Free Dark Seeker by Taryn Browning Page B

drop Janie and run.
    A man emerged from the living room. “Is everything okay, Isabelle? Is Janie home?”
    Their eyes locked. The man’s blue eyes had aged fifteen years, now fully edged by crow’s feet, the markings of a stressful life. Kai knew all too well how stressful the man’s life had been. A fulminate rage swirled within his irises, deepening the light blue to indigo. His black hair was now sprinkled with flecks of white, and lines creased his once-smooth forehead. Kai’s scars started to burn; a searing pain sliced down his forearm and fire burst through his chest. He gripped Janie tighter, afraid he might drop her. The man’s eyes were as hate-filled as he remembered. It was him ; Kai had no doubt. He’d remember that face for eternity—Abram.

    Isabelle appeared at the base of the steps, clutching Janie’s inhaler. “Give her to me,” Janie heard a familiar man speak.
    “Abram,” Janie wheezed. He removed her from Kai’s arms and rushed her into the living room. He placed her on the sofa, propping her up with pillows on the couch.
    “You’re going to be okay,” Abram said, stroking her hair.
    “She needs her inhaler.” Isabelle hurried to Janie’s side. “Here, use this.”
    Janie pressed the plastic tube to her lips, breathed out a small puff of air, and sucked the medication into her lungs. Within seconds, she felt better. Her lungs reopened. A flood of air expanded into her chest like a balloon. Only something else weighed on her now. The atmosphere was even heavier than the feeling of not being able to breathe.
    “Where’s Kai?” Janie tried to sit up, but she was still slightly dizzy and fell back on the couch.
    “I’m right here,” Kai said with forced calmness. He stood across the room, looking sick. Abram glared at him.
      “How did this happen?” Isabelle knelt down next to Janie, concern etched across her forehead.
    “I lost my inhaler last night, during a fight.” Janie left her mother’s worried eyes to search for Kai again. She found him, still on the opposite side of the room, stiff and restrained.
    “A fight? I thought you went to a bonfire,” Isabelle asked, rising.
    Janie finally lifted herself to a seated position. “Abram, did you speak to the Chapter? What’s going on? Last night we ran into a gang of vamps and Daychildren. They were in Towson, at a student’s home.”
    The tension hung suspended in the air. No one answered her. Her mother conversed with Abram in hushed tones. Kai appeared to have one foot out the door. With one flinch, she feared he would disappear. It was the most on edge she’d ever seen him. His confident arrogance had disappeared, or more apparently, been taken from him. Then, she realized. How could she have been so stupid? She’d spent so much time with Kai over the last few days that she’d forgotten. The three of them were Seekers, and he was a Daychild.
    A bouncing fleck of light caught Janie’s attention. She traced it along the ceiling. She searched the immediate area for the object creating the bright fragment. The spectrum of light moved whenever her mother did. Something sparkled at her mother’s waist. Then Janie saw the light source—a silver blade wedged in Isabelle’s pants, slightly hidden under her shirt. Janie’s eyes shot over to Abram. He nodded to Isabelle, signaling her to move forward.
    Janie leapt off the couch and sprinted over to Kai, barreling into his chest. He didn’t move. Hitting Kai was like smacking into a brick wall. She spun around and faced her mother and mentor. Both of them had taken fighting stances and were brandishing silver blades.
    “Don’t touch him!” Janie yelled.
    “Janie, I need you to move away slowly,” Abram instructed, his eyes fixed on Kai. A shiny silver blade glistened in his fist. Janie’s eyes grew to the size of saucers, horrified at the thought of Abram plunging a dagger through Kai’s skull.
    “He’s not going to hurt me,” she said. She extended her arms as