My lips trembled in amusement.
I kept moving along, creeping in the shadows and hearing whispers of conspiracy theories around every corner I turned.
My bank account was filling up by the second.
Not that I cared about money at this point.
My mind was fixated on the fact James hadn’t shown, an hour late. Where the fuck was he? I peered down at my new bracelet, this one untraceable, and stated, “Order: Call James.”
He answered quickly. “Noelle, I’m delayed at the port. There are too many trains right now to land. Give me a half hour.”
I sighed in relief. “I’ll be there in a half hour then.” A street vendor selling skewered meat came into my line of sight. “I’ll have a bite to eat, I guess. Order: End call.”
I stood in the long line with my rolling luggage at my side. So close to the port, with travelers arriving and departing all the time, I didn’t stick out at all. I kept a tight grip on my luggage handle, though, noticing a few local thieves lying in wait for the unaware bystander.
“How do you think Ms. Carvene is handling all of this?” an old woman peered down her nose at her young male companion. They were both directly in front of me, waiting to get lunch, too, my view unhindered. “After losing Mr. Godric King, this can’t be the kind of publicity she would want. It looks like she’s in a relationship with the other Mr. King! He’s Godric’s brother, for goodness’ sake.”
Actually, Theron was Godric’s dad.
The world would soon learn about his fib to the public.
The man nodded solemnly. “I agree. But I want to know who the other man is. Weston ran a facial recognition screen on him. Nothing! Nothing came back. It’s like he appeared out of thin air. In my opinion, he might be a long-lost relative of Ms. Carvene. She’s originally from King Western Province, you know. I’ve heard it’s rather sketchy over there…”
Now, Cassander would be Godric’s actual brother.
I choked on a laugh and quickly covered it with a cough, throwing my fist in front of my mouth when the elderly woman and young man looked back at me. “Sorry. A little dust flew into my mouth.”
There wasn’t even a breeze today. They didn’t notice.
I tuned them out when they turned back around, and I glanced down at my silver bracelet. I had fifteen minutes left. This line needed to hurry up. I tapped my fingers on the handle and threw dirty glares at the thieves glancing in my direction—and waited as patiently as I could.
Ten minutes later, I hurried to the docks and munched on my quick meal of a meat stick. Not my term. The vendor had called it that.
“Meat. Stick,” he’d corrected me rather loudly.
It had been really hard not to laugh in his face.
I could see James, his bald head gleaming under the sunlight. His way of greeting me was to say, “I did bring you a sandwich. All travelers get a meal.”
I waved off his comment while I threw the stick away in the nearest traveling trash bin. “I’ll eat that too. Don’t worry.”
James grinned, flashing me his missing front tooth. “I saw your article. No wonder you’re skipping town.”
I snorted. “No one will think to look for me on the outskirts of Poppy’s old town. It’s the perfect hiding spot that still has access to the internet.”
He scratched at his scruffy beard. “You’ll have to leave again once you post another article. They’ll find you otherwise.”
“I know.” I tipped my head to the long port ahead of us. “You’re riding back with me, right?”
“I am. I don’t like to be away from home too long.”
“Let’s go then. Show me which one is mine.”
We walked at a fast clip, dodging around other arrivals, the water crystal clear beneath the slats in the wooden walkway.
“I have everything set up for you in Port, per your request,” James stated as he jogged up the stairs to an older but renovated train. “You’re really going to hate living there, but that’s what you wanted.”
“The place is a shit hole like I asked?” I queried.
“The worst. There are toads in the bathtub and no roof over most of the house. There’s all kinds of greenery—not the good kind, either—living in there.”
My nose scrunched. “There’s at least one safe room to live in, right?”
James closed the door to the train and tapped in our destination coordinates. “One. Only one. Like you wanted.”
“Thank you. Assuming you’ve also loaded it with food, how much do I owe you for that?”
James shook his head and laughed. “Just send me a picture of yourself when you leave. I can’t imagine what your long hair is going to look like without bathing for days.”
I grabbed the sandwich he had indeed brought for me and waggled it at his face. “I’m not sharing my sandwich with you now.”
Another chortle of laughter. “Then I’ll hog the bathroom the whole time we’re flying. That’s a lot of hours.”
My bladder already rejected the idea. “Bastard.”
CHAPTER SIX
The concrete beneath his feet caused James to lean to the right, the crack wide and lopsided on what used to be a sidewalk. He gestured with his left hand to the house in front of us. The use of the word ‘house’ was quite generous. He murmured, “What do you think? Hideous and desolate enough for you?”
I grunted, my tone droll. “You outdid yourself.”
He nodded and chuckled, staring up at what was once a three-story Victorian home but was reduced to shambles. Even that was a generous word for this piece of shit. He pointed to the right side of the house, and managed to say with a straight face, “At least it has a tree.”
I bent over and busted up laughing at that. I panted through my hilarity, “I’m pretty sure trees aren’t supposed to grow out of a house!”
“Well, you could always stay in that one.” He stared at the house to the right of this one, the homes part of an olden subdivision.
“Fuck that,” I mumbled quickly. That house was somehow worse than the one in front of me. I sighed heavily, resigned to my fate. “Everything is set up for me? I don’t need anything?”
James blinked. “Pretty sure the key to the house was lost. Probably around the time the front half of the house disappeared.”
I snorted. “All right, smartass. I’ll call you when I need you again. Thank you for everything. I know it was short notice.”
“Anything for a pretty lady.” He tipped his bald head to me, and then gave a quick warning before leaving, “Make sure to keep the bedroom door closed at all times. There’s wildlife around here that wouldn’t mind taking a chunk out of you. Too thin or not, they’ll eat you.”
Little did he know that I had contraband—a restored gun in my luggage with plenty of ammunition. Fuck, he probably didn’t even know what a gun was. I knew how to shoot, too. Money would buy you almost anything you wanted, and in my line of work, any added security was a must.
I waved as he left and then trudged up the weed-infested walkway to the ‘house.’ The wild plants were so enormous they brushed against my waist. I was very pleased to know I had packed the right type of clothing—tall boots, jeans, and warm sweaters. A daunting adventure didn’t even begin to describe how I’d be living from now on.
I eventually found the only remaining bedroom with four walls, a ceiling, and a solid floor. But what I saw inside chilled my soul.
A silver fox was sleeping on the bed.
I knew the other seer would be a pain in my ass.
I just hadn’t expected him this quickly. He had to have left New City right after I’d published the article. And he’d known exactly where to find me.
Fuck.
* * *
I pulled my gun out of my luggage and pointed it at the fox. “If you don’t leave right now and stay away from me, Cassander, I will shoot you.”
The fox peeked open one silver eye.
The shifter yawned wide, showing me his sharp teeth.
Then he closed his eye…and, apparently, went back to sleep.
Hell no. Not happening, asshole.
I set my feet and clicked off the safety. “Last warning.”
The fox didn’t move. Only his little chest pumped up and down with quiet inhales and exhales, perfectly content to ignore me.
My body jerked forward, shoved from the back, and a large, warm hand ripped my gun away from me as I fell to my knees.
I looked up and froze in place.
Theron shook the gun in the air, barking, “Cassander! Get your ass up. This problem-human was actually going to shoot your furry hide.” He narrowed his eyes at his son, who merely stretched and rolled onto his back, comfortable and lackadaisical. “I should have let your pampered ass be shot. Maybe you’d actually listen to me one day if I did.”
Another yawn from the fox. And a simple glare.
Poppy stormed into the bedroom and waggled her finger at the furry lump on the bed. “Listen to your father, damn it. He’s older and wiser and shit.”
A quiet growl emanated from the bed.
“Yeah, fuck you too,” she muttered.
I peeked out the door. How many more were here?
So far, my chances were slim to none on getting out of here alive with just the three of them. Though, if they kept bickering amongst themselves, I could probably make a run for it.
My brows puckered with a dreadful thought.
I knew what Theron shifted into.
Never mind. Running wasn’t an option.
I was officially dead.
A shudder, pure panic and failing hope, ran down my spine.
Poppy didn’t even glance my way, but she pointed a sharp finger at me, all while glaring at the fox. “Noelle Harvey, don’t you fucking move from there. I’ll deal with you after I’m done with this suicidal jackass. I mean, really, Cassander! How many times do you want to die in a week? You said you hated that crap.”
An explosion of white sparkles blasted on the bed.
A very naked and annoyed Cassander glared up at the redhead. “I’m tired. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, Ms. Carvene. Instead, I was busy taking care of you, if you might remember? You wanted Dad and me to stay and watch sappy as fuck, goddamn awful movies all night long.”
I was just about sure Poppy didn’t hear a word he’d said.
She stood completely still, lost in her own thoughts. Staring at his body. How she managed to have not one expression on her face was astounding because…
Yes. Hello again, pretty pretty.
Cassander’s aggravated mien toned down gradually, blinking in the face of her dazed, pretty-boy dilemma. One of his eyebrows lifted, and his head cocked to the side in animalistic fashion, watching her like a curious hunter. His nostrils flared briefly, and then his eyes followed suit at whatever he scented in the air before he controlled his facial features and waited for her to look up from the world’s slowest perusal of another’s naked body.
Freaking hell, sculptors didn’t even take as long as she was.
And still, the room was silent.
Awkward.
Theron rubbed his nose with the handle of my gun and glanced down at me. The gears were definitely working inside his Ancient mind. Living two thousand years would do that to a person.
I still knew what he was thinking, young and all.
To grab me and leave quietly?
Or try to break up the heat starting to sizzle in here and actually do what they came here for?
He blinked, peered up at the other two and cleared his throat as loud as he could. When that did nothing, he hollered—with much amusement, “Cassander, I left your clothes outside the room!”
A clouded leopard suddenly dashed into the room.
My eyes widened as black sparkles whooshed through the room, another naked man appearing right between everyone.
Joshua Striker had come here uninvited.
Like every other fucking person in the bedroom.
Joshua smirked. “Hello, Theron.”
Chaos erupted; mayhem ensued.
All. Fucking. Hell. Broke. Loose.
All I could do was crawl on hands and knees as fast as I could toward the doorway, biting my bottom lip to keep from screaming, my fingers digging into the dust covered carpet. I ducked legs and arms and a chucked body at one point. Three feet of space to freedom had never been so far away, a wild bird caught in an owner’s cage staring through the bars and never allowed to leave.
A terrible roar sent me flying onto my stomach and covering my ears. My eyes shuttered closed as damp blood covered the palms of my hands, my ears bleeding, the powerful cry shaking the entire earth with its vengeance. I screamed right along with the crushing fury, tucking into a ball to protect myself.
I squinted into the pandemonium.
And I had no clue how it happened, what came next.
Theron opened his mouth for another mighty roar, blood splattered on his angry face, while he lifted my gun and aimed.
The shot fired right at Joshua, held captive from behind in Cassander’s strong arms.
But a blast of black sparkles charged the air.
The bullet did hit a seer. Not the seer Theron had intended.
Cassander flew back as the bullet pierced his chest while the clouded leopard raced on four legs from the bedroom and out into the desolate land, a feral smile parting his lips.
“No!” Poppy screamed in horror and shoved from the floor where she had been tossed. Her arms wrapped around Cassander’s falling body, gently laying him on the dirty ground. Poppy’s tiny hands slammed down on his chest, right over his heart where the bullet had gone in, and blood was flowing freely. “Cassander! Don’t you fucking do this. Don’t you fucking dare die!”
Theron dropped my gun onto the floor from a limp hand and stood frozen in horrified surprise. He gasped, “What have I done?”
Cassander blinked once, staring up at the woman putting all her weight upon him to staunch the blood flow. He lifted his left hand slowly and placed it on her cheek, cupping her face tenderly. Cassander choked out the words, “Poppy…you’ll be…okay.”
Tears ran down her cheeks and dripped down onto his forehead, her words a tearful cry of the broken. “No, I won’t. I don’t want you to leave. You need to stay here. With me. Don’t die. Please don’t die.”
His lips curved up at the corners and his hand fell back down onto the carpet. “Don’t…cry…”
The words stopped as his eyes lifted to the ceiling. All awareness drained from his gaze, the gunmetal silver no longer showing life. His blank eyes stared into a place the living would never know.
“No!” Poppy bellowed and gripped his shoulders. She shook his dead body hard, trying to bring him back. “Cassander!”
Theron dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands, great sobs wracking his massive frame.
I shut my gaping mouth.
And I did the worst thing I had ever done in my life.
I was going to survive.
During their time of horrifying grief, I grabbed my gun with a blood covered hand and rose to my knees. I aimed at the back of Theron’s head. I fired. I quickly took aim on Poppy’s frozen form leaning over Cassander, her attention narrowing down on me. I shot right at her head.
I didn’t look back at the dead as I clambered to my feet and grabbed my luggage with my left hand. I ran as fast as I could, my gun held firmly in my hand, and barked, “Order: Call James—Transport.”
I was talking too loudly. I knew I was. My ears were injured.
“Miss me already?” he asked, flirting like this day was good.
“I’m leaving. Now.” I sucked in oxygen, trying not to vomit from all I had witnessed today. “Get my train out of the storage you put it in and have it ready on the beach. Same place—”
James cut me off. “I haven’t had time to move it yet. I’m just getting back to the beach.” Had it really not been that long… “Do I need to come to you? You sound like tr
ouble already found you.”
“Just have it ready to fly. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Order: End call.”
I now knew what Joshua got out of this deal.
Pain. Other people’s pain.
The seer was the devil.
And I owed him a favor.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I washed my bloody and shaking hands in the bathroom of the train as it flew over the Atlantic Ocean. I tucked my gun next to me on the bed at the back of the transport and closed my eyes. Sleep never came for me, never whispering her sweet lullaby. Only flashes of fists, teeth, blood, and splattered brains tormented my mind every time I almost hit slumber. The gentle, soothing hum of the clean, blue energy fueling my train didn’t soothe me, either. Nothing did.
Halfway across the ocean, I sat up on the small bed and stared at the wall. I had no idea what I was going to do. I’d programmed a destination I knew well in King Eastern Province, but now that the seer, Cassander, was indeed dead, killed by the king, I wasn’t positive I needed to travel so far. He’d never be able to track me again, and the other seer, Joshua, had given me the story. Joshua wanted it published.
My brows furrowed deeply over my brown eyes.
I knew what the seer was now. I’d witnessed it with my own eyes. If the devil wanted it published…
Maybe I shouldn’t do it.
I swallowed hard and dropped back down onto the bed, linking my hands behind my head while I scowled the boring as hell ceiling.
Did I want to turn back from this now?
Didn’t the world deserve to know the truth?
I thought it did. But still, if he wanted them to know…
I was missing something. Vital information, I was sure.
I contemplated my options as the hours passed.
With a wrinkle of my nose, and no closer to sleep, my decision was set. I lifted my arm and started tapping quickly on my silver bracelet, code after code after code, all of the encryptions that I could think of—and then a few I stole. The man I was about to call was dangerous. But if I wanted to know the truth, both sides of the story, I needed to go directly to the source, just as I had one side of the story with Joshua.
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