Blood King (Spirit Seeker Book 1)

by Amber K. Bryant

  Elis hiked around the perimeter of the island twice before he came to the realization that this was not his dream; it had never been his.

  Whoever’s dream it was, they weren’t about to let him leave.

  Sybille tapped the car door with the heel of her boot as Devin took the truck at a snail’s pace down their driveway and out onto the unpaved road beyond it. They’d already searched the property by flashlight, turning up little evidence of Elis’ whereabouts.

  “He must have come outside for something,” she hypothesized. “Then he got grabbed and someone dragged him away.”

  Sybille had been sure this is what happened, but Devin couldn’t find any drag marks or any other signs that a struggle had taken place. Besides, they’d have heard a confrontation if there’d been one. There were no scuffs from a body being pulled through the mud, but there were shoeprints leading from the cabin straight down the driveway. They were fresh. He showed them to Sybille who had simply said, “Let’s follow them.”

  Unfortunately, that didn’t get them very far. About fifty yards down the drive, they came to an abrupt halt. “I need more light,” Devin lamented. “It’s like the trail just dead ends right here.”

  “It will be dawn in another hour or two, but…” She bent over as though she could pick up his scent like a dog. “I don’t want to wait. I have a feeling we should search for him using the truck. If we can’t find him, we can come back here when it’s light out and keep going.”

  “Maybe. But, Sybille, he could be right here. He could have turned into the forest and be hiding somewhere.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  He threw his arms up in annoyance. “Why would he come out here at all?”

  Sybille pursed her lips. An idea had occurred to her, but she’d kept it to herself. Devin didn’t need one more reminder of why he hated Elis. Still, if it could help find him… “He might have been hungry.”

  Devin nodded. “So, he came out here to kill an innocent woodland creature?”

  “Better than killing one of us.”

  Five minutes later, they were bouncing along the dirt roads, searching for a monster in the darkness.

  The trees were tall, silent sentries on either side of them. The stillness of the predawn reminded Devin of one of those found-footage horror flicks. He and Sybille would drive around the Low searching for answers and no matter how far they drove, they’d never find their way out of the Low. One day, his truck would be located, abandoned in a ditch right next to a forest such as the one they were driving past right now. A video camera, found twenty-feet away, would reveal their descent into madness. Their bodies would never be found.

  Shivering in his plaid jacket, Devin’s fear was amplified by the night. He strained his eyes trying to see into the black abyss to his side.

  “Look out!” Sybille screamed. Devin slammed on the breaks. He swerved to avoid a figure standing in the middle of the road. A deer? Elis?

  They both breathed hard as the truck ground to a halt. “Did I miss it?”

  Sybille yelped again as a hand knocked on the glass of the driver’s side door. Devin rolled down the window. Relief shifted quickly to confusion.

  “Jesus, Charlie, what the hell are you doing out here? I almost hit you.”

  The little girl snorted. “Hardly. You were driving slower than an old lady.”

  “Old ladies hit things they don’t mean to all of the time. Now answer my question. Why are you here?”

  “I was on my way to see you. I had to tell you.”

  “Tell me what?”

  She twisted her braid around her fingers. “About your friend.”

  Sybille leaned over towards the girl. “Our friend. You mean Elis?”

  “I don’t know what his name is, but it was the man who came with you.”

  What sort of Horror/Disneyesque/Small World nightmare was he living in where Charlie would wander the Low in the wee hours to tell them she knew where their missing “friend” was? “Were you spying on us?”

  Charlie narrowed her eyes.

  Sybille hit his shoulder. “Just let her talk.”

  “My daddy was watching for you, waiting to see if you’d come back. Says he saw your friend come out of the house in the middle of the night and that’s when he took him. He took your friend.”

  She hoisted herself through the open window, clambered over Devin’s lap and made her way in between the bucket seats to the back of the cab. “We better go see what’s going on, cuz one thing is for sure, Devin: The Blood King is set to do some ass whooping today.”

  This girl was like some sort of Low fae, speaking with an almost mystical assurance about things she should have no clue about. She acted as though leading people on a mission to save someone from a particularly monstrous monster was how she was used to spending her mornings and seemed quite proud of herself for what should have been her very unfortunate involvement in all of this.

  Sybille both pitied and admired her. Surely her life must be very difficult here. That was not about to change considering she was aiding the person who had attempted to murder the Low’s most dangerous bloodthirster less than two days ago. Yet she was utterly fearless and that bravery had nothing to do with ignorance. She knew what she was getting herself into, perhaps better than she and Devin did. This child had an inner power that Sybille was in awe of. It was impossible not to like her instantly.

  “Is this the girl you were talking about, Devin?” He had mentioned a young informant, a child he’d grown to care about, one whose fate he wished to change for the better.

  He nodded. “That’s her.”

  “My name’s Charlie, not ‘girl’ or ‘her.’”

  Devin chuckled. Sybille slid lower into her seat, shame burning her. She had dismissed Charlie so easily when Devin brought her up in the past. No, she’d told him he couldn’t take her from the Low. That would be kidnapping. And besides that small technicality, there was the damned Low itself, always having to exert its authority over everything and everyone it claimed as its own. A child born and raised there would be considered one of the Low’s. The Low wouldn’t give her up without a fight. And if it wished to fight for this child, where would that leave them?

  No. It was simply too risky to help the girl. To help Charlie.

  That’s how she’d felt before she’d set foot in the Low, before she’d tasted firsthand its cosmic smack-down of everyone who it felt was an enemy, before she had experienced the pull that even now threatened to send her over the edge. Before she’d met Charlie.

  “Charlie, do you like living here?”

  Charlie clucked her tongue. “What kind of question is that? Devin, is she stupid? Did you bring a stupid person here to help you?”

  “Be nice, Charlie. Even smart people can ask a stupid question.”

  “Devin!” Sybille slapped his shoulder.

  He laughed again. “But seriously, Sybille’s about the smartest person I know. We’re in good hands with her, kid.”

  Charlie kicked at the back of Sybille’s seat. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

  A gap in the conversation followed. The truck’s inhabitants stared silently out the windows as they drove past rolling countryside, the earliest signs of a foggy dawn just now visible to the east. A blurry gray-pink aura crept over the tops of trees like a watercolor painting with too much water and not enough pigment. Several minutes later, Charlie broke the tension. “Where are you going, Devin?”

  “To Hocus.”

  No response.

  Devin wrapped his fingers against the steering wheel. “Isn’t that where we should be headed?”

  Charlie sighed, loud and long. “It’s a good thing you two came across me. We’re not going to Hocus, we’re going to the Blood King’s house. And you missed your turn.”

  “Well, why didn’t you tell me that?” Devin slowed the truck down, backed onto the shoulder and swung around. “I don’t have a clue where the Blood King’s house is, so you’ll have to
lead me there, okay kid?”

  “As long as you promise never to call me ‘kid’ again.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “Fine. Take a left up here.”

  Several more lefts and a right later, they turned down a newly paved driveway. The truck moved quietly down a stretch of curving blacktop. Lining both sides of the road, stately poplars swayed, golden leaves still clinging stubbornly to branches despite the encroaching winter. Beyond them, dark fields, barely discernible in the predawn light, loomed like wide open seas. Soon, a house came into view, as large and ostentatious as the fancy waterfront mansions back in Port Everan.

  “Fit for a king.” Devin gave a low whistle.

  Sybille tucked a strand of loose hair into the bun at the base of her neck. “Are you sure this is where your dad brought Elis?”

  “Of course, I’m sure. Devin can tell you, doubting me will get you nowhere.”

  “Noted.” Charlie had spunk, no doubt about it. Sybille cleared her throat. “This place has got to be heavily guarded, but you told us to drive right up. I assume you have a plan? Because it’s either that or you’re leading us into a trap.”

  “Sybille, she wouldn’t do that.”

  “I’m not saying she would intentionally. I’m just saying, here we are, currently pulling up to the fortified house of an immortal mobster and we,” she motioned between the two of them, “don’t have a plan. We’re relying on a seven-year-old to lead us into the belly of the beast.”

  “I’m eight. Almost nine.”

  “See? She’s eight. Almost nine.”

  “I’m very mature for my age.”

  “Devin, this is crazy. If something goes wrong, Charlie could get hurt. We should turn around, head back a ways, drop her off.”

  “Just leave her in the middle of the woods? It’s cold out!”

  “Nathanial knows who I am. I’m safer than either of you, that’s for sure. Plus, Devin, you’re my supplier. Why would I cut off my candy source on purpose?”

  She paused, hand held out. Devin reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar. “You’ll get another when the job’s done.”

  “Two more. And the deal is, I sneak you in without you getting killed but after that, you’re on your own. I’ll still expect the rest of my payment, though, so try to keep from dying.”

  Devin pulled the truck over, then reached behind him, drawing his arms around Charlie. “You’re the best little extortionist ever and the best little spy. You’ve got a future in the CIA.”

  Charlie hugged him back. “Please. You know what my future is going to be like if I stay in the Low. It’s going to suck.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “It’s the truth, though isn’t it? I’ve asked and asked you to take me away from here and every time, you hand me an extra candy bar and change the subject. You’re no help to me.”

  “Come on, Charlie, it’s not like that!”

  Charlie let go of Devin and sat back in her seat again. “I don’t have time to hear your excuses. Listen up. This is not a drill. Sybille, I’ll talk real slow so you’ll be able to understand. Here’s what we’ve gotta do.”

  After a quick debrief in which Charlie schooled them on what they were about to encounter as though they were kindergarteners, they left Devin’s truck and headed through a gate and around to a ground floor entrance at the house’s side.

  “Last chance to make a run for it.” Sybille squeezed the girl’s shoulder, but she shrugged her off.

  “You think they don’t have cameras everywhere? Last chance passed the moment we turned into the driveway. Just follow my lead. Are you smart enough to do that?”

  “Yes, boss.” She gave the girl a quick solute.

  Charlie rolled her eyes. “I don’t get why Devin likes you so much. Guess it takes all kinds.”

  Sybille expected Charlie to knock on the door but instead she twisted the knob and pushed it open. The three entered a dimly lit hallway which opened on the left into a large kitchen. “This is the servants’ entrance.”

  It seemed strange that they’d gotten this far without being met by heavily armed guards with big pointy teeth. Sybille’s skin crawled. From the way Devin turned in circles to scan every corner of the room, it seemed he was feeling the same unease.

  “Where is everyone, Charlie?” He opened the door of what turned out to be a walk-in pantry and then closed it again. “This doesn’t feel right.”

  “Your definition of what’s right has always been a bit skewed in my opinion.” The three spun around to encounter the person speaking. A slightly built, striking young blond woman stood blocking the entryway.

  “My God.” Devin gasped. “Raelyn?”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  It was almost as though the dark days spent with Raelyn in her musty trailer deep within the Low had never occurred. Here she stood, healthy and vibrant, not at all like the troubled girl he’d encountered ten years ago, but also not like the sister he once loved. This Raelyn was poised, calculating. Haughty. He wanted to hold her close and also to smack the smug right off her bloodthirster face. He could just make out the edge of a fang where her lips parted.

  She was alive, though. Or she was…something. She existed. It took a moment for him to compose himself enough to speak.

  “Raelyn?” Saying her name somehow made the moment real. Perhaps he’d been given a second chance. Perhaps all was not lost. He took a tentative step towards the woman, who stood her ground, her eyes retaining their cold bemusement. The pain from the night he’d burned her trailer to the ground was a fresh ring of heartbreak around him. His grief was laid open to her, and yet she responded with a sneer.

  Sybille stared at Devin’s long-lost sister. He’d convinced himself he’d killed her ten years ago, but Sybille’s vision hinted at a different reality, a reality she’d chosen to secret away until she could confirm it. Now, the truth stood in front of them both and regret flooded her. Devin had bared himself to her and she’d repaid him by letting him keep believing a lie.

  “You’re…” Devin staggered back a step. “I watched you die.”

  “Yet here I am. And good thing for your little tour guide.” She pointed at Charlie. “But we don’t have time for a family reunion.” Raelyn turned on her heels. “How’s that quote go? ‘Follow me if you want to live.’ Good advice.”

  Charlie took Devin’s hand and Sybille gently pushed him forward. She didn’t like the idea of putting their fate in the hands of Devin’s runaway-junkie-thirster sister, but if they were to find Elis, they needed an insider’s help. Besides, Charlie seemed to trust her.

  They slipped through the empty kitchen and down a long corridor. “I set the cameras to loop so your arrival would go unnoticed, but it won’t hold forever, not with that one here.” She pointed over her shoulder at Sybille.

  Devin gave both the women a nervous glance. “What do you mean?”

  Sybille sighed. She’d forgotten she’d been keeping her status as Low bait from him too. “The Low knows I’m different. It’s an effort to keep it at bay. Anyone in tune with the Low can sense that push and pull.”

  “So, every bloodthirster in the Low…”

  “Will eventually be able to tell I’m here. No wonder my mother and Peter kept me away.”

  By now they’d arrived at a large steel door. Raelyn paused, key in hand, and sniffed the air. “She smells like the Christmas cookies I used to make with granny. Like cinnamon.”

  “Gross, Raelyn.”

  “Whatever. I’m just saying, there won’t be a single thirster who isn’t trying to hunt her down and drink her dry by day’s end. You need to get her out of here.” She twisted an old skeleton key into the lock and pushed on the door with her shoulder. It groaned open into a chasm of darkness.

  She felt the side of the wall until locating a switch. A long staircase appeared as a light bulb flickered on. They began their descent.

  Sybille couldn’t stave off her suspicion. “Why are
you helping us? If that’s actually what you’re doing. Otherwise, why are you leading us to our deaths? Is it because Devin tried to kill you? Because that was a long time ago and I’m sure he feels badly about it. Don’t you, Devin?”

  Devin glared at the back of his sister’s head. The fact that she was alive, here with him, must be quite a shock. Sybille nudged him until he broke free of his stupor. He shook his head. “Every day I wish there’d been some other way.”

  “I don’t.” Raelyn paused again. “I understand why you did what you did. Besides, it was easy to forgive you when I realized what I’d become because of what you’d done.”

  Devin clung to the railing so he wouldn’t collapse. Sybille grasped his hand and squeezed. How awful for him to have to relive the night he’d killed/not killed his horrible, beloved sister.

  He steadied himself. “What exactly is it that you’ve become?”

  She smiled and turned away from them, resuming her descent. “Invincible.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The breeze carried salty sea air and memories of thirst.

  Elis was sure now that it had been a monstrous thirst that had led him out of the security of the Esmond’s cabin, back before this dream world had come along. He remembered lying there awake after Devin and Sybille had both drifted off, Sybille because she’d needed sleep desperately, and Devin because Elis had grown sick of the human’s sullen stares and obvious displeasure at having to be in the same vicinity as Elis. Five seconds of mesmerizing and Devin was snoring away, allowing Elis to focus on the all-consuming thought of Sybille’s bare neck, blood coursing under supple flesh.

  He hadn’t desired anything so ferociously in a long while.