him. They’re still on the move,” Sebastian said. “The second being what’s our plan when we find them?”

  “Call the cops. Kidnapping is pretty serious, and it sounds like you can add assault and battery to it, too,” Sarah said.

  “I vote we have Kai rush in and end them,” Sebastian snarled.

  “Seb,” Kai warned.

>   “No, those assholes come here, threaten a kid for information that will help them threaten other innocent people? We’re just trying to live our lives, Kai. What the hell is wrong with that?”

  “I’ll go rally the troops. Good luck you guys, and be careful, please?” Sarah hung up and the speakers went dead. Kai let the moment hang, the only sounds in the car from the tires on the road and the engine pulling them easily along the highway, before he spoke up.

  “There’s nothing wrong with that, Sebastian, but Sarah has a good point. If we send the police in then it’s much more likely that nobody will get hurt or killed.”

  “If it was just me going up there, I’d probably agree. I mean what use am I, anyway, in a situation like this? I’m good at tracking him, since I was there when it all went down and I already had this party trick available, but other than that, what am I going to do? It’s not like I’m on my way to godhood, like some other people in this car. I’m just enough kitsune to be able to show off a bit,” he grumbled and started softly banging his head against his window.

  God, it wasn’t even unfair, really. The fact that he had any powers at all was a testament to how strong his mother’s line was, and he couldn’t be angry at Kai for who their respective fathers were. Sebastian had a human father, just like most of the people on Earth, and he was a good man. Kai had… well Kai’s father was practically a force of nature he was so ancient and powerful. Nobody got to pick their parents. It was simply a matter of luck, and Sebastian even had to admit that Kai’s father was overall a decent creature. It was hard to call someone like that a ‘nice guy’ but…

  “Sebastian, stop being such a jackass,” Kai’s voice broke into his self pity.

  “What are you talking about?” Sebastian knew he was pouting now, but couldn’t seem to stop.

  “You are Keiko’s grandson, just like me. You are more than enough kitsune to overpower any normal human, and even a number of the abnormal ones,” Kai picked his hand up to start counting points off on his fingers. “You’re my brother and that’s not saying nothing. You’ve put up with me for decades now, and you saved my ass repeatedly just a few months ago, and you know what? I’m getting seriously tired of you putting yourself down.”

  “Kai, you can’t honestly compare us. I mean for Pete’s sake, you’re a demi-god. At this point you’re just waiting for enough seniority before you’re promoted. A few months ago you fought an army of wights for hours, then while still trying to recover from that you beat a fully functional warlock while dealing with stepping on a damned bear trap and our own brother setting you up to die and saved the damsel in distress. I change out garbage disposals.”

  Kai winced. And sighed.

  “First of all, if Cassie ever hears you calling her a damsel in distress she’s going to be pissed,” Kai said. “Second, you can’t compare us. Not because of what I’ve done or what I can do, but because of what situations we’ve been thrust into. You fought those wights, too, remember. You were down there for hours with me until you had to be carried out, just like I did. The two of us and Mr. Young are the only ones who lasted that long, and that’s not a minor thing.” Kai glanced over at his brother and shook his head.

  “And, if you remember, you went off to rescue Sarah on your own right after that. And were willing to sacrifice yourself to save her. That’s not the action of a weak man.”

  “I had to call you to come get us,” Sebastian sighed.

  “Yes. But there’s nothing wrong with admitting you need help. A really smart guy told me that once not too long ago.” Kai grinned and Sebastian just rolled his eyes. A tug in his mind had him shifting in his seat.

  “Smartass. And we need to turn around. They’re behind us now, and definitely east.” Sebastian twisted to look around and see where they were. Signs flashed past as Kai maneuvered to the next exit and he figured that they were almost to Oakland, but the tug in his mind was clear. “Where are they going? This is a long way to go just to kidnap a seer.”

  “Like I said. Seems hunters like their privacy,” Kai shrugged.

  “Shame they can’t respect the privacy of others.” Sebastian growled.

  “Agreed.” Kai directed the car back down to the ramp. “Guess we’re heading toward Livermore? What’s out here?”

  “I don’t get up this way very much. I couldn’t tell you. Mount Diablo? A campground?” Sebastian shook his head.

  “Further north, yeah. I guess they could be camping. I have to tell you that I’m not interested in seeing another campground for a while,” Kai carefully merged onto the new freeway.

  “Well, I’m sure hunters don’t all use abandoned bunk houses to hide their victims. I mean, it seems limiting.” Sebastian glared at the rolling scenery that he could just make out through the artificially lit up night, brown dotted with clumps of green bushes and scrubby trees that had deep enough roots to find some water. It would be easy enough to duck out of sight of the freeway and do whatever they were going to do with Gabe, but it seemed more likely that they’d want to take him someplace they could hold him for a while. If David and Olivia wanted to steal visions they had no right to, then they’d probably want a more permanent base of operations.

  Wherever he was, Sebastian hoped Gabe wasn’t too frightened. And he hoped Gabe knew that they were coming for him. Hunters or not, nobody kidnapped a villager without Kai and Sebastian hunting them in turn.

  21

  Sebastian and Kai were still driving. They’d passed through Livermore without slowing down. The tug in Sebastian’s mind had veered south again, following 580 towards Route 5, which made them both nervous.

  “They can’t be heading back to Orange County, can they? That’s where he met them, right?” Kai frowned.

  “Yeah, but why come all this way north to get on Route 5 south? That’s a waste of time and gas. If they wanted to head south it would make more sense to just go from where they were.” Sebastian wasn’t entirely confident in his statement, but it was all he could think.

  “They could be trying to make sure they’re not being followed, I guess,” Kai said. “Text Sarah and let her know where we are.”

  Sebastian did, and she quickly responded with Sheesh. Everyone’s on standby and ready to do whatever we need to. Kick some ass or whatever. Stay safe and bring Gabe home, okay?

  Sebastian smiled. Absolutely. Thanks, baby.

  “What’s got you smiling now? We’re still tracking kidnapers.” Kai reached over and ruffled Sebastian’s hair.

  “Just really like Sarah, that’s all,” Sebastian ducked away from his brother’s hand and grinned. “And I really like the Village. She says that the troops are rallied and waiting to hear what we need. And she wants us to bring Gabe home.”

  “We will,” Kai’s voice was serious again. There was a flicker of light behind his eyes, like a forest fire seen though a window curtain. It was good to know that Kai had developed an attachment to Gabe, as well.

  “Thanks for coming,” Sebastian said. He shook his head to try to clear the doubts swirling there. “I mean, I know Gabe has been sort of my personal worry, but—”

  “Nope. We’re not playing this game,” Kai cut him off and shot a glare at him. “Gabe has been a worry for both of us. Sure, it was just because he was an unknown quantity at first, and sleeping near a place we don’t trust. But I wouldn’t have agreed to offer him a job and a home if I didn’t trust him, and once we did that, he became one of ours. He’s a Villager now.”

  “Thanks. Listen, I—” Sebastian shook himself. “Turn around. Go back.”

  “Shit, hold on,” Kai jerked the steering wheel and careened to the exit. A horn blared and Kai swore at the car behind them that continued down the freeway.

  “Jerk. We weren’t that close to him. So… which way now, Seb?” He slowed the car to a stop at the bottom of the ramp, glancing right, past the stop sign towards the gas station.

  “Left,” Sebastian closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt the car start moving aga
in, slower now. “They’re nearby.”

  “The truck stop, I‘m guessing. There’s a motel over there, I saw the sign for a second before we got off the highway.” Kai maneuvered them under the highway they’d just left, then carefully around the trucks coming and going from the fast food restaurants and motels lining the smaller surface street. Sebastian opened his eyes and peered around the area. It felt busy and abandoned at the same time, the area lit unevenly by the signs and the buildings advertising to the traffic speeding past more than the people already close to the buildings.

  A Subway, a Days Inn— every time they passed a place Kai glanced at him and he shook his head slightly. He pointed down the road a little further on to a tall yellow sign that said ‘Restaurant’ and below that ‘Truck Wash’ on a white background.

  “Over there,” he said. Kai nodded and drove past it, turning into a parking area that seemed to be made for the eighteen wheelers that the plaza catered to. Sebastian stared at the motel that sat under the signs.

  It was an L-shaped building with a parking lot separating the rooms from the swimming pool, and Sebastian wondered vaguely if anyone ever went swimming with the trucks and the dust and the other motels’ parking areas for a view. Not far away traffic still whizzed past on Route 5, slightly muted but incessant.

  “Which end of the building?” Kai asked.

  “The one away from the office. Over there.” Sebastian pointed.

  “Man. It’s definitely nicer than the ratty old cabin they lured me to,” Kai grumbled. “I bet Gabe even gets food and a bed.”

  “Yeah, Kai. These are high-class kidnapping assholes,” Sebastian snarked back. “I’m texting Sarah, where are we?”

  “Um… the Motel 6 at the truck stop in Westley,” Kai answered, looking up from his own phone. The car was dark and the brothers stared through the dark to the rooms at the end of the L- shape.