Search (SEEK Book 1)

by Candie Leigh Campbell

  I need to call Irkalla. I reach for the back of my neck, grab my mark and open my mouth. With the very last drop of breath I have, through the arctic water, I call her. “Irkalla, I need you!”

  My world fades behind a wall of wavy effervescing bubbles and everything turns murky.

  Like a reverie, I hear Irkalla answering me, but she sounds too far away. “I am here, Keira. You’re okay,” her alluring voice serenades, making me want to go to her.

  I’m too cold.

  “Where?” I try to answer, but it’s as if I can’t find my mouth. Something blocks it. “Where are you, Irkalla?”

  “I am here, with Jonathan.”

  Jonathan? That word. That name, it sounds familiar. Like something I heard in a dream once, a long, long time ago. But how could that be? I’ve only just met him. When was it, a month ago? It feels longer. It feels as though I’ve known him forever. In another lifetime.

  “Keira, Jonathan’s calling you. Can you hear him? He loves you,” Irkalla says in my head.

  “Come on, Keira, come on! Fight it. Fight the cold. I know it hurts, but you’re the strongest person I know. You can beat this. You can win,” Jonathan shouts through the fog.

  Like Irkalla, he also sounds far away, but unlike Irkalla when his words reach me they spread like breath on glass. Warmth covers me like a blanket thrown in the air and allowed to fall in its own time. Little by little the warmth comes. And then pain. Like running frozen fingers under warm water.

  I want to scream but I still have something stopping me. I realize what’s happened all at once. My lungs are filled with ice water. I open my eyes. A pair of Khayal-green eyes stare back at me. Funny, I never feared drowning, until I did. Just like I never feared falling in love, until I realize I already have.

  “Jonathan,” I try, gagging as a violent wave of water flows from my mouth.

  Two sets of hands roll me onto my side. Pat my back. If I wasn’t so interested in breathing, I’d be mortified at letting Jonathan see me like this, lying in the dirt. A wet soggy rag barfing up lungfuls of river water.

  When I feel like I’ve evacuated every drop of fluid from my lungs and I’m raw from the inside out, I fall back and lay there, looking at the stars. Only they’re not stars. They’re millions of tiny, colored bubbles. Like fireflies.

  Khayal hover far above looking down on me.

  “Why?” I croak, pointing a shaky finger, stunned by the beauty of it.

  Irkalla on my right and Jonathan on my left, each holding a hand, exchange a look.

  “Why are they here?” Nothing more than a faint whisper comes out this time.

  “They came to say goodbye,” Jonathan says softly, stroking the backs of my fingers.

  “Goodbye to whom? You?” I turn to Irkalla. Her stunning lilac face looks back at me with so much love I can’t even comprehend it. But there’s something else, something she’s not saying. “What are you afraid of? Tell me, please.”

  “They came to pay their last respects to you. It didn’t look like I’d gotten here fast enough.” Irkalla lifts the ends of her long tendrils, the same purplish-pink color as the rest of her, wringing water from her hair.

  How could any creature as pretty as she is, with her large slanted eyes and delicate features, be peering at me as though I’m the beautiful one? I’m just an ordinary human girl. Irkalla is magnificently inhuman, otherworldly, and gorgeous.

  “We’re not sure how you pulled through after all that time. You were under the water a good ten minutes before Irkalla got to you,” Jonathan says, squeezing my hand in his.

  My head begins to clear and I remember reaching for my mark. “I can’t believe you found me. Thank you.”

  “That’s what I’m here for.” Irkalla smiles, her pointy teeth inexplicably adding to her beauty.

  “How do you feel? Does it still hurt?” Jonathan leans over examining my right side.

  “Whoa. Hey, that hurts,” I complain, instinctively wrapping my arms around my middle. Only nothing feels as it should. For one thing, my dress is shredded to bits and the skin underneath it feels like scales. I sit up, patting my stomach. “What is that? What’s happened?”

  “Easy,” Jonathan warns, cradling my back.

  My dress is covered in blood and my stomach looks like a patchwork quilt of scabs in different stages of healing. I lay a hand gingerly over one of the scarier-looking wounds.

  “The shock’s wearing off, Irkalla. She needs to get warm now.” Jonathan’s rubbing my back and shoulders, but his hands are no warmer than mine.

  Where’s Mayet? Why hasn’t Jonathan called her? Isn’t hypothermia something a Khayal can help with? All of these questions shuffle through my mind as time crawls slowly forward. Irkalla rises, reaching for me. I tuck my feet beneath my butt and take her hands, letting her pull me to my feet. My legs wobble unsteadily, my head swimming with dizziness, but I get up and stand there obediently.

  With no warning at all, Irkalla scoops me into her wings and lifts me off the ground. As if I weigh nothing.

  “Hey, what—?”

  “Shhh, Keira, don’t worry.” Irkalla’s fruity floral breath fans over my face.

  Like a drug, the warmth of her scent fills my nostrils and gives me a peaceful weightlessness, like I’m nothing more than cloud. I close my eyes, reveling in the absence of all pain, the cold only a distant memory. Irkalla blows her healing breath over me. Sweet honeysuckle and magnolia fills her cocoon.

  “Where were you when I called you? Were you a long way away?” I ask, sounding drowsy and dazed.

  “Shhh, rest now, just let yourself heal.”

  “But, I should be dead. You couldn’t have gotten to me if I were too far, right? Or does it work differently when I’m hurt? Are you transported through a magical portal or something?” I press, desperate to understand how Khayal transportation works and kicking myself for not pressing Jonathan for more answers when I’d had the chance.

  Irkalla giggles, the sound like an elegant old music box. “I was close by, but water makes it difficult to hear you. Now rest.”

  “Oh.” I sigh, slowly opening my eyes. “Why are you lilac?”

  “Actually, it’s amethyst, because you’re healing. When you fell on that bottle it damaged your organs, now focus and think of something happy.”

  Jonathan. The thought comes effortlessly, as though it had always been there waiting for someone to point it out. Jonathan makes me happy. The way the little line forms between his eyes when he’s concentrating, or the way his curls always seem to fall just above his brows no matter how many times he brushes them aside. The way his face lights up when he first sees me, and the way it feels when he looks at me like that.

  “I’m so stupid,” I whisper groggily.

  “I said think happy thoughts,” Irkalla scolds.

  But as I open my mouth to argue, the most amazing color of pink—like a nirvana rose—spreads out over every inch of Irkalla. She looks soft and surreal, like some sort of fantastical angel. “Irkalla, you’re changing…”

  Irkalla’s round eyes narrow to slits. Her lips curl up into a graceful smile. “You’re in love.”

  Those three little words change everything in my world. Irkalla’s color grows darker until she’s magenta. My heart races, blood thumping loudly in my ears. And all at once I know Irkalla’s right. I am in love. I’m in love with Jonathan and I have been from the very first moment I looked over that cliff in Kentucky. It was a significant moment; like that leaf had led me to him on purpose. As though everything in my life had lead me to that exact instant just so I could meet Jonathan. I gasp. “I can’t breathe.”

  “What’s going on in there? Everything all right?” Jonathan calls.

  “I can’t breathe, Irkalla. Let me out,” I plead, spinning free of her arms.

  Irkalla slowly opens her wings, looking tie-dyed in hot fuchsia and soft pale pink. I don’t know how much Jonathan knows about the Khayal color wheel and the relation it has to our emotions, but I�
��m praying he doesn’t take one look at my living mood-ring and run away. I for sure look crazy right now. For sure. Crazy. Me—emerging from my techno-colored Khayal, looking crazy.

  I tumble to my hands and knees, gulping in rasping lungfuls of oxygen. Jonathan’s muddy feet step into view. His hand feels like the touch of an electric eel on my back. I shiver. Every part of me is alive and heightened to the point of twitching.

  “You’re still cold.” Jonathan grabs me with toasty warm hands, guiding me to my feet.

  My thoughts speed up, though time strangely feels like it’s come to a stop. Everything is happening at once. Jonathan draws me into his chest. His clothes and mine—what’s left of mine—now dry. Jonathan’s arms wrap around my back with a strength I didn’t know he possessed. One hand gently covers my ear. My head on his heart. The beat something of a song meant just for me. My hands clasp behind his back. I lean in, finding warmth that can only belong to Jonathan. I accept his offering; comfort, solidarity, and condolences with a sigh. My eyes flutter open.

  Irkalla’s pinkness is lighting up the trees like an unnatural campfire.

  And then time begins to move faster and faster until I realize there’s a second pink glow in the trees. I whip my head up, eyes wide and look straight into Mayet’s magenta face. Hands plastered against Jonathan’s pounding chest, my gaze follows the plains of his face. I find what I’m looking for. Jonathan’s soul, right where it’s been this entire time, swimming smack in the middle of his beautiful too-green eyes.

  “You love me.” I hold his gaze steady.

  “Why do you think I kept making excuses when you’d ask if we could go see our Khayal? I knew you weren’t ready to face your feelings, or mine, but you’re ready now, aren’t you?” Jonathan cups my chin, lifting my mouth to his.

  I pull back. Shake the sense back into my head.

  “Wait—Irkalla and Mayet have been floating around—apparently somewhere close—and I couldn’t see them because they’ve been pink...this whole time?”

  “Pretty much,” Jonathan admits, leaning in again.

  “Hold on.” I take two steps back. “Let me understand. You told me that if we all had our Khayals at the house that the neighbors would think the place was haunted. That was a lie?”

  “I wouldn’t say lie, maybe a little exaggeration,” Jonathan says sheepishly, taking a step toward me, attempting to pull me back into his arms.

  I twist away. “So, because you selfishly didn’t want to spook me away from this—whatever this is—I missed out on getting to know my Khayal for four weeks?”

  Jonathan, sensing danger, smartly abandons his attempts to catch me and stuffs his hands in his pockets. “But, that isn’t the only reason. I was only trying to protect you from yourself. I was afraid you’d run.”

  “But that was my choice!” I hiss, shoving a hand on my hip.

  Jonathan hangs his head. “You’re right. It absolutely was. But I was worried about you. I wasn’t sure what you’d do – you’d already had to deal with so much. SEEK had taken your family.”

  “They took your family too!”

  “You’re right, but I’d been ready for it. I planned to leave the Brotherhood. Remember when you asked me what I was doing in Kentucky and I said I was saying goodbye to my parents? That’s what I was really doing, warning them and telling them everything. Now they’re sort of like my spies.”

  I scowl at him resentfully. And jerk my chin away. Not because I’m too much of a baby to have a grownup conversation, but because something catches my attention. A light through the trees, shining erratically in all directions, heads our way. “They’re coming!”

  Ashes

  “Hide!” Jonathan orders Mayet, grabbing my hand and holding tight.

  “You too, Irkalla, get as far from here as you can.” I lead Jonathan away from the encroaching flashlight, trying to gage my surroundings. “Gah, I don’t have a clue where we are, do you?”

  “Ummm, yes. There’s a Budgens not far, that way. Maybe they have a phone.” Jonathan pulls his cell out of jeans, water dripping from its case.

  We traipse barefooted in the direction of the grocery store, staying off the road but careful to keep it in sight. The sound of soft mushy ground is all I hear over my breathing. Fortunately, only the occasional stick or rock stab my bare feet. I keep up with Jonathan. The flashlights work in a steady zigzag pattern behind us. They haven’t picked up our trail yet. It won’t take them long until they do. And then we’ll be easy to catch.

  Luckily, it’s late enough that there aren’t a lot of cars when we run cross the highway. In the corner of Budgens’ parking lot we find a traditional English phone booth, red and round-roofed. We squeeze inside together.

  “Who do we call? Paul?” I ask.

  Our breath fogs the windows.

  “Let’s try a cab to the hotel first. I’d rather not wait for Paul to get here,” Jonathan says, pushing zero.

  It takes a couple of tries for Jonathan to get through to a local taxi, but eventually he hangs up. “They’ll be here in ten. Anything?” He brushes the window clear with his sleeve.

  I shake my head. “I saw a glimpse of them a minute ago—there, but they’ve moved down to the river. It’ll be five minutes before they work their way back to the highway, unless…”

  “Unless they find our tracks,” Jonathan finishes.

  “And we probably shouldn’t be waiting in here when they do,” I warn, pointing at the overhead light.

  “Good call.”

  Outside the air feels colder, now that my adrenaline has slowed. Jonathan slings an arm over my shoulder.

  “I’m sorry I yelled at you,” I say softly.

  “You had a point. It wasn’t my decision to make. I should’ve let you go, but I just…”

  “I’m glad you didn’t. I can be pretty stubborn when I want to be, seeing my Khayal flying around like a bubblegum-pink cupid probably would’ve freaked me out. Who knows what I might’ve done.”

  “I’m forgiven then?” Jonathan asks lightheartedly.

  “I suppose. But don’t ever do that again, deal?” I offer to shake on it.

  Jonathan grabs my hand but instead he yanks me into him, twisting his arms around the small of my back.

  My heart flutters.

  “Home.” The disembodied voice that keeps popping up might be weird and might even mean that I’m crazy, but for once I agree.

  Jonathan feels like home as his lips press into mine. With careful precision he deepens the kiss, stealing every last breath.

  My head fills with fog.

  It’s funny. I’ve heard a lot of stories about first kisses. Some people claim they see fireworks or hear tinkling bells. Those people must’ve had Khayal because all around us a lightshow explodes as the Khayal cheer, the sound a lot like chiming church bells.

  The kiss itself feels as though it’s meant for a lifetime, like there is no one else on this earth made for me. Only Jonathan.

  He smiles down at me. “I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you standing on a cliff like a Grecian Goddess. Don’t tell me it was awful.”

  “No, no, the kiss was good, I think. I don’t really have anything to compare it to, but…yeah.” I run the back of my thumb along my lip, savoring Jonathan’s mint-berry taste.

  “Come on! That was not your first kiss,” Jonathan says, brushing a hair off my cheek.

  A damp breeze kicks up from the north. I huddle closer against Jonathan, Irkalla’s warm breath a distant memory. “Okay, I guess if you count Phillip Burstein in the seventh grade, who I kissed on a dare, then no, it wasn’t technically my first kiss.”

  “Really? I am flattered, Agent Donavan.” Jonathan smiles broadly, cupping my cheek.

  “Don’t call me that, okay?”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”

  But Jonathan is cutoff by the sound of an engine coming down the highway. Together we peek around the green recycle bin and watch the approaching headlights, trying to discer
n if they belong to the cab we’re waiting for or not.

  “Isn’t that a light on the roof? Yes, it’s our cab,” I exclaim.

  “Good. Look!” Jonathan growls.

  Like a silent movie, the flashlights shine in the direction of the cab. A warning, telling us exactly what our assailants are thinking. Now they’re coming directly toward us.

  “They’re running! Come on!” I shout, grabbing Jonathan’s hand and darting toward the approaching taxicab.

  “Hey!”

  Jonathan and I flail our arms to get the cabby’s attention. Finally his head turns and he pulls the car in our direction. The passenger window comes down as we book it over the sidewalk. “You call for a lift?”

  “Yes!” Jonathan and I say in unison, scrambling into the backseat.

  “Drive. Please,” I say, nudging Jonathan and pointing to the tree line where two large shadows emerge.

  “Keira! Can we just talk?” a voice calls as the cab driver steps on the gas.

  “Friends of yours?” the driver asks, peeking in the rearview mirror.

  “Um, ex-boyfriend.” I shrug at Jonathan.

  “And mine. They’ve teamed up.” Jonathan smiles hugely.

  I elbow him, biting a knuckle.

  “They did that to you? Let me call a Bobbie,” the driver says, eyeing me in the mirror.

  I have no clue what he’s talking about until Jonathan lurches forward. “No! No police. Please, we just want to go home. It’s been a very long night.”

  But it isn’t so much the words Jonathan is saying that has the old man hanging up his radio as it is the wad of bills Jonathan lays on the front seat. The gray-haired driver looks at the cash, checks the mirror once more—I smile innocently.

  “Where can I take you?” he asks.

  “The Lord Hill Hotel, but don’t pull in. If we go inside keep it running. I’ll make it worth your while,” Jonathan adds.

  I spend the next five minutes nestled against Jonathan, guessing what’s waiting for us at the hotel, but as it turns out, nothing. Not a single unmarked car. Not one agent. Not even the local police. Jonathan and I run in, grab our stuff and dash back out to the cab. But I’m confused when Jonathan opens the door instead of paying the man for waiting.