Without hesitation, Neveah climbed onto the massive tree stretched between the two banks. Memories of his responsibilities came rushing back, chilling his anger and leaving a knot in his gut.
"Nev, I'm sorry," said Zayn, thinking of all the ways he was going to get punished if she fell in. "Please get off there. It's too dangerous."
"But my ponies are in there," she said, climbing carefully through the branches still stuck to the massive tree.
"I'll buy you new ones, better ones. I'm sorry, Nev. I shouldn't have done that, but you have to come back," he said, thinking about the bloated body of the Barnes boy.
Rustling leaves sounded behind him, followed by the thwack of a walnut hitting him in the back.
"Gotcha!" said Keelan, his face draining of excitement the moment he saw what was happening. "Nev, you gotta get out of there."
"I need my ponies," she said, nearing the location of her pink backpack.
"She won't listen to me," Zayn said anxiously.
"I'll get her," said Keelan, climbing onto the tree.
Zayn moved to follow, but Keelan pushed him back. "Stay downstream in case she falls in."
Zayn started to argue that it wouldn't matter if she fell in, because the water beneath the dam would probably pull her below and trap her in the trees beneath the surface of the brown water to drown, but even thinking that sucked the words from his lips.
"I'm coming too," he said, following Keelan, who moved nimbly through the branches as if they were a jungle gym.
Zayn's hand crunched down on a beetle fleeing from the shaking, but he ignored it. Sweat ran into his eyes. His heart was a rabbit in his chest.
The brown water swirled hypnotically. He missed a handhold and dropped a few feet before grabbing a bendy limb.
A crack rended the air, followed by a scream and a splash. A branch his sister had been using had split, knocking her into the water, which was tugging at her legs, bobbing her dangerously. The limb was still connected, but slowly tearing under the weight.
"Neveah, hold on," said Zayn, looking over his shoulder.
As the green wood stripped away, unreeling Neveah further into the foamy brown water, Zayn couldn't shake the picture of her bloated corpse on the river's edge from his mind.
"Nev," came the strangled word from his lips.
When the limb finally ripped away, her scream was cut off as she slipped under the water. Zayn looked for a branch to grab and reach out to her, but there was nothing within reach. He couldn't see Neveah.
From the spot beneath him, Keelan leapt into the river, going under before coming back up right away. Zayn saw a tuft of Afro sticking out of the water near Keelan.
"Over there!"
He pointed. Keelan reoriented himself, dove beneath the water, and came back up right away. He had Neveah in his arms, but he was struggling to keep her lips above water. She was gasping and sputtering, taking in more water than air.
"She's stuck, trapped," he said with fear in his eyes.
Zayn leapt, feet hitting the cold water, blinding him with a world of swirling beige. Something caught his ankle, and he felt himself being tugged further down. He yanked his foot out and came back to the top.
He paddled to them, then had to fight the current to stay in the same spot. Keelan must have found a branch under the water to stand on, probably the same one that she was trapped in.
Zayn swam under the surface and found Neveah's legs. He had to grab onto the limbs to keep from being dragged downstream, but once he had a hold, he worked down her legs to find where she was stuck.
A V in the branches had caught her ankle, another limb bound it in the back, and the force of the water was keeping them there. The air was bursting in his chest from the effort, but he kept going. Zayn curled himself around, using his body like a spreader to free her ankle.
Once he did, the weight of Neveah pulled her and Keelan past him. Zayn burst from the water, barely avoiding a log that had broken free.
Together, Zayn and his cousin dragged Neveah to the muddy bank, pulled her up out of the water, and squeezed her around the stomach until there was no more water coming out her mouth.
They lay in the mud for what seemed like hours. Then they had to make the arduous climb up the bank, which refused to cooperate. Each time they dug their hands into the soil, it slumped away.
By the time they made it out, they were covered in mud and it was near dark. Zayn held his sister's hand. The darkness normally would have frightened him, but his sister's near drowning had scared the fear out of him.
"Dad's gonna kill me," said Zayn with stark realization.
"Yep," said Neveah in a faraway voice.
"It's not so bad," said Keelan. "When my daddy whoops me, I just imagine he's beating someone else. You get used to it."
"But I ain't ever been hit before," said Zayn.
"You will now," Neveah said matter-of-factly as she squeezed his hand with a confusing show of support.
No one spoke after that. The impending involvement of the adults had put a weight on them.
When they neared the Stack, he heard his mom, Sela, calling for them.
Zayn gave a strangled response, and suddenly, all four parents were there, shining flashlights into their faces.
His dad, Maceo, shook his shoulders. "Zayn, what happened? Did someone fall in the river?"
Zayn had every intention of explaining what had happened. He'd been practicing it the whole way home. But when he opened his mouth, a wailing cry came out, and his father pulled him into an embrace.
With snot pouring out of his nose, and his face streaked with muddy tears, Zayn heard Keelan speak plainly.
"It was my fault," said Keelan. "I threw her backpack into the river because she made me mad, and when she went to get it, she fell in, and Zayn had to save her."
Zayn had no chance to counter his cousin's lie before his dad, Jesse, grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him into the woods. Zayn and his sister were marched to the pump outside the Stack.
As Keelan howled in the darkness, his father sprayed them with freezing cold water from the well. Shivering, they scrubbed the mud from their bodies.
"Don't think for a second that you're not both in trouble," said Maceo, glancing into the darkness with a frown hooked to his lips. "But not tonight. Tonight I want you to forget about the horrors of what happened. I'm sure whatever I have to say in this moment does not compare to what you've experienced. I'm just glad the three of you are alive and well."
Zayn was listening, but it was hard to pay attention because Keelan's screams kept punctuating the night air. Guilt rose up like a volcano. His lips moved without sound.
He'd always known that his uncle Jesse hit Keelan. The bruises were as plain as a wart on a frog to see, but he'd always deluded himself that his cousin was clumsy.
"Do you have something to say?" asked his father as he intently studied his face.
Before Zayn could form the first word, Jesse, red-faced and tense, marched past them into the Stack.
Neveah looked at him with wide eyes, her Afro matted to her head. That same realization was evident on her face as well. It was like they'd both gotten five years older in a few hours.
"No," came his squeaked reply.
Sela and his aunt Lydia appeared with towels and collected Neveah. When they moved to embrace him, Zayn claimed he had more to clean.
They left him outside.
Before the cicadas resumed their droning chorus, a final broken sob faded from beyond the edge of light.
Zayn found his cousin huddled against a tree, holding his knees to his chest. His jaw looked swollen.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," was all Zayn could say.
Keelan's bloodshot eyes flicked up. There was no accusation in them, just an empty stare.
"Sometimes the world don't make sense, but that doesn't mean it stops being hard," said Keelan.
Guilt rose up in Zayn like a miasma, flooding his head with an ache that threatened
to snap him in two. He moved to Keelan's side, put his arm around his shoulders. It felt awkward, like he was at the movies with a girl.
"I should have spoken up. I should have taken the blame," said Zayn.
"No," said Keelan, leaning his head on Zayn's chest. The surrender let him know how much he needed it, and so Zayn hugged his cousin harder.
"You're the good one," said Keelan. "If someone's gonna find a way out of this place, it's gonna be you. I know my place."
"That's not true," said Zayn with tears pooling. "You're good, too. We'll both find a way to get out. Together."
"Zayn."
He paused before answering. "Yeah?"
"Promise me something."
"Anything," said Zayn. "You know I'm here for you."
"If you ever get a chance to escape, do it. Don't look back. Never look back. Just go," said Keelan.
Whatever Zayn had wanted to say, it was annihilated by the force of Keelan's words. There was something almost prophetic about it, as if Keelan had seen the future. So Zayn leaned his head against his cousin, and they sat beneath the wide canopy, and above that a blanket of stars, and tried to forget that this world would never be for them.
Chapter Thirteen
The Honeycomb, December 2014
A Man, A Plan, A Mascot, Espionage
"I'm a bat," said Skylar, hanging upside down from the bottom of the lower room-cubby. Her skintight royal blue gymnastics clothing made her look like she was trying out for a superhero movie.
Even knowing about the imbuements, Zayn was impressed with the trick. Vin lobbed an orange at Skylar, which she caught and winged back.
"Did you enchant octopus suckers on the bottom of your feet?" asked Keelan.
"Eww, gross, and no," she said.
"Maybe you've reversed gravity right below my pod," said Portia.
"Not even close. Also, that's impossible," said Skylar.
Zayn had no idea himself, and he would have enjoyed standing around and speculating, but he had to get to his job at the fish market. It was completely unglamorous, but it was also his first team mission.
"You guys can guess at her trick while I'm gone, but I need to check your identities before I go," said Zayn.
"Are you my mom now?" asked Skylar in an exaggerated teenaged voice as she threw the orange at Zayn.
"You'd be lucky to have me as a mom," said Zayn, winking.
"If being suffocating, an I-told-you-so, and making little huffy noises every time someone makes a mistake makes you a mom, then you definitely are one," said Keelan.
Vin leapt onto the couch next to Keelan. "Oh, Zayn stories. After he leaves, can you tell us some?"
Keelan gave Zayn the biggest grin. "I might." He tapped on his chin. "Have I told you the one about the librarian?"
Zayn was about to object, but he realized it would be good for bonding between the team and their newest member, even if it was at his expense. Instead, he snapped his finger at Portia.
"Quick, who are you?"
Portia threw one hand in the air like a dancer hitting her final pose, flipping her hair back and stretching her lips to the heavens with a dance-kid's smile. She spoke at a thousand miles an hour with a nasally accent.
"Gemma Chávez, here, and I am your newest body-pumping instructor." She gave herself a little clap. "Today, we're going to be doing burpees, leg thrusts, and extenders. Tomorrow, you're going to hate me, because those glutes are going to be burned to the max."
Zayn had to hold back a laugh that turned into a cough. She'd gotten a job at the gym near Metallum Nocturne called Brawnies.
"How's your sister?" he asked.
"She's so mad right now, what with me totally kicking ass in Invictus, and she's just a waitress in Sacramento with her asshole husband, Chad, and two-year-old daughter, Savannah. We haven't talked in weeks," said Portia.
"When were you born?" he asked.
"Like last week," she said, tilting her head.
"So you're a Capricorn like my little sister," said Zayn.
"Sagittarius, you mean." Portia stuck her tongue out. "Did I pass?"
"With flying colors. Keelan?"
"Jack Johnson," said Keelan, in a soft East Coast accent. "I clean offices at the nearby building during the night so I can get my online degree in biology. I'm studying to be a nurse, a real one, not like these magical knuckleheads they teach here. I own a terrier and have a saltwater fish tank, which I can tell you about for hours."
"Oh, Merlin," said Vin. "You're one of those saltwater fish tank people. No one is going to bother you about anything. My uncle has one of those, and I'd rather talk to a serial killer than have him tell me again about coral reefs."
"That's Mr. Salt Water Fish tank person to you, and that's the idea," said Keelan.
"What about you, Vin?" asked Zayn.
The big man snapped his fingers. "I'll be right back."
He nimbly disappeared into the group bathroom, and within moments, it sounded like he was battling a herd of bison.
Zayn looked up to Skylar, who was still hanging upside down.
"How's the boutique?"
"Patty Yeon, second-generation Korean-American, loves clothes, and blah blah blah," she said.
"But that's just you?" asked Zayn.
"Sometimes you have to fall back on the classics," said Skylar, "and anyway, I wanted to spend some time checking out the latest fashions."
"But we're supposed to be watching Metallum Nocturne," said Zayn.
Skylar rolled her eyes. "And I will be. But if I'm going to be the team's wardrobe guru, I've got to stay current, and this class load is hell on my couture budget. This way I can find out if the Parisian cheongsams are going to be high waisted or empire this season."
Zayn blinked a few times before responding. "I'm going to assume you just spoke English. Try to actually watch the Hall while you're doing research if you can. This is important."
Skylar switched to a Southern drawl. "I believe, sir, you have impugned my good name with your accusations."
Zayn had no time for a response before the bathroom door flew open, revealing a giant purple mushroom holding a pair of novelty wands that spit sparks. It took a moment to realize what he was seeing.
"Are you the mascot for Psychedelic Sam's Silly Wand Shop?" asked Zayn.
A muffled voice came from inside the giant costume. "The one and only."
Zayn could only stare and scratch his head. "I don't know what to say."
"If you sort of squint, he looks like an engorged penis," said Portia.
"Wow," said Keelan with his eyes wide, "and now I cannot unsee it."
"Where did you get that thing?" asked Portia. "Was there a tryout or did you steal it?"
A muffled voice came from inside the giant mushroom. "I bought one for myself. I thought it'd be a great distraction for a heist since there are wand shops all over the world."
There was a general eyeroll in the room at mention of a heist. It was Vin's dream to be part of a heist, and Zayn wondered if that was the real reason he'd joined the Academy. Clearly he'd watched too many magical heist movies as a kid.
"Aren't you going to ask it, I mean him, any questions?" said Skylar.
"I think the giant talking erection is safe from any interrogations. It's a little unorthodox, but I'm guessing that's the best possible disguise for this situation," said Zayn.
The giant purple mushroom bent at the middle. "At your service."
"On that note, I think it's time I take my leave. You guys, have a great time," said Zayn.
#
The Newtown Fish Market was an open-air building filled with stalls covered in ice and fish. Since he'd only worked at the market for a few days, Zayn was relegated to the back, unloading crates of fresh fish from the trucks that came in daily. The fishmongers stood in the stalls, selling salmon, crab legs, halibut, snapper, walleye, and a hundred other varieties to the crowds.
The work was hard, especially because he didn't allow himself t
o use his physical imbuement. Zayn figured they'd suspect something if he wasn't exhausted and sore at the end of each workday. He worked as an extra hauler on the weekends, when they needed more strong backs.
He couldn't see Metallum Nocturne, except when he hauled the crates to the fishmonger stalls, and since he was the new guy, and likely only temporary, no one really talked to him. Zayn used the time when he was chin-deep in boxes to practice the spellwork in his head. Since he wasn't going days without sleep, and the classes hadn't gotten any easier, he had to find a way to keep up.
He had to frequently remind himself the reason why he was at the Newtown Fish Market, which was surveillance on the hall, but he felt like, despite the prediction from Oculus hall, he wasn't likely to see the Gurken again. It was only a condition that he was at the fish market, not that he see the brutal assassin.
So it was to Zayn's great surprise that his enhanced senses picked up the sharp smell of faez behind the hall. This by itself wasn't unusual, but what was unusual was that it came with a low hum that he could feel in his gut. Zayn had the same experience when he'd first encountered the Gurken's sword.
Zayn grabbed his stomach and grimaced. "Hey, can I take an early break? Those kimchi raviolis I had last night are doing a number on my pipes."
His foreman shook his head. "Can't you hold it? We get charged for how long this truck is here."
Zayn let his eyes widen a little, as if his stomach had just sent a second warning salvo to his brain.
"I'd really rather..."
"Fine," said the foreman. "Damn kids these days can't be counted on for anything. Go. And wash your hands—twice—before you come back."
Zayn ran into the market, skipping right past the bathrooms, and to the side street that led to Metallum Nocturne. The hall was a circular building with a cupola at the center, which spat black smoke at all hours of the day and night. In the evening, a reddish glow from the forge shone on the nearby buildings. Faint banging could be heard if the market was quiet, which only happened after hours.
But it wasn't after hours, and even with his imbuement, it was hard to pick up where it was he needed to be. At the street side, he couldn't sense the vibration any more, and faez itself wasn't unusual. Judging by the front of the hall, massive iron doors beneath an arch, there was nothing happening. But looks could be deceiving, so Zayn decided to get a better view.
The Reluctant Assassin Boxset Page 34