Guardians (Seers Trilogy) (37 page)

Hanif concentrated on watching the side of the house, his eyes on the power lines that fed into the house. I found myself peering at the basement windows we began to pass. It was hard to get a good look into any of them, because they were so low to the ground. Also, each one I passed was covered and darkened with hanging sheets, patterned with patches of faded flowers, making it impossible to see inside. As we neared the back corner of the house, I finally found one that was glowing with a halo of light from inside, blocked by a slip of cardboard so I couldn’t really
see
anything but the uneven ring of light. I stooped closer, confused by the ill-fitting cardboard. Why not a sheet? My eyes danced over a crack in the glass, near the top of the window. It webbed down the whole pane, and several small pieces of glass were completely missing; the taped-up cardboard would keep the frigid wind out better than a sheet.

I stopped walking altogether, glancing up at the levels above. All of those windows were dark, so I assumed the family up there was asleep. They had no idea such horrible crimes were about to take place downstairs.

According to the police report, the young Demon Lord put the time of the shootings at about 11:40 p.m. I didn’t have a watch, but I knew that could be any minute now.

Hanif stepped around me carefully, making a small footprint in the snow when he slid off the tire track. “It looks like it’ll be around back.”

I nodded but continued to hesitate by the lighted window when I heard a scant cry from inside. Hanif slipped around back while I crouched closer to the damaged window, the sounds louder than I would have expected—probably thanks to the crack.

“No, James, please!” a woman cried desperately, her voice muted by the wall. “He didn’t mean it—he won’t do it again.”

She sounded so broken. So terrified. I swallowed hard but leaned closer to the house.

A man swore, and when he spoke his words were slurred. “No, he won’t. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Please—don’t!”

There was a sound I couldn’t place at first. And then I heard a small voice shout. “Don’t hit my mom!”

“Steven, go back to your room,” the woman choked. “I’m all right.”

“Listen to your mom, you freak!”

I crouched closer to the window, my heavily gloved hand pressing deeply against the side of the house for balance. I’d never heard anything like this in real life. Knowing that this sort of thing really happened . . . that it was happening right now, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it . . .

“Let go of my mom!” the little boy shouted again.

“Shut up!” the man said heatedly. There was an angry footfall followed by a horrible ringing slap.

The boy whined and the mother sobbed, “James, please!”

“I don’t want the neighbors hearing anything!” the man snapped angrily. “You got it?”

“I’m not afraid of you!” the boy Steven rasped with white rage. His emotional voice was nothing like the Demon Lord, but I knew it was him. And in that moment, my heart went out to him.

I swallowed hard, pinched my eyes closed tightly.
Don’t aggravate him,
I thought sorrowfully.
Don’t do it . . .

“Leslie!” James growled. “Where’s that freak daughter of yours?”

“James, please, she’s sleeping . . .”

Someone touched my arm. I jumped and stumbled away from the house, nearly falling back in the snow.

It was only Hanif. “I thought something happened to you!” he nearly hissed.

“Did you cut it?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I thought you were right behind me.”

I heard the silenced gunshot inside the house, and the shriek of a small boy in agony.

“Cut it,” I choked back on a rush of tears. “Just cut it!”

Hanif wheeled around, almost startled by my tone. Had he even heard the shot, or was I just attuned into to the nightmare unfolding inside? It didn’t really matter—he was rushing to follow my orders, as desperate to escape this place as I was.

He disappeared around the corner and I stumbled after him. Before I could round the corner I heard a second shot, followed rapidly by a third. Tears stung my eyes, freezing on my cheeks. The guilt I felt for letting these things unfold when I could have prevented them . . . I’d never yearned for Patrick’s warm embrace so badly. I just wanted to get out of here—get back to my own time. Have someone assure me that I’d done the right thing—the
only
thing.

Hanif would cut the line, and we’d wait around until we were sure the young Demon Lord—I couldn’t even make myself think of him as Steven—was dead. After that, we could go home. I just had to keep breathing until then. Keep moving, stop thinking . . .

I stepped into the backyard, coming face-to-face with the heavily scarred face of Takao Kiyota, the Demon Lord’s most trusted Seer.

“Hello, Kate,” he said slowly. His voice was strained and airy from a cut to his windpipe, the reward from a some past knife fight. He was almost my height, though he was older by several years. He had a horribly twisted face, which never smiled. His aura was darkly colored, the slim gold lining around his body the only bright spot. Every inch of visible skin was crisscrossed with scars, and his eyes were cold on mine.

Before I could react he leveled a gun at my forehead. “Don’t make a sound.”

I saw Hanif forced up against the back of the house, his face turned away from me. But it was his captor that surprised me the most.

My stomach dropped as I saw Peter Keegan’s knife pressed against the side of Hanif’s straining neck.

Peter glanced my way, his face neutral.

“Peter?” I gasped in shock.

“I’m sorry, Kate,” he said softly, voice devoid of emotion. “I had no choice. I had to tell Selena everything. It’s the only way to keep Lee and Jeanette safe.”

I blinked, shaking my head in blatant denial. “No. No, I trusted you!”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, unmoved.

Takao cocked the gun calmly. “You will return to your own time now. We all will. The Demon Lord will be waiting for us there.”

“What?” I whispered, completely dazed.

Takao’s arm shifted to the side, his weapon discharging in almost the same second.

Hanif howled as the bullet shot into his shoulder, staining the white camo. Peter flinched back, but his hands continued to support the now gasping Seer.

Takao’s words were colder than ice—and I now knew just how cold that could be. “The next shot claims his life. Now, Kate. Return now.”

Shaking so much I couldn’t see clearly, I located the internal pull inside my body. Found it and embraced it, letting it jerk me away from this nightmare before anyone else could get hurt.

The next thing I knew I was shivering on the warehouse floor. Lee was grasping my arm, her face completely amazed. For her, I’d gone from sweating in a dry parka to wet and trembling in an instant.

I was slipping into unconsciousness, the rush of distorted time forcing me to black out. I tried to make my mouth work. “Demon . . . Lord,” I breathed.

“What?” Lee asked, leaning closer to catch my weak exhale.

But I was already gone. My vision was black, and just before I went under, I heard Toni curse and call out Hanif’s name . . .

***

“. . . I know. But she’s all right. Hanif had the only injury, but Claire was able to stop the bleeding. He’s still a little pale, but the damage was pretty superficial.” A pause, and then Lee continued, her voice almost meek. “I’m sorry. I should have called you sooner. But relax, okay? She’s fine . . . Yeah, about an hour now. Dr. Radcliffe thinks they’ll be out for at least another hour or two, if they all came back at the same time, and things went according to plan.” Another break. “Well, obviously not perfectly, with Hanif shot. But we won’t know exactly until they wake up.” Worn sigh. “She wasn’t hurt, as far as I can tell. She was shivering, that was all. Peter was the same.” Pause. “Of course. I’ll have her call you when she wakes up.”

I couldn’t move my body, but my thoughts were becoming clearer. An hour? How was I this awake after only an hour? Normally I was out for much longer.

And then I remembered why I was fighting so strenuously to get through the fog. Peter was a traitor. He’d betrayed our plans to the Demon Lord. Takao had come back to stop our efforts, and the Demon Lord was waiting for us. What did that mean?

I needed to wake up. I needed to warn them. What else had Peter told Selena? What if the Demon Lord was on his way to the warehouse right now?

“Patrick, will you stop freaking out? Worst-case scenario, they ran into some trouble. But all three of them made it back . . . Yeah. Okay, bye.” Lee ended the call.

I struggled to find my voice.

I felt Lee’s hands pull up my blankets, tucking me in more securely. Her fingers brushed my forehead, and that simple action lulled me back into sleep.

I lost my only chance to warn them of the incredible danger we were all in.

W
hen my eyes
finally opened, I knew everything had changed. I didn’t need to look around the room to know Lee wasn’t with me anymore. In fact, I was pretty sure I was alone in Patrick’s room.

Moving came slowly. I laboriously shifted my weight, rolling onto my side before forcing my shaking arms to lift me up into a sitting position on the bed. I was trembling, despite the fact I was now warm and dry. Trembling with an emotion I knew all too well—fear.

I looked to the desk, but my phone was gone; Lee must have moved it. I rubbed my eyes and tried to keep my head steady while my vision spun. The silence rang in my ears, and I fleetingly wondered if I was the only one in the entire warehouse.

Peter Keegan had lied to me. He’d betrayed us. How much had Peter told Selena? Obviously he’d told her about our plans, but did she know where we were? Did she know where the twins were? No. Not possible. I hadn’t told him, and I doubted he would have dared ask anyone else. Still, it was a thought that hadn’t occurred to me until just now, and I needed to confirm they were safe. I needed to call Patrick.

I needed to find Toni. Claire. Lee. Anyone. I needed to find Peter and make sure he didn’t try to hurt anyone else. If he did, it would be my fault. I’d asked for his help. I should have listened to Patrick. I shouldn’t have trusted the Demon Seer.

I glanced at the clock and saw that three hours had passed since I’d gone back to 1971. I’d lost three hours. Hours I could have spent finding the damage Peter had caused. I couldn’t afford to stay here any longer. Still faintly dizzy, I forced myself to stand. Blankets slid off my weak body as I gained back the use of my feet, and I shuffled toward the closed door.

I leaned briefly against the door frame, taking a last opportunity to close my eyes and breathe in slowly. My head was pounding, but the pain was noticeably retreating with each throb. I just needed to alert Toni, and then I could crawl back in bed until the ache disappeared completely.

I took in a last shallow breath, then turned the knob, pulling the door open. I stepped out into the makeshift living room and found the Demon Lord’s pleased smile trained on me.

“Why, Kate. How quickly you recovered! I hope your headache isn’t too severe?”

I stared at him, standing so calmly in the middle of the room. He was holding an apple I imagined he’d just gotten from the small fridge in the corner. The Dmitriev brothers were positioned at the far end of the room, both of their blond heads focused on the man lying on the floor at their feet. My breath caught in my throat—it was Toni. He was curled up on his side, his hands bound behind his back with layers of duct tape. Blood matted his hair and was splattered all over his clothes. A knife was buried high in his back, keeping him from healing and regaining his strength. He breathed heavily into the floor, his whole body quivering with pain.

Lee was on the couch, her eyes red from crying. Her bruised face now sported a few shallow cuts and her arms were wrapped tightly around her stomach as if she were suffering from a sharp pain. She was looking to me, pale and afraid. The white poofy scarf that had once been around her neck now served as a gag. Selena was sitting next to her, studying her manicured nails while holding a small handgun, aimed lazily at my best friend.

Mei Li was near the Demon Lord’s arm, her thin body straight as a rod but somehow perfectly relaxed. Her hands were small but deceiving. I knew firsthand what she was capable of.

Far Darrig stood back near the door, wearing a black button-up shirt. He looked so much like his brother, it was uncanny. Sleeves rolled at the elbows, dark jeans, and a firm jaw. His eyes were the same as well; a penetrating blue. He looked to be in his thirties, and he was attractive—except for the black aura surrounding him and his almost haunted expression. He was keeping an eye on Claire, who was tied to a chair with ropes that crisscrossed her chest, and she had a knife in her side. Her face was covered in a sheen of sweat, and like Toni, she had more blood on her than wounds to show for it.

Obviously they’d put up a great struggle. It just hadn’t been enough.

Dr. Radcliffe, Hanif, Takao, and Peter were nowhere in sight.

I didn’t need anyone to explain what had happened. The Demon Lord had finally come for me, and my friends had lost the fight.

The Demon Lord was dressed immaculately in a perfectly tailored black suit. He had a dark purple tie, and he looked completely harmless. His aura was just as confusing as it had been the last time I’d seen it. There were too many shifting colors to make sense of—they all seemed like a twisting rainbow of confusion.

He was handsome. His face perfectly sculpted with only slight wrinkles around his eyes. He clicked his tongue at me. “Now, Kate, don’t look quite so distressed. You really left me no choice. You ran away, and then you defy me by trying to destroy me in the past. For obvious reasons, I can’t allow such behavior.”

“Let them go,” I whispered, my shoulders too heavy to support. “You don’t need them. It’s me you want.”

He winced. “There, see, I knew this would be a problem. I’m afraid you’re really not worth the trouble anymore. You can promise to be good and obey, but there will always be a part of you that longs to rebel. I should have seen this from the beginning.”