Guardians (Seers Trilogy) (7 page)

I heard a muffled call that might have been an answer, and I straightened my shoulders to keep my purse from slipping down my arm.

I only had to wait for half a minute before Clyde pushed past the rattling beads. He was a large man with a rough appearance. He was in his midforties, or so it appeared. He was really much older, though I wasn’t sure how
much
. His thin black aura still made me a little uneasy, even though I knew this Demon wasn’t my enemy.

His eyes brightened when he saw me, making the wrinkles on his face deepen. “Why, Kate Bennett. What a surprise!” His voice was a little too loud, but that was just his way.

I smiled despite myself. “Hello, Clyde. How are you doing?”

He leaned against the counter, offering me a dirty hand in greeting. I took it, trying to convince myself it was only dust ingrained in his skin. “I can’t complain. Business has been picking up lately. Good thing too. Times are tough on the self-employed. But how are you doing?” Though his voice was coarse, I knew his question was sincere.

I nodded once, setting my folded arms on the edge of the counter. “I’m doing okay. Thanks again for being at the funeral.”

He grunted. “ ’Course. I wouldn’t have missed it. Henry’s been my closest friend . . .” His words trailed off, and his eyes sharpened. “So! What is it I can do for you?” Before I could form an answer, his forehead furrowed deeply. “Where’re your Guardians?”

I decided not to lie. “I came alone.”

“You’re not here to leave more insane messages with me, are ya? ’Cause I can tell ya right now, it ain’t happening.”

“No, no messages. Actually, I was hoping you might have some news for me.”

He shifted his weight and placed his elbows against the glass, causing it to creak. “News?”

“About the Demons. Far Darrig. Selena Avalos. The Demon Lord—”

“Whoa, whoa, girl. Easy. I know what you meant. I was just surprised. You see, I was playing with the idea of coming to visit you.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Sure. I’ve been debating it, though, since I value my life. Obviously I was worrying for nothing—I mean, I thought the Guardians would have practically locked you in your room to keep you safe, and yet here you are, wandering the streets alone.”

“My Guardians wouldn’t hurt you,” I argued, avoiding his main point.

He grunted. “Maybe the ones that know me. But there have to be others. Seriously, how many guards do you have now?”

“Clyde, that’s not really important.”

“Not important? Kate, no one escapes the Demon Lord. No one.”

I sighed. “I’ve heard that once or twice now.”

He snorted. “And I can see it made an impression. Maybe you don’t realize the danger you’re in—”

“Maybe I don’t. But I’d like to. What was it you wanted to tell me?”

He stared at me for a long moment, as if debating whether he really wanted to share this with me. His fingers slipped into his apron pocket, and he fingered something inside—probably a box of cigarettes he was struggling not to light in my presence. “You remember Philippe? You’ve never met him, but—”

“He owns a bar,” I said. “He’s one of your best sources.”

Clyde nodded his agreement. “He certainly is. Many Demons and Seers frequent his place, along with some dangerous humans. He drove down here a few days ago, wanting to tell me in person to keep my guard up.”

“Why?”

His expression was dark. “Seems he had some of the Demon Lord’s inner circle come into his bar, sometime earlier this week. I don’t know which ones you’ve heard of, but they’re all dangerous. Selena Avalos was among them.”

“Selena’s in the state?” I felt a tingle rush down my spine.

“Seems to be. She and some rather intimidating companions. Maybe you met the Dmitriev brothers during your trip to Vegas?”

I swallowed hard, thinking of the thickly built Russians, Viktor and Yuri. “Yeah. I ran into them.”

Clyde bit his lower lip and shook his head. “They’re bad news, that’s for sure. A few others were with them—the scariest was a Seer, apparently. A Japanese fellow. Tacky, or something like that.”

“Takao Kiyota.”

“Yep. That was his name. Very aloof but dangerous looking, so said Philippe.”

“Yeah, he is.” I fought a shiver. All four of them, so close to home . . . This couldn’t be good. “Did Philippe hear anything?”

“Not a whole lot. He delivered their drinks himself, but they clammed up when he was near. Seems they didn’t meet with anyone or anything. Just came in for some drinks, talking quietly amongst themselves. Before they left, the beautiful one—Avalos—she came up to the counter and asked Philippe if he would mind passing a word along to any Demons in the area.” He paused, but only briefly. “Looks like the Demon Lord’s put a bounty on your pretty head, honey. Selena was spreading the word.”

I blinked. A bounty? The word hardly made sense. A reward attached to me? It seemed so weird—so terrifying. And so unlike the Demon Lord. He was a calculative man, a manipulative enemy. He did things cleanly or not at all. Putting up figurative wanted posters for me seemed a little ridiculous. He was too powerful for this. Why not come after me himself?

Was this somehow a decoy? Was he going to try and distract my Guardians and then bring in the real threat? What could be worse than setting loose a hundred Demons driven by a reward, all wanting to get their hands on me?

Clyde watched my face for several long seconds, then he instinctively reached out and patted my arm. “The Demon Lord has a most wanted list—his prioritized enemies. It just usually involves Demons who’ve offended him. So far as I know, a Seer’s never quite made the cut. Demons squabble over ’em, hoping for the reward, and the Demon Lord sends Far Darrig after some—but that’s the end of the story. I think you’re the first Seer, Kate.”

I blinked up at him. “That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“Philippe had to pass the word along,” Clyde continued quickly, sounding apologetic. “If he didn’t, he would be risking his life. But Selena gave him pictures of you and everything. I have one, if you’d like it.”

Feeling a little disconnected, I nodded.

He pulled his hand out of his pocket and handed me a folded sheet of paper. I took it from him, slowly uncurling the edges until I held a full-size page, half of it taken up with a picture of me. It was my senior picture from school. I didn’t even want to think about how they’d gotten it. The smile on the picture was small, and the words beneath seemed surreal.

Kate Bennett, Seer. Wanted alive. Believed to be under heavy Guardian protection. Two positively identified Guardians are Patrick O’Donnell and Antonio Alverez. Both are extremely dangerous. A reward of
—I choked—
one million US dollars will go to those who manage to secure her. Seer may or may not be in hiding.

My home address was included on the bottom as a starting point for anyone interested in getting the reward, along with Selena’s number, in case there were any questions.

Clyde’s voice seemed really distant. “You haven’t seen any of these bounty hunters yet because they’re being cautious. They want that money. Badly, I would imagine. The Demon Lord doesn’t usually offer quite so much. Philippe doesn’t know you’re Henry’s granddaughter, but he knows I like to stay informed. Sharing this with me was his way of keeping me from running into these zealous killers.”

“This isn’t the Demon Lord’s style,” I argued weakly, still staring at the monetary amount I was apparently worth. I guess I could have felt honored or something. In reality, I only felt sick.

“If you want my honest opinion, Kate, I think you should leave here—the sooner the better. Maybe even leave the country.”

“What? I can’t leave. They have my address!”

“
That’s
exactly why you need to leave—try to cover up your tracks.” Clyde shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know what to tell you. But you can’t stay here, Kate. For that amount of money . . . Every Demon in the state is going to be trying his best to get at you. The Guardians can’t protect you from that kind of attack. Your enemies are too many.”

“But what can I do? My friends, my family . . . They’re all in danger. Even if I leave, I can’t bring everyone I love with me.”

Clyde’s face was calmly serious. “They’re not going to rest until they have you, Kate. That’s the Demon Lord’s style.”

C
lyde and I
talked for a while longer, but time wasn’t on my side. Toni would be expecting me back any minute, and I was still a good fifteen minutes away—almost twenty. Clyde let me keep the wanted poster, and we exchanged cell phone numbers. He promised to call me if he learned anything else, though he wasn’t optimistic, then we exchanged hurried good-byes. He patted my hand before I left, and the feel of his calloused hand brushing against my skin lingered as I got into my car and started the drive back home. As soon as I was driving, I called Toni to let him know I’d lost track of time and I’d be home soon. He sounded incredibly bored, but he didn’t press me like I thought he would.

That done, I leaned back against my seat and tried to think.

If I told Patrick about this latest development, he’d know I’d gone to Clyde’s. He’d be upset, but he’d get over it. He needed to know about the price on my head. Almost more important, he needed to know that a bunch of Demons knew where I lived. As much as I didn’t like admitting my home may have lost all security, I needed to be smart about this.

Still, I didn’t want to ruin our date tonight, because we both needed it so badly. We both needed a break, but that wasn’t going to happen if he knew a bunch of Demons were plotting to come after me. I felt like that piece of news could wait for several hours. Clyde had agreed it would take a bit longer for the bounty-hunting Demons to organize themselves. We still had some time, I finally decided.

In the end, all my fragmented thoughts brought me back to a single question. What was I going to do? I couldn’t just run to another country with my Guardians. That would leave my family and friends unprotected. They were targets, almost as much as I was. But I couldn’t uproot them all and take them with me. Clyde was fairly certain bounty hunters wouldn’t concern themselves with my family, if I wasn’t around, but I wasn’t willing to take the risk.

A small part of me wondered if I should tell my Guardians at all. What if I didn’t get a choice? What if Terence brought in his private plane and they whisked me away without asking my opinion? I couldn’t lose my family and friends. I needed them, and they needed me.

At the same time, I couldn’t leave my Guardians unwarned. They needed to know about the danger. They needed to protect themselves, though Clyde was fairly certain there wouldn’t be one massive strike. Demons were selfish and greedy. They wouldn’t form a large band, because they’d want the biggest share of the money possible. The biggest group might hold four Demons, Clyde assumed. They were logical assumptions. But the whole situation was so illogical, so unlike the Demon Lord.

I pulled into the driveway, turned off the car, and climbed out. Stepping inside the house, I could hear the muffled sounds of the TV in the family room, and I could see Jenna playing the piano in the front room. I assumed Grandma was in the kitchen when I heard one of the low cupboards banging closed. Toni was lying on the puffy couch opposite the piano. He was presumably invisible, though for how much concentration Jenna was pouring into practicing, even I was practically invisible to her. She didn’t move at all when I closed the door, though Toni—who was flipping idly through a large book—did. He gave me a small wave but hardly looked up from the pages. I’d never seen him reading before, but I was too overwhelmed with my own thoughts to figure out what he was looking at.

I moved up the stairs, heading to the sanctuary of my room. There I looked at the piece of paper one last time before folding it up and pushing it back into my purse. It could wait while I showered and got ready for tonight. It might be one of the last peaceful nights I could enjoy with Patrick for a long time.

Just this morning I’d been regretting how the Demon Lord hadn’t attempted anything. Strange how an opinion could change so quickly. My bravado from this morning was completely gone, and I was back to wishing the Demon Lord had remained silent.

Once out of the shower, I hurried to get dressed in a nicer outfit than I’d worn to school. I wasn’t sure what Patrick was planning on doing, so I stuck to a pair of light jeans and a red blouse. I’d discarded the blue top I’d been thinking of wearing, because it was the same shirt I’d worn in my senior picture; the one that adorned my wanted poster. I was thinking about it enough, without the help of wearing the same outfit.

Patrick was a little early, but I was more than ready to go. We didn’t linger at the house. We were both anxious to get away from the invisible Toni, who wouldn’t stop talking even when we were trying to carry on a conversation with my family.

Jack and Patrick shook hands, pretending to have a casual knowledge of each other, since the twins were present. They’d met at the funeral and a few times since, so they weren’t exactly strangers in the eyes of my sisters.

Toni told us not to be out too late, and finally Patrick was able to close the door on him. Once we were alone on the porch, Patrick placed his hands on either side of my face and pulled me gently forward. I kissed him deeply, my own fingers brushing over his chest, then sinking to curve around his waist. When I eventually pulled my mouth back, his eyes were closed and his smooth face was almost vacant. His lips pressed together and his eyes cracked open to regard me. “Wow, Kate,” he breathed.

I blushed a little. “I’m excited for tonight.”

“I can tell.” He chuckled. “You’ve been holding out on me, all this time.”

“We haven’t had an evening alone together since—”

“Since you kidnapped me, I think.”

“It’s been a while,” I admitted.

His lips twitched into a half smile, eyes shining brightly. “I should get you excited about things more often.”

I think we would have kissed again if I hadn’t noticed Toni’s face in the living room window, watching us. I tugged on Patrick’s wrist, and after he stuck his tongue out at his partner he followed me to his car, which was waiting at the curb. He opened the passenger door for me, and I slipped into the midnight blue Altima. It was the most expensive thing my Guardians owned, hands down. They wouldn’t even have this nice of a ride, if Terence didn’t have connections in the car world.