See How She Fights (The Chronicles of Izzy #2)(25)

As the last words left my mouth, the car came to a rest outside the dilapidated theater. The Guardians unloaded and, as one, surrounded me. I wondered how often they had practiced this formation. I took them all in and noticed a familiar ninja suit in the pack of otherwise black clad Guardians. A chuckle rose out of me involuntarily. It was a horrible time to be laughing, but I couldn’t help myself. Ian turned and winked at me before we began moving inside the building.

“Remember guys, we can’t stop it. This has to play out,” I said with more authority than I felt I deserved. They all looked at me and nodded before continuing on.

We reached the interior and I was struck by the smell of old urine and the faint smell of extinguished candles. The place had obviously been used by a few squatters. We made our way up to the stage where the ruined body of the Seer lay abandoned. Tears welled in my eyes. Somehow, here in reality, it was so much worse. Seeing her die in the dreaming had not prepared me for the look of anguish that was left on her face.

I found myself feeling unnaturally angry about it all. The way they left her body lying there like so much trash. She had lived a life. She was someone’s daughter. Perhaps she was someone’s lover. Had she had a Guardian? What would happen to him? I stood staring down at her body with tears streaming down my cheeks.

“It never gets any easier,” Conall said from my elbow. I had not even noticed him in the group. “If it does, then you aren’t the person we need you to be,” he said moving away. I just loved cryptic statements. I looked to my left to find Kennan staring down at me. His face was strained with concern.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m mad. How could they just leave her here like this? I don’t understand what kind of person would do this to another one, Kennan. Whoever this is, whoever is doing this, I’m going to stop them. I don’t care if it takes me the next hundred years to find them, I will. This will not continue.”

I paused for a moment, trying to find my balance. These men expected me to be a leader. I had to get myself under control. I swallowed deeply before addressing the crowd.

“I need to know who she is. I want her address, her known associates, her mother’s name, any information you can give me about her.” I conjured every cop show I’d ever watched and spat out orders, feeling ridiculous the entire time.

“Look at you, Bossy Pants,” Ian whispered in my ear as he walked past. I was really grateful to have him there. Molly might want to kill him on a daily basis, but I was sure glad to have him around.

The Guardians set about making calls, trying to identify the girl and get a cleanup crew to gather the body for a proper burial. We were there for three hours before everything was complete and we had a name for the girl. Her name was Isabelle and she had just turned twenty-five two weeks prior to her death. I thought back to Ren’s file and remembered that she had also just turned twenty-five.

“How old have they all been?” I shouted to no one in particular.

“I believe they have all been twenty-five, Milady,” a Guardian I didn’t know answered.

“Just Izzy, if you don’t mind,” I muttered.

What was the link? There had to be some reason that only twenty-five-year-old Seers were being sacrificed. I felt as though I was missing all of the outer pieces of the puzzle. I had everything in the center but nothing on the periphery. Whatever it was, I would figure it out.

**********

“We are going to go to the mother’s house. Would you care to accompany us, Izzy?” Conall asked with a wink. At least I thought it was a wink. His only having the one eye kind of threw me off. For all I knew he could have been blinking.

“If it isn’t a problem for me to come along, I’d like to. I have a feeling her mom knows something that may help us.”

“Alright, we will take the extra car. Ian, are you coming or staying?” Conall asked.

“What do you think?” Ian asked, rushing over.

“Don’t you think the ninja suit was a bit much for this outing?” I whispered.

“A ninja suit is perfect for every occasion,” he replied indignantly.

“Maybe, if it wasn’t the quality of a cheap Halloween costume,” I said before stepping into the protection of Kennan’s arm.

We loaded into the car. Conall was in the driver’s seat and I couldn’t take such an open opportunity to annoy him for granted.

“You sure you’re allowed to drive there, one eye?” I asked as Kennan pulled me back against the seat.

“From what I hear you are not permitted to drive. Therefore, you have no room to talk,” he replied with a hint of laughter in his voice. I was glad I was finally breaking down that whole serious exterior a little. Yes, he had joked with me, but I think that had been more to annoy Kennan than anything else. He was more like Ian than I had originally thought.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just drive,” I groused, snuggling into Kennan’s side. It felt good to be in a car full of people I trusted. Well, a car with two people I trusted and one that I was not quite sure about.

We made our way to the other side of the city and pulled into a parking structure. As one, we exited the car and made our way into the towering building. Conall flashed some sort of badge to the doorman and we were let in with no fuss.

As we approached the elevators, I was struck by a paralyzing fear. It wasn’t something that happened every time I got in one. Normally, I was able to tone down the paranoia. But when I was worn, or tired, which I happened to be, it became harder to ignore. I reached out to grip Kennan’s hand tightly and closed my eyes in the process. Maybe if I envisioned wide open spaces, I would feel better.