02 Seekers (17 page)

gripping them both. “Of all the stupid things!”

“You promised you’d never say my middle name out loud,” I said.

“They could have shot you! Or me! Or him!” she continued.

“I’m pretty sure they could have,” I replied.

“It was stupid!” she said.

“They were going to kill him!” I said.

She sighed, registering that the stupidity of my actions was done out of goodness. Her eyes swept the street nervously for cops and the curious. As they did, I noticed a faint white sheen had taken over her irises. Her blue eyes waged against the filmy white. It was a fight I had seen a million times in Daniel’s eyes, only Daniel seemed to know it was there. Alex was oblivious to the war her eyes were facing. Was she close to turning into a Nightstalker? The thought was terrifying.

The boy finally found his voice. “Who are you people?” he asked.

“I’m Clare, that’s Alex,” I said.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said. His voice was nasally as he held his nose to keep the blood from running down his chin.

“Yeah, I know.”

“We should take you to a hospital,” Alex said, stopping to take a look at his nose. He wouldn’t take his hand away to let her look, but his injury was obvious. “It looks broken. And your eyes are starting to swell.”

He pulled away from her hand, obviously not trusting the touch. The memory of our first alley rang through his mind. His fear and natural instinct to run away were at war with the gratefulness he felt for me at stopping those men.

“No, man…are you kidding? Hospitals ask questions. I’ve got it covered,” he declined.
I
wonder where Eli is?
he thought, his eyes sweeping the streets.

“You’ve got it covered?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, covered,” he repeated.

“Great,” she replied. “Well, we need to get out of this general area, so I say we go back to the shopping area,” she said to me.

“You would say that,” I said.

“This was nice,” the boy said. “We should do this, like, never again.”

“Hey,” Alex warned, “Clare just saved your butt. A little gratitude wouldn’t hurt you.”

“It might,” he replied.

I almost laughed. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I will be,” he replied with more sincerity.

“All right…” I took the sword from Alex and slung it over my shoulder.

He followed the movement and recognized what I had bundled in the ill-fitting bag all at once.

Holy crap…that’s that sword…No way I’m hanging around that thing…
“See you dolls later,” he turned abruptly and streamlined his way down the street.

“He’s real friendly,” Alex said dryly.

“I have that effect on people,” I replied.

The sound of sirens in the distance steadily grew closer, aiming for the alley we had left. It was a clear sign to walk faster. We did, and I felt the fire from only days ago haunting us. We seemed to be running from danger more than we were preventing it.

“Sit here for a minute,” Alex said when we reached our street of shopping. “I’m going to get a different pair of shoes since you keep running off. Get us some food while you’re at it.”

Most of the shops were still closed because of the hour, but she had found us an early morning pastry shop. I didn’t ask how she planned to get shoes at this hour; she would find a way. I bought food from the sunny shopkeeper and picked it apart at the table while I waited for her to come back. My thoughts were on the man I had beaten and the lack of control I had experienced.

It was the first real fight I had gotten into since the night I had killed. If Alex hadn’t been there, it was possible I wouldn’t have stopped. I would have kept beating him until he was dead. It was everything I had feared since my night facing Sheriff Cobb. Did my reaction mean I was losing the battle of control? Was it my Watcher nature rearing its ugly head or was I facing a much more personal demon? I hated to think I was capable of murder, but the fact that I hadn’t turned meant I was less likely to believe it was my Watcher nature that had directed my fist to his face.

It had been all me.

When Alex returned, we sat in thoughtful silence. I wrestled with the darkness I had found in myself then focused on the day ahead of us, deciding that planning was better than dwelling. I hoped the day would be more productive than the last. Alex was thinking whatever she was

thinking, her shield as strong as ever.

I felt the eyes on me before I saw the person staring at us. I kicked Alex under the table as the sensation of being watched went down my spine. Our watcher was behind me and close. There

was no mistaking the feeling. Alex grabbed her leg in protest, but leaned forward at the

expression on my face. “What?”

“We’re being watched,” I mouthed at her.

She sat up a little straighter and looked around. “Who?”

I shut my eyes and concentrated. The pulse of people on the streets was increasing, but the roads were mostly empty. It didn’t take me long to find the trail of thought. I stood up and marched to the corner of the building, my sudden fear at being watched replaced by irritation. I yanked the boy I had just rescued around the corner by the front of his shirt. He yelped as I did, but I ignored him. “Why are you spying on us?” I demanded.

He pushed away from me and fixed his ratty clothes primly. “Not spying…checking out. Big

difference.”

I searched his face for the truth and noticed something. I pushed him against the building again in reflex at what I saw. His face was perfect, not a blemish or scratch in sight. People didn’t just heal from a broken nose in a matter of thirty minutes. The only people that did were Watchers.

He was obviously much too young to be a Watcher, but something strange was definitely going on. And that strangeness had me on the defensive.

“How’d you do that?” I asked him.

“Do what?” he asked, trying to push me off.

I pointed at his noise. “Your face!”

“I told you I had it covered.” He pushed at me again. “Let me go, will ya?”

“Not until you tell me how you have it ‘covered’,” I said.

Eli
! The boy’s thoughts yelled out suddenly. His thoughts were worried that I meant what I said.

He knew I could handle myself – he had seen proof enough in the alley – and was searching for help...

“Who’s Eli?” I asked quickly.

“I didn’t say nothing about no Eli,” he said.

We stared each other down. I was annoyed I had given one of my secrets away to this street rat with questionable morals and even more questionable motives. His thoughts weren’t upset about the possibility of me reading minds – he was rather open to the concept actually – he just wanted to know how I was able.

“Why are you here?” I asked.

He looked down at the shirt I was clutching. I let him go slowly, seeing he wouldn’t answer until I did. “Look…you saved my life. Twice. I got curious. So sue me,” he said.

“Maybe I will,” Alex said. “My dad’s a lawyer.”

“Your dad’s a lawyer?” he asked.

I scowled at Alex to shut up, but she shrugged indifferently in response. It wasn’t any worse than my slip.

“Okay…” he said. “Let’s start over. Hi, I’m Spider, your run-of-the-mill homeless kid living day-to-day by the sharpness of his wit and the skill of his hands.”

“Unless he’s caught by gang members,” I retorted.

“They surprised me,” he said with shrug. “They’re very territorial, and I made them angry last month by begging on ‘their streets’ without paying my ‘dues’.”

“They were pretty upset about you just ‘begging’,” I pointed out.

“Well, I may have stolen the leader’s wallet, and they took it a little seriously,” he said.

“Smart,” I said.

He bowed ironically.

“Did he say why he’s stalking us?” Alex asked me. “I didn’t hear.”

“I do believe he gave a vague answer meant to throw us off,” I replied.

“Gratitude,” he replied. “I wanted to say thank you.”

“Uh-huh,” I replied. My eyes swept the streets and the skyline. The feeling of being watched hadn’t faded despite catching our watcher. Was it the mysterious Eli?

“Does he strike you as the type to say ‘thank you’?” Alex asked.

Spider’s brain was working two steps ahead of our questions, thinking of answers before we even knew the questions. I let him think he had the dime on us; it helped me hear two steps ahead. I could hear he was genuinely grateful, despite his real reason for being here – which he hadn’t thought of yet. That honest gratitude was the only that kept me from walking away – that and I wanted to know if we had been found…again.

“Nope,” I replied in response to Alex’s question.

“You know about them, don’t you?” he asked me suddenly, catching me off guard. “Those

strange people.”

“Vague,” Alex said, crossing her arms, mirroring my stance.

I knew what he meant – the fight we had witnessed. “Yes.”

“Who are they?”

“Something you don’t need to know about,” I replied.

“What if I did?” he asked.

He had started to scramble his thoughts. He couldn’t block them out entirely, but he started thinking about technical things, things that were so over my head I felt insignificant. It was then I knew for sure he knew more than he was letting on. The only reason he would scramble his

thoughts was because he knew about my ability. He wasn’t curious about how I could read

minds, he was curious if the ability went beyond me. Spider knew about my world, and the only way he would know about my world is if he had encountered it before. Possibilities ran through my head as I searched for an explanation. One thing was clear: Spider wasn’t as ‘run of the mill’

as he had stated.

He crossed his arms and looked between Alex and me. “I just want to know what happened in

the alley.” His green eyes flashed with an idea. “We can make a deal, if it’ll make you trust me.

A kind of, I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.”

“What kind of scratching?” I asked suspiciously.

“Just tell me what’s going on, who, or what, those people fighting on the building were, and I’ll do whatever you want. I’m a good friend to have, doll. I can guarantee you that.”

Alex pulled me away from him. “We could use someone who knows this town. We’ve not had

the best of luck so far…”

“I know that,” I said tartly. I didn’t need her to point out our lack of situation or my inability to get results. “What exactly did you want to know?” I asked Spider.

“Everything you know,” he said with a shrug.

“It could get him killed,” I told Alex quietly.

“Tell him that,” she said.

“I’m not worried,” Spider said.

“You should be,” I warned him. I stepped close again. “Because what you saw the other day was tepid compared to the fire you’re asking to jump into.”

“Very scary.” He took a couple of steps around us. “We should get out of here. The rent-a-cop is going to come by in a minute, and he does not like my kind. He thinks we’re homeless on

purpose.”

I looked between Spider and Alex, trying to decide. Alex’s face was impassive but Spider’s face screamed something familiar at me; there was something about the shape of his eyes I trusted.

Something inside told me I should follow him and see where this went. Plus, we needed help, and he was the only one offering it. Knowing it was stupid, I decided to put my trust him, feeling like doing so was asking for more trouble than we already had.

“You first,” I said meaning for him to lead the way. “Make sure you keep your hands where I can see them, though.”

“I wouldn’t steal from my savior, doll,” he said grandly, pacing away from us with long strides.

“I have morals, you know.”

Alex and I shared a skeptical look then turned to follow him. Our doubts trailed after us in curious acceptance of our choice.

Chapter 10

Alex hooked her arm through mine as we walked after him. “You getting anything from him? Up here?” She tapped her forehead.

“Not really. He’s smart,” I said grudgingly, “and knows more than he’s saying. He’s blocking things out. What about you?” I asked her. “Is your gift telling you anything?”

“It’s not much of a gift,” she said. “I don’t always see convenient things. I can tell he’s more capable than his smart mouth would lead us to believe. He’s used to being underestimated and uses it to his advantage…Why do you think he wants to know about…you know?”

“I have a feeling we’ll find out. Where are we headed?” I asked him, aware he was

eavesdropping.

He turned around and started walking backwards. “I got a place.” He wiggled his eyebrows

suggestively.

“What are you, eight?” Alex asked.

“Eleven,” he replied. “So, what do you say?”

“Not even in your dreams,” I replied.

“Aw, that’s just mean,” he said in a mock hurt voice.

He had led us to a small back street, which was isolated and closed off by cars and balconies. I slowed down. The eyes I felt on me were more intense now; closer. Spider had led us to the real watcher. I dropped Alex’s arm and took a stronger grip on the sword. Spider stared at me

curiously as I slowed. Maybe he wasn’t as aware of our watcher as I thought. Maybe.

A flicker of movement to my right had me reacting instinctively. The sword was out of the bag and hanging in midair before I fully understood the nature of the threat. Anger dominated my senses as the shadow shifted into a person. Spider had led us to a trap; our tentative trust had been misplaced. Alex took a step back as the figure materialized from the shadows at the end of my sword. His strange eyes, one blue, one brown, brought back a memory. He had been at the fire. He had locked eyes with me as everything had spiraled out of control.

“Whoa, he’s a friend,” Spider said.

I didn’t reply to Spider – he was too new an acquaintance to trust him at his word. I considered my options, automatically considering what it would take to end shadow-man before he ended me.

Our visitor and I stared at each other assessing, probing for weaknesses. The tension from the moment locked my body into a strange sense of action. Our hotel wasn’t that far from here. A couple of blocks? Maybe, this was his territory to prowl – to find innocents to kill. For all I knew, he had set the fire. He could have gotten Spider to lead us here to finish the job he had started.