Last Chance (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 3) (25 page)

I sat with my own back stiff, my stomach churning. I didn’t want to be sitting here, directly opposite a possessed human with a Wraith’s eyes staring back at me. He knew how to play his cards right. Mentioning Mom certainly got my attention.

Now I stared at him, waiting in stony silence. No reason for me to ask him what he wanted. He’d come here to say something; otherwise, he wouldn’t be wasting my time, or his for that matter.

He lifted his chin, meeting my eyes. “We have a proposition for you.” Then he fell silent.

“Okay. If that silence is meant for dramatic effect, it’s not working. You have something to say, then say it. I don’t have time for games.” I kept my tone as emotionless as possible, not wanting to give away the fact that my heart was beating so fast I’d soon pass out, not wanting to let on that my stomach was churning so wildly I was probably about to chuck my dinner all over the table.

I was afraid; that much I had to admit. They had my mother and now they wanted to bargain for her. I waited for him to speak, wondering what his proposal would entail.

He leaned forward until his thin waist pressed into the edge of the table. “We have your mother. We suggest you stop looking for her. We don’t intend to harm her, so you need not worry. Just stay out of our way and she will make it through this alive.” Then he sat back, sinking against the cushions as though the very strength had drained from his bones.

I knew that stage. The Wraith had finally taken over his body, the possession gone just past the point at which the demon would be able to release the body, leaving a living person behind. But for Collins, it was all over. And I wasn’t sure I felt sorry for him anyway. Not that I wished him dead. I just wasn’t in the mood to feel sympathy for someone who’d done nothing more than cause dissension and tension within City Deep.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Mel enter the bar. She took a step toward me but stopped in her tracks when she saw my face. I was sitting toward the outer end of the booth, able to wave a hand below table level so she could see I wanted her to stay away.

She slipped into a booth by the door and gave me a worried glance as I turned my gaze back to the Wraith. “So what if I refuse to cooperate?”

“Well then…” He spread out his hands in front of him, placing his palms on the table, leaving little trails of coral dust all over the tabletop. “If you refuse, we will have no choice but to kill your mother.”

The breath rushed out of my lungs in a whoosh.

The words were like a punch in the gut. But I didn’t react. Just watched his gaze waver, just the tiniest movement to the left. I decided to challenge him. “If you didn’t need her for some reason, you would have killed her by now. And I know you haven’t kept her alive just so you can convince
me
to stay off your back.”

The Wraith tilted his head and stared at me. He knew I had him, but he was pretending otherwise. “Very well, then. If you wish to be difficult, I will have no choice but to terminate the Hunter. At least that will remove one particular threat from the equation.”

“What threat?”

He laughed. “My dear girl, do you not know who and what your mother is?”

I shook my head, pursed my lips. “She’s my mother, a Hunter. Not sure what else you mean?” I tried to imbue an attitude of nonchalance to the Collins-Wraith.

He leaned forward, his lips lifting in a cold sneer. “You, ignorant Walker, have no idea how powerful your mother is. She is the greatest Hunter that has ever lived. She is the bane of our lives, and as the only creature capable of killing our kind with such ease, it will be my pleasure to be the one to end that life and free us from the threat of her existence.”

I snorted and folded my arms.

“What is it you find so amusing, Walker?” Collins poked out his head in question, the loose skin at his neck making him look more like a turkey than a human.

“You have your wires a little crossed. If you think Celeste Odel is the Hunter, you are mistaken.”

“You may simply deny it. That is your choice. But heed my warning, Walker. Stay away and she will live.”

I shifted forward in my seat. “Let me give you a little ultimatum of my own.” He lifted a weak brow and waited. “You hurt her, ill treat her in any way, I will hunt each and every one of you down and kill you with my own bare hands.”

His nostrils flared, a lip curled in arrogant disgust. “We are not afraid of you, little Hunter.”

I leaned forward almost halfway across the table. I got so far across that Collins leaned away from me. “Let me tell you a little something, Wraith,” I said, inflecting the word Wraith with as much reverence as I would crap on the bottom of my shoe. “You have one very important piece of information wrong.”

“And what would that be?” he asked, tilting his head, trying to retain the cocksure mien he’d worn upon entering the bar.

“You may have a Hunter as a captive. But you have the wrong Hunter.”

“How the hell would you know?” he snapped, clearly losing patience.

“Because
I
am the greatest hunter that has ever lived.
I
am the bane of your lives, the only creature capable of killing your kind with simple ease. And let me tell you this. It will be
my
pleasure to be the one to end
your
life and free all humanity from the threat of
your
existence.”

He sat so still it didn’t even look like he was breathing. I studied his body for a sign of life, then realized there would be none. The husk of the Wraith would be dead by now.

Then he shifted, moving sideways along the seat, sliding out of the booth.

“Oh, and Collins?” I called out, forcing him to turn to hear my parting words. “Touch one hair on her head and I will make your death worse than you could ever imagine.

***

I sat in the booth for a moment, my body cold, wondering if I had just signed my mother’s death warrant. But no, he’d go back to whatever hole he’d crawled out of, investigate the truth of what I’d revealed. At best, he would believe me and take good care of Mom, fearing for their lives. At worst, they wouldn’t believe a word I said. I was confident Mom was too valuable to them or they would have killed her by now.

Or so I hoped.

Something moved in my line of vision, and I noticed Mel Morgan striding over. She was about to slide into the seat just vacated by Collins when I stood. “Let’s sit somewhere else.”

Her gaze snapped to me, her eyes questioning. “Sure, the booth by the window?”

I nodded and grabbed my satchel, following her to the seat in which she’d waited for me while I was speaking to the Wraith. When we were both seated, she leaned forward. “Kailin, are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I snorted. “I have, in a manner of speaking.”

“Who was that guy? He looked a little creepy.” She gave an elegant shudder, but the look she sent me made me wonder if she was in doubt of the company I kept.

I sighed. “That crappy guy wasn’t a guy at all.” I pressed my fingers to my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “Chicago is in the midst of a Wraith infestation. That was one of them.”

Mel’s silver-gray eyes went wide. “What the hell was he doing talking to you?”

“Giving me an ultimatum.”

The strained silence that followed was interrupted by the waitress who came by and offered Mel a menu. Beth gave me a wink and said, “I don’t think you’re ready to order again, are you?”

“Not by a long shot. I’ll just have an iced tea, Beth.” She scribbled the order on her little notepad, then did the same for Mel as she ordered the burger and a soda. With Beth gone, I sank into the soft cushion at my back. “I’m sorry for the spy-subterfuge thing. I just didn’t want you to run into him. The less he has against me the better.”

“So what did he want?” she demanded, and I hid a smile. She was already beginning to sound like Tara.

“He was threatening my mother. Said I needed to stay away from him and his kind or they will kill her.” The words left my mouth, but I didn’t feel even a spark of emotion. I quite liked the vacuum I was in, but I knew it wouldn’t last long. Mel paled, and I shook my head. “I think it’s bluster. Mostly. They assumed she’s the Hunter they’re looking for, but they’re wrong. And I told them as much. I will slaughter every single one of them if they hurt her in any way.”

“How can you be sure they won’t hurt her?” asked Mel softly, her face dark with worry.

My shoulders fell. “That’s the kicker. I can’t be sure. I’m just hoping they won’t. And that’s what I need you for.”

She nodded. “To track your mom?” When I nodded, she asked, “You have something I can track her with?”

“Yeah, but I forgot to put it into some sort of protective case.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a portal key. It’s got her blood in the crevices of the carvings. It was the only thing I had on hand in the apartment. If you need something else, I’ll have to go home for it.”

But Mel was shaking her head. “That’s totally fine. It should work. I don’t see any reason why it won’t.”

“Good.” I sighed, hoping she was right. The thought of a visit home was not in the least appealing considering I would be going there without Mom. “I really want to get this done as soon as possible.”

“Right then. As soon as I’m done shoveling food down my throat, we can go back to your place and I will track her for you.”

I stared at her quizzically. “No appointment, then?”

“None at all. I have a little time, so what better moment than right now?” She met my eyes, and I was taken aback by her generosity.

“And about your fee?” I’d almost forgotten about payment.

She waved her hand at me, but something in her eyes made me accept her decline of payment. “No fee. Except I may call in a favor sometime in the future.”

“Sure,” I said, now curious, and happy too. I would be able to return the favor and that made me feel better. I disliked unpaid debts. “Anything you can talk about right now?”

She shook her head, her expression faraway, as if already delving in the details of her case. “Well, yes and no. I don’t have all the information. It’s just a suspicion at this point. When we have something more to go on, then I’ll call you.”

“No problem. Just text me. And if I don’t answer, call Logan. He’ll know if I’m alive or dead.”

She laughed mid-bite. “Very optimistic of you.”

“Hey, I’m just calling it like I see it. Wraiths are unpredictable. And the more powerful they are, the more my life is at risk.” Just saying the words made me feel bone-tired.

She looked at her plate for a moment. She seemed far away again, and I left her to it. She chewed, swallowed, sipped, and then asked, “So can you tell me something?”

“Sure. Shoot.”

“Okay, so when you track the Wraiths, what is it you look for?”

I sipped my tea, then set the glass back on the table. The ice cubes clinked, and I thought about how simple life is for some people. The guy at the bar, kicking back scotch after scotch because his wife was nagging him to find another better job. He didn’t know how good he had it. At least his wife wasn’t part of the walking dead, possessed by a Wraith, with no hope of living if the demon ever decided to vacate her corpse.

“One of my skills is the ability to see the tracks they leave. Everything they touch is colored by a fine dust. To me, it appears as a glowing coral powder. I can see it anywhere, on people, on furniture, anywhere a Wraith touches.”

“So the ability to see these coral prints has allowed you to successfully track them?”

I nodded. “I guess you could compare them to a snail’s trail rather than fingerprints.” I shrugged, just wanting to get as far away from Wraiths as possible. But that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

My cell phone pinged with a well-timed text from Logan announcing he’d be home later to see me. Mel had finished off her burger and was slurping up the dregs of her drink. I did the same, and we hailed the check. Which I insisted on paying since I wasn’t going to pay Mel for tracking Mom. She argued a little but eventually gave in, shaking her head at my bossiness.

Post check payment, we walked home, enjoying the Chicago streets as the sun went down and the nightlife took over.

***

We headed to the dining room table as soon as we entered the apartment. Mel was ready and I didn’t want to take too much more of her time. I dug the portal key out of my pocket and laid it on the table in front of us. “Is it okay that I touched it?” I asked, wondering if I’d just mucked up the mojo.

She nodded. “It should be fine. I need DNA, and I don’t usually have a problem with epithelial DNA causing interference.”

I watched as she reached for the portal key, my heart thudding in my chest. She must have sensed my nerves because she leaned forward and placed her hand on my arm, the expression in her eyes warm and encouraging. “Hey, I’m going to do a projection first, so I’m not going to disappear or anything. I’ll project, get the lay of the place, then come back and tell you what I know.” She only let go of my arm when I nodded.