Unearthed (17 page)

Graham was probably freaked out to see Keira smile as she walked towards him, but if he was here, the woman he didn’t let go more than forty feet from him had to be here, too.

“Have you come up with a secret handshake yet?” she asked.

“Where I come from, the only reason you shake someone’s hand is to get close enough to kill them.”

“Huh. So you’re from
Southern
California then?”

His smile was so small, she had to squint to see it. “Not what I was referring to, but yes, I was.”

Was? It seemed like such an odd way to say it. She looked at him again—tall with a body built by sports and great heredity, not gyms and free weights. Jaw, lips, and nose that looked like someone had taken the best parts of a bunch of models and photoshopped them all into one face. Almost too perfect, even for an ex-toy. If she couldn’t sense his humanity, she’d have thought he was a—

She squinted again. Nah, that wasn’t possible. Except that it was, because of Addison’s power. Keira shut her mouth before she got herself in trouble, not sure she was supposed to know or suspect he might have ever been something less human than he was now.

“Do you need to call her?” she asked.

“She seems to trust you. That’s something you don’t want to lose, hunter. Be careful.”

Addison was mid-yawn when Keira walked in. She covered her mouth as soon as they saw each other. “Wow, that was attractive. Sorry. I think I’m getting sick.”

As Keira neared her idol, she thought the same thing. Addison was paler, except for the darkness around her eyes.

“You probably need more rest.”

“I do nothing but sleep lately. You catching me here is a total fluke.” She rubbed her hands over her face and slapped her cheeks as if to wake herself up. “So how’s it going with Lamere?”

“Well, it’s…going.” Since Addison didn’t ask specifically about Davyn, Keira didn’t bring him up. “I was in Montreal the other day because Lamere has a place there, and I thought of something I wanted to talk to you about.” But that didn’t mean she should. What did Keira know about war or an army? She’d been on her own for the past three years, six if she counted the time she’d spent as Lamere’s prisoner.

“Cool.” She motioned Keira over. “A lot of people think I’m the leader of the Rising. I’m not. I’m the organizer. Like a party planner without the party or a budget. Or a paycheck. Or cake. Great, now I want cake. What are the chances we could send Graham out for some?” She laughed. “Sorry, you were saying? If you have an idea, I want to hear it.”

Keira sat stiffly. “I think we should expand. Start small groups in any city with a decent-sized population of supers.” When she looked up, Addison nodded slowly.

“It’s a good idea, but it’s not possible right now. Opening other branches means finding someone to run each of them. We’re kind of shorthanded. It’s taken three months just to pool the people we have now. Finding someone who wants to recruit and organize the seers is next to impossible.” She shrugged. “It’s not their fault, but seers tend to be followers. We’re taught to be. Forced to be, I guess.” It was strange to hear Addison put herself in the same group as seers. She wasn’t, she was something much more valuable.

“I’ll do it.” The words were out of Keira’s mouth before she’d really thought about it. Or maybe she had been thinking about it but not been cognizant of it. Because
something
had put those words on her tongue.

“It’s a crappy job. Are you sure you don’t want to take that back?”

“I don’t think I do. But I don’t know enough about what you do to decide for sure.”

“The day-to-day stuff isn’t hard. It’s the—” She coughed. “Sorry. The hard part is asking someone to go after a rogue vampire, for instance, or get someone out of one of the toy boxes. You guys do it because you’re brave and, for some weird reason, you trust me. But every time I ask a seer to do something, I do it knowing I may be sending them to their death. And that’s…really, really awful. The only thing worse is when it actually happens.” The expression on Addison’s face was so much more than remorse. It was doubt, fear, shame. All things Keira had felt when she’d been imprisoned. Did Addison feel trapped as well? What a shitty thing to bond over.

“None of that was your fault. We all know the risks before we join up.”

“Is that possible—to know
all
the risks?” No, it wasn’t. Because life was only
one
of the things someone could lose.

“No one blames you.”

“I know.” Addison nodded. “Mostly because Parker says something similar at least five times a day. But that doesn’t make it any easier. If you want to do this job, it’s not your own life you’ll be putting on the line. It’s someone else’s.”

Keira understood Addison’s point. It was easy to go into a situation knowing you had the skills to pull it off. How would she know if the person she sent in could handle it?

“I’ll think about it.”

“Take your time. The supers will still be around when you decide.” Addison smiled. “Tracked down any evil vampires lately?”

“Everything I do seems useless. If he’s gone underground again, it may be a while.” Months, if her luck continued the way it had been.

After a few false starts, Addison said, “I have a friend who knows a little about Lamere, maybe he could help.”

“As long as he’s not a demon, I’ll love to talk to him.”

“Oh, he’s definitely
not
a demon.”

Keira had never met an angel before, and her feelings about them didn’t help her anxiety while waiting in a quiet downtown alley for one. The last time an angel was supposed to show up, they hadn’t. Whichever one of them should have found her the second she’d become a seer had fucked up, leaving her ripe for Lamere’s picking and without anyone trying to find her. Help her. Save her. No one in the Heights, anyway.

Her parents had tried, though. Desperately.

Once she’d escaped from Lamere and regained consciousness on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, she couldn’t bring herself to go see them. How could she dump all her damage at their front door after three years of nothing? She’d looked them up online to make sure they were okay but, unfortunately, what she’d found was a mother, a father, and their agonizing search for their only child.

They’d offered a huge reward for info and increased it every six months after she disappeared, the last increase about two months before. Keira had shut off the computer after watching only one of the short news videos of her mom and dad pleading for her to come home.

She couldn’t go back, not like she was now—tainted, scarred, angry—so focused on how to get more blood on her hands. She couldn’t bring the danger of this world into theirs. Her parents could never know what she’d done or what she planned to do.

After Lamere was dead, she wasn’t sure what the next step would be. Sending them a message seemed cruel, but at least they’d stop looking for her. Maybe they could move on, and she could...

“What, go to Disneyland?”

The whole post-Lamere-being-wiped-off-the-face-of-the-earth thing confused her. She would continue to support the Rising in any way she could, but supposedly, people had lives outside their work. She wondered if Addison did, or if they were equally obsessed with their goals. Did Addison have a boyfriend waiting for her at the end of the day? Someone she could talk to? Was that something Keira even wanted? Who could put up with her for longer than a few minutes?

Besides the demon.
The demon. Right.
There’s
a suitable choice.

Aside from being on the wrong side of the war, Davyn wasn’t the kind of guy who liked to cuddle on the couch and watch movies. Not that she was, either. They’d probably spend the evening arguing over the best way to get blood off leather boots. For a second, the image amused her, and then it terrified her.
What am I doing?
Fantasizing about a being who could kill her with a touch, enter people’s minds and manipulate their thoughts.

Maybe that’s what was happening. Lamere’s torture came with certain side effects, including faster recovery from physical damage and the ability to shield her mind from most supers. But Davyn admitted it—demons and angels could get through anyone’s firewall. If that demon had put these thoughts in her head, she’d kill him. Because picturing his face, his body, his lips, even when her eyes were open was incredibly stupid and really embarrassing.

“Go mess with someone else’s head,” she told his image. Unfortunately, no matter what she did, the thoughts just grew, developed into a fantasy seen only slightly less frequently than the one she had of killing Lamere. It was the kiss that had done it. What a mistake that was. Not that she’d known what would happen or could’ve stopped herself from asking for it. Her body warmed from the memory, the way it had reacted to his heat. And when he’d touched her, she’d felt it again, maybe more powerfully, hotter, needier, even through clothing.

When she heard something move behind her, she spun and stopped her elbow about a foot away from the angel’s solar plexus.

Oh, wow
. “I’m guessing you’re M?” A very short name for a very big guy, about as big as Davyn. If he hadn’t had wings, she would’ve backed away. He wasn’t mean looking, just intimidating. Power radiated from him. Like Davyn, but without the type-B personality, wicked sense of humor, and lack of filter. The angel was the kind of being you wanted to impress, and Keira didn’t feel that impressive. She fit in better with her demon.
The
demon! Not
her
demon.
Idiot
.

“That cursed demon must think he won the lottery.” M studied her rumpled clothing and wind-ruined hair that she ineffectively tried to smooth.

“What?” Shit. How much had Addison told him?

He bowed his head. “I apologize. Your shield is good but not angel-proof, and your mind was broadcasting the thought very loudly when I arrived. I couldn’t miss it. It will not happen again.”

“I don’t…” She swallowed. “I just think he’s pleasant looking, that’s all.”

“There is no shame in being attracted to someone,” the angel said with a small grin. “Beauty, in all its manifestations, is as much a part of life as anything else. And for some, the biological desire to tame the strongest and wildest mate is impossible to deny. Of course, when that creature is so wild that by his nature he will kill you, it’s best to admire from a distance.”

“That’s my plan.” Distance. Right.

“In total darkness, very few are strong enough to continue the search for light.” Evidently, angels liked to stare at people, make them wonder what the heck they’re talking about. “You have that strength, Keira, but your greatest enemy is not the one you seek. His death will not—”

“It’s a little too late for a pep talk, don’t you think? It’s your kind’s fault I’m even here doing this.”

“You’re right, of course.” His body seemed to relax even though he hadn’t moved. Angels probably couldn’t slouch—against company policy or something. “It was our responsibility, and we failed you. What you were forced to endure should never have happened for many, many reasons. Millions of decisions by countless people brought us to this moment. Some right and others not, some good and—”

“Others not, got it.” The last thing she wanted to hear was any more angel wisdom or advice. “Addison said you might have some
useful
information for me.”

“I would do nothing but apologize and assist you in whatever way I can. But to not warn you of the risks on the path you’ve chosen would be another failure. Sometimes walking away takes more courage than fighting.” His smile was tight, sad, as he turned away from her.

He went over to a large plastic bag someone had dumped half in and half out of a puddle. Then he tore it open and pulled out an old shirt. “One man’s garbage…” He held it up, nodded to himself, and laid it over his shoulder before pulling out the next. Angels were permanently white, so he probably wasn’t shopping for himself. There was a homeless shelter in this neighborhood somewhere. “I will tell you all that I know about Lamere, although I’m not sure it will help you with your hunt.”

“You never know.” She stopped looking at him as an angel or as an enemy. The important thing was to find Lamere. “Just pick somewhere and start talking. I’ll ask questions if I need to.”

“Angels are not supposed to judge. We leave that to others.”

“But…?” she prompted.

“I have no proof of anything Lamere has done,” he said, bending to pull out another piece from the garbage bag—a poncho or something that had more holes than fabric. It didn’t seem to meet his standards, so he tossed it into the dumpster about twenty feet away. Nice shot. “Since the Treaty went into effect, nothing has ever been proven and, until recently, no victim has ever come forward.”

“But…?”

“But…” He paused, and then took a deep breath. “It is my true belief that Lamere should have been removed from this world a century ago, perhaps much longer than that. Certainly before he won the Treaty contest and received the Champion’s wish.” He shook his head. “Anything at any time. To allow anyone access to such powerful magic is dangerous enough, but to give it to a creature like Lamere…”

“What did he wish for?” She couldn’t just stand there, watching him go through the pile of clothing, and do nothing. Especially because he was running out of shoulder space to pile things on. So she put down her pack, went to him, and held out her arms, inviting him to use them as hangers.

“Thank you.” He continued to sort through the bag, laying some across her arms and throwing others into the dumpster. “Unless they choose to, the Champion need not tell a soul. So no one knows if he even used the wish, much less what he might wish for.”

“Oh, he used it. I don’t know what he used it for, but he used it. Because he knew he’d get another.” Another wish, another victim, a never-ending supply of things for him to use. And no one had ever been able to find him or stop him. “What was he like before?”

“As you can imagine, vampires have never been known for their strong sense of morality, but prior to the Treaty, Lamere was a scourge on the earth. A terror. A sadist. The angels could do nothing to stop him. We could only attempt to heal whatever remained after he lost interest and moved on. It was rarely possible.”