by Linsey Hall
Bodies. Definitely bodies.
I hadn’t had much time for pop culture, but the mob and the big city always sprang to mind first for me.
Pretty morbid, really.
Shen turned to us. “I’ll take you as far as the main gates. From there, you’ll use your disguise to get in. You’re traders, heading toward the market, and you’re only there for a few hours.” He dug into his pocket and handed me a small piece of silver attached to a chain. “When you need a ride back, press this. You can’t transport out of there, so you’ll have to wait for me. I’ll be there within forty minutes. Maybe less. You’ll be able to talk to me and get updates.”
“Where will you pick us up? The drop-off point?”
“There’s a tracking beacon on there. If you have to, you can depart their city anywhere, and I’ll find you.”
“Good.” If we got in trouble while hunting The Three, we might need to bail quickly.
“Your contact will be Jonnie, a kid that you’re most likely to find in the Daggered Heart, a bar that’s popular with outsiders. He’s got red hair and a tattoo of a bird on his neck.”
“What language do they speak? Will we be able to find the bar, or will the sign be in Fomorian?”
“You’ll recognize it, don’t worry. I think it’s at the back of town, far from the entrance.” His gaze hardened. “Whatever you do, don’t let them know you work for the Protectorate.”
Lachlan nodded. “No problem.”
Shen dug into his pocket and handed us each two tiny pills. “Take one of those. It’ll help underwater.”
I grinned. “Give us gills?”
“No, but it will keep you from dying. Take the other right before I pick you up.”
I nodded, popping the pill in my mouth. I thought maybe I could breathe underwater. But now wasn’t really the time to experiment. We needed to get this right. Warmth flowed through me as I swallowed the pill, a spark of magic that changed my body.
Shen’s eyes widened. “Okay, you did that quick. Let’s get moving.”
As soon as he said the words, breathing became harder. Oops.
I struggled to gasp in a breath as Shen leapt into the water. As he splashed in, blue light bloomed around him, billowing out into the darkened river.
A second later, a dragon’s head popped up. It had that distinctly Chinese look that was so different from European dragons. A broader head and brilliant emerald eyes, along with long whiskers. Sort of. I didn’t know enough about Chinese dragon anatomy to guess what exactly they were called.
He was long, nearly thirty feet, and shaped more like a snake, with horn-like protrusions coming off his back.
With my lungs burning, I leapt into the river. The cold shocked a gasp from me, and as soon as I stuck my head in the water, I could breathe. It wasn’t easy—more like sucking pudding into my lungs—but at least I could feel oxygen moving to my muscles.
Lachlan splashed in next to me, and we grabbed onto the dragon’s back horns. I straddled him, with Lachlan a few feet behind me, and clung on.
Shen turned his head around, eyeing us with his gleaming emerald eyes. This close, his fangs glinted white. I really didn’t want to get any closer to those giant chompers.
Then he plunged into the river. Cold enveloped me as he sped through the water.
At first it was dark. I couldn’t make out anything beneath the Hudson River. Which, given my preoccupation with mobsters and bodies, was fine by me.
The water seemed to race by at an unnatural speed. Faster than any kind of man-made submarine could go, at least.
By the time we made it out into the ocean, I could feel the difference. It felt cleaner down here, almost easier to breathe. Still pudding, but thin pudding.
And I realized that two massive beams of green light shot from Shen’s face. His eyes, illuminating the water. The river must have been too full of mud and other crap for the light to cut through. Or he hadn’t wanted humans spotting us. I had no idea.
But I liked the view of the ocean. It was pitch black anywhere that the light of his eyes didn’t shine. But within the emerald gleam, I occasionally caught sight of a shark or a school of silver fish.
Normally, a shark might scare the crap out of me. But we were going so fast that the animals didn’t stand a chance of catching us. I barely had a half second to even look at them before Shen dodged around.
As we cut through the ocean, deeper and deeper, my lungs began to burn. The pill was wearing off. Or it didn’t like the depth.
Panic tugged at my mind briefly, but then my new magic seemed to kick in. Suddenly, breathing was a bit easier. As if Shen’s charm wearing off had helped my own magic break through.
We needed to get there soon, though, because Lachlan didn’t have this kind of helpful magic. Worry bloomed in my chest.
In the distance, I caught sight of a massive glowing dome.
Holy fates.
A city was built within, towers spiraling toward the top of the dome. Smaller domes were connected via little tunnels that made it possible to reach the annexes.
Was this what ancient scholars had meant by Atlantis? I had to assume so.
Shen slowed his approach as we neared one of the annexes. It was about the size of a large house, and inside, I could spot three guards.
Shen pulled to a stop at the edge of the annex, swimming right through an open spot in the water. A bubble of air. He made sure to keep his head out of the air, but the middle of his body, where we were sitting, was suddenly within the bubble.
I gasped, grateful for my first full breath. Beside me, Lachlan drew in a ragged breath. We climbed off of Shen, and he zipped away, disappearing into the water.
I looked up, awed. The dome itself wasn’t made of plastic or glass, but rather magic. There was nothing between me and the ocean except this magical bubble. It made the air cool and humid, as if there was a ton of water mixed up with the oxygen.
“What’s yer purpose?” a gravelly voice demanded.
Startled, I looked toward the other side of the bubble. There was a gate made of a strange white material—almost like bones. Whale bones?
I shivered and stepped toward the gate.
Three guards stood behind it, eyeing us suspiciously. The guards looked like fish demons of some sort, with green skin and gills at the sides of their necks. Their hair was made of seaweed, or something like it. They were probably perfect for this job, able to swim out and grab anyone who tried to take a water route.
Behind them, the tunnel stretched toward the main part of the city.
“We’re here to trade energy stones at the market,” Lachlan said.
Three pairs of brows rose at that.
“Energy stones?” demanded the gravel-voiced demon. “Those are rare.”
“That’s why we want to sell them.” Lachlan grinned, and for the first time, it almost looked a little sleazy. He was trying to put on an act, I realized. He wasn’t bad. “We’ll get a pretty penny for something as rare as this.”
He dug into his bag and grabbed something, then held up the only energy stone that was actually an energy stone. I had the other one in my pocket. It gleamed with a bright white light, and I couldn’t help the covetous surge inside me. There was just something about these things that was so danged appealing.
Apparently, the guards agreed, because they opened the gate.
I stepped forward.
“Hold up!” Fish Man held up a hand, his face imperious. “Got to inspect the cargo.”
Uh-oh.
There was a whole heck of a lot of greed on his face. More than he should have had, if he were just letting us through.
Nerves thrummed inside me. I shot Lachlan a glance as two of the three guards strode toward us. From the crease in his brow and the stiffness of his shoulders, I had to guess that Lachlan sensed the threat, too.
The gate slammed shut, leaving one guard behind, presumably with the button that would allow us entrance.
“Show us your cargo,” Fish Man
growled.
“He meant to say, give us your cargo,” said the other guard.
Well, triple crap.
My gaze darted between the two guards who’d stopped in front of us, and the one who stood behind the gate. He had to press that button to let us through, so I couldn’t kill him. And I couldn’t alert him to our intentions by killing these guys either.
What the heck are we going to do?
“How about one stone?” Lachlan bargained.
“All of them.”
If they got all of them, they’d realize we were frauds.
“Two stones,” I said. “Our best ones.”
“There is no best. There’s just stones,” said Fish Man. “And we want ‘em all.”
“Then we’ll have nothing to trade and no way to pay our ride out of here,” I said.
“Not our problem.”
Crap. Okay, this was trouble.
My mind raced as my eyes darted all over the space. When they landed on Bojangles, who sat behind the guards who were hassling us, I almost gasped.
I bit it back.
The guard behind the gate couldn’t see Bojangles where he sat.
Push the button! I begged with my mind, praying that Bojangles could hear me or understand me. Or at least interpret the situation for himself.
If this were Muffin, or even Princess Snowflake III, we’d have no trouble. But sweet Bojangles who chased his tail and maybe only had two brain cells to rub together?
I wasn’t feeling super confident.
He grinned briefly, his white fangs glinting in the light, then his form shimmered and he disappeared. He was using his new invisibility power, I realized.
Was he doing what I’d asked?
“Well, hand it over!” Fish Man demanded.
Slowly, I began to remove my satchel, hoping to buy us a bit of time to see what Bojangles would do. Or if any of the other cats would show up.
Fish Man made a grabby-hands gesture, and I scowled. My heart thundered as I watched the guard behind the gate.
Suddenly, he shrieked, stumbling backward and slapping at his face. Red streaks appeared there.
Bojangles was attacking!
Lachlan and I leapt on the guards, taking them down to the ground.
Then time slowed. The guards stilled beneath us, frozen by Lachlan’s magic.
“What now?” I asked.
“I don’t think we should kill them,” he said. “We’re in their realm. They’re technically demons. I don’t know how the rules work here, but if we kill them, their souls might regenerate here.”
“Good point.” It was possible it wouldn’t happen—the rules surrounding demons and their bodies were kinda weird sometimes—but we had to play it safe. “Bojangles! Don’t kill him. Just incapacitate.”
The little cat shrieked with malicious glee. He was probably mauling the hell out of the frozen demon.
“I’m going to unfreeze time,” Lachlan said.
“Okay.” I called a mallet from the ether. I rarely used this weapon, but on a whim, I’d imbued it with the spell that would keep it stored in my personal arsenal.
As time unfroze and the demon beneath me started struggling, I swung the mallet up, then smashed it into his head. Not enough to crush his skull, but he slumped to the side, unconscious. Lachlan did the same with his fist.
“Go get the other,” he said. “He’s probably nearly dead. I’ll take care of these guys.”
I scrambled to my feet and hurried to the gate. “Bojangles! Push the big button!”
I still couldn’t see the cat, but the guard was a bloody mess on the floor. I winced at the sight of the deep scratches. Somehow, they looked even more painful than regular old sword wounds.
A moment later, the big button depressed. Bojangles appeared, sitting on top of it and grinning like mad. It was a slightly insane look, to be honest, but sweet in its own way.
The whale bone gate creaked open, and I rushed through.
“Did you kill him?”
Bojangles meowed, but I couldn’t understand him. The guard looked unconscious, at the very least. His clothing was made of a rough brown leather-type material, and he had more strips of leather tied around his arms.
“Fish Man chic,” I muttered as I yanked one of the arm bands off and tied it around his mouth. I did the same with two more bands, binding his arms and feet, then I stood and looked at Lachlan. “What are we going to do with them?”
“I’ve got a plan.” He bent down and grabbed one Fish Man, swinging him over his shoulder. He did the same with another. “Be right back.”
He stepped toward the edge of the dome, and his magic swelled on the air. The scent of evergreen with the taste of caramel on my tongue. He stopped at the edge of the dome, staring at the water. A moment later, it bowed inward, forming a space for him to walk into. The water kept pushing away from him, moving back and creating a fresh tunnel for him to walk through.
He got to an outcropping of rocks about twenty yards away and dropped the Fish Men there. One by one, he wedged them into a crevice in the rock, then he turned back and walked through the tunnel he’d made. The water closed in behind him, submerging the fish men, who were stuck between the rocks, unable to float away.
“Badass,” I said as he appeared back in the tunnel. “I knew you could control water, but that’s something else.”
“It’s one of my more powerful gifts. Someone will find them eventually. But with their gills, they should survive.”
I looked down at my Fish Man, then out at the water. I wanted to try, too.
“I’m going to try,” I said. “Will you help me drag him?”
While I could slowly drag one along the ground, we needed to move faster than that.
“Aye, I’ll help. You’ve got new magic?”
“I think so.”
Lachlan swept the Fish Man up into his arms as I stepped toward the wall of water behind me. I touched my fingertips to the tattoo of the torc around my neck, feeling it warm beneath my fingertips.
Slowly, I sucked in a breath and felt for the water around me, calling upon my magic in order to bend it to my will. Like a light switch turning on, I felt the water. Felt it, like I could feel my limbs.
A part of me.
I commanded the water to retreat, and it pressed backward, leaving an empty space for me to step into.
Wow.
Using my magic was so much easier than it had been. The torc really did help.
Victory, and a sense of accomplishment, flowed through me, making me grin. I walked along as the water parted for me, feeling like a magical Moses.
“Nicely done,” Lachlan said from behind.
“Thanks. I can feel the difference in my magic. It’s amazing.”
As soon as we reached the outcropping of rock, Lachlan stuffed the Fish Man in with his buddies, then we returned to the dome.
Bojangles was gone, no doubt off in search of something to eat.
“Your crew comes in handy,” Lachlan said.
“I know. Lucky to have them.” I started down the tunnel toward the main part of the city, my pace brisk. “We just need to disappear into the crowd before anyone finds the missing guards.”
“Aye. Hopefully there will be more humans than just us.”
12
As it turned out, there weren’t more humans. Almost everyone that we saw when we reached the main part of town—the big bubble, as I liked to think of it—looked like a demon. Many of them had a fishy appearance, with gills and weeds for hair.
But some of them were more of the regular demonic variety. These were the bad guys of Celtic myth, and they looked it.
Fortunately, no one paid us too much attention as we walked down the street. There were a few glares, but otherwise, people ignored us. Apparently, they needed traders from the outside. Thank fates for Shen and his costumes.
Lachlan stuck close to my side as we passed buildings made of white stone that looked like bleached-out coral. Sea shell
s decorated some windowsills and doorways, but it didn’t look cheery and beachy. Far from it.
Maybe it was the roofs, which dripped with dark seaweed. Insulation?
I had no idea.
The whole place was creepy, though. And the air felt way too wet to be comfortable.
“Shen said the Daggered Heart was on the other side of town, right?” I asked.
“Aye. We’re getting close.”
We passed a shop selling clamshells of all sizes, and another that specialized in pearls. There was a potions shop that looked like something out of The Vaults, and another that sold carriages pulled by giant seahorses. Or at least, that’s what the sign said. I saw no trace of giant seahorses. The carriages were cool, though.
A man with a snail’s shell for the back half of his body slimed past us, glaring and muttering, “Disgusting humans.”
“He’s one to talk.” I turned around and checked out his slime trail, which gleamed behind him, then turned back to Lachlan. “This place is wild. No wonder Caro wanted to come.”
“Aye, once in a lifetime.”
“That’ll be enough for me.”
Something in the nearby shop window caught my eye. Muffin, sitting on a pile of fish. He had a skinny silver one chomped in his mouth and looked like he was in heaven. The shop owner was nowhere to be seen, and I didn’t want to know what had happened to him.
“Muffin!” I hissed.
He turned to look at me, green eyes gleaming with excitement. He spat the fish out. Come on in, the fish is great!
“We have a job to do,” I said.
He scowled. I find paradise, and the first thing you want to do is drag me away? Buzzkill.
I shook my head and kept walking. If I really needed help, I was confident that Muffin would show up. For now, I’d let him enjoy the fruits of his labor. Or murder. Or whatever it was he’d done to get that shop to himself.
“I think that’s it.” Lachlan pointed to a sign up ahead.
It hung off the door, protruding over the street. The thing was made of wood and carved to look like a dagger stabbing straight into a heart.
“Yeah, let’s hope Jonnie is here.” I turned into the bar, immediately impressed.
It was done up like an old timey dance hall, or something like it. I didn’t have enough experience with bars to say exactly what it was styled like, but there were cancan dancers on a stage at the back, their legs flying in the air beneath ruffly green skirts decorated with seaweed. They had fish heads, though, instead of human, and I kinda liked it.