The Seer

by Marie Johnston

  He looked out the back window. Isabelle was following them. Her black beanie was still on and she was leaning over the wheel, talking. What were she and Katrina chatting about? Would they be a blank spot to each other or have a conversation that no one in this realm, or any others, could understand?

  “How’s Daniel?” Penny’s grip on the wheel hadn’t relaxed.

  “I think he finally swallowed. He should be coming around soon.”

  “Good. It’s an improvement.”

  They pulled up to the compound. Demetrius had flashed back and waited outside one of the large overhead garage doors, nearly blending into the shadows with his black tactical gear and three times the amount of weaponry Scurn had on him.

  Penny parked in the stall and didn’t waste time once the engine was killed. She got out and rushed around to the back to check on her mate.

  Demetrius had Isabelle park behind them outside. He crossed to Isabelle’s window. “Leave the keys inside. Father will flash here for it.” He left the Mercedes to come stand by Penny. “I called in Ophelia to help Rourke so I could be here.”

  “Can we get this male to the infirmary without the girl seeing?” Scurn asked.

  “I’ve already seen it,” a tiny voice said.

  They all turned around. Katrina was shy of four feet tall with blue eyes that rivaled Isabelle’s in paleness. Isabelle’s brown tresses could just as well be ink black against Katrina’s white strands. Isabelle was outside, running her hand along the car and humming the same song she’d hummed in the shower.

  Had that been less than twenty-four hours ago?

  Penny rushed to the girl. Katrina slipped her hand into her mother’s and used her other hand to point to Isabelle. “I like her.” She tipped her head back to stare up at Demetrius. “You’re going to tell them. You don’t want to, but you’re going to.”

  Scurn froze. He knew what that meant. His gaze sought Isabelle’s. She had stopped with her fingertips still touching the Mercedes, panic in her eyes.

  The wood grains in the tabletop transfixed Isabelle’s gaze. It was just her, Scurn, and Demetrius in the conference room. Neither one was asking her opinion, and if they did, her answer wouldn’t make sense. I am not a poodle, but I am a dog.

  Even she couldn’t decipher that one.

  Katrina was in the infirmary with her parents, along with Bishop and Demetrius’s mate, Calli. The giant male hadn’t scared Katrina, just as Isabelle had suspected. He was an icy teddy bear to those not his enemies.

  Scurn’s voice vibrated with anger. “I told that female that you’d do what’s right by her daughter, and the whole time you’ve been planning to turn her and your own sister over to the Synod.”

  “They aren’t the villains anymore, Scurn. We work together to rule shifters and vampires and everything in between. Shifters have seers, and they’re not being imprisoned for some nefarious use.”

  “They have one and he’s being trained into service with their Guardian pack, is he not? Now that he’s an adult, what are they going to do with him? Have they told you?”

  Demetrius rolled his eyes. “No, we have not decided what or if he’ll have another role to play other than Guardian. But I doubt he’s any different than Isabelle—he doesn’t know how to interpret what he sees.”

  “How do you know Isabelle doesn’t know what she sees? You don’t even talk to her.”

  Her brows popped. So her loneliness hadn’t gone unnoticed. Neither had her disappointment that her brother seemed to avoid her.

  Perhaps that was unfair. She was a duty to him, an obligation, a tool to protect that could be used against the people he’d dedicated his life to.

  “If she could interpret what she saw, she wouldn’t speak in riddles.” Demetrius’s statement cut to the quick. Her chest grew tight and her next breath was a struggle. He had no confidence she could use her own ability? “And it’s not as if her special sight has helped save her life any.”

  Scurn’s gaze was on her, waiting for her to reveal what she’d told him, that she’d left her family ignorant of an attack that could claim their lives. His gaze dropped to the tabletop and a muscle flexed in his jaw.

  She’d disappointed him. Just like she’d disappointed herself when she’d let her parents talk about her like she was still a traumatized ten-year-old.

  Isabelle summoned her courage. “If events weren’t what they were, things wouldn’t be as they are now.”

  Damn it. It had been so much easier with Scurn.

  Scurn let out a frustrated sigh. “What she told me was that if she hadn’t let the attack on your family happen, then our old government would’ve prevailed. You wouldn’t have had the drive for revenge that prompted you to turn on them.”

  Demetrius stared at her, but she didn’t look at him or Scurn. She trailed her fingers along the grainy patterns in the tabletop.

  “Is that true, Isabelle? Did you know Scurn would be sent after us?”

  She continued tracing the cool top.

  “Isabelle.” His voice was carefully restrained. It was the closest Demetrius had come to losing his temper with her.

  “Not the blank spot,” she said.

  “What the fuck does that mean?” Demetrius clamped his lips together. He was upset he’d spoken to her so, but she wasn’t. He was always too formal when they talked, too…congenial. They were siblings! He used to put frogs in her bed and she used to taunt him by kissing them.

  “I’m her blank spot,” Scurn explained.

  She nodded. “I get to choose.”

  Scurn’s stare burned into her. She had chosen but wasn’t willing to reveal that detail. Although what would it matter? Demetrius wouldn’t understand anyway.

  She snuck a peek at Scurn. A muscle jumped in his jaw. Did he think she should’ve told Demetrius about them?

  Demetrius shook his head. “The situation with Katrina proved that it’s not just our government, or even the wealthy and powerful among us, who would try to capitalize on her or Isabelle. The Synod needs to know so we can come up with a plan for what to do with them.”

  “A lock and key is not the answer,” Scurn argued.

  Isabelle didn’t catch Demetrius’s reply. A vision ran a reel through her mind, one she’d seen before. She was facing the Synod, only now it alternated between her facing the people to staring at the closed door of her apartment. One resonated with a sense of rightness, and it wasn’t the hunk of wood she’d stared at for years.

  “You trust them,” Scurn said. “I don’t. I don’t trust anyone with Isabelle’s safety, certainly not a government, and I don’t trust anyone with the protection of a child.”

  “You can’t protect them both,” Demetrius replied. “Or do you think to move Isabelle into their home?”

  “He’s not my guard anymore.” She hadn’t meant to blurt it. “I fired him.”

  “We weren’t paying him,” Demetrius said.

  Scurn shook his head. “I’m not leaving your side.”

  Demetrius’s gaze jumped between the two of them. “Did something happen that I should know about?”

  “That you should know about or that you want to know about?” Isabelle folded her hands on top of the table and tried to adopt the same regal position as Demetrius. She lifted her chin so she was looking down her nose. This was uncomfortable.

  Demetrius considered them a moment. “Well, then. Since Isabelle fired you, Scurn, you’ll stay here with the Havers, and Isabelle will come with me.”

  Scurn stood, knocking his office chair over behind him. “No way in hell. I’ve been at Isabelle’s side for one hundred and five years. I’m not leaving it so you can take her somewhere I’ve never been. I can’t flash to her if she’s in trouble.”

  Demetrius didn’t twitch, but his shoulders were tight and his stare hard. “Two reasons: Isabelle has indicated you’re no longer welcome as her guard. And if she goes and comes back safely, it’ll be the beginning of your journey toward trusting those in charge.”

>   “I’m not a child,” Scurn bit out.

  “Neither is my sister.”

  So…this was an unexpected turn of events. Scurn had been the one treating her like she had a sense of independence, but the roles had flipped and Demetrius was standing up for her.

  His words are true but their meaning multiple.

  Sometimes she hated her sight, always wondering what it meant. Had she interpreted correctly? Like now. Demetrius wasn’t standing up for her? He knew she was an adult and should be treated as such. Or only if it would get him his way?

  Should she say something?

  Her decision came down to facing a door or a panel of people. She didn’t let the discussion between Demetrius and Scurn fool her. The choice whether to stay or go was hers.

  If she acquiesced, it’d relieve a huge burden from Demetrius. He wouldn’t be the villain in his sister’s story, and he’d get to be the competent leader, one who wasn’t keeping a secret seer sister from the Synod. If she stayed, though, she and Scurn would return to their status quo even if she no longer needed him posted at the door. He’d “Yes, Master Devereux” her father left and right and continue reporting to Demetrius in the name of her safety. That wasn’t exactly an equal relationship, nor one she cared to have with Scurn.

  And what about Katrina? What affected Isabelle’s seer status would affect her. Isabelle didn’t want her life of isolation for Katrina.

  Could they work together? The girl was only five. Their roles had to be decided now, but Isabelle couldn’t do it on her own.

  “I need to change clothes before we go,” she told Demetrius. Surprise lit his eyes. He’d expected to argue with her over it, or that she’d defer to Scurn.

  Her deferential days were over. It wasn’t just about her anymore.

  She looked at Scurn. His gaze was destroyed…and betrayed. She hadn’t consulted with him. He was no longer her guard. Was he thinking she was done with him?

  After what they’d been through, what he’d given up, and what they’d shared yesterday, she was leaving him behind.

  She dropped her gaze from Scurn’s. “I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

  “Let me go with you,” he pleaded. He popped out of his seat and circled around the table to her. Dropping to his knees, he swiveled her chair. “Don’t do this by yourself. Don’t trust them without reason.”

  She brushed her fingers down his cheek. “They aren’t without fault, but they aren’t cruel.”

  He gripped her wrist, his eyes brimming with anxiety. “Don’t go without me.”

  “I need to go and be me.” She said it as much for Demetrius as Scurn. “I’m not a poodle, and I’m no longer broken. My purpose needs to be determined and I need to be a part of that decision, not a decision made for me and communicated through you.”

  Understanding dawned in his eyes, followed by hurt. “I’m sorry.”

  “Bartholomew, I need to learn to be me.”

  “And you can’t do that with me around. I get it.” He stood faster than she could react and disappeared out the door.

  Her heart fractured. Leaving him terrified her, but it was something she had to do. If she stayed, she wouldn’t be his equal. She’d be his charge forever, in his eyes and in the eyes of others.

  She’d chosen, and she was afraid the path didn’t include Scurn.

  Chapter 7

  Scurn wound his hands behind his back as he stood guard outside the infirmary. Calli had left after declaring Katrina “just fine,” and since Bishop had been there more for Calli’s protection in case the father lost his shit when he regained consciousness, he was gone, too.

  Scurn stood alone, at post, the same way he’d done for over a century. But this time was entirely different. He didn’t want to be here.

  I’m a horrible person. The little girl had almost been kidnapped to be imprisoned for personal use until she was old enough to breed. Protecting seers was exactly what he did.

  But he’d changed. Whether it was over the course of the last century, or the last two years, or two days, he’d changed.

  Standing alone with his thoughts made him question his motivation all those years. During that time, he’d gone from repentant to needed while the old government was still around to…being unwilling to leave Isabelle’s side, because she’d come to be more than just a charge.

  Because he’d fallen in love with her.

  And she’d left him.

  Sure, she’d be back, but he would no longer stand outside her door. There would be no waking up to see her sleeping across the hall with her face cradled in her curled hand. No more hours-long philosophical chatting.

  Would he ever again know the slide of her satin skin under his fingertips or hear her breathy moans when she came?

  Hellfire, he had it bad. But he was a party of one in that respect. Isabelle had announced to Demetrius that she’d dismissed him and then left with her brother on a trip that had been Scurn’s biggest fear since the night she’d almost died.

  Katrina giggled from inside the infirmary. The sounds of toy trucks on the floor carried into the hall. It was a welcome noise, and something he had to remember that he’d fight to keep.

  Begrudgingly, he could understand Demetrius’s motivation. Katrina and Isabelle could be abused or used against their own people, and they deserved a safe environment to live their lives in.

  What would the Synod do with them? Would they have dollar bills in their eyes when they found out Katrina could help rake in the cash? Would they fear Isabelle because she could call them out on anything they were trying to hide?

  Even if they were decent folk doing their best to lead shifters and vampires and those in between, what would they do with a seer? Scurn couldn’t see them letting Isabelle come back and dive into the next season of The Bachelorette. It would be foolish not to utilize their talents for the betterment of their people.

  Nothing would change that their ability made them targets, leading to isolation and guards.

  The door to the infirmary opened and Daniel stepped out. He crossed to the other side of the hall and leaned against the wall, facing him.

  “Is anything amiss, sir?” Scurn asked. The male’s face was unreadable. He wasn’t as big and fearsome as the warriors in the compound, but his expression was grim. His hair was wet like he’d tried to give himself a sink shower. Dried blood remained close to the roots and he wore a borrowed black sweater. A vast improvement over the bloodstained polo he’d been wearing.

  “That waits to be seen, I guess.”

  Scurn snorted. Daniel was not stupid at least. Would he be like Isabelle’s father, happy to sequester his daughter away for eternity?

  Daniel didn’t let the companionable silence linger. “Penny says I have you to thank for the speed of my recovery.”

  Scurn shrugged. “She would’ve fed you, but I can’t drive.”

  “Regardless, you saved us and Katrina from her greedy boss.” The male’s lips quirked. “I always told her she should open her own accounting business. There was always something about him I didn’t trust. But whaddya do?”

  Daniel’s easy demeanor was refreshing. During Scurn’s years on watch in the Devereuxes’ home, Isabelle’s parents had always seemed so stiff around him. “I think that’s the question we’re all wondering.”

  Daniel cleared his throat. “Penny also mentioned that you protected a girl like Katrina. Have you been reassigned?”

  “Isabelle feels she has no more need for my services.” She’d chosen, all right. “They are convening at the Synod to decide her and Katrina’s future.”

  Would she stay at the Synod? Have Demetrius move her things up there? Would he see her again?

  His brow crinkled and he glared at the floor.

  “You don’t want to be here, do you?” Daniel asked.

  Scurn’s gaze jerked up. “No, sir. It’s just… I… Your daughter’s safety is our priority.”

  Daniel’s expression was shrewd, but polite. “We both know
this is the safest place she can be.”

  “I don’t know what went on with the other seer, but here’s what I know as Katrina’s father. No one is going to dictate her life. We’ll disappear long before that. If the Synod wants a security detail to protect her, I’ll be in on all the screenings. And you know what my first question will be? Why did you choose this line of work?”

  I get to choose.

  He’d chosen to be Isabelle’s protector. He hadn’t turned his life over to every seer that came into existence after.

  He wanted to be useful to his people. But he wanted to be at Isabelle’s side while he did it.

  “If you’ll excuse me”—Scurn pushed off the wall—“there’s someplace I need to be.”

  The closed double-paneled door loomed in front of Isabelle. Heavy. Arched. Ornate. This place was where the original lycan council had presided. After they’d been disbanded and the new Synod formed, this location had been kept for its isolation and security. A pack of Guardians comprised of shifters and vampires was stationed at the headquarters, and a prison took up a wing. The entire Synod campus was buried deep in the woods of the northern Midwest, along the Canadian border.

  A prime vampire like her could flash the couple hundred miles from Freemont to here, but she’d had to hold on to Demetrius since she’d never been here—in person. In her head, she’d had this face-off many times. But in the frustrating way of her ability, she hadn’t seen the outcome, only that she needed to get to this point. Until that happened, no more information would stream through her brain.

  Scurn was two hundred miles away. Her pulse sped up and she feathered her hair out of her face. She felt naked without him even though she’d cleaned up before they’d left. Her violet shift was simple, and with the ankle boots from her cat burglar outfit, she could fit in with a bohemian-chic crowd. She wasn’t bohemian chic, but it was better than looking like a housedress she did nothing in but watch TV all day.

  Leaving her apartment to meet Demetrius had been disconcerting. There had been no Scurn outside her door. Demetrius had asked if she was ready and that was about it. He looked at her differently. Before, it was like he couldn’t bear to meet her eyes. She was the crazy sister he’d had to keep secret from the world. Now, she was his crazy sister but all grown up—and he still didn’t know what to do with her.