Dark Seeker

by Taryn Browning

  “Fresh Seeker meat. This one’s all mine,” the vampire said. He turned into the faint light of the distant bonfire, exposing an arm-length tattoo of a dagger entangled in vines.

  “I suggest you and your boys return to the city. I’ll only warn you once,” Janie said. She removed the dagger from her waist, ready to remove the stake just as quickly. She bore into the vampire, refusing to show an ounce of weakness.

  “There’s one of you and ten of us.” He laughed, his teeth sparkling gold. Janie wondered whether his fangs were gold-plated. She’d stake him before she’d have to find out.

  “I thought the vamps where changing. Why are you hanging out with filthy Daychildren?” Janie said.

  “Who are you calling filthy?” A Daychild shot to the front of the pack, a white boy with tanned skin. He reminded her of a mobster from The Sopranos.

  “Step off,” the vampire said. He stuck his tattooed arm out and held the mobster back.

  “You’re not the boss of me.” The Daychild pushed up on the vamp, his face in his. The vamp may have been slightly taller, but the mobster was definitely chubbier. Four more vamps surrounded the feuding leaders. Getting the hint, the Daychild took a step back. “You’ll see. The vamps aren’t in charge anymore. There’s a new leader in town. We don’t need you anymore.”

  The vampire pounded his chest with his fist. “I am the den leader—Jerome. You got that, half-breed?” He beat his chest again and pointed. “Jerome—the den leader. Either get down or lay down, Antony.”

  Jerome addressed Janie. “Seeker—I’m out, for now.” He kissed two fingers and spread them in the air. He switched his focus to Antony and the Daychild gangsters who’d taken a protective stance around their leader. “You won’t be getting what you came for tonight. So roll.”

  Antony nodded. His face became twisted with anger; lines sliced across his bad skin. He ran his hand through his wiry short brown hair and glared at Janie. “Antony will be back.” He referred to himself in third person, which she recognized as a common theme within this group of undead. Antony placed his hand on his chest. “This isn’t the last you’ve seen of me, Seeker.”

  The gangs dispersed. Neither turned their backs on the other. Jerome snapped his fingers and they took off in the direction of the city.

  “Well played.” Kai appeared at her side.

  “I told you to go. I can handle them.” She let out a relieved laugh.

  “You did,” Kai agreed. “You knew I was here if you needed me.”

  “Huh—thanks.” She placed her weapon in her waistband. An image of Matt, sweaty and lethargic, flashed before her eyes.

  “Uh—guys,” Matt said from just a short distance, where Kai had secured him, behind the base of a huge tree. “There’s something sticking out of my shoulder, a stick or something. It’s wedged in my bone.”

  Janie and Kai shot each other the same look. “Demon splint,” Janie said.

  “Sounds like it,” Kai agreed, the urgency less apparent in his tone.

  “A what splint?” Matt said. “I’m feeling a little weak.”

  Janie hurried to Matt’s side. “Let me see.” A thin piece of wood resembling a long needle stuck out of his varsity jacket. She spoke to Kai. “Is that what the splint looks like?”

  Kai hovered over them. “I can smell the poison. He’s not as strong as you. He doesn’t have much time.”

  “We can’t just let him die. Can’t we take him to Albania?”

  “My bike only holds two.”

  She glared at Kai. “Then you take him. I’ll stay here.”

  “I have my car,” Matt said, falling in and out of consciousness.

  “Check his jacket pocket for the keys,” Kai ordered.

  Janie slipped her hand into his pocket. “Found them.” She jingled them in the air.

  Kai bent over and hoisted Matt over his shoulder.

  “Meet me around the front of the house,” Janie said. “I need to talk to my friends. Matt drives a silver Acura. It’s—”

  Kai nodded and disappeared.

  CHAPTER 5

  Janie found Ava and Luke roasting marshmallows. “Ava, I need to talk to you.”

  “What’s up? You look terrible. Did you forget your inhaler again?” Ava handed her poker to Luke and followed Janie, out of Luke’s earshot.

  “No, it’s in my pocket.” Janie searched her pocket. No inhaler. She realized she must have lost it in the woods. No time to go back. “I’ve got to go. Take Luke and get out of here. A Daychild has attacked Billy and Matt.”

  “What?” Panic stretched across Ava’s face.

  Luke got up and started over.

  “Shhh—” Janie said. “I need you to act like everything’s okay.” Ava started to shake. Janie clutched her arms. “Now, listen to me. Billy is dead, but Matt is still alive. He needs help. I’m leaving with Kai.”

  “Who’s Kai?”

  “The guy from earlier. On the motorcycle.”

  Ava stared at her blankly.

  “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Just get Luke and leave.”

  “What should I tell him?” Ava said.

  “Tell him you feel sick or something, but go.”

  Luke moved up next to them. “Is everything okay? Ava—you look like you’re gonna hurl.” He looped a worried arm around her waist.

  “Can you take her home? I think she’s got the flu. She has a fever.” Janie patted Ava’s face.

  “She was fine just a second ago.” He appraised Ava’s ghost-white complexion. “Sure, but what about you? Are you coming?” he asked Janie.

  “I think I’ll stay with Matt.” Janie flashed him a fake smile. Inside, she felt terrified, and she never felt terrified. She’d been around death too much for it to affect her. Why is this time any different?

  “You like him, J.” Luke nudged her with his shoulder and waggled his brows. “Have fun. I’ll get Ava home. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  “Thanks, Luke.” She touched Ava’s forearm. “You feel better. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  Kai carried Matt up two flights of steps. The three scars were visible along Kai’s forearm as he braced Matt’s body with his hand, balancing the wrestler over one shoulder.

  Albania’s apartment, located within the upscale yuppie area of Federal Hill, looked out over Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The expansive, multilayered skyscrapers were backlit by an orange moon. Its reflection cast rippling highlights across the water. Red, white and yellow lights roped the masts of a pirate ship, stretching out along the water below a triangular, iridescent peek of the aquarium. From Albania’s apartment, the city nightlife flickered like multicolored fireworks on the Fourth of July. Janie shuddered, thinking about the evil plotting within the city’s limits.

  Janie peeled herself away from the panoramic view of the harbor and returned to the couch to wait for Matt to regain consciousness. His body stretched the length of the couch, so she sat on the floor by the cushion’s edge. She didn’t know him well, but she felt obligated to stay by his side. She nodded off a few times throughout the night, catching herself when her head slid from her palm to the cushion. Kai had tried to convince her to rest in Albania’s room, but she’d refused. The sun would soon be rising. She wished she could relish in the security of knowing the undead would go to bed and leave the unsuspecting public alone. But they had evolved. No one was safe, anytime.

  “Albania made coffee. Do you want some?” Kai entered the living room and took a seat in the chair next to her on the floor, holding a steamy mug in his hand. “Cream and sugar,” he enticed.

  “Thanks.” She accepted the mug. The hot liquid coated her sore throat. During the ride to Albania’s apartment, she had fought through a wheezing spell. She was grateful it was mild, since she’d lost her inhaler in the woods. “I didn’t know witches and Daychildren drank coffee,” she said.

  “I don’t. It’ll turn your teeth yellow. I tend to like my smile white.” He flashed his braces-perfect teeth. “Albania keeps
it around for her human clients.” Janie’s brow dipped. “You know. . .gypsy stuff, like fortune telling and palm reading,” he said.

  “Oh.” Janie set her mug on a small coffee table. Kai slid a coaster over to her. “Thanks.” They waited in silence. It had been that way for much of the night, uncomfortable silence, and waiting.

  “Where’s Albania?” Janie asked.

  “I think she’s taking a nap. She’s tired after healing Matt.”

  Janie fidgeted with the mug. “Are you two—?”

  He smirked. “What, a thing?”

  “You just seem—close.” She let her dark hair fall into her face to hide her embarrassment.

  “We’re close. We’ve been through a lot together.” A reminiscent gaze tainted with a twinge of pain crossed his eyes.

  Janie rose from the area rug and moved back over to the window. The sun had started to rise, casting a fiery glow over the city. “She’s very pretty.”

  “Yes, she is.” He joined her at the window, causing her pulse to quicken. It was different than her Seeker sense, a feeling she didn’t quite understand. She focused on a large yacht leaving the dock and wondered who had enough money to afford such an elegant boat.

  Kai placed both hands in his jeans pockets and stared out into the city. “It looks like your boyfriend’s going to pull through.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” Janie insisted, feeling as if she might start wheezing again.

  “Could’ve fooled me. You’re with him every day.” She felt his stare on her cheek.

  “Every day. As in three days?” Janie drew in a rough breath and exhaled. “He doesn’t like me that way. He just feels indebted to me since I saved his life.”

  “I see the way he looks at you. It’s more than that.” Kai’s voice deepened. He seemed almost nervous. He cleared his throat. “Not that I care.”

  The energy between them had become frenetic, crazy and mixed with discordant emotions. She realized that just the day before, she had wanted to kill him. Her extremities started to tingle and her heart felt as if it could pound out of her chest. She wondered if her reaction had everything to do with being born and trained to kill him. Any emotion other than loathing and hate felt unnatural.

  “You don’t have to try to make me feel better. I haven’t thought about Matt for three years. I’m not going to start now.” Janie folded her arms in front of her chest.

  “Do what you want with your life.” Kai turned and left the room, exhibiting another one of his unexpected attitudes.

  She blinked at his directness. She’d assumed they were having a heart-to-heart. “Okay, then.”

  Matt stirred. His muscular legs stretched over the sofa’s arm.

  He moaned. “Where am I? It looks like my great-aunt’s house. And what’s with all the bright colors, and the beads?” he said, attempting to lift his head off the pillow.

  Janie whirled over to his side. “You’re okay.” He looked pale, but otherwise healthy. She helped him to a seated position.

  “What happened?” He grabbed his forehead. “Aw, my head. How long have I been asleep?”

  Janie decided to blurt out everything at once, which she quickly regretted. “You’re at Albania’s, downtown. She’s a witch. She healed you after you were punctured by a poisonous demon splint, and you’ve been asleep for about eight hours, if you count the time you passed out due to the poison.”

  Matt sprung up off the couch. “What? You’re crazy. This is all crazy. I’ve totally gone insane.” He pointed to Janie. “You’re insane.”

  “Okay, maybe not the reaction I was going for, but we’ll go with it,” she said. How do I explain this in human terms? I can’t. Uh— She smacked her forehead with her palm.

  “There’s no need to hit yourself,” Kai said, returning from the kitchen clutching a powdered doughnut.

  Matt pointed to him. “What’s he doing here? He killed Billy.” Matt fell back on to the sofa. His head slid into his hands. “I mean, the totally mental Billy with black eyes, and fangs.”

  “I think your boyfriend’s losing it.” Kai moved back to the chair, not the least bit fazed by the commotion.

  A stream of long, wavy flame-red hair flew by Janie’s peripheral vision. “Is everything okay out here?” Albania said, dressed in light green silk pajamas with spaghetti straps. Albania’s vibrant red hair swam around her body and her celery-colored pajamas accentuated the green of her eyes. And she doesn’t need anything else accentuated.

  “Janie’s boyfriend’s lost his mind.” Kai popped the last piece of doughnut into his mouth and brushed the loose powder off his lap.

  Janie glared at Kai. She spun around and addressed Albania. “Do you have anything to calm Matt down? Valium or tranquilizers, or. . .something. He’s not taking all of this very well,” Janie said, waving her hands around in the air, signaling the “magic atmosphere.”

  “I’m fine. Just give me a second to process everything,” Matt said through his hands. He massaged his forehead.

  “Oh, sorry—” Janie wheezed and dropped to her knees. Unable to breathe, she tottered on the rug like a Weeble Wobble.

  “Janie, are you okay?” Kai knelt down beside her.

  She shook her head. Speaking required air, and at the moment she couldn’t find any.

  “She needs her inhaler. She lost it last night.” Kai anchored his arm around her back. “You’re going to be okay.” He looked up at Albania. “Can you do anything?”

  “Sorry, Kai, I can handle demon poison, but asthma is out of my area of expertise. She needs a medical doctor.”

  “See that Matt gets home,” he instructed Albania.

  Kai flipped Janie into his arms. Her head slipped back onto his bicep, her dark hair spilling over his arm. “I’m taking her home. During the car ride here she said she had another inhaler.”

  Matt stood. “Towson is at least fifteen minutes away without traffic.” His anger switched to genuine concern. “You need to get her to a hospital. There are plenty of well-respected hospitals in the city. Why risk taking her all the way home? Hopkins is right down the road.”

  “No one asked you,” Kai growled. He scowled at Matt, stifling an unexplainable hunger. Fortunately, he seemed to find the will not to drain the human of his blood. Janie whimpered in his arms. “It won’t take me fifteen minutes.”

  CHAPTER 6

  Kai felt Janie’s chest rise and fall in erratic jerks against his back. Her shallow exhales resembled the sound of a honking goose. Still conscious enough to put her arms around him, he held her wrists together to keep her secure on the seat behind him.

  He slid off the bike, careful not let her fall on to the driveway. And she said I wasn’t gentle. He swung her into a cradle hold and crossed the front walk. He regarded her weak state, limp and breathless in his arms. She was always so tough, never wanting to accept his help, but she was human. A sudden fear he couldn’t understand gripped him. It shouldn’t matter to him if she died. They only shared one commonality; they both killed his kind. It sounded demented, killing his kind. He wondered what she must really think of him. He shook his head. She didn’t ever have to know what had happened to make him this way. He’d sworn to never talk about it again, the memory too painful to expose.

  Kai glanced up at the single second-floor window—Janie’s bedroom. The night she tried to run him over with her car, he had followed her home, pathetically concerned that she’d been injured in the accident. He shouldn’t have cared, yet now he found himself in the very same spot, looking up at her window.

  Kai placed his foot on the porch step, formulating alternatives to going in through the front door. Janie sucked in a shallow breath and erupted into a coughing fit. The honking became deeper, more intense. She didn’t have much longer. He could use his ability, but he had no idea where to find her inhaler. With no other option, he had to confront her mother. A former Seeker, she’d know what he was immediately. With all the commotion of Matt’s injury and Janie’s asthma attack, he
hadn’t thought about the ramifications of bringing her home. Only part vampire, he didn’t need permission to enter, and he could walk through sunlight without bursting into a pile of ashes. He hoped Janie’s mother would be more focused on helping Janie than killing him.

  His hand shook as he reached for the doorbell. Janie’s home reminded him of his childhood home, only greener—he grew up in the Southwestern desert before losing so many years of his life. He often thought about his parents. He knew he could never return home, even if they still lived there. As Janie had said when she first met him, he was a “monster.” He let out a deep sigh. At least when he really was a monster, he couldn’t feel. He didn’t have a conscience that weighed on him every day, threatening to rip the beating heart from his chest. Being a part of three worlds was the greatest curse a man could be given, and at eighteen he was just barely a man.

  The knob clicked and the door swung open. The woman who answered could have been Janie, only twenty years older. Her tanned skin had aged well, revealing barely any wrinkles on her flawless face. Her near-black hair framed her angular face. She gasped and her beautiful brown eyes squinted in horror.

  “What happened!” Isabelle said.

  “She’s having an asthma attack. She needs her inhaler.” Kai stepped through the doorway into the foyer.

  Her eyes appraised him. She hesitated. She knows what I am.

  Her voice shook. “I’ll get it. Stay here.” He wondered if she’d also retrieve a silver blade. A feeling of panic washed over him, and he never panicked. He’d been through too much to panic over anything. Then he realized why he had the overwhelming urge to drop Janie and run.

  A man emerged from the living room. “Is everything okay, Isabelle? Is Janie home?”

  Their eyes locked. The man’s blue eyes had aged fifteen years, now fully edged by crow’s feet, the markings of a stressful life. Kai knew all too well how stressful the man’s life had been. A fulminate rage swirled within his irises, deepening the light blue to indigo. His black hair was now sprinkled with flecks of white, and lines creased his once-smooth forehead. Kai’s scars started to burn; a searing pain sliced down his forearm and fire burst through his chest. He gripped Janie tighter, afraid he might drop her. The man’s eyes were as hate-filled as he remembered. It was him; Kai had no doubt. He’d remember that face for eternity—Abram.