The Witch's Key

Episode 9: Unprepared

"Do you know her?" Kai asked in a whisper.

"That's the same woman who was at my house earlier this morning," I said. "She was my parents' Keeper. I've known her all my life."

"Then what's she doing with this weirdo?" Kai asked, turning back to watch Ms. Greer as she walked up to the door of the building.

I shook my head.

I didn't want to believe she was crooked. My parents had trusted her with their lives.

I shuddered at that thought. My parents also lost their lives, didn't they? Had Ms. Greer betrayed them? Was she evil?

Anger flared, and I tensed every muscle in my body.

"Maybe she's here to investigate him," I said as softly as I could, almost talking to myself. "Maybe the Council is looking into this."

Kai shrugged, but he didn't look convinced.

Neither was I.

But I tried to hold judgment until I'd figured out for sure what she was doing here. If she'd been a Slayer, I might have felt some kind of hope that she'd come here to save my friend and the others, but Blythe was a Keeper.

They did all the research, training, and made a lot of the judgment calls, but they weren't fighters. Keepers never showed up on site to have polite conversations with demons or vampires. They were usually very hands-off.

This wasn't like Blythe at all.

She knocked on the metal door of the building and waited, looking around again. She was nervous. Afraid she was being watched. That wasn't like Blythe Greer, either. At least not the Blythe Greer I'd come to know.

"Here he comes," Kai whispered as the door swung open.

The man standing on the inside of the building was smiling at first, but the second he saw Ms. Greer, the smile vanished.

I know the feeling, man.

They were too far away for us to hear exactly what they were saying, but it was obvious they were arguing about something.

The guy looked behind him, said something to someone standing inside that I couldn't see, and then stepped out into the warm night air with Ms. Greer. He shut the door behind him, and if I saw correctly, he also quickly sealed it shut.

Very interesting. My heart pounded. Was Peyton inside? Maybe Ms. Greer was here to rescue them. That didn't fully make sense, but this guy didn't act like they were friendly. I couldn't piece it together yet.

This was my first good look at the guy Kai had called Bates. He was tall and lanky with dark, chin-length hair that he kept brushing out of his eyes. He wore a pair of ripped jeans, a Rolling Stones t-shirt, and no shoes.

I tried to zero in on the guy's energy, but Kai was right. He'd cloaked himself with something, and I couldn't quite place a finger on it. He could have been a demon, but he just as easily could have been a were of some kind. Or a vampire. The guy had some definite vampire vibes going on, if you asked me.

He was obviously very upset to see Ms. Greer, but there was nothing unusual about that. Most people were upset to see her.

But what was she doing here? Maybe they were working together and this guy had done something wrong? My mind was running in circles, trying to make sense of it all. I needed more information.

Ms. Greer tried to step around him and go inside the building, but he blocked her and shook his head, actually daring to put a hand on her shoulder and push her back.