Discover the Void Read online

  Discover the Void

  Keepers of the Crypt, Book 2

  Isadora Brown

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  8. Keaton

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Newsletter Information

  Did You Like Discover the Void?

  Acknowledgments

  1

  “Married?” Davidson looked between me and Keaton.

  My heart thudded against my chest. Some weird, sticky feeling began to pump out of me, like I couldn’t take the thought of letting Davidson down. He was the person who took me in, after all. After the shade attack. After my brother got taken away by the monsters. He brought me here, taught me everything I knew. And now, I was ready to betray him. I was ready to turn my back on him and everything he taught me, my friends, all because I had made a deal with Keaton.

  I began to gnaw on my bottom lip, sucking in a breath.

  “No,” Davidson said when his eyes fell back to me. “No.”

  “Are you trying to tell a woman what she’s allowed to do?” Keaton asked, procuring another cigarette from thin air and lighting it with a snap of his fingers. He took a long draw, blowing smoke in Davidson’s direction. “Because I know I died six hundred years ago where that shit was acceptable, I just didn’t think it was acceptable today. And it definitely ain’t with my girl.”

  “She’s not your girl,” Davidson snapped before I had a chance to correct Keaton myself. A piece of rubble fell from the ceiling, clattering next to us.

  I didn’t even jump.

  No one did.

  After what we just encountered, after the shades or whatever those things were, I was too exhausted to care about anything else.

  Keaton stuck his cigarette back between his lips before reaching for Davidson and grabbing him by his shirt collar. He lifted the dean into the air with ease even though Davidson was taller than Keaton. Slowly, Keaton brought Davidson close to him so Davidson’s face was mere centimeters from his, eyes narrowed, brows furrowed so low they nearly dropped into his eyes.

  “She’s mine,” Keaton said in a low, dangerous voice. A shudder ripped down my back but I tried to ignore it. “Whether you like it or not, she’s mine.”

  “How could you do this?” Davidson ripped his gaze away from Keaton in order to glare at me. I flinched, instantly hating the way my body reacted to him only because he had never looked at me like that, had never talked to me like that. In all fairness, I had never given him a reason to before now. “Out of all the stupid things to do…” He began to pace back and forth, hands locked behind his back, stomping with each step he took. “You called him here. You removed the hold his crypt had on him.”

  “I had to,” I said. It sounded hollow even to me. “I didn’t know what those things were. I wanted to make sure -”

  “You made a deal with the devil,” Davidson said before he stopped pacing and spat on the floor. “And now what, Kara? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Before I could respond, he barged forward. “Of course not. Because you don’t think, do you? You just react to whatever it is you’re feeling. And that’s your justification. Your emotions control you. And that’s - that’s bullshit, Kara. Because now what do we do? He’s out and I can’t protect you from him.”

  “I-I’m sorry,” I said.

  “No,” Keaton growled. His cigarette was nearly ash, teeth ground together like the keys of a piano. “Don’t fucking apologize to him.”

  “Don’t tell her what to do,” Davidson said. “She can make her own decisions -“

  “And she made the decision to marry me, asshole,” Keaton growled. “That’s happening, whether you like it or not.” He dropped Davidson back to his feet and flicked the cigarette butt at him.

  “Shut up, both of you,” Daphne said. Her fingers were still clutching the dagger, her eyes on me. “Kara. What’s going on? What did you do?”

  “Me?” I looked around at the damage. The academy was in shambles. I wasn’t sure where the other students were. We shouldn’t be talking about this. We should be seeing if anyone needed help. “I didn’t release those things. I don’t even know what those things are.”

  “They wanted you, Kara,” Mattie pointed out, her voice light and squeaking, almost like a timid mouse. “They might have been after us but I saw the way three of them were on top of you. They wanted you.”

  “Is it because of him?” Daphne jutted her finger at Keaton but refused to look at him. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was scared or if it was something else, but her knuckles turned white from holding that dagger, almost as though she was going to use it against him if she had to.

  “I have a name, you know,” Keaton said. His eyes were on the dagger but he didn’t seem scared of it. If anything, there almost seemed to be desire embedded in those unnerving bright green eyes.

  Daphne ignored him.

  “Those shades weren’t Keaton,” I said.

  “How do you know?” Davidson asked, looking down at me. He took a step towards me, then another. His shoulders hunched forward, lips twisting into a frown. “How could you possibly know that?”

  “You said his powers were locked up in that crypt,” I pointed out. “You said he couldn’t do anything while he was locked up there. You really think he can call these things? He was in the crypt when the attack started.”

  “How do you know that?” Davidson asked again. Each word was punctuated with suspicion. He didn’t look at me like I was Kara; he looked at me like I was one of them - a heathen, a shade, something other than what I was.

  And I hated it.

  I hated it because I knew I had to tell him the truth. I couldn’t keep sneaking around. I couldn’t keep lying to him. I was clearly shit at it anyway.

  But this would break him. He took me in years ago. He trusted me. And I broke that trust by thinking Keaton could help me find Richard.

  He still can, a voice reminded me. Maybe this will hurt Davidson, but you made your choices for Richard. And that can’t be wrong.

  “Because I was with Keaton.” I made sure to look at Davidson. It was only fair that I give him that, that he knew as much as it would hurt him, I was telling the truth.

  “But…why?” Daphne asked. “You know what he is, Kar. You know how dangerous he is. It’s a miracle you’re still alive.”

  “Miracle?” Keaton snorted. “It’s got nothing to do with that bullshit. It’s a lot more calculated than that.”

  “You think he can help you with Richard,” Davidson said slowly. My breath left me. Was I really that transparent? Could he really read me that easily? Disappointment softened his glare, and that guilt that seemed lodged in my body like it belonged here, like it was now just part of my blood and there was no way for me to remove it, crawled up my throat and clenched down, suffocating me. “Why didn’t you come to me?”

  There.

  That was the slap across my face. A slap I deserved.

  Because that was a good question. And I didn’t have a good answer.

  “I thought…” Even before admitting my reasoning, my words sounded hollow. “I just…” I raked my fingers through my hair. “I thought you’d tell me I was wrong.”

  “Because you are,” Davidson said. There was a muted bite to his tone, like he was trying to hold himself back from lashing out at me, even though I probably deserved it.

  No.

  Not probably.

  I definitely deserved it.

  “The others?” Mattie said, piping up. “Shouldn’t we be, I don’t know, looking for help or something? I’m sure there
are students -”

  “Then, go,” Davidson said, jerking his chin. He kept his eyes on me. “Daphne, go with her. I need to speak to Kara about the consequences of her foolish decision.”

  I clenched my teeth together. “Keaton still saved us,” I pointed out. A weak argument, I knew, but valid nonetheless. “Yeah, I called him. And maybe I made a stupid decision -”

  “There's no maybe about this,” Davidson said as Daphne and Mattie began to head up the crumbling staircase. Mattie gave me a long look, almost as though she wasn’t sure it was wise to leave me alone with both Keaton and Davidson by myself, but Daphne murmured something to her and pulled her along. “Let me guess - you listened to one of Graham’s ridiculous theories, thought you’d find your answers with Keaton, and then -”

  “Then I called him here to save us,” I said. “Yeah, I thought I could find my brother. He’s my only family -”

  “We’re your only family!” Davidson shouted.

  I flinched. He had never shouted at me before. Sure, he got mad. Annoyed and frustrated with me. I wasn’t an easy kid. I knew that. But never had I inspired such a reaction from him.

  Keaton grabbed at Davidson again. “What the fuck did I tell you ‘bout talking to her that way?” he demanded.

  “Don’t fucking touch me,” Davidson said. “I’ll talk to her however I want. She messed up big time by going to your crypt, by invoking you.”

  “She’s not wrong, bub. I did save your ass from those fucks. They were going to kill all of you, if it wasn’t for me. And my dagger.” Keaton’s eyes flickered up, like he wanted to follow Daphne and grab said dagger from her.

  “You manipulated her,” Davidson accused, poking Keaton’s chest with his finger once, twice.

  Keaton grabbed Davidson’s finger and snapped it. Davidson let out a bark of pain, but Keaton didn’t release it.

  “Don’t fucking touch me,” he snapped.

  “Keaton,” I said before I could stop myself.

  I had no idea if anything I said to him made any kind of difference. It would be foolish of me to assume I had any control over a heathen, especially Keaton himself, the most dangerous heathen Keepers knew about.

  But I had to do something.

  Regardless of Davidson’s frustration and disappointment with me, I owed him. More than I could probably repay.

  Keaton didn’t even look back at me. However, he didn’t do anything more to Davidson. And he dropped Davidson’s now-broken finger.

  “He didn’t manipulate me,” I said slowly, trying to catch my breath. It felt like my life was spinning out of control and there was nothing I could do to make it right again.

  “Yeah,” Davidson got out, his voice still laced with pain. “Yeah, he did, Kara. You’re just too naive to realize it. You think you saw your brother get taken away by shades, think you saw your parents die because of them. But that’s impossible. And just because Keaton saw an opportunity to take advantage of doesn’t mean he’s right.” Finally, he picked his eyes up in order to look at me. “You don’t have to do this, Kara. You called him. You can send him back to his crypt. You don’t have to marry him.”

  “What?” Keaton bellowed.

  “But…but I promised,” I said.

  “You…what?” Davidson asked. He took a step towards me. From my peripheral, I saw Keaton tense but he made no move to cut in front of me again. I wasn’t sure if it was because he trusted me to handle Davidson or if this was some kind of test to see what I would do. I didn’t care.

  “I promised,” I said again. It sounded so stupid coming out of my mouth. I began to fiddle with the hem of my shirt. “I told him if he helped, I would…I can’t just break my promise.”

  “Kara, you can’t be this stupid,” Davidson said. He placed a hand on my shoulder. “You aren’t married. You don’t have to bind yourself to him. You brought him out. You can send him back. Just say his name three times, and he’s gone, back in that crypt.”

  I swallowed, and glanced at Keaton.

  He had yet to open his mouth, to tell me not to. But he glared, almost like he expected me to do just that.

  And God, did I want to.

  I didn’t want to be married.

  Especially not to him.

  But Richard…

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  Davidson’s shoulders sagged with relief.

  Keaton opened his mouth, ready to lash out.

  “I have to find Richard,” I continued. “And, if that means marrying Keaton…I’ll do it.”

  And with that, Keaton grabbed my wrist and we disappeared.

  2

  We popped into a dark room, shadows cascading across the floor. Keaton’s fingers were still wrapped around my wrist, which was probably a good thing because my knees shook, and if I didn’t have his support, I would have collapsed. There was a putrid scent hanging in the room, like it hadn’t been lived in for quite some time. It lingered but it wasn’t smothering. Besides that, a broken window was to my left, a broken couch in front of me.

  “Where are we?” I asked. The fact that I could speak at all amazed me. The fact that I had yet to move away from Keaton amazed me even more.

  “My place,” Keaton said. “In the Void.”

  I blinked once, jerking away from him. He had taken me to the Void. I yanked my wrist from his grasp, heart hammering against my chest. But it was still too soon for me to move because I tripped over my feet. My knees hadn’t regained their full strength, and I fell backwards.

  Keaton’s hand shot out and caught my elbow before I could hit the floor. I wasn’t sure if I would have preferred that or not.

  “Why did you take me here?” I demanded to know. I hated the way my voice shook. I was supposed to be strong, but I couldn’t even formulate a complete sentence. “What are you going to do to me?”

  Keaton sneered, rolling his eyes. “Would you quit being so dramatic?” he asked. “You said you’d marry me, babes? Or was that a lie? I brought you here because I can finally fucking get back to my old haunt. Before the Keepers caught me and trapped me in that Hell.”

  I furrowed my brow, letting myself lean into his touch slightly, if only to keep myself balanced. Steady.

  “So…you lived here after you died?” I asked slowly, trying to make sense of his words. The Keepers never talked much about what happened when we died. I knew about Heaven and Hell, but this in-between, this Void, I wasn’t familiar with it.

  “Yup. And now, you’ll live here too.”

  I wrinkled my nose. This…? This was where I was going to live once we were married?

  “I…” I swallowed.

  “What? It’s not up to your standards?” There was an annoyed edge to his tone, almost like he was offended.

  But I couldn’t be hearing him right. There was no way he cared what I thought of this place.

  “Wait,” I said, something nagging at my brain. “Being in your crypt prevented you from coming here?”

  “That crypt sucked out the majority of my magic,” he said in a growl. “Only fucking thing I could do was pop around the crypt and smoke my cigarettes.”

  “But now that you’re out…” I let my voice trail off.

  “Now that I’m out,” he said, smiling that jack-o-lantern smile of his, “I have access to my full powers, babes.” He cracked his knuckles.

  I swallowed. I wasn’t sure if I was nervous at the potential evil I had unwittingly unleashed or if there was something else. However, he had yet to hurt me. That was what I had to keep reminding myself of. He hadn’t hurt me. And, as of right now, he hadn’t hurt anyone else - even if he wanted to hurt Davidson.

  “So,” he said. “Ya ready to walk down the aisle? Maybe in an hour or two? Would that give you enough time to get all dolled up for me?” He popped out of sight only to pop behind me, arm snaking around my waist, and pulling me against his chest. “And after that, we can make it official.”

  “Wait.” I pulled away from him and whirled around, hands
going up. “We aren’t - you can’t just assume…” My heart hammered against my chest as I looked at him, saw the bright green eyes narrow in on me like he could hear my heart’s response to him. “We should set some rules here…”

  “Rules?” He arched a brow but hadn’t come any closer, something I appreciated. “Have to tell you, babes. I ain’t a fan of rules. Especially now that I’m out.”

  “Yeah, well, you can’t just assume the two of us are going to…” I couldn’t even say the words. My cheeks screamed with red. Sweat beaded at the back of my neck. I was twenty years old. How could I not say the word sex, especially to someone clearly familiar with the concept? “You know.”

  He grinned, teeth protruding over his bottom lips as his eyes fell at half-mast. “I don’t know,” he said. “Why don’t you tell me?” He slid his hands in his pockets as though he had all the time in the world.

  “You know,” I said again. Like a child. “Look, I’m not going to…you can’t just expect…you can’t force me to do anything I don’t want to do.”

  Keaton snapped his fingers, procuring another cigarette from thin air before lighting it with another snap of his fingers. “I don’t think you understand just who you’re dealing with here, babes,” he said. “‘Cause if you did, you wouldn’t waste your breath on things that ain’t true. I’m Keaton. Keaton. Which means I can do whatever the fuck I want. But…” His eyes lingered on my face. “I’m not into rape. I don’t have to do that shit. Never have when I was alive, never have in death. And I won’t have to with you.” He leaned closer to me, the smoke from his cigarette tickling my nose. “You a virgin, babes?”

  The skin on my face pulled as an even harder blush took over my face.

  “I don’t think that’s any of your business,” I snapped.

  “Actually, considering I’m going to be your husband, it is.” The smile still splattered his face but there was an edge to it, almost as though he was a piano and there was one key out of tune, but it affected the entire score of music.