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  He laughed again, taking the defeat with dignity. He insisted I show him the move until he had learned it, his face eager to learn. It was a small moment, but it was one that helped the others look at me in a different light. I wasn’t just another human. I was someone with skills. I was someone valuable.

  I didn’t see Reaper again for the majority of my stay, though his offer for me to talk was a standing one. It was an offer I ignored. I didn’t want to talk about my past, and the past would inevitably come up, should I talk with him. I heard him sometimes, though; talking with the others, planning rescue missions, organizing the group, so they could effectively steal, and otherwise doing things that only leaders had to do.

  At the end of two weeks, Reaper was the one who found me. King and I were in the weight room again. King was talking, I was listening, and the gym was full of people exercising; a typical day in the world I had built up. When Reaper entered, the room went quiet. It was a different kind of quiet than what I had first experienced; it was silence born out of respect. He made a face at the stares – one I thought I’d probably worn once or twice – and came over to me.

  “I believe it’s been two weeks,” he said to me.

  “See, now you’re just trying to get rid of me,” I said. “I wish you’d make up your mind.”

  “Is this your work, King?” Reaper joked. “You make her all sarcastic?”

  “Not me, boss,” King said. He was the only one not looking at Reaper as if he were a superstar.

  “Did you want to talk about my promise?” Reaper asked me.

  “Yes,” I agreed.

  He was actually serious. He wanted to take me to find the truth. I had thought I would be the one to have to remind him.

  “All right. Let’s talk,” Reaper said.

  He left the room, expecting I would follow. He nodded at the Watchers brave enough to meet his eyes and spoke brief words of encouragement to those closest to him as he left. The act felt familiar. It was something I had seen Daniel do at school any number of occasions. Where had Reaper learned to play the role of diplomat so well?

  I hurried after him. King watched me with curious eyes as I all but ran from the room.

  Reaper didn’t go to the third floor where his room was. Instead, we went to the first floor. He opened the mystery door that was normally kept shut – the one River told me led to the arena. There was a classroom behind the door and a large rug in the middle of the floor. The normalcy of the room was not what I had been expecting.

  A half smile on Reaper’s face – from the look of confusion on mine – he threw back the rug to reveal a set of metal stairs leading underground. He stepped down them with cool confidence and disappeared into the darkness below. After a short beat of hesitation, I followed.

  Below was a short tunnel that branched off in two directions. One branch of the tunnel disappeared into the darkness, but the other branch of the tunnel was shorter and was blocked by a heavy silver door. He opened the door and went in. A light flicked on inside, illuminating the room. I was left with the choice of the underground hall or the silver door that brought back memories of having my head stuffed in a mask of silence. My desire to see Daniel again was the only thing that made me step inside the room.

  “What is with Watchers and being underground?” I asked irritably as he shut the door behind us.

  “It is closed off, a lot of powers don’t work underground…physical powers at least, it’s hard to locate, and a better way to hide,” he answered promptly.

  “Well, there’s that,” I said, even more irritated he had a logical answer.

  “Yep.” He sat on a small desk that was placed in the center of the room and looked at me seriously. “You said you wanted to go home to start your search.”

  “Yes.”

  “Where’s that, and how can I help?” he asked.

  “North Carolina…and you can help by buying me a bus ticket or a plane ticket or giving me a car…I know you have a lot of them. Anything that will get me across the country will do,” I said.

  “Still guarded, I see,” he said.

  “Slow to trust…sorry,” I apologized.

  “A trait we share,” he said.

  “Mmmhhhh,” I agreed, doubting he meant it.

  “What if I told you I could get you to North Carolina today without buying you a plane ticket, would you be interested?”

  “Yes. But then I would wonder what the catch is…heck, I’m still wondering why you are being so darned helpful,” I said.

  He was casual as he admitted the truth.

  “Truth is: you are different. It’s pretty obvious. I’m hoping that if I help you, you’ll see I’m not such a bad fellow. I need all the help I can get, and I think you would be a lot of help to the cause,” he said.

  “I haven’t even changed. I’m nobody,” I told him, wondering how he knew I was different.

  “For somebody who is nobody, you seem to know an awful lot, are confident of what’s going on around, and don’t ask the stupid questions so many young ones ask. That’s a pretty good start in my opinion,” he replied.

  “I feel like you’re playing me. Manipulating me into something,” I told him.

  He started laughing at my words. He wasn’t embarrassed I had caught him.

  “That’s another reason. You’ve got sharp eyes, Clare, and you’re not afraid to call it like you see it. Two traits I value,” he said.

  “Which means you are manipulating me?” I asked to be sure.

  He didn’t answer directly. “I have a bad habit of being curious. You won’t tell me your story, so I thought if I went along with your journey, I would get the truth. I think your truth means something more than the average person’s.”

  I eyed him suspiciously, finally understanding.

  “You know who I am, don’t you?” I asked.

  He blinked at me in surprise, not having thought I would make that particular leap of logic.

  “You had King in Lorian’s house…do you have someone in Marcus’ organization as well? Did they tell you about me?” I asked. “Or did you just hear it through the Watcher grape vine?”

  He smiled again, apparently impressed. “I had a suspicion, particularly when you told River about New Orleans. You are the one Marcus has been hunting. It’s all over our world that he wants you. His people talk, their talk gets back to us. It’s the benefit of such a…diverse organization.”

  “A criminal organization, you mean,” I said.

  “Some would call it that, yes. Why is he after you?” Reaper asked.

  “I don’t know his real reason,” I admitted. “We were trying to figure it out in New Orleans, but that didn’t really go to plan. Everything just sort of…blew up, instead.”

  “Ah.” He crossed his legs on top of the desk and lowered his head thoughtfully. “Marcus, however much I loathe the man, is smart. If he’s looking for you, the first place he’ll go is wherever your home is in North Carolina.”

  “I appreciate the concern, but I’ll manage,” I said.

  “Like you managed in Lorian’s prison?” he asked pointedly.

  I glared at him. That was a low blow. He winced, and his face showed his apology.

  “I didn’t mean to make the experience less for you, but getting caught and tortured by Marcus won’t be good for anyone.”

  “Can we get to a bottom line here? Talking in circles makes my head hurt,” I said.

  “Let me go with you to hunt for your friends. I will personally guarantee your protection. I have a feeling the people you are looking for can take care of themselves, so I’ll feel better once you are reunited with them.”

  “Why are you so concerned about Marcus getting me?” I asked. “What’s it to you?”

  “One of my missions in life is to make sure that Marcus never gets what he wants,” he said.

  His face was hard and his silver eyes were full of fire. I had no doubt he meant it.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “H
e tried to kill me. Almost did, too. One day, I’d like to return the favor.” His face was fierce and his silver eyes hungered for Marcus’ death.

  “Sounds like him,” I said.

  “You know him?” Reaper asked in surprise.

  “I have a friend who did. Tried to do the same thing to him,” I said.

  Reaper’s eyes lost some of their surprise. “Ah. So, what will it be?”

  “What about your people here? Don’t they need your help in trying to save the world?” I asked.

  “River can manage the store for a while,” he said.

  “It might take me a while,” I said.

  He nodded; he was fully aware that I could be chasing ghosts. I shrugged at him, and accepted his company. Better to have him close than potentially following me at a distance.

  “It’s up to you, I guess. But if you’re trying to trick me, I will kill you. I won’t let you hurt the people I care about,” I said.

  “Sounds fair.” He smiled and stood. “Do you have anywhere you need to be today?” he asked.

  Excitement flooded my stomach at his words.

  “Nope,” I said.

  He smiled at my excitement and got off the desk and went over to the door. He threw it back expectantly. Outside of the silver door was a girl I hadn’t seen before. Her hair was to her chin, uneven at the edges in a stylishly-cool way. Like the others, she was dressed in black, but unlike the others, she wore colorful jewelry. When she spoke, she had a proper British accent.

  “Are you ready?” she asked Reaper.

  “Almost. Clare, this is Sara, Sara…Clare. Sara will be our means of traveling to North Carolina.”

  “She gonna strap us to her back and carry us there?” I joked, eyeing her curiously.

  “Sort of,” Reaper replied.

  “I’m a walker,” Sara explained. “My brother and I both can think of a place and appear there in the blink of an eye.”

  “Oh…talk about reducing your carbon footprint,” I said.

  “We are a trendy organization; going green just felt right,” Reaper replied.

  “Where are we going?” Sara asked, maintaining her professionalism.

  “Clare, you need to show her,” Reaper told me.

  “Show?” I asked.

  “You have to touch her and share the visual of the place you want to go. It’s how her gift works.”

  Sara held out her hand at his words. “You have my permission to touch me,” she said formally.

  “Ah…um…”

  I thought of Daniel and my desire to see him, and got over my hesitation. I wouldn’t let the oddness of meeting her be what kept me from him. I touched her hand and shut my eyes, thinking of the place I wanted to go. Once I had thought of the place, I opened my eyes again to see if she had gotten it. She nodded at me, though she looked a bit confused. She held her other hand out to Reaper. He took it in casual familiarity.

  “Hang on,” Reaper told me. “It can be quite a ride.”

  In the next instant the room blurred; objects, color, and light, all faded into a moving darkness. The darkness I found myself in felt alive, as if I could reach out and take its hand as well. It caressed me, urging me to slow down and stay forever. Voices started swirling around from the depths of the darkness, shallow voices raised in darkness’ name. The voices grew in intensity, until I wasn’t sure where the voices ended and the darkness began; they were one in the same. The feeling of Sara’s hand on mine was the only thing that kept me from stopping to discover the source of those curious voices. The urge to stay was almost overwhelming. I wanted it more than anything.

  Before I could make the choice to stay, the darkness ended and the blurred movement stopped. We were in the light again, though the sun was farther along in the heavens. Heavy branches were overhead, and the thick forest reached out to shelter us protectively. I recognized the forest as one near King’s Cross.

  I felt my head swirl from the way the world had gone from moving to abrupt stillness. It was like riding a particularly fast roller coaster, without the benefit of having time to adjust to stopping and starting. Reaper put a hand on my elbow to keep me from falling.

  “Told you it was a heck of a ride,” he said.

  “I believe you now,” I said.

  I turned to Sara who was looking at the forest in curiosity, obviously wondering why I had chosen this place of all places.

  “What was that darkness?” I asked her.

  Her eyes were on mine in a second. She looked startled. “You saw it?”

  “Yeah…the moving darkness and those people whispering for me to stay…what was it?”

  “Darkness?” Reaper asked in confusion.

  “It’s the place between. The place I go through to reach the place I want to be.” Sara stepped closer. “You’re not supposed to be able to see that place, unless you’re a walker.”

  “Oh, well, I’m a study in ‘not supposed to,’” I said.

  She was confused, but her confusion gave way to a warning, “If you go there again, don’t listen to the voices. Keep walking – keep your destination in mind. It’s very important.”

  Her intensity was off-putting, but I gladly accepted the warning in her voice. It was too real to ignore.

  “Okay. I will,” I said.

  She nodded, even more intrigued by me now that I had seen the world she traveled in. “Anything else?” she asked Reaper.

  “I’ll call if you I need you,” he said.

  “All right.”

  Her eyes moved back to mine then, without a flash, puff, or poof, Sara disappeared. I stared at the spot she had disappeared from wondering about the darkness and her strange talent of travel.

  “Well, here we are…” Reaper said grandly. “Where are we?”

  “The forest,” I said, refocusing on our destination.

  “Ah,” he said.

  I looked up and saw the treehouse Daniel had built with Han and Jackson; a treehouse Daniel used to take me to, during our lunch breaks at school. It was the only place I had been able to think of that was safe; a place no one but my family knew of. It would be a safe place to start our search. I picked a stick up and prodded the rope stairs, so they would fall. They unfurled easily enough, and I started up.

  “You live in a treehouse?” Reaper asked.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. This is just a safe place to work out of, until we know what the situation is at my house.”

  “Oh. Good thinking.”

  I blocked the door to the interior and looked him in the eyes. “You swear you’re legitimate, right? The real knight and shining armor, out to protect people and not hurt them?” I asked.

  “I occasionally hurt people, and my armor is rusted and collected piecemeal, but I promise you, I am as legitimate a friend as you will find in this mess,” he said.

  “I guess that’ll have to be good enough,” I said.

  I finally let him in to the treehouse proper. His eyes were amused when he saw the well-dressed interior. It was the same reaction I’d had when I’d first seen the inside. I went over to the sofa and sat down, a million memories following me as I did. Reaper walked around the furniture, eyeing it with that same amused expression.

  “This has the exaggerated flair of someone I used to know,” he said. “He would love this.”

  “Really? Where is he now?” I asked, pushing out the memories.

  “He died a very long time ago,” Reaper said in a low voice, his eyes sad.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He waved a hand, dismissing the pain. “How close are we to the place you want to check out?”

  “My house is pretty close, but I don’t want to go there first. Not if it’s being watched. It’s too dangerous. Let’s go to the mansion first and see if my friends are there. We need a ride, though…it’s kind of a long way to walk.”

  “You don’t lead a group of car thieves without knowing a thing or two about hotwiring,” he said. “If we can find a car, I can hotwire it.”
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br />   “So, we just drive up and see what we see?” I asked.

  “I’ll know if the place is being watched,” Reaper said confidently.

  “Alright. Are you ready?” I asked.

  “Lead the way,” he said.

  He followed me, as I hurried down the stairs and set my steps toward town. My pace was swift in my excitement. Reaper had to hurry to catch up to me.

  “Can you tell me the name of this place where at? It’s obviously the western part of the state, the mountains, but I don’t think I’ve been here,” Reaper said when he caught up.

  “You and everybody else in the world,” I said. “This is King’s Cross: home of hillbillies, hospitality, and winner of the regional Piggly Barbeque Contest four years in a row.”

  “Oh…” he said.

  He looked around with a mocking smile. It was the sort of smile that doubted such a place could afford anything good. It was the same sort of smile I had harbored about King’s Cross when I had first set foot here.

  “It’s not so bad. I hated it at first…I’m used to cities like L.A, New York. But there’s privacy here; family. It’s peaceful,” I said.

  “I can understand the attraction of privacy. The school is a bit removed from the city, about twenty miles north or so…not that I ever liked L.A. as a city, to begin with.”

  “What’s wrong with L.A.?” I asked defensively.

  “L.A. is a town where everyone seeks something they don't need and find what they don't want. The sunlight is a mask for the broken dreams of thousands all searching and hoping for that magic moment where everything works out. Nothing ever does work out…not the way they want. I hate the lie,” Reaper said.

  “Why stay there?” I asked.

  “In order to chop off the snake's head, you have to grab it by the tail first,” Reaper said. “Lorian and Darian both keep a base of operations there. It is the original city of angels, the place where our kind has flocked for centuries. You have to go where the war is, or you don’t fight the war at all.”

  “Anyone ever tell you you’re kind of depressing to talk to?” I teased.

  “Once. She’s dead now,” he said.

  “Was that a threat?”

  “Of course not,” he said with a small smile I wasn’t sure how to read.