Dark Light of Mine

by John Corwin

Page 6

 

  Katie's eyebrows launched into low orbit. "What are you talking about?" She looked around at each of us, her eyes wide. "You don't even look surprised, Justin. Justin?"

  My knowledge of the Overworld barely scratched the surface, but I found myself surprised by very little after discovering I was demon spawn—an incubus who could seduce women and who needed to feed off emotions. Oh yeah, and finding out my dad was also an incubus, my Mom was a sorcereress, and that her parents had stolen my baby sister, Ivy, from us shortly after birth. There were loads more I could only guess at, but I probably wouldn't have been surprised if Shelton told me he had a pet yeti waiting at home.

  I offered her a wan smile. "I know it's a lot to take in, Katie. "

  "A lot to take in?" She stood up and backed away. "Are you saying you're not all world-class athletes? You're a bunch of vampires?"

  Elyssa smiled broadly as her canines lengthened into sharp, slightly curved fangs. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm the only vampire here. "

  Katie gawked at Elyssa. I expected her to bolt screaming at any moment. Instead, she drew closer and inspected the fangs. "Does that hurt? Do you ever accidentally bite yourself?"

  A frown replaced Elyssa's smile. "Seriously? You're not even going to run? Or scream?"

  "Are you going to suck my blood?"

  "As a general rule, I don't suck blood from people. " She bored her gaze into Katie's and leaned in until her face was within an inch of the other girl's nose. "But if you touch my boyfriend again I might make an exception. "

  "What are you, Justin?" She cast a glance at Shelton. "And you?"

  Shelton sighed heavily. "Can I finish my blasted story? We'll get to supernatural kindergarten later. "

  "Just sit down, Katie," I said, motioning to the bench. "Nobody here will hurt you. "

  She cast a slightly worried gaze at Elyssa before sitting down again, but with a bit more space on the bench between her and Shelton.

  "Finally," Shelton said with a frustrated look heavenward. "The Devoted are the cream of the assassin crop. Some say they lead the Brotherhood. Others say they're independent. " He shrugged. "I don't know and it really doesn't matter. What I can tell you is anyone can afford their fee, but most won't be willing to pay it. "

  "So someone very determined wants Dad dead," I said. "But why? What did he ever do to anyone?"

  "That," Shelton said, turning his head to gaze at Dad, "is a very good question. Someone would have to really hate your dad to pay the fee for a Devoted hit. "

  "Who put the bounty on me, Shelton?" Dad asked. "I looked at the Conclave website but it didn't say. "

  Shelton shook his head. "I don't know. I assumed it was the Conroys. They weren't too happy with you sending normal investigators to poke into their business. "

  Dad's face flushed crimson and his lips curled back in a snarl. "They have my wife and daughter. What do they expect me to do? Send them a thank you card?"

  "Whoa, cowboy. Don't take it out on me. "

  "I have a feeling you know a lot more than you let on," I said to Shelton. "As you told me before—you're a detective. And I know you're not stupid. If you found out where we live, then I'll bet you know exactly who put the bounty out on us. "

  "I told you, I don't know. "

  In a flash, I gripped Shelton's duster by the collar and jerked him off the bench. "You're lying. "

  Eyes glaring into mine, Shelton tightened his jaw and said, "Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. "

  I resisted the urge to launch him across the plaza and into the fountain.

  Elyssa's hand touched my arm. "Let him go, Justin. "

  "He knows something. He knows who wants my father dead, too, I'll bet. "

  Shelton snorted. "If I knew do you think I'd be helping you right now?"

  "Someone threatened him," Elyssa said. "That's why he's not talking. "

  My grip went slack, dropping Shelton on his feet. He brushed off his duster and took a seat on the bench. I turned to Elyssa. "What—how do you know this?"

  "I've built up some instincts over the years, helping my family round up the law breakers. " She cast a glance at Shelton. "I think he knows exactly who put the bounty out. And they know he knows, so they told him to keep his mouth shut. "

  Shelton crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Listen to the girl, ace. "

  "All you care about is your own hide, isn't it, Shelton? Why did you even bother to help us today? You had to know a tracker meant someone was hunting for my dad. " My mouth dropped as the truth hit me. I slapped my forehead. It took all my willpower not to body slam Shelton through the wooden bench. "You thought you'd collect the bounty. I'll bet you figured whoever wanted him would follow us here and you'd have my dad all locked up in a circle by then. "

  Shelton bolted up from the bench. "Now you're just plain wrong, boy. "

  "Oh, are you back to calling me 'boy' or 'kid' again? Can't face the fact I see through your games?" I paced away from him, fists clenched and teeth aching from the tightness in my jaw. I faced him. "What was your angle when you supposedly helped me rescue my dad from the rogue vampires? Were you hoping to bag him?"

  "If I'd wanted to do that, I could've done it any time. You were exhausted. Your dad and lady Sherlock there were passed out. " He stepped toward me. "I could have slipped a pair of sleepers on you. Dumped the both of you on the Conclave's doorstep, collected a hundred grand in bounty for you and your dad, and been outta there. "

  "But Stacey would have found out and gone after you," I said, my mind clutching wildly for some reason he wouldn't have done exactly as he said. Elyssa might never have recovered if I hadn't given her some of my blood that night, so she wouldn't have been able to go after Shelton if he'd betrayed us.

  "The felycan?" He snorted. "You gotta be kidding me. The day I'm afraid of a felycan is the day I go back to wearing diapers. "

  Dad's voice cut through my thoughts. "Justin, I don't think he has anything to do with this. "

  "But it makes sense!"

  Dad shook his head. "No. He's right. He could've taken us anytime he wanted after you saved me. And if he can't or won't tell us who put out the bounty, there's nothing we can do about it. "

  I turned back to Shelton. "Can you at least remove the mark?"

  He belted out a laugh brimming with disbelief. "You go from blaming me for all your problems to asking for my help again?"

  "Well, can you?" I asked.

  He ran a hand down his face, grumbling under his breath. "I don't know. A tracker is one thing. A death mark, especially one from the Devoted, is another matter altogether. "

  "It might be rigged," Elyssa said.

  My chest tightened. "It'll kill him if we try to remove it?"

  "It might. "

  "Why bother with the mark? Why not just kill him when they had the chance? If they can mark him, surely they could have just finished the job. " I shuddered at the logic. They could have taken my dad at any time. But they hadn't.

  "The marks are usually a warning of what's to come," Shelton said. "They give the marked time to put his affairs in order and say goodbye to loved ones. They're also used to strike fear of the Brotherhood into the community and remind everyone they are very real and not to be forgotten. "

  "So right now there's a timer counting down my dad's life?"

  Shelton nodded. "Yeah, that's about the short of it. "

  My legs felt like jelly. I sank onto a bench, gripping my head with both hands and staring at the ground. How could this be happening to us? The backs of my eyes burned as though they were trying to release tears. But I had no more tears to give. That had been the soft old version of me. Now I had strength and power. I could stop this Underborn guy if only I knew where to find him. But what about my mom and sister? I'd planned to go after them next and rescue them from the Conroys, the maternal grandparents I'd never met. Obviously, I'd have to put those plans on hold and dea
l with this first. It wouldn't do me much good to reunite my family if Dad died.

  "How long do we have?" I asked.

  Shelton stared at the tattoo again. "A couple of weeks. Maybe three. The tattoo usually indicates the time unless the client instructs the assassin otherwise. Then the timer might be false just to play tricks with the target's mind before the end. "

  Something occurred to me. I looked at Dad. "Mom called me and told me to leave just before you got home and told me about the tracker. Do you think the Conroys know about it? Is that why Mom called?"

  Dad shook his head. "Anything is possible with them. One of my contacts told me they were keeping an eye out for me. "

  "Wait just a minute. " In my head, I played back the minutes after Mom's phone call and glared at Dad. "You came from outside the house. You were out looking for Mom again weren't you?"

  "Now, son—"

  "Don't you 'now, son' me, Dad. I'll bet someone tagged you while you were out. " I thought back to when I'd pulled Dad's weak form from the crypt where the rogue vampires had kept him. I had strapped him onto a moggy's back, facedown. His neck would've been visible and I would have noticed such a strange tattoo. "When did you leave home?"

  Dad looked away from me. "Right after you went into your bedroom. " He looked up, met my eyes. "I can't stop looking, Justin. I'll never stop. Assassins can go to hell for all I care. I'm going to find Alice and Ivy and bring them back. Your mother and sister need me. "

  "Bring them back to what? Your family knows where we live now. You might be dead in a few days. Whatever you're doing to find them isn't working. "