Page 40 of The Second Sight (Wanderlust Emporium Presents, Season One)

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

KASI

The abandoned trainyard stretched before us like a graveyard of rusted metal giants.

Seven’s grip on my arm was tight enough to look like he was restraining me, but gentle enough that I knew it was for comfort.

We were walking into a trap disguised as an exchange.

We all knew it. Desmond wasn’t a fair hunter.

I’d never met him, and I knew it to be true.

Despite all their planning, all our hidden allies scattered in the shadows around us, the fear in my chest threatened to choke me with each step.

My fingers wouldn’t stop trembling as I clutched my crossbody purse against my side.

I didn’t need a purse, but I needed to have the glasses I purchased from the Wanderlust Emporium close to me.

They were the only physical thing I had to mark this new chapter in my life.

The golden readers were a symbol of my transformation from an ordinary girl to a supernatural half-yumboe woman.

The glasses pacified me when my nerves should’ve immobilized me.

I fidgeted with the zipper on my purse, a nervous habit that had suddenly developed tonight. The bag also contained a small vial of something Romeca had insisted I bring. She claimed it might awaken something in an emergency. Whatever that meant.

“Stop fidgeting,” Lily whispered from my other side. “It makes you look weak.”

Seven leaned down, his lips brushing against my ear. “I love you,” he murmured, his cool breath sending shivers down my spine that had nothing to do with fear. “My love, nothing will happen to you. I promise.”

I nodded, unable to form words past the lump in my throat.

All around us, the trainyard was a monument to abandonment, with rusted rails snaking through cracked concrete, empty freight cars with shattered windows, and scattered debris.

Shadows pooled in every corner, but I knew they weren’t empty.

Vampires from Seven’s coven and Romeca and Kyren were positioned strategically around the perimeter, waiting for the signal. Our trap within their trap.

The crunch of tires on gravel broke the eerie silence. Headlights cut through the darkness as two black SUVs approached from the far end of the yard. My heart pounded against my ribs so violently I was certain Seven could hear it.

“Remember,” Seven said quietly as the vehicles came to a stop about fifty feet away. “No matter what happens, stay behind me.”

The driver’s door of the first SUV opened, and a tall man stepped out.

Even in the dim light, his presence was commanding.

His skin was dark like mine and seemed to absorb the moonlight, making the jagged scar running from his eye to his chin stand out like a pale lightning bolt.

I didn’t need an introduction to know I was looking at Desmond Moreau.

The monster from Seven’s past. The hunter who had plagued my mother’s people for generations.

Gideon emerged next, his face instantly recognizable from the night he’d taken Brooklyn. Two more men followed. They were clearly Bambara hunters with the hard eyes of killers.

The second SUV’s doors opened simultaneously. Tarus, the man who’d twisted Kyren’s wing that night, stepped out first. He yanked someone from the backseat, and my breath caught painfully in my chest.

Brooklyn.

Her hands were bound behind her back. Her clothes were dirty and rumpled. My best friend’s face was bruised, but she was alive. Her eyes cried out when she saw me. She tried to step forward only to be jerked back by Tarus.

Desmond approached, stopping about fifty feet away. His smile was cold and calculated. The kind that never reached his eyes. “Severin Crackstone,” he called, his deep voice carrying across the open space. “It’s been, what? A century? You look well for someone who lost a mate.”

Seven’s entire body tensed beside me. I could feel the rage radiating from him in waves, but his voice remained eerily calm when he responded. “Desmond. It’s better to have loved once than never to have been loved. Basirah loved me. And you are only feared, what a shame.”

“I prefer to be feared.”

“Very easy to do when you’re hiding behind your minions. Never fighting your battles alone, I see. Some things never change.”

Desmond cackled. “And you’re still keeping dangerous company.” His gaze shifted to me, and I felt a chill run through my body. “Theia’s daughter. You have your mother’s yumboe eyes.”

“Enough pleasantries, old man.” Seven said sharply. “Release the human girl first.”

“That’s not how this works, vampire.” Desmond replied, his smile widening to reveal unnaturally white teeth. “You give me the half-fae bitch, and I return your human pet.”

Brooklyn struggled against Tarus’s grip. “Don’t do it, Kasi! Fuck these African booty-scratchers.” She shouted before a rough hand clamped over her mouth.

“Release her now!” Seven demanded, his voice rising to a dangerous register. “Or I promise you, this night ends badly for you and your cult.”

Desmond appeared unmoved by the threat. “Bold words from a vampire who failed to protect his wife.” He tilted his head, studying Seven with feigned curiosity.

“Tell me, does it still haunt you? Do you hear her screams in your nightmares as the flames consumed her flesh? Do you smell her vampire skin burning?”

Seven took a half-step forward before catching himself. “Last chance, Desmond. Release the fucking girl.”

“I think not.” Desmond replied. “I’ve hated the White man before I can even remember.

You colonize everything you touch. Of all the vampires in the world, you chose a Black vampire woman to mate with.

Even as vampires, the greedy White man feels the need to take from the African.

We, Africans, are the gods of all gods, and you are just the peasant thieves of all the earth’s natural resources. ”

“I hope you feel better getting those human emotions off your mortal chest. I’m a vampire. I’m not White, Black or anything other than a vampire. Turn the girl over to us.”

Desmond turned to Gideon with a slight nod. “Perhaps we should sweeten the deal.”

Gideon moved to the first SUV and opened the rear passenger door. A figure stumbled out, clearly being pushed from inside. A woman, painfully thin with matted dark hair, fell to her knees on the gravel. When she raised her head, the moonlight revealed a face I’d only seen in paintings.

It was impossible. It couldn’t be. Yet there she was.

Basirah.

Seven’s body went completely rigid beside me. The hand gripping my arm suddenly dropped away as if he’d forgotten I existed. “No,” he whispered, the single word was loaded with grief and disbelief.

“Oh yes,” Desmond said, clearly relishing Seven’s shock. “Surprised to see your beloved wife?”

“This is a trick. This is not my Basirah.”

“Did you really think I would waste a valuable vampire specimen by burning her to death? I burned a fae woman and told everyone it was your plantation vampire whore. Word spread, and the lie was forever etched in our history. I wanted to hurt you in your black heart, you undead piece of shit.” He reached down and roughly pulled Basirah to her feet.

She swayed, her eyes vacant, her body showing signs of decades of torture and deprivation.

“Why?” Seven asked as he gripped me tighter.

“I’ve kept her all these years,” Desmond's voice took on the tone of a professor discussing a fascinating research subject. “Studying vampire physiology, testing the limits of immortal healing, exploring the fascinating connection between vampire mates.” He yanked Basirah’s head up by her hair.

“She’s called your name through decades of pain, Severin.

Always believing you would come for her.

I can say she didn’t call your name when every single one of my men had their way with her.

After she had a thousand big black Bambara cocks, I knew she would never look at a White man again. ”

The raw anguish on Seven’s face broke something inside me. I’d never seen him look so vulnerable, so completely shattered. As far as Desmond, he was the worst kind of monster that I’d ever seen in the flesh.

Lily shifted slightly beside us, her hand inching toward the weapon concealed at her hip. She caught my eye briefly, a silent warning to be ready.

“So, vampire, here’s my new offer,” Desmond announced, his voice echoing across the trainyard. “Give me Theia’s daughter. I keep the human to breed with my hunters, and I’ll return your vampire wife. A generous exchange, wouldn’t you say?”

The silence that followed was deafening. I could feel the eyes of our hidden allies watching, waiting for the signal that might never come if Seven chose his first love over our plan.

I stared at Seven’s profile, searching for any sign of what he was thinking. His jaw was clenched so tightly I could see the muscle jumping beneath his skin. His eyes never left Basirah’s face, as if he were trying to convince himself she was real, after a century of believing her dead.

I waited for his decision. Would he choose me or the vampire wife he’d mourned for over a century? Would he stick to our plan or sacrifice me to save his beloved Basirah?

For the first time since meeting Seven, I honestly didn’t know what he would do.

Seven’s expression hardened into something ancient and deadly. I’d seen glimpses of the predator beneath his civilized exterior before, but never like this, never the full force of his vampire rage. His voice, when he finally spoke was like ice cracking over deep water.

“Release the human first.” Seven ordered.

Desmond’s smile faltered slightly. He hadn’t expected resistance with Basirah as leverage. “You’re not in a position to make demands, vampire. I’m keeping the human.”

“I’m not asking,” Seven replied, his body shifted gradually beside me. “The human girl comes to us now, or there’s no deal.”