I cleared my throat and focused on winning Bosh over completely. “That’s the good news I came to tell you. Gideon is already here. I used the Key again this morning, and he must’ve been the closest because he showed up. He’s talking to Kadin right now.” I left out the rest. No need for Bosh to know.
“Well, that worked out nicely,” Bosh said, grinning wider. His shoulders dropped in relief and he picked up his bowl to eat. “Makes me think this whole little errand will be a breeze.”
I beamed at him. “Absolutely.” In a show of solidarity, I got up to get a second bowl of the mushy breakfast and eat with him. I’d make sure of one thing before Kadin and Gideon came downstairs: Bosh would be on my side. And I wouldn’t be going anywhere.
Chapter 21
Kadin
A DOZEN EMOTIONS CROSSED Gideon’s face as I explained what had happened in his absence.
“I understand your predicament,” he told me when I’d finished. “But I’m not sure what I can do.”
“We watched you fight Enoch in the castle before,” I argued, “and you chased him off. Why couldn’t you do that again?”
Gideon sighed and tapped his cane lightly on the floor, just once, but for him it might as well have been wild fidgeting. “That was quite lucky, to be truthful with you. I’m not sure I would have survived that fight if he’d gained the advantage, and I simply cannot risk it again. My mission is far too important.”
“What is your mission?” I asked, always strategizing. “Maybe if you help us, we can help you in return. What do you need? Money? Resources? Soldiers? If you help Arie take back her throne, I guarantee she will give you all those things and more.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“What then? I’ll do whatever it takes.” I never begged like this. It showed your hand too much. But then again, this was Gideon; he could read my mind, so I’d probably never had the upper hand to begin with. “Just tell me what you need. Gideon, it’s Arie!”
He stared at me, unblinking. If it had been anyone else, I’d have thought he didn’t care, but I knew better. Gideon cared almost as much as I did.
The silence stretched long enough for me to hear the village outside waking up and people beginning to fill the streets, calling to each other, bargaining over market items. I held my breath.
“In Jinn, we don’t have multiple kingdoms,” Gideon spoke finally, and I frowned, trying to figure out how this was an answer. “We only have one. One King, or one Queen. And one heir.” He finally pulled up the chair and sat. “The heir to the throne of Jinn, the crown prince, went missing a little more than a year ago. It’s my duty to find him.”
Only one ruler for the entire realm? And why was it Gideon’s duty? I mulled that over for a moment. “Well then. We’ll help you find him. My crew can find anyone. We found you, didn’t we?”
“I believe he’s still somewhere in Jinn.”
“Oh.” My gaze dropped to my hands. I stood and moved to look outside.
“I’ve spent the last year since his disappearance, trying to return to Jinn to find him,” Gideon said softly.
When I glanced over at him, it felt like looking at a map I’d been following, but I’d just realized the directions were all wrong. “You can’t get back?”
For a long moment, Gideon didn’t say anything, just rubbed his jaw in thought. I began to think he wouldn’t answer at all. He expelled a long breath of air, as if releasing years of pent up secrets, and softly said, “I cannot.”
“Okay.” I shrugged. “In return for helping us defeat Enoch, I solemnly swear to help you return home to Jinn. On my honor and deathbed, I so swear.” A small voice inside me asked why I was doing this for the girl who kept pushing me away. But I didn’t need to answer it. I knew why. “Tell me whatever you need right now, and we’ll help you the best we can.”
He thought it over carefully, as he always did, and I was surprised when he nodded. “There is one thing,” he told me. “I want that girl’s Key. It’s one of a kind and extremely valuable to a Jinni, especially the royal family. I think there’s a strong chance I could trade it for entrance to Jinn.”
I sighed. Once again, saving Arie hinged on the unpredictable Meremaid. Would she agree to this plan? I probably shouldn’t have snapped at her earlier—that hadn’t helped. With any luck, she was still in the inn. I could only hope she cared enough about Arie to consider this trade. “I’ll see what I can do. Let’s go find Rena. We don’t have a lot of time.”
Chapter 22
Rena
BOSH AND I SLIPPED out of the inn for a quick jaunt through town, searching for a vendor selling raw fish. It was proving difficult. Those who had any were either selling it in bulk or it’d already been cooked.
“Just a taste,” I’d pleaded with the last one, but he hadn’t been a fan of that idea.
“I really don’t think you’d like it, you know, in your... current form,” Bosh stumbled over his words. He’d seen my gills from the first day and been fascinated with the Mere ever since. Except when it came to my desire for a meal from home. His nose scrunched up in disgust at the thought of cold, raw fish.
“Trust me, it’s delicious.” I tilted my head back and closed my eyes as we walked, trying to forget the poor start with Gideon. I focused instead on the way the sun kissed my face with warmth, something I’d never get sick of.
“I’ll take your word for it,” Bosh said. He grasped my elbow, gently guiding me back on track.
I let him, keeping my eyes closed for another moment. It was moments like this that I felt torn between two worlds. In love with my own, but falling hard for this one. The real reason I’d asked Bosh if we could get out of the inn for a bit, was partly to solidify my place in this group and partly to make a new plan. All my previous strategies had hinged on Gideon remembering me, and that clearly wasn’t the case.
And if nothing works? If I was wrong all this time?
I stopped in the middle of the street to look at Bosh. “Show me something human,” I said fiercely, taking his arm and squeezing. “Something I can remember—forever.” I’d almost said when I go back home. But I didn’t want to go back home. Certainly not under Yuliya’s conditions. I couldn’t give up yet. There was still a chance. After all, Gideon was here, now. That was half the battle.
“Hmm, human things...” Bosh looked around the nearby vendors, squinting in thought. “What about cold cream?” He licked his lips. “It’s so good. It’s mostly milk and sugar.”
“Sugar?” I didn’t recognize the word.
“Mmmhmm, and milk.”
“Milk...” I thought of the warm milk they’d tried to give me at breakfast with the porridge and grimaced at the memory. Gross. Cold cream sounded awful. “No, thank you.”
“Um, let’s see.” We wandered further down the street as Bosh thought. “We could go see the castle,” he said, eyes lighting up. “This town is only a few miles from the Piruz castle. It has beautiful architecture, very unusual—”
“I doubt it compares to back home.” I waved a hand in dismissal. “When your kings learn how to grow a living castle from the coral reef, smoothed by the current into delicate spires, and use its flow for movement within and protection without. Well, I’ll wait to see one of those.” I smiled over at him, feeling proud of my elegant home, which was at least ten times as large as any human castle—it stretched from the depths of the ocean nearly to the surface. If only he could see it. It could rival a human sunset.
“Oh. Okay.” He didn’t meet my eye. Was he hurt? Belatedly, I realized I’d insulted his idea. Belittled it even. I felt oddly guilty. I didn’t like it.
“On the other hand,” I tapped my chin as if reconsidering, “it does qualify as a human thing I could never find back home, in which case, it’s perfect. You’re a genius!” To make him feel better, I gave the poor human a kiss on the cheek. The fuzz on his face tickled my lips, and I pulled back quickly. He blushed. My cheeks heated too.
Ignoring the awkward
moment, I skipped on ahead as if truly excited. “Aren’t you coming?”
He laughed, catching up to me and pulling me away from one street toward another. “Actually, it’s this way.”
Chapter 23
Kadin
“HAVE YOU SEEN RENA?” I asked the innkeeper. Gideon followed me into the room, and we stopped between the long wooden tables. At one of them, travelers lounged eating breakfast. The innkeeper shrugged. He didn’t bother to look up, moving around the bar, cleaning.
“If you mean the redhead from last night, she asked that kid to go for a walk,” a man spoke up from a table where he was playing cards with a small group.
“A walk where?” I asked through clenched teeth as I forced what I hoped resembled a friendly smile. Time was precious right now, and they were going sightseeing?
“Um...” The man shrugged, looking to his friend, who spoke without looking up, playing another card.
“For fish.”
“Ah, yes,” the first man nodded, then shook his head at the memory. “She wanted raw fish. Strange girl.”
I thanked the man, turning to Gideon and tilting my head toward the door. “Let’s check the marketplace.”
Gideon nodded, and we set out, exiting the tavern in a hurry, seeking the redhead with the indispensable Key.
I expected we would spread out, but Gideon stayed with me. “How long have you known this Mere-girl?” he asked.
“Not long,” I told him. “We met her just a few weeks ago.”
“And you trust her already?”
I opened my mouth to say yes, that she was the reason I’d escaped Hodafez with my head still attached to my shoulders. Something held me back. Usually, I trusted my instincts in these situations, so after a slight pause, I shrugged. “I’m not quite sure, to be honest.”
There was a small pool of silence around Gideon. I didn’t expect him to respond, but when I glanced over at him, I was surprised to find him scowling. “I can’t tell either,” he murmured, tapping his cane to the ground as we walked, not leaning on it at all. “But the Mere are not to be trusted. It’s been this way for centuries.”
Now it was my turn to frown. The Jinn weren’t all they said they were, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised to find that the Mere weren’t either. Right now, all I cared about was rescuing Arie. Everything else was irrelevant.
I followed my nose and found the meat market quickly. Not just one, but all the fish vendors remembered Rena. Something about how she wanted them to describe their catch. The last one at the far end of the market pointed down a side road when I asked where they went, and said simply, “That way.”
I picked up my pace, more determined than ever to find Rena. On the road ahead, I spied the pair of them. Bosh’s head thrown back with laughter and Rena’s long red hair swinging back and forth as she shook her head at something. They seemed to be having a grand time.
I broke into a jog to catch up to them. They heard my footsteps pounding on the road and turned.
“Kadin,” Bosh greeted me with a smile, not deterred by the scowl on my face in the slightest. “Come join us! We’re going to see a castle!”
Sure enough, I spied the tips of the Piruz castle towers in the distance. I stopped where we stood, forcing them to stop with me. I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to find the right words. “You can’t just wander off.” My voice rose louder than I intended in my frustration. “We have to figure out how to help Arie. Have you completely forgotten about her?”
Rena was small, barely five feet tall and skinny. I loomed over her without even trying, but she placed her hands on her hips, not intimidated in the slightest, glaring fiercely. “Of course not!”
“Arie is alone!” I shouted back. “She’s completely helpless while you’re going off on a little adventure.” I shoved my hands into my pockets to keep from strangling both of them, lowering my voice, forcing it to steady though it came out strained. “Gideon is willing to help us.” I waved behind me at the tall Jinni who stood further back on the road, waiting. “He only asks that you give him your Key. So tell me, what do you want for it?” Everyone had a price.
“Nothing,” she snapped, crossing her arms and turning to walk away. She yelled over her shoulder, “This Key is priceless. I’m not giving it to anyone.”
I kicked at the dust on the road. The last four years of thieving made my fingers twitch; I could just steal it. But if the Key really was spelled to return to the owner when stolen, there was no point. I couldn’t give it to Gideon, unless Rena gave it to me. Willingly.
Bosh spread his hands and shrugged apologetically. “Women, huh?” he said. Leaning in, he lowered his voice and added, “You just gotta be a little nicer. Let me talk to her.”
Rolling my eyes, I let him jog to catch up with her while I remained a few paces behind.
Bosh was a good kid. Orphaned at a young age, he’d been thin as a reed when he’d joined my crew. He was still young, but he’d filled out and grown into those wiry muscles. Sometimes I let myself pretend this is what my youngest brother would be like, if he were still alive.
So, I let him try his way, even though I was impatient. The sooner we gave this Key to Gideon, the sooner he’d help us save Arie.
Chapter 24
Rena
BOSH CAME TO ARGUE his case, so I let him speak, let him feel he’d swayed me, though I’d already made up my mind to go back. I just hated being told what to do.
“Arie needs our help,” he began.
I nodded along. I’d never said I wouldn’t help her.
“And I guess Gideon wants your Key? I don’t know if you’d be willing to give it to him, but he was offering to help us in exchange for you using the Key to help him. And I was thinking you’d said something about that yesterday, so maybe you’d be open to it?”
Throughout his speech, I continued to nod. I already knew Gideon wanted it. What he didn’t realize is that he didn’t actually need the Key at all. He simply needed me to unlock his deepest desire to return to Jinn, and he would be back home. Though, I had to admit, the price was guaranteed to be steep and extremely painful.
Perhaps, I could give him the Key—then Yuliya couldn’t have it. Would that work? Or would it go to her instead since I technically gave it to her first? The possibilities flooded in, but one stopped me. If I give him the Key, he’ll leave. And I wasn’t ready to give up hope just yet.
Bosh chattered on, steps slowing as he reasoned with me, until we came to a stop in the middle of the road.
I sighed. I would help Gideon. And Arie. And Bosh and Kadin. When I’m ready.
Off to the side, Kadin and Gideon waited, though I didn’t deign to look at them.
“So, what do you say?” Bosh asked, out of breath from the rapid speech. “Will you give us the Key?”
As Gideon stepped forward, unconsciously showing his hand, I made my decision. I would give Gideon the Key, but only after he was so smitten with me that he begged me to stay and fulfilled the other part of my deal with my sister.
I pulled the cord over my head to loosen the Key, holding it out toward Gideon. Ignoring the others, I stepped up to him, letting the Key dangle in the air between us. “I’d like to offer you a deal,” I said with a pleasant smile. “Spend the day with me, and I’ll give you the Key. As long as you help us save Arie, of course,” I amended. That should give me even more time with him. The plan was perfect.
His own hand, already halfway extended toward mine, hovered in the air so close that I could practically taste his impatience on my tongue. He pulled back and straightened. To have what he’d been searching for just inches from his grasp, yet completely out of reach.
“Just one day,” I baited him. “How bad could it be?”
Bosh was quiet. He seemed uncomfortable with tension. He’d never do well in the sea courts back home. I’d learned a long time ago not to care what someone thought of me, to mind my own business. As my father liked to say, life was simpler that way.
&n
bsp; “You’d delay us an entire day?” Kadin’s voice shook as he stepped closer until I could no longer overlook him. “What about Arie?”
I shook my head, still smiling, though not even Bosh would smile back now. “Arie is perfectly safe while Enoch is controlling her. It will be far more dangerous for her when we return. I think it would be quite wise to have an extra day to prepare a strategy, don’t you? Unless you already have a plan I’m not aware of?”
That made him pause. I pressed my advantage, curling my fingers around the Key slowly, drawing it back to my body and effectively out of sight.
The reaction from Gideon was instantaneous. “I agree.”
Though Kadin and Bosh seemed less convinced, they nodded as well.
We set out down the road back to the tavern, spread out, tense and mute.
I let myself embrace a silent victory.
Chapter 25
Kadin
I TOLD YOU THE Mere couldn’t be trusted, Gideon spoke into my mind as we returned to the village.
The others were oblivious to our silent conversation.
Though I struggled to think about anything other than Arie, my lip twitched and I almost smiled at the Jinni. I think... I hesitated over what I wanted to say. I wasn’t completely sure.
I’d told Rena to leave, yet found her more ingratiated with Bosh than ever. Maybe she’d cast a spell over him—or all of us—so that we would allow her to stay. As much as I wanted to blame her for the delay, I found myself agreeing with her suggestion that we take our time and make a plan of attack, rather than race back and hope to figure it out when we arrived.
Normally, Gideon was patient, but this time when I didn’t finish the thought, he spoke to my mind again. Tell me what you think. What is the purpose of this ploy to spend time with me?
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