Enchanting Wilder (19 page)

Candy blinks, holding on tight to McKenna. She clears her throat and shakes the hair from her face. “I’m good. I’m sober.”

McKenna gives her a level look and grabs Candy’s other arm forcefully. Candy yanks away once, but McKenna holds strong, her will more powerful at the moment. Candy quickly gives up and huffs, going slack in McKenna’s grasp. Together, they close their eyes and the veins in their arms begin to glow a light purple color. The color flowing into Candy with ant-like momentum.

My eyebrows furrow as I watch the sisters. Low and steady, McKenna speaks to Candy, and, as the seconds tick by, Candy becomes steadier on her feet. Calmer.

When they break apart, Candy steps back and side-glances at Kai.

“What was that?” I ask.

Kai picks at his nails, looking bored. “They were channeling. Syphoning magic from one another.”

“You what?”

McKenna sits back down next to me. “There’s a connection sisters share called the Sephra Link. We can tug and pull on emotions. It’s also really great at helping to cure a hangover—err, the beginning of one.”

Candy stays on her feet, and Kai rises from his seat, resting his back on the wall closest to us. “You can sit.”

Watchfully, she steps around him and sits down. “Thank—thank you?” she says, confused.

Kai laughs. “Sure. Thanks for not killing me with that curse.”

A killing curse? My head whips to McKenna and her mouth thins.

Candy’s eyes smile just a bit and she looks down, playing with her hands. “So what the hell is going on? Who is he?” Her eyes move to Kai and he stands up straighter, puffing his chest out.

“He’s Kai. He says he’s here to help.”

Candy’s eyes narrow and she sits back in her seat, folding her arms across her chest. “How in the world is he supposed to do that? What’s wrong? He’s a demon. De. Mon,” she emphasizes. “He has red eyes, McKenna. I’ve never even heard of a demon with red eyes.”

“I know,” McKenna says softly. “He’s a…” she stops and she turns her head to Kai for clarification.

“I’m a Thayan.”

“And he’s here for essentially the same reason we are,” I join in, hoping to help ease her concern. “My brother and I originally came here because a group of vamps were attacking families in town.” Candy leans in, placing her elbows on the table. “Turns out, there’s a bigger threat out there.” I point to Kai. “They’re targeting McKenna.”

Candy’s eyes widen and then a look of disgust replaces her worry. “What? Who? Him? How is this possible? Why McKenna?”

Kai shrugs a shoulder. “No, not me specifically. My kind, and I don’t know why. That information hasn’t been given to me.”

“We found a coven and we were able to take out a few.” I don’t even try to mask my cockiness.

“Good,” Candy says and McKenna snickers.

Candy’s taking the information fairly well considering her sister is in immediate danger. I wonder all they’ve been through to be so blasé about a situation like this.

Kai clears his throat and his skin has turned an odd shade of white.

“They were one of you?” I ask in disbelief. “Your people?”

Kai shrugs. “Yes and no. Yes, they were some sort of brethren, but they weren’t exactly what I am. I’m specifically a Thayan. They were more than likely something else. Vampire-werewolves. Shifter-witch. Who knows.”

“I’m sorry,” Candy interjects, her hands flying in the air and then falling with a thud on the wooden table. “What?” Her eyes go wide.

I chew on my thumbnail, a little scared to tell her. “They’re hybrids.”

“I’m a witch and a demon,” Kai interrupts and Candy gasps.

“You’re a what? Is that why your eyes are that creepy red color?”

I snort and cover my mouth when McKenna smacks me in the stomach.

“Oh, uhh, Sorry. I forgot.” He shakes his head and closes his eyes, and when he opens them, the red color dissolves and his brown eyes appear.

“Whoa,” McKenna croaks.

“Holy shit,” I say.

Kai smiles and shoves his hand through his hair. With his ankles crossed, he casually leans against the wall. “What?”

“That was insane. I’ve never seen someone change their eye color before,” Candy admonishes.

“Change my eye color?” Kai says. “No. I can’t change my eye color. I can just shove the demon side of me back.”

Each one of us shakes our heads, amazed.

“I’ve been around paranormal all of my life and I’ve never seen anything like you,” I admit.

“Us, either,” McKenna agrees.

“To be fair,” Kai explains, “most have been in Beneath for the majority of their lives. The batch in which I came from got out just recently.”

“How recent?” My eyebrow quirks and I try to remember a time I came across anything like Kai.

“A few months? I don’t know. I’ve been here for longer, though. A year, at least.”

“You’ve been out for that long?” inquires Candy. “Why were you so special and got out of Beneath before anyone else?”

“I was the first.”

The room falls silent and we stare open-mouthed at Kai.

I’m the first to speak. “You were the first? As in the Alpha?”

Kai takes long, agonizing seconds to answer, picking at the lint on his shirt, not bothering to look up when he finally responds. “In a way, yeah. I mean, Maker, my creator, is the ultimate Alpha, so I guess I’m the Omega? I’ve never really thought about it.”

“Does that mean you have a lot of say within the Thayans and other monster hybrids?” McKenna asks.

“I have all the say,” Kai responds with no hint of superiority. “I only take commands from Maker.”

“So wait,” I interject, “if you’re the big man on campus, why are you doing the bitch work watching over a coven of witches that may or may not exist?”

He shrugs nonchalantly. “It’s the biggest game in town. Everything else we were doing was small stuff that didn’t interest me. Plus, we knew they existed, we just didn’t know exactly where. As far as my seniority, it doesn’t matter. Until recently, I’ve always done what I was told and that’s it.”

“But you’re not, are you?” Candy inputs. “How do we know you’re truly going to betray your people?”

Kai laughs. “My people?” He shakes his head. “No. They’re a bunch of monster’s hell bent on destroying the world. I don’t want any part of that. It’s probably because I was the first. There’s a glitch in my makeup. Maker didn’t get it right the first time. I didn’t want to do what I’m told from the get. I couldn’t follow orders blindly. I always wanted to be on the other side of the fight. Listening to Maker only fulfilled me for so long. My allegiance was broken long ago. Once I got topside, I realized the virtuous in this world. And, you know what? I felt for humans. It felt odd and alien, but I felt for them. That basically led me here. To help you.”

“We aren’t humans,” McKenna says. “Why feel for us?”

“Hey.” I smile, insinuating my obvious non-supernatural mortal-ness.

“Well, you are, I guess. Shush.”

Kai smiles at us. “You aren’t humans, true, but you’re the good. Once I knew your name and saw what you were, I knew I had to help.”

“Do you know what I am?” I probe. I wasn’t exactly sure he was cognizant of what I do.

“Sure. You’re a Pursuer. I know of all hunters in my area. You’ve come into contact with a few of us and it is—was—my job to know all of you. You’re Declan and you have a brother, Sherwood.”

My mouth goes dry. “Are you the only one who knows about me?”

“I’m the only one who actively follows the identity of Pursuers, yes. Everyone else couldn’t care less. I was to report back and give names to Maker.”

“And have you?” My hand balls into a tight fist.

“I have, but it’s not what you think. I only give roundabout locations and fake names. I told you, I’m not here to make problems. I’m here to help.”

“Do you know about the rest of my family?” I probe.

“Oh, that your dad is a Pursuer and your mom can kick some serious butt if she wanted to? A bit. I saw him take down a nest of vampires a while back and checked up.”

“What about my family?” McKenna asks, her eyes full of anticipation.

Kai’s eyebrows pull down in concentration. “I don’t know much. Your parents passed about a year ago. Your sister and you are all that’s left of the Sawyer Strix coven. We were told you were different, and that’s why we needed to keep watch over you until it was time to attack. Though, I personally think they want to bring you to Beneath to do experiments, or maybe you mean something more to our world—I don’t know. They didn’t tell me everything.”

McKenna sighs. “I hate this.”

“Me too.” I pull her to me.

Candy nods with sympathetic eyes. “Me too.”

“So, that’s why I’m here. I know Maker is up to something bad—something huge. I don’t want any part of it. If you allow it, I’d like to keep you out of harm’s way, too.”

McKenna looks at me and my gaze finds her beautiful eyes. She claps our hands together, squeezing once. “What do you think?”

I sigh heavily, looking to both sisters. Each one so very different from the other, yet very similar, too. “I think we need to fight this—whatever this is.”

“I don’t think there’s any other choice,” McKenna concedes. “We can’t just sit here on our asses and wait for something to happen.”

I turn to Kai. “We need to get to the bottom of what Maker really wants McKenna for.”

Kai nods, looking at me straight in the eyes. “I can do that, but it’s going to take time, and I need you to go on with your lives. Declan, you keep doing your thing, and McKenna and Candy, you both need to keep up with your Strix duties. If anything out of the ordinary gets back to Maker, they’ll know I’ve deceived them. All has to seem normal for this to work.”

I stand, letting go of McKenna’s hand, walking to Kai, my stare hard. “If your loyalty is anything less than true, I’ll personally shove a holy blade in your heart, got it?”

“You have my word.”

My eyes narrow. “That doesn’t mean much.”

Sometimes, when the night makes its debut and the sun finds its way to another part of the world, there’s a certain lull that comes with it. A sadness, maybe. It’s not a bad thing, nor is it good. The things you push aside during the day creep in and taunt you. Force you to look at your problems head-on.

Like, why the hell are these Thayan things after me? Kai made it seem like I have more powers than other witches? That’s news to me. Why am I so special? I’m just a normal Strix. There’s nothing powerful about me or my magic. What on Earth would they want from me? My uncertainties are a plague and right now, I’m sick with a mind disease.

It’s been weeks since I’ve seen Declan and about—no, no
about,
it’s been four days since I’ve heard from him. I’m not worried. He’s a big boy and a Pursuer, he can more than take care of himself, but I do miss him. And I haven’t slept. At all. The constant worry as to why this new kind of monster is after me is starting to eat at my psyche.

Kai left to meet up with Declan and Sherwood about a week ago. He claimed the house was safe and gave us medallions we were to wear to protect us outside of the confines of my home. I don’t take it off. I’m afraid to. Seeing he’s a demon-witch, I’m scared of what I might come into contact with if I do. Considering there are hybrid monsters running amuck in Summerson, I thought it best to listen to the one inside guy we have in our pocket.