Dark Seeker (20 page)

They reached the wall. Someone gripped the back of Janie’s sweatshirt. The girls flew through the wall. They landed on all fours on the asphalt and stumbled upright. Tanya blinked, staring at the wall and Janie, the wall again and back at Janie. “D-did—Did we just go through the wall?”

Kai’s ability faded, leaving Janie weak. She doubled over in pain. The ability had left her.

Tanya helped Janie stand. “We’ve got to get out of here, sugar.”

Janie nodded and removed her corroded boot. She winced against the pain, and they took off up the alley.

CHAPTER 13

Tanya wrapped herself up in Jerome’s bony arms. He looked hesitant to let her go again. “You held up your part of the deal, Seeker. You brought her back to me, in one piece.” Tanya playfully tickled her red fingernails over his forearm and the dagger tattoo that ran up his bicep. He smiled, revealing a less gangster side of himself.

“Now will you help us?” Kai said. Janie guessed he felt her coldness. He stood closer to Jerome than her. She’d refused to look at him, even acknowledge his presence when they met in her back yard. It was too painful. This was business—she had to be near him for the moment.
But after tonight, it’s over.

She glanced at her dark house. With her mother working the night shift at the hospital, they were alone. She knew neither her mother nor Abram would approve of any of this. Janie refocused her attention on Jerome for his answer.

“A deal is a deal,” he said. “You have the support of vamps. Whatever you need.”

“We need to stop Antony from Turning any more high school students,” Janie said. “Do you know what he plans to do next?”

“Word is he’s planning something at Loch Raven High on Friday night. Some sort of mass Turning. Whoever survives the Turn, survives. Those who don’t, don’t.” Jerome kissed the insides of Tanya’s wrists, her raw skin almost completely healed. “Tavares wants to see numbers. Baltimore’s down. It’s Antony’s way of stepping it up for the big man. And what better way to do it but on the Seeker’s turf.”

“Friday.” Janie flipped through her mental calendar. She knew that date.
Something significant is happening this weekend: Matt, Homecoming.
“The Homecoming football game.” She hobbled closer to Jerome. Kai reached out to help her, but she drew back and supported herself on her uninjured foot. “Antony’s planning to Turn the whole football team at the Homecoming football game.”

Kai stepped forward. “Now that we know, we’ll stop him.” He pulled his scythe out of his belt and rotated it by the tip of the blade and the bottom of the hilt. Janie knew he wasn’t nervous because of Antony’s plan. It was her. She radiated pure hatred; a hatred that could only develop when you love someone—the fine line between love and hate had been crossed.
When was he going to tell me he killed my father? Ever?

 
“You okay?” Jerome addressed Janie. “You’re kind of green, sick-looking. . .and angry.”

Janie thought her sick feeling was from standing so close to Kai after what she’d learned, but she did feel nauseated.
Her foot—it really hurt.
Kai reached for her again. “I’m fine,” she barked. He retracted his arm. Janie stared at Jerome, fighting the urge to wobble over and hit the ground. “Meet us with as many vamps as you have at Loch Raven High—six o’clock Friday night so we can plan.” Jerome studied her expression. “Be prepared to fight.”

Tanya whispered something in his ear. He deliberated and finally spoke, “Seeker, you’ve got it. We’ll be there.” Tanya winked.
Tanya said she’d be indebted to her for freeing her. She’d kept her word.

Jerome switched his focus to Kai, waiting for him to slide the scythe back into his belt. “I heard something else. You’re one powerful dude. Tavares made you. What’s it like to go against your Maker?”

Kai didn’t answer. Janie couldn’t read his expression. One thing was apparent—whenever anyone spoke Tavares’s name, Kai went silent.

Jerome didn’t press. He flashed a peace sign, or a gang symbol; Janie couldn’t tell. “I’m out.” Jerome and Tanya disappeared.

“Let me see your foot.” Kai slid his arm through hers, holding her upright.

“Don’t touch me.” She unhitched her arm and stumbled to the ground.
Lesson two, the most important—don’t let them see your weaknesses.
Unfortunately for her, he was her weakness. She wouldn’t let him see her broken heart. How crushed she felt after letting herself become vulnerable.
Never again.

“Did I do something to upset you?” He knelt down beside her. Her heart tightened. He looked so worried. The bright green of his irises had washed to gray. Usually so cocky and strong, he appeared worn and feeble.

She made herself look at him, confront him head-on. “I think you know what you did.” She pulled her knees into her chest and curled into a ball. Her foot throbbed. Her sock had been eaten away, exposing her raw skin. At this point she wasn’t sure what hurt worse, her foot or her heart.

“We need to clean your foot. If you don’t get the demon blood off, it’s only going to get worse.”
He bracleted her ankle and tugged. She extended her leg, letting him draw her foot closer to him. Not that she had much of a choice. He was too fast. He examined the bottom of her foot. “It’s not too bad. Let’s get you inside.”

Before she could protest, he flipped her into a cradle-hold and sprinted forward. They landed in the kitchen. Janie glanced back at the hideous ivy wallpaper. They’d gone through the wall. She felt sweet breath on her face. Her focus slid back to Kai. She appraised his beautiful features—high cheekbones, angular jaw line, and the lush blond lashes encasing his striking green eyes. He was gorgeous; a monster, but still gorgeous. She wanted to tangle her fingers in his waves and pull him into her.
He killed my father. He can’t be trusted.
How can I love someone like that?
What’s wrong with me?

Kai turned on the faucet and tested the water. “Here, it’s warm. Put your foot under. I’ll hold you.”

She placed her foot under the stream of water. He used small, light strokes to massage the blood from her open wounds. She closed her eyes, imagining them on a warm white sandy beach, splashing around in calm crystal waves. She lay on her back while Kai massaged her feet. She seemed to float weightlessly. He twirled her around and guided her forward and back.

The water shut off and the image faded. She opened her eyes. They weren’t on the beach. They were in her ugly kitchen, and the facts remained the same—they could never be together.

Kai handed her a towel.

After drying off her foot, she hobbled into the living room and flopped onto the sofa.

“I would have carried you,” Kai said. He rounded the corner and smirked, exposing an adorable dimple. He wore a solid orange T-shirt and jeans. He looked good in orange.

“You need to leave.” She tried to make her words sound harsh. Maybe then he would go. He was stubborn—like her. She doubted it.

As she suspected, he didn’t listen. He chose a seat on the neighboring sofa cushion, not close enough to invade her space, but still close enough to be next to her. Clean lavender floated through the air around him. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me why you’re so angry with me.”

The veins in her forehead throbbed. She could explode, like a cherry red tomato squeezed so tightly it burst. “Did you recognize Abram? Is that why he looked as if he could kill you on the spot? Is that why you left so quickly?” She trembled. His rough hands cradled hers. She ripped them from his grasp.

Kai swallowed. “I need you to be more specific.” She could tell by his shaky voice that he didn’t need specifics. He already knew.

“You’re going to make me say it.” She glared at him. “Coward.”

Kai pressed his fingertips into his forehead. “Okay.” He moved closer. She held him back with her hand. “I recognized Abram. He was there
that
night.”

“What night?” Janie felt as if she could rip him to pieces. All of the anger, pain and questions she’d grown up with rushed back to her consciousness like a crashing tidal wave.

His words were softer. “Janie—you know what I’m talking about.”

“Say it!”

“Janie—” He put his hands out, but this time he didn’t touch her. It was a signal to calm her. It only made her more irate.

“Just say it!”

Kai let out a breath. “The night I killed your father.”

Janie crumpled. The flood she’d been holding in came pouring out. Kai didn’t attempt to comfort her. She’d probably kill him.

Kai continued. His voice quivered, but he did his best to speak calmly, not wanting to upset her any more than he already had. “I recognized Abram. I suspected the man I killed could have been your father, but I wasn’t sure. It’s been years.” He swallowed, a seizure of pain apparent in his forlorn features. He stood and circled the coffee table. He scooped her father’s picture off the side table and stared at it. “Then I saw this picture and knew for sure.” He was silent again. “His face haunts me every night in my dreams. Not a day goes by that I don’t regret—” He couldn’t finish. It didn’t matter. She didn’t want to hear him say it again—
killing your father
.

Janie wiped her tears with her sleeve. She wouldn’t show him any more weakness or how much she still loved him despite the circumstance. “Abram said something that’s been bothering me.”

Kai didn’t speak. He waited, gently placing the frame back on the table.

She continued. “You weren’t a monster when you killed him. You were part human. I trusted you, thought you were different, but you’re no different. I actually thought that I—” She stopped. She refused to use those words to describe him, ever.

Kai collapsed in front of her. His knees thudded on the hardwood floor. “I am different. Albania returned my soul and my humanity. The only demonic quality I possess is my ability.”

She glanced over at her father’s picture, the handsome, blond-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian who had fallen for her Cherokee mother, a Seeker. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, turning her head to address Kai once again. “Abram said he would never forget your green eyes. True Daychildren have black eyes. Albania had already healed you, restored your humanity. . .or so she thought. You had both of us fooled.” Her voice fell to a whisper. She closed her eyes, once again envisioning them on the beach. A slight smile crossed her face.

Returning to his gaze, Janie said, “Have you ever felt anything human?”
Felt anything for me?

Janie’s words sliced through Kai. He’d been laid open, wounds exposed for all to see. Never had he felt so vulnerable, even when he was one hundred percent human. Never had he felt so guilty and broken. The only person he truly loved hated him. She had every reason to hate him for what he’d done. He hated himself for it. He’d live in his own prison for the rest of his life. “I never felt as human as I do when I’m with you.” She had to believe him. She hadn’t turned away from him. Maybe there was a chance he could make this right.

“You’re a monster,” she said. The words were like daggers stabbing him over and over again, like someone held him down and smeared salt into his bleeding incisions. The lungs he didn’t need tightened.

Kai cried out in defense. “Abram almost killed me. I wish he had. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

He tried to look away, but she held his gaze. “But why? If you say you had a soul, how could you kill him?”

“It was my first night as what I am today. I only knew how to be a Daychild—I had an ingrained instinct to kill, granted to me by the most powerful vampire. His power is almost impossible to deny.”

“Tavares,” Janie said.

Kai nodded and clutched her legs. He had to make her see the truth, understand the inner turmoil he’d endured. “I left Albania’s. I was so confused. And the pain. . .the guilt of all those years of killing. . .what I’d done.” He didn’t know whether to continue or how much she knew.
It can’t be any worse. No matter what I say, she already hates me.
“Your father was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I tried to stop, but when I did, he was already dead. I’d drained him of too much blood.”