The Sight Seer (6 page)

Chapter Twelve

When Rafe opened the door, a chilly blast of air hit us in the face.
It was a sharp contrast to the stale and stuffy mall air; I quickly zipped my jacket up to my chin and shoved my hands into my pockets.

“Stay behind me,” Rafe warned as we stepped outside into a deserted courtyard that led to the parking lot.
“No heroics, Gabi. I mean it.”

Honestly, what did he think I was going to do?
Getting drenched with demon blood once was enough to last me a lifetime, thank you very much! I graciously let Rafe take the lead, keeping my eyes peeled for more demons who might be trying to ambush us.

Oh, who was I kidding?
I was secretly watching Rafe morph into demon hunter mode. Suddenly he was taller (and he was already tall to begin with), his strides had increased (I had to practically jog to keep up with him), and his shoulders were thrown back with confidence (while I hunched over, pretending I was invisible).

I wondered how he knew where to go.
The moment the demon and the girl had left the mall, they had vanished from sight. But Rafe walked confidently down a side path, taking us to an alleyway that smelled strongly of rotting garbage. This was the back of the stores, I realized, seeing the large steel doors that only opened from the inside and the Dumpsters placed every ten or so feet. Well, that explained the smell.

Rafe grabbed my hand and pulled me behind a
Dumpster. Holding my breath, I stood on my tip toes to peek over the top (Rafe, meanwhile, had to crouch to avoid being seen, the jerk). It looked like the demon was finally showing its true colors. The girl was backed up against the wall while the demon had its arms on either side of her, palms flat against the bricks. Even from here I could see the panic on her face.

“Rafe
–” I turned to look at him and cursed in surprise. He had taken a few steps back, eyes closed and brow furrowed in concentration. He held his hands out in front of him; they glowed with a faint, silver light.

His eyes snapped open as he took the pointer finger on his right hand and traced a silver-white colored shape in the air.
It was a crescent moon, and even after he pulled his hand away, the shape continued burning in midair, as bright as a lit piece of magnesium. Rafe reached for the moon and—

Holy crap.
Holy
crap.

He just pulled his freaking sword out of the air.
No, I’m serious. There was nothing there, save for the glowing moon, and then he reached forward, grasped something, and pulled. The sword emerged, silently, already unsheathed. It was the same sword from the other night—long, incredibly heavy looking, and the color of polished silver. It rested comfortably in Rafe’s hands; I wondered how old he was when he first started wielding a sword.

But mostly I wondered how the heck he had pulled a sword out of nothing.
I knew I was standing there with an idiotic look on my face when Rafe shot me a quick glance and grinned in response. He reached up with his free hand to take off his hat, plopped it on my head and told me, “Keep it clean for me, alright?” Before I could respond with anything snarky, he jumped on top of the Dumpster, launched himself in the air, and landed on Hornboy, knocking the two of them to the ground. His sword fell with a loud clang, but Rafe quickly picked it up before leaping to his feet. The demon was half a second slower, screaming its rage as it barreled towards Rafe.

And so the battle began.

They moved fast, neither one managing to land a hit as they bobbed and weaved in a frenetic-looking dance. Confident that Rafe had this, I turned my attention to the girl.             

“Psst!” I hissed.

Nothing.

Rolling my eyes, I called to her, but she continued to ignore me.
Or maybe she was just too busy quaking in fear to hear me. Whatever the case, it was up to me to get her out of there before she found herself inadvertently caught up in the fight.

And Rafe had wanted me to stay in the mall.

Creeping around the Dumpster (because there was no way in hell I was climbing over that thing, à la Rafe), I approached her slowly with my hands raised to show her I meant no harm. Still, she cowered from me, her blue eyes so wide I expected them to fall out of her face.

“Think you can do me a favor and go back inside the mall?” I asked.
Shaking so hard I could hear her teeth chatter, the girl didn’t answer. Resisting the urge to smack some sense into her, I instead reached for her arm. She shrieked and tried to pull away, but I held on fast. “Listen to me! You need to get back inside! Right now!”

“W-What’s wrong with h-him?” she stammered.

Obviously, she meant Hornboy, who was currently sporting skin the color of a cherry tomato. It went along nicely with his horns and tail. Geez, this Satan-wannabe had
zero
imagination. Heaving a sigh, I told her, “Drugs.”

She blinked at me.
“What? Drugs don’t do that to you!”

What, now she was a freaking expert on drugs?
What happened to being scared half to death? Fixing her with my death glare, I said, “This is a new, highly illegal type of drug that turns your skin all sorts of colors.”

“Are you a cop?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” If that’s what she wanted to believe, then fine by me.

“You’re a little young, aren’t you?”

I’m older than you! Grimacing, I said, “They hired me to do undercover stuff. Like…sting operations, you know? Go into stores and see if people sell you cigarettes or beer even though you’re obviously underage?” The girl nodded, finally grasping what I was saying. “So we do the same thing, only with drugs. And drug dealers, obviously. Since you can’t exactly walk into a store and buy drugs.” Crap, I was rambling. She was definitely going to realize I was lying.

“And that guy is a cop, too?”
She pointed at Rafe, who was currently rolling away from the demon.

“Yep!”

“Cops fight with swords?”

Double crap.
“Err, well, he’s one of those, uh… anti-gun people? So they let him have a sword…” Growling with frustration, I pointed a finger at her. “Look, just get inside! Go find your friends or whoever you came with and tell them to take you home and forget any of this ever happened. Do you understand?!”

She must have realized from the look on my face that I was
not
playing around because she finally nodded and backed away toward the mall’s entrance.

“Oh, and hey?” I added.
She paused to look at me. “Do yourself a favor and stay away from creeps in the future, alright?” Nodding again, she dashed away, her shopping bags hitting against her legs as she disappeared around the corner. I sighed in relief. That was one crisis taken care of. And if she stupidly decided to blab about what she’d seen to someone, they’d lock her up for insanity.

I turned around to watch the rest of the battle play out (there had been a lot of manly grunting and snarling going on behind me) and gasped.
Hornboy was a lot closer than I realized; luckily, it had its back to me as it focused entirely on Rafe.

Then Rafe was swinging, heads were rolling, and green blood was flying.

Towards me.

Again.

I shrieked and stumbled, landing hard on my butt as the stinky, chunky, sour milk-smelling blood splashed across the ground, the walls, the Dumpster, and my shoes.

My poor shoes.
My poor, poor, only-worn-them-a-few-times-but-I-loved-them-immensely shoes.

“Gabi!”
Rafe ran up, breathing hard. He took one look at me and paled. “Oh crap.” Meanwhile, behind him, the headless demon toppled over, more blood spilling from its neck. I scrambled away before a puddle could form and further drench me. But still. The damage was already done as far as I was concerned.

“Why do my clothes always get ruined when I’m around you?” I wailed.

He winced. “Well, technically, nothing happened the
second
time we met. We just got wet from the rain. And hey, it’s only shoes this time. You could probably wash the blood out, right?”

With a snarl, I grabbed his hat off my head, determined to hurl it in the rapidly forming dark green puddle.

“No! Wait!” Rafe held up his hands, looking frantic. “I’ll buy you a new pair!”

I paused and blinked coyly.
“You will?” A wicked smile lit up my face. “Along with the other stuff you already owe me? The shirt and pants?”

Looking defeated, he nodded.

I put the hat back on my head and Rafe let out a sigh of relief. Oh, but he was fun to tease. And yay, new clothes!

Rafe held out a hand and after a moment’s hesitation, I let him help me up.
“The girl?” he asked, still holding my hand. I tried—unsuccessfully—to ignore how good that felt.

“I sent her back into the mall.”
I paused. “Oh, and you’re a cop, by the way. In case anyone asks.”

“A
cop
?” He shook his head. “Do I even want to know?”

“Hey, I had to tell her something, alright?
And how else can you explain the demon’s appearance other than by blaming it on drugs?” I elbowed him in the side. “Come on, admit that I did a good job!”

Rafe raised his eyes to the sky.
“
What
have I gotten myself into?”

“Funny,” a new, deep voice drawled, “that’s exactly what I was going to ask.”

Chapter Thirteen

Startled, I yanked my hand out of Rafe’s and turned around to see a good-looking boy about Rafe’s age appraising us with a sardonic smile. He was all blonde hair and blue eyes with a healthy tan that screamed California surfer. His hair was long enough that it could be pulled back into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck, and a few shorter strands framed his face. He wasn’t as tall as Rafe, nor as muscular, but he definitely had an athletic build. At first I thought he was another demon, come to avenge his friend, but he didn’t have a tail, a pair of horns, or a forked tongue. Or rainbow-colored skin. And Rafe had relaxed, lowering his sword so that the tip rested on the ground, letting me know that this was a regular old human.

The boy was twirling an unlit cigarette between his fingers like a miniature baton as he walked up to us.
Looking at the demon’s corpse, he raised one pale eyebrow. “Trouble?”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Rafe replied.
“What are you doing here, Evan?”

“I was bored, so I came looking for you.”
Evan shrugged. “You didn’t tell me you were on a date. Although seriously, Rafe? You go demon hunting while your girl stands around and gets splattered with demon blood? You don’t have a single romantic bone in your body, I swear.”

The two of us were blushing as I quickly said, “It’s not a date.”

He turned his blue-eyed gaze towards me. “Really, sweetheart? Then you’re just wearing his hat for fun?”

I yanked it off and all but shoved it into Rafe’s chest.
“I was just keeping it clean while he did the slaying. Honest.”

“And it’s not a date,” Rafe repeated, although he sounded a little sad when he said that.
Or maybe it was just my imagination. Or wishful thinking. “I…I needed Gabi’s help.” He put his hat back on, backwards this time.

“You needed her
help
?” Evan walked in a slow circle around me and I couldn’t help but feel like a horse being appraised by a potential buyer. “No offense, hun, but I don’t think you’d be able to take down a demon.”

Before I could tell him I had no intention of doing that, Rafe said, “She has the Sight, Evan.”

His friend (was he a friend? Or maybe a rival?) stopped dead in his tracks. A slow smile curled across his lips. “Ah. Ah, ah, ah. That explains a lot.”

I looked at Rafe.
He kept quiet, but his clenched jaw betrayed his anger. Evan must have seen it too, because he gave Rafe a hard slap on the back and said, “Relax, buddy, I’m not judging you. You gotta do what’s best for you, right?” Then he was looking at me again and I couldn’t help but shrink from his penetrating gaze. It was as if he could see right through me. All of my thoughts, my secrets—nothing was safe from that stare. “How much have you told her? You know you’re not supposed to share this stuff with humans.”

Rafe shook his head stubbornly.
“I don’t care.”

To my surprise, Evan laughed.
“I know you don’t, and neither do I! But if they do come after you, at least I can say I told you so!” He winked at me. “So, sweetheart, how much has he told you?”

I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Not nearly enough.” Next to me, Rafe shifted nervously.

“Yes, well, I haven’t had a chance
to. Gabi.” Rafe dropped his voice, his tone very serious. I turned to face him, almost losing myself in those green eyes of his. “These things I need to tell you…I can only tell them if you’re in. Fully, one hundred percent in.”

“You mean helping you with the hunting.”

He nodded, looking a little apprehensive.

I chewed on my lip, thinking it over.
Is this what I wanted? To spend my nights and weekends helping Rafe track down and destroy demons? Did I really want to immerse myself completely in this world? Because once I was in, I was in for life, it seemed.

Then I thought about the girl, who was probably Chloe’s age, and how close she had come to being demon food.
We
had saved her. Not just Rafe, but me as well. Rafe hadn’t seen the tail and horns,
I
had. If I hadn’t been there, what would have happened? Would Rafe have realized eventually that the guy was actually a demon in disguise? Or would he have continued walking through the mall, oblivious to the horror scene that would have played out in this very alleyway?

Had it happened before?
Had someone died because Rafe had missed a demon? I looked into his eyes again and swallowed, hard. He was silently pleading with me to say yes. He wanted my help.

He
needed
my help.

How could I possibly say no?

“Alright,” I said slowly. “I’m in. I’ll help you look for your demons. But this isn’t a full-time gig, is it? Because I have school and work and you know, something of a social life…” So not true but let him think it was. “I can’t be out every night helping you kill things.”

The boys laughed.
“It’s not like that, sweetheart,” Evan explained. “We’re not demon obsessed warriors. We go out and have fun, too. With girls.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Rafe, but the taller boy ignored him. “Rafe is a bit too serious for his own good, but I’ll make sure he doesn’t overwork you or your pretty eyes.”

Rafe rolled his eyes.
“Take out the stupid things he just said and yeah, it’s pretty much like that. I won’t be calling you up at two AM asking you to come patrolling with me.”

“Yeah, he’ll be calling you for other th—oof!”
Whatever perverted thing Evan was about to say was cut off by a sharp jab in the stomach by Rafe’s elbow. Rafe smiled pleasantly as Evan doubled over, wheezing.

Oh boy.
I didn’t know what to make of these two. Definitely friends, that much was sure. I had to hand it to Rafe, Evan seemed like he was a handful. I had only known him for five minutes and I was already exhausted!

I shifted my bag from one arm to the other and said, “Now what?”
I nodded towards the demon. “Do you just leave it here?”

“No way.”
Rafe shook his head. “Come on Ev, make yourself useful and help me clean this up.” He shoved the protesting blonde towards the body. “Gabi?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think your dad will let you stay out a little longer?” Rafe rubbed his jaw nervously. “For dinner?”

Before I could get excited over the idea of having dinner with Rafe, Evan piped up, “It’s not a date, because I’m going to be there too.
Unless you’re into that sort of thing. Which I’m not opposed to, but I should warn you in advance that Rafe is pretty uptight and doesn’t like to share.”

“Shut your mouth before I do it myself,” Rafe growled, flushing again.

I laughed, smothering my giggles behind my hand when Rafe turned to glare at me. Pulling out my phone I asked, “I assume you’ll start explaining things over dinner?” He nodded. “And you’re buying, right?”

Rafe groaned.
When he saw I was serious, he pulled out his wallet to count the bills inside. “Yeah, I guess I can afford that. I know a good Italian place, is that alright?”

“Italian’s my favorite!” I beamed.

“Why do I feel like I’m going to be permanently broke thanks to you?”

I batted my eyelashes.
“A girl has to eat, Rafe!”

Behind him, Evan let out a bark of laughter.
“Oh, I like this girlie, Rafe! Can we keep her?”

“She’s not a pet, you idiot!”

Smiling, I turned around, putting the phone to my ear as I called home.