Dark Seeker (6 page)

“Then why is he holding that?”

She had no idea why he’d shown up at her house, and certainly couldn’t imagine why he’d be holding a rose. Janie dipped her head into Kai’s back. “I don’t know.”

CHAPTER 4

The motorcycle’s engine roared to life. Kai sped down her street and disappeared around a turn. Janie breathed in a sigh of relief. She wondered if Matt would disappear too if she walked slowly enough up her front walk. Nope, still there.
Damn!

She searched the porch for Ava, but didn’t see her.
Did she really have to be alone with him?

“Hey, Janie.” Matt greeted her a few feet from the steps, wearing his varsity wrestling jacket, a lightweight sweater and jeans.

“What is that?”

“A rose.” He smiled.

“I mean, why?” She focused on the single yellow rose; the petals had just started to unfold. From what she remembered, yellow only meant friendship. It was red she had to fear.

“You saved my life. It’s the least I can do. Besides, I was worried about you when you didn’t show up at school today.” He handed her the rose.

“Thanks.” She half-smiled. “I was sick today.”

“Who was that guy on the bike? Your boyfriend?” he said.

She blinked and replayed his question in her mind. It sounded ridiculous.

Janie coughed, stifling a laugh. “Who, Kai? Hardly.”

“Yeah, who was that?” Ava appeared in her doorway. Luke followed behind her, wearing plaid pants and a solid gray sweater. A white scarf hung meticulously around his neck.

“When did you two get here?” Janie said.

“A few minutes ago,” Ava said. “We stopped by to check on you. Your mom let us in. I noticed your Honda in the driveway this morning. When you didn’t answer the door, I figured you got to school some other way.”

“Where were you, and who was the hottie on the Harley?” Luke added. He gazed off into the distance, no doubt picturing Kai riding off into the sunset.

“Nowhere, and nobody important.” She brushed by Matt and climbed the porch steps.

“So, Janie, there’s this bonfire tonight, at Pete’s. His parents own like acres of land. Are you interested in going?” Matt said.

Janie swung back around. “Um, what?”

Luke hung over the porch rail, entranced by every word that rolled off of Matt’s tongue. “Sounds fun.” His scarf acted as a good bib to catch his drool.

“Um—” Janie glared at Luke. “I’m busy.”

“Come on, Janie, it does sound fun.” Ava shot her an
are-you-crazy
look. “Live a little.”

She didn’t participate in lame school activities, but Janie knew she wasn’t going to win this argument. Anyway, Luke had probably already mentally picked out his outfit. “Fine, I’ll think about it,” she said.

Isabelle rested the phone between her ear and her shoulder. She waved her hand for Janie to sit. Janie plopped down into the leather armchair and propped her feet up on the ottoman. She massaged her calves. It was nice to finally take her boots off. Her dagger had been digging into her leg half the night, well before she ended up in a T-shirt asleep in a very odd Daychild’s bed.

Her living room was large enough for a sofa, chair and ottoman. A flat screen hung above the brick fireplace. The walls were still a light sage green from when they moved in. Isabelle never put any effort into painting since they moved every four years. One large scenic picture of a barn blanketed in snow hung above the sofa. A picture of Janie’s dad perched on the side table next to a bulbous lamp. Janie sighed. The ache in her heart twitched.
Dad, I miss you.

“Sorry, that was Abram.” Isabelle entered the living room, her dark brown eyes serious under knitted brows. “Did you come home last night?”

Isabelle had seemed too preoccupied with her conversation with Abram to be that angry. “The city was crazy last night. You know how it is. Some nights are worse than others.”

From Isabelle’s blank expression, Janie wondered if she’d even heard her explanation. “Is everything okay, Mom?”

Isabelle sighed. “The Apotheosis had a meeting last night, over at the old Baptist church on Dulaney Valley Road.” Pieces of her straight black hair had fallen out of her loose bun. They wisped around her forehead as she spoke.

“What did Abram say?” Janie knew whatever it was, it wasn’t good. The Baltimore-based Apotheosis Chapter only met under troublesome circumstances. The Chapter consisted of three men—all former Seekers, Abram included. He’d been her mentor for as long as she could remember. Janie regarded him as a second father.

“Apparently there’s been some sort of uprising in the city. It seems as though the Daychildren have upset the vampire community.”

“But why would they do that? Vampires created them,” Janie said.

“Somehow, Daychildren have figured out how to ‘Turn’ humans. They no longer need vampires or demons to create more of their kind.” Isabelle paced the floor, mulling over the ramifications of the new information. “Fortunately, humans who are Turned are not as powerful as demons that are Turned, since they don’t possess a demonic ability, but we still need to consider them a threat.” She turned to Janie. “They are still Daychildren, ability or no ability. You will have to treat them the same.”

Janie thought back to the Daychildren she’d fought over the last week. Mr. Muscles didn’t appear to have an ability, but Mr. Telekinesis with the mullet did. Even though only one of them possessed an ability, they were both equally as dangerous to human society. “Mom, not all Daychildren have abilities. In fact, more and more I come across don’t possess an ability, but that’s not the issue right now. . .we can’t allow humans to be Turned. We’ve got to put a stop to this. It’s hard enough to keep humans from dying, but now I have to keep humans from Turning?” Janie exhaled in frustration. “It’s going to be twice as much work.”

“According to Abram, they are forming gangs to support their cause,” Isabelle said.

“That explains why there was a gang of them in a law office downtown. I ran into them last night.” Janie touched her head, remembering the demon splint.

“Were you prepared?” Isabelle examined Janie for cuts or bruises.

Janie brushed it off. “It was fine. I got away. But at least I know where they are now.” She sank back into the chair and clutched a green throw pillow to her chest. She wasn’t ready to tell her mother about Kai. Isabelle would be furious to hear she’d spent the night with a Daychild, even if he had saved her life. “So what’s the plan? How do we stop them?”

“The Chapter is meeting again tonight to discuss action. Abram will come by tomorrow morning. Hopefully they’ll have a plan by then.” Isabelle aligned the magazines on the coffee table into a fan pattern. “I wouldn’t confront them again until we hear from Abram. Maybe you should lay low tonight.”

“You mean take a night off?” Janie leaned forward and rested her palm on her mother’s forehead. “Are you feeling okay?”

In the background, she heard a news anchor reporting on a high school kid’s disappearance. Janie and her mother turned their attention to the TV.
“. . .his parents reported the Towson High School student missing after he went out to play basketball and never returned home. If you know anything about the student’s disappearance, please call the Baltimore County Police Department.”

Isabelle shut off the TV. “I hope they find him. I can’t begin to imagine what his parents are going through right now.” She placed the remote in line with the magazines. “What are your plans for this evening? I noticed you had quite the entourage on the front porch.”

“It was just Ava and Luke.”

Isabelle directed her attention to the rose Janie had placed on the side table. “Who gave you the rose? I doubt it was Luke. You don’t seem like his type,” she said, smiling despite herself.

“Matt Baker. Now can we drop it?” Janie escaped her mother’s stare.

“This is the first boy you’ve spoken about, and you want me to drop it.” Isabelle slid Janie’s feet over to sit on the ottoman.

“How many more years do I have to repeat high school? I’m feeling intellectually stunted. Normal humans don’t have to repeat their teenage years over and over again. When do I actually get to
turn
eighteen?”

Isabelle smiled. “I did, and I turned out okay. I even got to go to nursing school and become a nurse.” She settled in, ready to gossip about a subject Janie knew little about—boys. “Does he go to Loch Raven?”

“He’s the wrestling captain,” Janie said.

“Is there a problem with a jock taking an interest in you? I don’t understand your reluctance.” She traced the imprint of the dagger on Janie’s calf. “Ouch, how long did you wear that thing in your boot?”

“Practically all night.” Janie shook her head, indicating she didn’t want to discuss it.

Isabelle thankfully took the hint. “So, are you seeing Matt tonight? What’s he like?”
 
 
 
 

“Uh, Mom, slow down.” Janie bit her lip and winced, remembering she had a split lip. She didn’t taste any blood. It had already started to heal. “Matt should have no interest in me. He’s only speaking to me because I saved his life.”

“You did what?” Isabelle’s interested gaze flipped to a disappointed frown. “Janie, that’s dangerous. You could have been exposed, and Matt—” Isabelle rose to her feet. “What were you thinking?”

“What was I supposed to do—let the Daychild kill him?”

Isabelle began to pace again. “I’ll have to speak to Abram about this. This is
not
good.”

“Matt said he wouldn’t say anything.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about. The Chapter can deal with the secrecy issue. Your father—” her words broke off. “Never mind.”

“Why, what’s wrong?” Janie stood to confront her mother. “What does this have to do with Dad?”

“Just trust me.” Isabelle turned and left the room. “I’ve got to call Abram back.”

Luke picked Ava and Janie up in his classic red Mustang. Ava arranged her cotton turtleneck collar, while Luke patted his well-fitted, and even tighter, cashmere turtleneck. He’d paired it with straight-legged dress pants. They wound around one of the only roads still considered “country” in Towson.

“Aren’t dice rear-view mirror decorations from the fifties?” Janie said, playing with the stuffed cubes dangling from the mirror.

Luke rolled his eyes. “The fifties was a classic era. You gals don’t appreciate the quintessential.”

“What does that even mean?” Ava said. “For being such a hick, you sure do sound a lot like Webster’s dictionary.”

“I’m a refined, well-dressed hick,” he said, straightening his spine.

“Is that the house?” Janie pointed to a large country home. It reminded her of Tara, the mansion in
Gone with the Wind
.

“Either that, or there’s another party we didn’t know about. Check out all the cars,” Luke said. “I think the whole senior class is here.”

“I recognize Pete’s red pick-up. We’re at the right house.” Janie buttoned the last two buttons of her black, fitted waist-length Pea coat. She’d donned her usual skinny jeans and black boots. The boots hid her dagger, and the jeans made the dagger more readily accessible, not that she expected any action tonight. But she couldn’t be too careful after she’d caught a Daychild on school grounds.

Bright red and orange flames illuminated the forest backdrop. Piles of wood, rubble, even an old La-Z-Boy lay in a heap in the middle of the field. Hot embers crackled off the gigantic fire, whistling around in the dry air and flickering out. Seniors encircled the blaze—laughing, dancing and hanging out.

“Janie—” Matt directed her over. He stood with two other wrestlers, Billy Reynolds and Chandler Baime. Matt still wore his varsity jacket, but he’d changed into a navy and white striped sweater. Partial horizontal lines were exposed under his open jacket. “You made it. Come join us.” Matt closed the distance between them.

“Go ahead,” Luke said. “We’re going to find something to drink.”

“Do you think they have Sprite?” Ava said.

“Doubtful.” Luke shook his head, wrapped his arm around her waist and shuffled her forward.

“Did you find the place okay?” Matt said. The fire’s refection flickered in his hazel irises, making them eerily pretty, like cat’s eyes.

“There aren’t many other houses around, so we figured Pete’s was the house with all the cars.” Janie scanned the area. “Are Pete’s parents home? That’s pretty cool of them to let him set fire to their La-Z-Boy.”

“His parents went away for the weekend. They have no idea.” He smiled.

“Who invited you?” Molly appeared around a group of cheerleaders, her angry gaze set on Janie. She strode over to Matt and looped her arm through his. She’d cut her Loch Raven Wrestling sweatshirt around the neck so it slid off one shoulder. She eyed Janie’s footwear, raising one perfectly waxed brow. “Nice boots.”