Seekers fate, p.4
Seeker's Fate, page 4
part #3 of Seeker's World Series
“Raff isn’t a mere Waerg,” Callum replied, reading my mind. “His father is a shape-shifter. Concealment and deception are the gifts of his bloodline.”
“True,” Niala agreed, her tone velvety soft but bitter. “They are a whole other breed of cruelty.”
“Well, this one seems to be a Watcher, not a fighter,” said Callum, nodding toward Lachlan. “We went to confront him last night, and he could have challenged us—for that matter, he could easily have broken into the house at night and attacked us. But he chose to run instead of fight. He seems to be here on a reconnaissance mission. He’s an informant, most likely.”
“They’re always Watchers until they find a way to get their teeth into you,” Crow replied. “Waergs always want blood. Maybe he’s holding back for now, but he’s probably just trying to lull you into a false sense of security by pretending to be docile.”
“Yeah, well, we’re not the only ones he’s lulling,” I said, nodding in Liv’s direction. Her face was mere inches from Lachlan’s, her fingers twisting her hair as she stared, mesmerized, at him. She appeared to be giggling, her feet doing a little happy dance in the sand.
The only time I’d ever seen her like this was when she flirted relentlessly with my brother, and even then, she normally retained some semblance of control.
Without having had a drop of alcohol, she looked like the most intoxicated teenager at this beach party.
“Is she a friend of yours?” Niala asked.
“My best friend, actually,” I said.
“Wait—she’s the one who was in trapped the queen’s dungeon? That’s Liv?”
“Yep. It’s a good thing she doesn’t remember any of it. Although, I sort of wish she did. It would make it a hell of a lot easier to tell her the boy she’s flirting with is likely to crush her soul, let alone what he might do to her trachea.”
“He won’t risk hurting her physically. Waergs only go after humans in this world as a last resort, and he’d bring the wrath of the Academy down on him if he tried anything. The last time a Waerg actually killed anyone here—”
“I know when the last time was,” I interrupted. “I’ll never forget the day my parents died.”
Niala stammered for a second and bit her lip. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s all right. I know you didn’t.” I let out a deep breath, shuddering briefly with the memory, and redirected my gaze to Liv. “To be completely honest, I’m not so worried about what our Waerg friend might do to Liv with his claws and fangs. It’s what he might do to her emotions that scares me. Liv has been single forever, and most of her life she’s been pining for my big brother, which is bad enough—but at least it’s harmless. This guy walks into her life an hour ago, and it’s like she’s already planning her wedding. It won’t end well.”
“Still,” Niala said, her eyes locked on Lachlan, “you might be able to use their budding romance to your advantage. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, and all that.”
“I’m not so sure I want to be close to that guy.”
“Anyway,” Crow said, rubbing his hands together, “Who’s in charge of food and drink around here? I’m starving.”
Callum clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Right this way, good sir,” he said, leading Crow toward the series of coolers in the distance.
Niala and I followed, with Rourke leaping down and transforming into his tabby cat form to stalk along beside her. I noticed as we walked that his small paws left no tracks in the sand.
“It’s still so strange to think no one but us can see him,” I said, eyeing the Familiar affectionately. “He’s basically a ghost.”
“No one can see Crow’s scar, either,” Niala reminded me and pointed to an angry-looking slash mark on Crow’s cheek. “Magical entities—as well as marks left by magical weapons—tend to hide themselves from prying eyes in your world. It’s a good thing, too, because otherwise he and I would get a lot more weird looks. The last thing I need is to draw people’s attention. I’m already odd enough.”
Odd wasn’t the word I would have used to describe Niala. She was remarkably beautiful, in the same way as a Renaissance painting—an image out of another time and place. Her bright green eyes and milky-white skin were striking in our world of sun worshippers. She looked like an artist’s muse, her skin as translucent as watercolors splashed along a canvas.
“Well, I’ll admit that I’m grateful for the ability to hide certain aspects of my own secret life,” I said. “I mean, I’ve got one of the Academy’s daggers tucked into my belt, and I’m glad you’re reminding me no one’s going to call me on it if I bend over.”
“Even if they could see it,” Niala said with a chuckle, “They’d probably just think you were some kind of badass.”
I let out a loud laugh. It was so odd to hear Niala use anything approximating a curse word. She was the most dignified girl I’d ever met.
“No one at Plymouth High will ever think of me that way,” I replied with a quick roll of my eyes. “I’m a pariah at my school. I’m the moody girl who never speaks to anyone but Liv.”
“I dunno,” Niala said, nodding toward Callum and Crow, who were rifling through a cooler on a hunt for sustenance. “I don’t think anyone who walks around with Callum Drake will ever find themselves treated like an outcast.”
“You may be right,” I replied, noticing a group of girls turning to gawk at him. “God, I can’t believe I’m dating the future prom king. Meanwhile, I look like the prom serf, at best.”
“You’re way too hard on yourself, Vega,” Niala laughed. “You really don’t know how pretty you are, do you?”
“You think I’m pretty?” I asked. It was a terrible, leading question. Either I expected her to say yes—which put her in an awkward position—or no, which put her into an even worse one.
“I don’t just think it. You are objectively beautiful. Why do you think other girls are so hostile to you? You’re gorgeous, brilliant, and talented. But I suppose it serves you well that you don’t seem to realize it.”
My cheeks heated. I had no idea how to take all these kind words, especially from the usually reserved Niala.
“Thanks?” I said. “I mean, it’s not like I’m agreeing with you. I’m just trying to graciously accept the compliment. For the record, I still don’t think I’m anything special.”
“Maybe not. But they do,” Niala said, nodding toward the three Charmers, who were still glaring at me like I’d killed their entire families with a spork.
Flame
The four of us spent most of the evening seated on a pair of fallen tree trunks ten feet or so from the bonfire. We were careful to keep our voices low whenever we spoke of the Otherwhere, though to my relief, Niala and Crow were more interested in plying me with questions about Fairhaven.
Had I always lived there? Was there even a movie theater? What was the town’s population?
I answered the questions as well as I could, almost relieved when Liv tore herself away from her menacing new love interest to head in our direction. I braced myself as I watched her approach, trying desperately to think of a plausible explanation for the two strangers in our midst.
As it turned out, I didn’t need to worry.
“Where’s your man-friend going?” I asked her as I watched Lachlan head toward the path in the woods.
Liv shrugged, turning to watch him go. “He said he had to make it an early night. He has some family outing tomorrow, I think.” She turned back to us, eyeing Niala and Crow, her eyes in a squint of deep concentration. “Have I seen you two somewhere before? You both look really familiar.”
“Maybe at Midsummer Fest?” Niala said with a charming smile. “We’re…”
“Friends of mine,” Callum interjected before she had a chance to finish. “Old friends. Brother and sister. From…New York.”
Niala and I threw him synchronized looks of amusement. Really, Callum? A backstory?
“Siblings. Cool,” Liv said. “Are you just visiting, or…?”
“Yes! Just in and out for a quick visit to our old friend Callum,” Crow replied, and I could tell by his tone that he was trying to sound jovial and friendly, which just made me want to snort-laugh. The Crow I’d known at the Academy was gruff. He was aloof. He was the furthest thing from approachable. “Yup, just visiting. We…visit pretty often, so you may see us around again sometime, depending on which way the wind shifts and the crow flies. And so on.”
“Ah. Cool.” Liv shuffled her feet, clearly suspicious about Crow’s story but too puzzled or else too polite to say so. “Well, I’m going to go hunt for Jen Russell. You remember her, don’t you Vega?”
“The head of the Drama Club? What do you want with her?”
Liv beamed. “I’m hoping to audition for a role in the school play. I thought maybe she could give me a few pointers before I go out for it next week.”
“That’s great!” I replied, my eyes lighting up. “I really, really hope you get the role.”
Liv frowned. “Really?” she asked. “But if I get it, I’ll be busy with rehearsals and stuff. We’ll hardly get to see each other.”
“Yeah, but…it would be really great, Liv. For you, I mean. You’d love it. You’re a born actress. A total and absolute drama queen.”
Of course, I conveniently neglected to mention that my reasons were also selfish. The more distracted she was, the less time she’d have to notice that I was constantly on the lookout for jagged-toothed creatures who wanted to disembowel me.
“Thanks for your vote of confidence, I guess,” she said with a snicker and a bemused look. “So, I think I’ll go talk to Jen now.”
“Great idea. Good luck!”
As I watched her walk away, I felt wretched.
“I hurt her feelings,” I moaned. “She thinks I don’t want her around. I’ve always wanted Liv around.” My shoulders slumped. “I’m a terrible friend.”
“Well, to be fair,” Niala replied. “You do have other things on your mind.”
I let out a sigh. “Like saving the world.”
“Some would argue that’s actually pretty important,” Callum offered, coming to my defense. “If it makes you feel better, she looks fine to me.”
Liv was already in the midst of an animated conversation with the Drama Club president. Callum had a point.
Liv wasn’t exactly the kind of person who wasted time worrying about things.
I turned to Niala and Crow. “Hey. Can you two stay in town tonight?”
“Not sure,” Crow replied. “But probably not. It would mean finding a hotel room. I don’t even know how your hotels work.”
“Don’t be silly. You could stay at my house,” I said. “You can even share a room. You are fake brother and sister, after all.”
Crow seemed to blush—an unusual sight, but an amusing one.
“What do you say, Crow?” Niala asked, shoving his shoulder with her own. “Should we stay here? Mom and Dad might get worried.”
“Damn, you’re right. We could get grounded,” Crow said with a crooked grin. “Mom gets especially antsy when we stay out after curfew.”
“She’ll be up all night, baking anxiety muffins,” I said, joining in on the fun.
“I told you kids, no venturing to other worlds until you’ve tidied your rooms!” Callum bellowed in his best dad-voice.
We’d just begun to invent detailed tales about their nonexistent childhood when someone shouted, “What the hell?”
I pulled my head up to see that the bonfire, which had been burning quietly but steadily, suddenly expanded, its flames growing like out of control tendrils that were beginning to flail in every direction. A series of flickering, unpredictable ribbons of searing heat leapt into the air, exploding like small fireworks.
Partygoers shrieked and scurried backwards, grabbing hold of one another for comfort.
“Why’s it doing that?” someone asked.
As I watched, the fire began to dance blue, then green, then purple.
“What’s happening?” a girl shouted. “Who’s doing this?”
The crowd was panicked, frozen. Helpless to stop the mounting threat.
And for reasons I would never be able to explain, I rose to my feet, fixating on the flames as the other terrified teenagers exchanged baffled looks of fear and concern.
People were still backing away as the bonfire continued to expand, swelling and thickening like it intended to take over the entire beach. Its color altered every few seconds, like the flame itself had swallowed a mound of flashing, out-of-control Christmas lights.
Even as everyone else retreated, I stepped forward, mesmerized, moving closer and closer until I stood mere inches from the conflagration, which licked the air around me, never quite touching my clothes or skin.
The strangest part was that it wasn’t actually hot.
In fact, I couldn’t feel a thing.
It was as if all my senses were focused on the flame itself, my eyes searching for something I knew to be hidden within its ever-shifting folds.
“Hey!” a concerned voice said from somewhere behind me. “What are you doing?”
I held up a hand to silence the speaker, all my attention focused on the fire.
“Don’t say anything,” I muttered. “I need to concentrate. I need to look…closer…I…I see…”
A second later, Callum’s deep voice barreled through my mind.
—What is it that you see, Vega? Tell me. Please.
I see… I replied silently. I see a man.
—What is he doing?
He’s…he’s looking straight through me.
Before I had a chance to explain it—to Callum or to myself—an explosion ripped through the air.
New Foes
The violent force sent me hurtling backwards as the surrounding crowd shrieked with horror. Callum leapt forward, catching me in his arms, and I managed to land more or less on my feet.
But my mind was reeling.
“What the hell happened?” a shrill voice shouted.
Somewhere behind me, I could hear a girl weeping.
The fire was already dying down to a red-orange, controlled blaze.
But what everyone had just witnessed was enough to traumatize them.
“Someone must’ve tossed something explosive in,” Crow said, his voice powerful yet calming as he stepped forward. “Guys, you should’ve known it’s a really bad idea to fling bottles of vodka into bonfires!” he shouted with a broad grin the likes of which I’d never seen from him before.
And just like that, the crowd erupted into peals of laughter. Boys high-fived each other, and girls chortled. The blast, they now agreed, was the most awesome thing they’d ever seen—a massive blue explosion that had sent Vega Sloane shooting fifteen feet backwards through space. A freak accident, but hey, no one was hurt, right?
Only I knew the truth.
At least, part of it.
“What exactly did you see?” Callum asked quietly, taking my shoulders and turning me to face him.
I stared up at him, trying to sort my jumbled thoughts. But I could tell from the look on his face that he already had a theory.
“It was him, wasn’t it?” he whispered. “It was Lumus.”
I shook my head. “No. It was a face I’ve never seen before. He had strange, deep eyes. Frown lines…like he was old, but I couldn’t tell how old. I could feel him pulling me into the flame. Summoning me. Digging through my mind—looking for…” With the last few words, my voice began to tremble.
It wasn’t the first time a magic-user had worked his way inside my mind, but this felt different.
The man I’d seen in the flame hadn’t invaded my thoughts, so much as skimmed them. It was almost as if he was perusing my memories, looking through them as one might leaf through a dictionary or a deck of cards.
But what he was hunting for, I couldn’t say.
“Oh my God, Vega, are you okay?” asked Liv, who was jogging over from the other side of the fire. “I thought for sure…”
“I’m fine,” I said with a weak smile. “I guess I forgot the rules of fire safety.”
“Yeah. Namely, don’t walk straight into a raging bonfire,” she laughed, reaching for me as if she was trying to make sure I wasn’t broken. “Pretty sure they teach you that in kindergarten.”
“True. I don’t know what I was thinking. Anyhow, I really am fine. But I…I think I’d like to head home,” I said to no one in particular. I still felt shaken and couldn’t imagine hanging around close to the fire that had nearly consumed me.
Not to mention that the last thing I wanted was more attention.
Liv eyed me with a healthy dose of skepticism. “You’re sure you’re all right? Do you want me to take you home?”
“Don’t worry,” said Callum, slipping his arm protectively around my shoulders. “I’ll look after her.”
“I’m sure you will,” Liv said with a cheeky wink. “Hey, Vega—why don’t we go to Perks in the morning, after you’ve recovered? We can catch up. I’ve missed you.”
“Sure…that would be great.” A bout of nausea swept through me, and I clutched Callum’s arm for support. I took his hand and squeezed hard as I plastered a smile to my lips.
“Great! I’ll come by your place around ten.”
“Great.” I parroted weakly. “I’ll…I’ll see you then.”
The last thing I remembered were fingers wrapping around my arm, and then I was fairly certain that Callum was guiding me toward the woods.
After that, my mind drifted into a state of oblivion, and the world went dark.
The next thing I knew, I was lying on the couch in my living room, my head spinning. I could hear Crow and Callum talking in the kitchen. I managed to turn my head to see Rourke’s panther form was stalking around the furniture, sniffing here and there. Niala was slouched back in my father’s old armchair, her eyes fixed on me.
“Did I pass out or something?” I asked, pushing myself up onto my elbows only to feel a swell of dizziness that prompted me to lie back down.
