Seers (25 page)

“Oh yeah? You failed to mention that last night,” Toni leaned forward, closing the news window and opening up a familiar search engine.

“How did you get Internet?” I asked while he rapidly clicked.

“Doesn’t that have to be set up by a company? Wait, don’t tell me—Terence?”

“Actually, it was all me.” Toni grinned. “Terence got the laptop, but I stole the Internet all by myself.” He waggled his fingers, slightly above the keyboard. “These skilled hands can steal more than just tangible things, girl.” Patrick rolled his eyes, then said by way of explanation, “Toni was a thief, in his previous life.”

“Oh,” I shot the back of Toni’s head a sharp look. “That explains a lot.”

“Don’t judge,” Toni preached, eyes on the screen. “It was how I lived.”

“And died, if I remember right,” Patrick said, almost to himself.

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“‘Kay, what was the name?” Toni rapidly changed the subject.

I answered before Patrick could. “Quin Romero.” Toni’s hands hovered over the keys, but didn’t move. After a brief pause, he was glancing over at us, eyes wide. “Are you sure?” He asked, nothing playful or joking in his voice.

“Yes,” Patrick said, eyes searching his friend’s face. “Do you know him?”

“I certainly hope not,” Toni sighed, grimacing just a little.

“But I did know a Quin Romero, back when I was alive. The first time, I mean. Technically I’m still alive, just—”

“And?” Patrick prompted.

“And he wasn’t a very friendly fellow back then—I wouldn’t be surprised if he turned Demon. He was sort of the guy who shot me.” I gaped. “Are you serious? He killed you?” Toni shrugged. “I mean, it was years ago, but it’s still sort of a sore spot for me.” He shook his head, regret in the action. “I should never have gone back in the house. But I couldn’t just leave the gold candlesticks. I mean, seriously, if you’re going to rob a hostile drug lord, do it well, right?” Patrick shook his head, brow furrowed. “If this is the same Quin Romero, what can you tell us? Is he as dangerous as the Demon from the theater claims?”

“And then some,” Toni nodded. “If he’s the Quin Romero I know, he’s definitely going to be a force to reckon with. He’s quite the strategist, and dealing out pain is the only thing natural to him. He always had plenty of followers, too, which I imagine hasn’t changed much in death. In short, we’re in epic trouble.”

“Maybe it’s not the same guy?” I suggested, but I could tell by the intense concentration on Patrick’s face that he didn’t agree with me.

“He’s probably come after me,” Toni said, wincing. “I mean, revenge is his ultimate happiness. If he knows I’m here . . .”

“But he’s after me,” I said. “That Demon confirmed it, in the theater. He’d been spying on me, for this Romero man.” 190 K • • •

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Patrick nodded, his eyes focused on the far wall. “Kate’s right.

This isn’t about revenge. At least not yet.” He thought for a short moment, then spoke firmly. “Toni, do the search. See if you can come up with anything in this area.”

“I doubt I’ll find his latest address,” Toni muttered, but started typing anyway.

For a few minutes, he came up with nothing that seemed helpful. Then he suddenly smiled and typed in a new name. Selena Avalos.

I leaned closer, curious, but unquestioning. I could feel Patrick beside me, also confused. “Ah-hah!” Toni laughed in success.

“Look at this hit—Selena Avalos, currently employed by this esteemed city’s educational board.”

“Who is she?” Patrick asked quickly, still not following.

“One of Quin Romero’s most faithful stooges, back in the day.

Man, the first time I saw her . . . she’s the most beautiful, perfect woman you’ve ever seen.” Toni sighed happily, then continued quickly. “Of course, she’s also evil and heartless—she just stood and watched Romero shoot me in the courtyard. But her smile is really something. We sort of had a thing going, before she betrayed me . . .”

I gave him a weird look, but he was back to tapping on the keyboard. He continued to speak while he followed different links. “If Selena Avalos is in town, you can bet Romero is, too.”

“Avalos,” I whispered to myself. Something about that name was so familiar. And then it hit me. “The sub!” Patrick squinted at me, not following.

“At the elementary school—my sisters told me that they had a new teacher. A sub. Their old teacher, Ms. Rhodes—she just didn’t show up one day, during the first week of school. Miss Avalos is their substitute right now.”

“Now that’s a coincidence,” Toni said, though clearly he wasn’t surprised.

“What’s a Demon doing in an elementary school?” I demanded,

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a bit more sharply than I probably should have. “Teaching my sisters, for crying out loud!”

Patrick looked to Toni. “Can you find an address or something?”

“Already ahead of you, man—and nope, there’s not one listed.” My mind was racing—dreading all the possibilities. “It has to be because of me, right? Oh my gosh, she’s probably already gotten them to touch her—she could hurt them!” Patrick shook his head, though the motion wasn’t all that calming—his eyes were too tense to be soothing. “Relax, Kate. She hasn’t done anything yet. For all we know, she’s not with Romero.”

“Ha!” We both looked at Toni, who smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.

Was that out loud?”

Patrick frowned, staring at the screen, thinking, calculating.

“This is a good thing,” he finally said. “At least we have a lead.

Someway to find Romero.”

“What exactly are we supposed to do?” Toni asked. “Visit her at school—ask her where her boss is?”

“Even her lies could tell us something useful.” Patrick pushed himself up off the couch and began to slowly pace the room. “Toni, what would Romero want with Kate?”

“Uh . . . probably a Seer?” Toni guessed. At Patrick’s stern look, he amended. “I don’t know—there’s probably some personal reason.” He glanced over at me. “Did you have family in Mexico in the early 1800s? Maybe your ancestor offended him once.”

“Not that I know of,” I said slowly. I was still thinking about Selena Avalos, and her frightening proximity to my sisters.

“There has to be something else,” Patrick pressed. “Toni? You got anything?”

“No, man, I got nothing. Just because the guy killed me doesn’t mean we were buddy buddy. I don’t know how he thinks.

He’s a murderer, and a troublemaker. And rich. At least, he was.”

“Maybe we can use that to find him,” Patrick stated. “We could search the most expensive hotels in the city.” 192 K • • •

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Toni sent a doubtful look in my direction. “Are you sure she’s ready for a mission?”

Patrick shook his head. “You could recognize him. Kate can stay here.”

“What?” That pulled me out of my personal thoughts. “I’m not staying here. I’m coming with you.”

“Kate—”

I stood, so he couldn’t tower over me. “I’m not discussing this, Patrick. These people are getting close to my family, and I can’t let that happen. I won’t let it happen. I’m going.” We stared at each other for a long time, neither one of us ready to relent. And then Toni stood, patting me on the shoulder.

“Welcome to the team,” he said.

“Toni—”

“Patrick, she should be there. It’s a dangerous world she’s a part of now, and she’s got a right to help make it safer.” He turned to me. “I’m guessing you don’t have a knife on you?” I paled just slightly, but kept my face relatively strong. “No, I left all my weapons at home, under my bed.” Toni laughed a little, then shrugged. “No big deal. You can borrow one of mine.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Patrick cut in. He sighed deeply, then shook his head once. “I don’t know that this is a good idea, but you can come. As long as you promise to listen to me. Understood?”

I gave a firm nod.

Toni lightly elbowed my arm. “Well, if you’re not going to carry a weapon, maybe you can find a list of hotels to visit? And if you’re really good with the Internet, maybe you can find a list of recently sold homes in the area? The more expensive the better.

While you do that, Patrick and I will don our armor, eh?”

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Twenty-two

Their armor turned out to be nothing more than their regular clothes. I supposed he was referring to their weapons, more than anything else. Still, by the time they were armed and ready to go—smaller blades hidden up their sleeves, in addition to the ones secured on their legs—I had a quick list of possible hotels. Since we lived in the Four Corners area, we had a few more hotels than the average city, due to the numerous tour-ists. I’d also found a few houses that had been sold in the last few weeks, but none seemed very promising to me.

Patrick led the way out of the warehouse, back to the first floor. But instead of going out the usual double doors, he led us across the factory floor, toward a single door set in the back corner.

This led to a small driveway, which we followed to a large shed.

Swinging the wide doors open revealed the midnight-blue Nissan Altima, marking the shed as a makeshift garage.

Toni lunged for the driver’s seat, but no one objected his wordless claim. Patrick held the passenger door for me, but I was slow as I moved toward him. My eyes were glued to the shiny hood of the new looking car, my mind completely boggled. I’d been so nervous about the date last night that I hadn’t really registered how weird it was that they owned such a nice car, compared to the rest of the material things they had.

“So you live in there, but you drive this?” Patrick shrugged, smiling a little at my surprise. “Terence wants us to blend in, and hardly anyone drives a rusty clunker anymore.”

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Toni leaned his head out the driver’s window. “There was a time no one drove at all, and let me tell you—that really slowed us Guardians down.”

“Besides,” Patrick broke in smoothly. “Maybe the reason we live in an abandoned warehouse is so we can afford to drive like this?”

“It’s a thought,” I said, still amused. I moved for the open door, and ducked into the passenger seat. “Still, it’s not what I expected after seeing your couch.”

Patrick grinned, then pushed my door closed. In one smooth motion he was opening the door behind me, climbing into the back seat. He closed the door, Toni shifted out of park, and we were off.

It wasn’t until we hit the road that I began to really wonder what I’d signed up for. I’ll admit, I was starting to worry just a little. I mean, really—Demon hunting? Can you blame me for having some second thoughts?

As we headed for the nearest hotel on the list, Toni punched a couple buttons on the stereo before groaning loudly. “Nice, man—Is there a reason you deleted all my presets? And where’s my hula dancer?”

“She’s in the trunk,” Patrick replied easily. “I had to make some changes. Lee was in the car last night, and it couldn’t look too identical to the one you drove.”

“That’s the worst excuse I’ve ever heard to erase a man’s presets and steal his dash ornament—but so be it.”

“You should never have bought that thing anyway—if Terence knew that your allowance went to such stupid pieces of—”

“Who says I paid for it?”

Patrick sighed loudly. “Toni, please tell me you didn’t steal it.”

“All right—I didn’t steal it.”

I just shook my head—amazed that two immortal people would be arguing about such mundane things. It seemed unreal.

Well, I guess no more unreal than anything else I’d seen yet.

“Toni, I’m supposed to be making progress with you.”

“And you’re doing great. I bought that pizza the other day.

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And Kate here can vouch for me when I tell you I bought these.” He lifted up the pair of sunglasses from the mall to emphasize his point, and then he pushed them onto his nose.

“Yeah, with my money,” I complained loosely.

Patrick groaned. “Seriously, Toni? You took her money?”

“Consider it an early payment for when I save her life. It’s bound to happen at some point.”

I laughed. “Toni, you’ve got to be the worst excuse for a Guardian angel . . .”

“Her too?” Toni whined, glancing in the rear view mirror at Patrick. “Did you tell her that, man?”

“Nope,” Patrick flicked his hands up defensively. “Not me.

She got it on her own.”

“Why do they always do that?” Toni griped to no one in particular. “I mean, it’s like every Seer always cracks that joke. Like it’s a conspiracy or something.”

“Maybe you guys should change your name?” I suggested.

“To what? The Immortal Killers? It sounds like a bad 80s band.” His eyes suddenly brightened. “Ooh! I love this song!” He twisted the volume up, and sang loudly to the fast pumping words, completely forgetting the argument.

I rolled my eyes, but started to laugh when I heard Patrick singing along to the chorus. I craned my neck around the seat to throw him a smile. “So you can sing?” I called over the music.

He only grinned at me, blue eyes shining, and kept on singing.

I turned back around, but continued to listen to Patrick’s voice. He was actually pretty good. I mean, really good. His pitch was right on, and he sustained his notes strongly. There was a resonant quality to his tenor voice that few regular people had. (I guess the reason he stood by the basses was because it was the easiest place for an invisible immortal to stand—or maybe his range was as impressive as everything else about him.) We made it to the first hotel, and Toni parked smoothly in a pretty small space. He turned off the car and lowered the volume 196 K • • •

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before winking at me. “You ready for this adventure?”

“I guess we’ll find out,” I returned, in what I hoped was an easy tone. I opened my door, cutting the music off. The others were quick to follow my lead, and soon the three of us were walking toward the hotel.

I was walking between them, and I noticed the twisted look growing on Toni’s face. When he caught my questioning stare, he shrugged. “This place doesn’t look fancy enough. We’re not going to find Romero here.”