Rebirth of the Seer (8 page)

We sprinted far faster than I ever recall running; even swifter – or so it seemed – than I had when I brought Monica to the hospital in the first place. Despite being weighed down by the limp body of my watcher, I wove thr
ough alleyways and across busy
streets to more concealed parts of the neighborhood. It had been years since I navigated the same roads
, and yet it seemed the same collection of humans sat on their stoops enjoying the dying embers of the evening. I had been a
mortal
searching the cosmos back when I wandered these streets before.
Now, I was praying for that very miracle Chloe had told me about.

Unfortunately,
The Fates made it clear our bid
for safety would not be easy. As I turned down another street, I saw a figure headed for us, who had – in
what may well have been an
exhibition of sheer, dumb luck – managed to use the
main
thoroughfares to head us off
. “Fuck.”
I swiftly
turned around and ran in the opposite direction of
the seer giving chase. Julian, however, had closed the gap and the sound of a crossbow being fired reached my ears a few
second
s too late.

I wove to the side and
caught the bolt in the back of my left shoulder. Hissing with pain
, the wound burned in a manner only explained by an infusion of silver, which could weaken me the longer it remained in my body.
I
dodged
right,
down anothe
r narrow
street,
bare
ly avoiding a car speeding toward us. The driver swerved and a group of pedestrians swore violently at both me and the vehicle, but failed to get
much
in Julian’s way as he
pursued
.

My fangs descended and I groaned. Holding Monica became more of a challenge, but I finally caught a break when I crossed a
bustling
intersection
and forced Julian to wait for traffic to pass before he could continue. The lull gave me a chance to reach behind and pull
the bolt from my shoulder. Although it would leave
him a breadcrumb, I threw the projectile down when it began to
singe
my hand. A few swift turns and one final,
push
brought us deep into the thick of a dilapidate
d row of houses.
A group of men
on their front porches watched us disappear down another alley and away from sight.

Rounding a set of garbage cans, we advanced a few paces forward until I spied an open window leading down into a basement. The scant knowledge I retained about the area reminded me this was a portion of town notorious for
gang members and drug addicts sleeping
off
their chosen poison in
one of the
many
abandoned houses
. Gingerly, I
crouched
and shoved the window as far open as it could manage
with my foot
.
I
clutched
my watcher
tighter
, and carefully, I slid my legs through the passage and lowered us down into the basement. My knees buckled slightly when I hit the ground, inviting a fre
sh burst of pain
. We had made it, though, and I silently hoped for a chance to figure out how to make it back to the safe house unnoticed.

I sighed and glanced around the basement. A mattress lay in the far corner, reeking of booze and cigarettes and things I dared not try to categorize. It gave me a place to set Monica down, though, so I laid her gingerly atop it and motioned for the window again in an effort to make our hiding place more secure. A short ledge by the window granted me enough leverage to pull myself up. With a quick jerk, the window shut again. Gravity brought my feet back to the ground and I dusted off my hands once my task was finished. The sight of Monica, however, provoked me to frown again.

My knees ached and my shoulder burned, but they would mend when I sought sustenance. My watcher, however, was much worse for the wear. Crouching, I could not help but curse myself for underestimating our adversary. Now, I saw with my own eyes how selfish I had been. Whatever punishment the Order had in store for Monica, I doubted it entailed being hunted like an animal. Like a monster. Like me. I opened my hands and stared at the palms which should have been stained crimson red by now. The High Council had condemned me as a powerful threat, whereas before I had been a formidable, if uncertain, evil.

And now, an innocent girl had to suffer the consequences.

I shut my eyes, feeling my fangs snap back into place. Indeed, I thought, if my powers as a seer were not enough to spring them into action, laying waste to six of the Order’s elders had assuredly raised their ire beyond the breaking point. Lowering myself to a sit, my mind spun dizzy with the epiphany that Julian might be the first of many challengers yet to come. I should not have been so daft as to drag Monica from the meeting room.

“Flynn, silence your thoughts before they give us away.”

My head snapped up, eyes opening to behold the
most peculiar thing I had
seen
in a long while
. Monica peered back at me, her gaze meeting mine weakly as she visibly held a grimace of pain at bay. I motioned to stand, but she shook her head and glanced from the floor back up to me. I read the instruction; she wished me to remain seated and keep my mind veiled from the prodding of our enemy. Nodding, I indulged a few steadying breaths and opened a direct psychic channel to her.

‘
I apologize for the rude awakening
,
’ I said, ‘
but we have a seer chasing us. I did not wish to move you. My hand was forced.
’

Monica furrowed her brow. ‘
I figured seer when I heard you thinking about the Order. The Council sent him?
’

I nodded. ‘
Yes
, one arrived just as you suspected. T
he son of a bitch has been shooting crossbow bolts at me for the past half hour. I am sorely tempted to make an exception to my moratorium on killing humans, especially after the bastard sent one flying into my shoulder.
’

Her eyes flicked to my arm before a wince forced her lids to shut. She breathed shakily. ‘
God, it hurts, Flynn. What happened?
’

Flinching, I felt my stomach knot and sighed. ‘
Lewis plunged the
stake meant for me into your chest. You have been recovering for a few days now and shall need a lot more rest when this fiasco is finished.
’

‘
More like I need some pain pills and a bottle of whiskey.
’ Her eyes opened again, and this time they narrowed when I looked at her, curiosity latent in her stare. I felt the strangest sensation, as though she was crawling around inside my thoughts, but a sudden noise severed whatever connection she had fashioned. Our eyes both shot to the window and my breaths ceased when I heard him walk past our hiding place.

If I had a heartbeat, it would have frozen from apprehension.

“Little vampire?” Julian called as
the
grit of the pavement
crunched
under his feet once before stopping altogether. I stole a quick glance up in time to see him bend, but ducked back down before he could line me in his sights. He paused for a few tense moments. I held completely still, refusing to even blink in the event such a thing could give us away.

Finally, I heard him walk at least a few paces further down the alley.

“Now, where did
you
go?” he asked. A metallic clang resonated, dull at first, then sharper a few seconds later. I envisioned him lifting the lids of garbage cans when a similar sound
followed the first one,
punctuated by another afterward, as though we would be hiding in the refuse. He lingered, though, despite the failure of his search and while I felt a wall of security enclosing us, I knew it to be flimsy at best. Julian seemed to know it, too.

He took a few steps closer to the window again and chuckled. “They called you Flynn the killer. Isn’t that right, little vampire? The Black Rose Assassin.” Another footfall; another scan I felt circling the basement, looking for signs of life. I took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly as he sighed. “Better they would have called you Flynn the coward. You hide from me, instead of facing your death as a man.”

My jaw clenched, teeth gritted as my nails dug into my palms. The strain of suppressing a retort became a burden for me to bear. How much I wished to say it, masking the privacy of my thoughts. I heard myself taunting him, calling him daft and ignorant and emasculated. I heard myself scoffing at him. Facing death as a man? What did he know of death? Had he encountered the assassin, he would have been bleeding rivers and I would have watched with delight while licking my blades clean. The more I considered it, the more I wished to rip into his flesh and drown myself in the first decent meal I had indulged in weeks.

My eyes shut. Fantasies of sweet revenge played out in all their terrible glory.

Until another thought knocked me back into my senses.

Yes, I would be the foolish immortal and would suffer the ill effects of a protection spell as a result. Incapacitated, I would be vulnerable, and he would end me before finishing the task of killing Monica. I fought back my fangs, sneering at both him and me, while releasing the temptation. Focusing on Julian again, I could only pray the veil surrounding my thoughts had not been compromised.

Julian seemed to be none the wiser. His next step carried him in the opposite direction. “Not going to come out, then?” he asked, but with that question, I knew regardless of whatever suspicions he harbored, he did not know for certain where we hid. For all he was aware, we could have been blocks away and gaining in distance quickly. Just as I started to wonder how we might create a distraction, my salvation came in the form of the mortal populace. Even I startled when a
loud
shout
pierced the night air.

Monica and I looked at each other,
both our brows
furrowing as we made out the sound of more voices joining in the chorus. I glanced at the window again and risked discovery by standing and walking closer. One indignant man yelled, “I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing here,” and another added, “
Whatever it is, you better take it up somewhere else
, asshole
.” When one more added the threat of brandishing a pistol, a sadistic grin tugged at the corners of my mouth.
The humans who had watched our dash for safety saw fit to intervene, a boon I was not apt to question.
Julian
collided with one of the trash cans before the sound of his footfalls marked a hasty retreat.

It took several seconds for me to relax. When I failed to hear any evidence of Julian’s return, I breathed a sigh of relief and motioned away from the window.
Looking down at Monica, I finally closed the distance between us. “
It would seem th
e locals
scared him away, at least for
the time being
,” I said as I adjusted my suit coat. The notion of having to mend it now paled in comparison to the sight of the frail woman lying before me. Slowly, I settled myself beside her, sliding close and reaching for her hand. “I am terribly sorry, but I shall have to move you again. We cannot linger here, lest Julian ferret us out at last.”

“I know.” Monica’s fingers closed around mine, her digits so small in comparison. Her voice was barely a whisper and she spoke through intermittent moments of eye-clenching agony. “Let me rest just for a moment first. Tell me what’s been happening the last few days.”

“As you wish.” My eyes became distant with thought. “This is a quick tale, to be honest. Not much to be said for waiting in darkness, or whittling the hours away walking the corridors of a hospital.”

“I’m sure. You know, I saw something in your memories.”

“You were scanning my memories?”

“When I wasn’t busy trying to block the thoughts you practically shouted at
our friend with the crossbow
.”

I winced, but recovered quickly. My gaze met hers again. “What did you see?”

A timid smile curled her lips in an expression which read far more placid than she had to feel. “You carried me to the hospital. And in some sick, twisted sort of way, it was sweet that you
busted a window just to carry me to safety
.”

I could not help but to mirror the grin. “
We needed to escape
.”

“Fair enough. You know you’re going to have to take care of me now, though…” Her smile turned playful. “Dr. Peter Dawes.”

“Dr. Peter Dawes.” I drew a deep breath inward and exhaled it slowly. A ghost crossed my grave, a sensation so familiar, yet so far removed at the same time. “I remember him vaguely. Unfortunately, he passed from the mortal realm.” As my eyes met Monica’s again, I could not help but to think of Chloe. “There are those who fancy they see his shadow every now and then. I believe it might be a myth.”