Jonas glanced to Twist with teal-blue eyes, clearly agreeing with his reasoning, while Kima’s face washed over with inspiration.
“That’s true,” she said, nodding. “I forgot. We have the same enemy.”
Twist was silently grateful that she was continuing to not use the word “fairy” out loud. As silly as the whole business seemed to him, he didn’t think it was a good idea to disregard Mama’s warnings.
“See?” Jonas asked, drawing her attention back. “Even more reason to come on an adventure with us.”
Kima smiled at him, and this time it looked genuine on her face. “Maybe I should.”
“Hey, Twist,” Jonas said, looking to him. “Would you mind telling Aden that she’s coming along, before he buys a ticket to send her off with Monti?”
“Right away,” Twist said, glancing toward the ticket counter to find that Aden had finally reached it. “I’ll just be a moment,” he said, hurrying off.
Aden seemed surprised by the news when Twist interrupted his transaction, but he made the change without a moment’s hesitation. Twist thanked him and then turned back to rejoin Jonas and Kima. On returning, he was startled to hear Kima laugh lightly at something Jonas had said.
Twist stopped short and watched the two of them in wonder. The fact that Jonas had managed to lighten her mood so quickly simply astonished him. If Twist had been left to comfort her alone, she would surely still be miserable. As brash and brazen as he might like people to think he was, Jonas was truly the kindest man Twist had ever known. He was glad that Kima had found her way into Jonas’s favor.
The gigantic submersible sat in the rough surf outside Le Harve like a watchful and treacherous titan, sent by Poseidon himself to judge the unassuming French port.
Instead of the more common tubular design of other submersibles Twist had seen, this mechanical beast took the shape of an enormous, gleaming, black manta ray, with wide, arcing wings—each defined with fine, dotted lines of glowing porthole windows—that dimmed and vanished beneath the dark, white-tipped waves. Despite the depth of the water and the bright sky above, two points of brilliant light shone in the gloom to illuminate the gaping maw of the submersible through the ghostly shadows of the sea. Twist had been told that from the mouth-like front of the vessel to the end of its needle-pointed tail, it lay five hundred feet long and three hundred wide.
Twist could easily imagine that the large, central observation dome that stood thirty feet high at the head of the ship, which blazed with electric light even in the sunlight, was the beast’s single, searching eye. Though there was a steady stream of hundreds of men and women moving toward the ship from the jetty that met the small open deck beside the glowing glass eye, Twist knew that this monster’s mission was not for the faint of heart. Only the bravest and boldest could ever hope to win its acceptance as companion as it struck out for ancient mysteries in the darkest depths of the Atlantic.
“Holy hell, that is one evil-looking ship.”
Twist smiled at Jonas’s comment. “I’m quite pleased that the Rooks count us as their friends,” Twist offered. “Aren’t you?”
“Remind me to be nicer to Aden,” Jonas agreed. “I wouldn’t want him to finally get fed up with my insolence and remember that he actually has an army, and a navy, and hundreds of imaginative and colorful means with which to squash me into jelly.”
Twist laughed and lifted a hand to pat his friend on the shoulder. The contact filled the forefront of his attention with a wave of chilly, calm, white fog. “There, there, old boy,” Twist said. “You and I discovered Atlantis for him. I’m sure he has no intention of squashing either of us into jelly, no matter how many nasty-looking sea monsters he has at his command.”
“Good point,” Jonas said. “Never mind, then. I shall carry on being insolent.”
“As you should.” Twist chuckled. “A man should know what he’s about.”
Jonas turned to Twist with a warning glance, catching the mocking echo of his own words, though the illusion in his eyes remained a pure blue color to Twist’s Sight. Twist shook his head, marveling at how much his friend enjoyed pretending to take offense. He considered offering Jonas another harmless taunt, so that they might both enjoy a friendly battle for false honor, but the sound of a gasp from behind them stole his attention.
Twist turned toward the sound and found a familiar face in the thick and busy crowd that meandered over the docks behind them. Natasha Samara, the elegant and mysterious magician, stared back at him in delighted surprise. She hurried closer as her fine smile grew on her perfectly painted, ruby lips. Her billowing gown matched the red of her lips in shimmering satin, while a pure snowy-white jacket clung tight to her shoulders and slender waist, under a fluffy black fox stole.
“Twist, darling!” she exclaimed in her light Russian accent as she met him. “And Jonas, as well! What a pleasant surprise it is to see you both.”
“Tasha?” Jonas asked in equal surprise as he turned to her but only briefly let his naked gaze touch her face. Tasha pulled him into a swift embrace, which Jonas returned happily. “What the devil are you doing here?” he asked as they released each other. “The last time I saw you was all the way back in New York, ages ago.”
“Yes, it has been too long,” Tasha agreed, before turning to Twist again. “Aden has called out to all of his advisers and agents to help him in Atlantis. Truly, Atlantis!” she added with unhindered excitement. “Naturally, Niko and I accepted immediately. We’ve only just arrived from Kiev. What brings you fine gentlemen here?”
“We’re going along with the expedition as well,” Twist answered.
Jonas lifted an arm to lean his elbow casually on Twist’s shoulder. “Twist and I discovered Atlantis, you know,” he added smugly.
“Good heavens!” Tasha exclaimed. “Did you really?”
“We didn’t discover it on purpose,” Twist snapped at Jonas, shrugging off his elbow. “We were taken there by magic, and quite against our will, if you remember.”
Tasha’s excitement shifted quickly to alarm, and she raised lace-gloved fingers to cover her gaping mouth.
Jonas frowned at Twist and crossed his arms. “Spoilsport.”
“Well, you shall certainly have to tell me about all of that,” Tasha said earnestly, her alarm dimming as she seemed to notice Twist’s and Jonas’s casual air on the subject. “But it seems that we are both bound for the same ship, after all. I’m so pleased,” she added, clasping her lace-gloved hands.
“Yes, I’m very happy to find we aren’t going to be alone with all these magpies,” Jonas said with a smile.
“It’s unwise to call them that to their faces, you know,” Tasha said softly to Jonas through a playful smirk.
“Unwise, but entertaining,” Jonas assured her.
Tasha laughed quietly into her gloved fingers. “But surely,” she added, as if hoping to change the subject before any of the Rooks around them overheard, “lovely Myra is coming along with us, as well?”
“Oh yes,” Twist answered. “She’s gone to shop with a friend before we leave. The train station in Troyes didn’t have any nice snacks, you see,” he offered as explanation. “Myra is intent on finding snacks, for some reason. She should be back any moment, actually.”
“Speak of the devil…” Jonas mentioned, nodding to his left, into the crowd.
Although Twist didn’t appreciate the title inherent in the phrase, he looked into the crowd and quickly found Myra in the fray. The shining copper metal of her skin gleamed in the sunlight as she came closer. Twist also spotted Kima beside her, but the two of them seemed to be speaking with someone else as they walked.
When the women stepped free of the busy crowd, Tasha’s constant companion, Niko, emerged with them. Twist was surprised to find a smile on the young man’s normally inexpressive face. His sharp, pale features looked significantly less severe than Twist remembered, but his nearly luminous blue eyes looked reassuringly imposing nonetheless. The young man’s black su
it hung well on his slender form, perfectly concealing the strange electrical weapons that Twist knew he always wore up his sleeves.
“Oh, Twist!” Myra exclaimed happily upon seeing him. “Look who we’ve found!” she said, presenting Niko, who offered Twist and Jonas a shallow nod.
“Hello, my dear,” Tasha said warmly to Myra, holding out her arms.
Myra gave a delighted sound and rushed into the magician’s embrace, her metal face a picture of bliss. Twist’s hands itched to reach out and catch a moment of the enticing, brilliant emotions that were clearly filling Myra’s heart with light as the two friends were reunited. Propriety stayed his hand and held him in place. Kima was quickly introduced to Tasha as well, and both parties were given a swift explanation of how they all knew each other. Twist noticed, however, that Jonas was careful not to mention anything about Storm when speaking about Kima.
“Are you coming along with us to Atlantis, Kima?” Tasha asked her pleasantly.
“It seems like I am,” she answered, looking still a bit unsure about the whole idea. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“It’s boring to have places to go,” Jonas declared lazily. “It’s much more fun to wander around the world and get into trouble.”
Kima smiled at him for this ridiculous opinion, but Tasha glanced at Jonas suspiciously for an instant. Niko shook his head, looking at Jonas knowingly.
“You certainly have a knack for finding trouble,” Niko said. “I’ve never met anyone who got into trouble as often as you do, Jonas.”
“Oh, Niko…” Jonas gasped with a sudden, coy smile. “Flattery will get you everywhere, you know.”
Niko shot a glare at the hyperbole, but Kima chuckled. Twist saw every sign that Jonas’s good mood would lead him to victory in this battle and Niko to nothing but confusion and frustration. He considered pretending to take Niko’s side, to join in and enjoy the battle himself.
“Oh, you be nice,” Myra said to Jonas with an admonishing wave. “You’ve been in a silly mood all day.”
Jonas pouted at her.
“But he’s fun when he’s acting silly,” Kima mentioned forlornly.
Tasha looked to Kima, somewhat startled. Jonas, however, looked deeply pleased with her comment. His eyes went as blue as the sky above, and the buzzing at Twist’s neck turned warm and smooth. Twist silently began to suspect that Jonas’s silly mood might be designed specifically to banish Kima’s gloom.
“That’s true,” Myra agreed, smiling at Jonas in the same way one might at a devious puppy. “All right, never mind,” she said to Jonas. “Niko, you’re on your own.”
Jonas grinned at Niko with a predatory gleam.
Niko gave a sigh. “Lovely.”
Twist held back his own chuckle at the delightful absurdity of all of his friends. The trip ahead seemed more inviting, given who he would be traveling with.
Considering the sheer number of passengers that the Rook submersible was going to carry to Atlantis, everyone was asked to check in with the quartermaster and hand their heavy luggage over to the porters. This way, everyone’s sleeping arrangements could be organized beforehand, and there would be less confusion on board.
Rooks and civilians were asked to fall into separate lines to check in with the quartermaster and his many assistants, causing Tasha and Niko to part from the others. Twist, Myra, Jonas, and Kima, however, kept close together as they joined the already rather long line of other civilians who were waiting to check in. Finally reaching the front of the line, Twist found himself faced with a man in a blue uniform, clipboard in hand.
“What is your name, sir?” he asked, glancing up at Twist.
“Twist,” he replied.
The man nodded; he read over his clipboard and made a mark with his pencil. “How many in your party?”
“Four,” Twist answered, glancing at his friends.
“Do you wish to be lodged close to each other, or does that matter to you?” the man asked, sounding rather impartial about the whole matter.
“Oh, I’d rather we were near each other,” Myra answered.
The man glanced at her clearly for the first time and paused, staring at her shining, copper face. Myra smiled back at him pleasantly.
“That’s no trouble,” the man said, snapping out of his trance. He scribbled on a paper ticket and handed it to Twist “Here you are. Please wait to board, just over here.”
Twist glanced at the number the man had written on his ticket and then stuffed the ticket into a pocket as he and his friends stepped into a wide, open, but increasingly populated space right beside the edge of the dock. From here they had a much closer view of the ship. Twist looked curiously up the long gangway that led from the edge of the waiting area to the exposed back of the massive submersible. Easily a hundred blue-and-silver-clad porters hurried back and forth over the gangway, with load after load of luggage and equipment.
Myra took Twist’s arm, spilling a bright, sunny joy into his Sight. “Oh, isn’t this all exciting?” she asked. “I’ve never gone on an expedition before. How thrilling!”
Twist nodded, her joy bringing a smile to his face.
Jonas, standing nearby with Kima, mentioned, “We go on trips all the time.”
“But this is different,” Myra protested. “This time we’re on a voyage of discovery and adventure!”
“But we’ve already been there,” Jonas said, calling a pouting look from Myra.
“Now, now, Jonas,” Twist said tightly, glancing at the gathering crowd around them. “I realize you’re enjoying yourself and all, but please don’t make Myra too upset.”
Myra looked to Twist questioningly at his tone, her emotions cooling.
“Your joy is delightfully distracting, my dear,” Twist clarified.
As if on cue, a man came to stand near enough that Twist was forced to shift slightly away from him to remain out of danger of any accidental contact. Myra moved instantly, pulling Twist to stand on her other side to shield him somewhat from the crowd, while Jonas slipped closer to him as well to guard his back. Kima watched this with mild curiosity and seemed ready to ask about it.
“Is that better, darling?” Myra asked gently to Twist.
“Thank you,” Twist muttered, once again wishing he weren’t forced to lean so heavily on his friends.
“What say we suspiciously assess our fellow shipmates?” Jonas asked. “These don’t look anything like the usual ruffians we travel with.”
Twist and his friends surveyed the other passengers openly, finding no cause to hide their curiosity. Few of the men and women around looked at all alike, and the differences gave the crowd a chaotic appearance. Twist recognized features and costumes from nearly every country he’d recently visited, along with others that were new to him. Some men were broad-shouldered and solidly built, while others appeared as slender as acrobats. Few of the women in the crowd—who accounted for about a third of the total number—wore womanly attire, preferring trousers to skirts, and most kept their hair short or bound. All of those who did wear feminine clothing seemed to shine with elegance and aristocratic pride.
“Who are all of these people, anyway?” Jonas asked. “Not many are wearing the usual magpie uniform.”
Twist nodded, noticing little more than a smattering of the traditional sharp, black suits that the European Rooks usually wore. The more casual attire that Kima and the Australian Rooks had worn was hard to distinguish from ordinary clothing.
“They must be the scientists and engineers,” Kima offered.
“Why does he need so many of them with you around?” Jonas asked Twist. “All you have to do is touch something once and you can tell him all he wants to know.”
Twist’s immediate reaction was to counter Jonas’s statement, but he paused when he realized that he was, essentially, correct. Twist had in fact managed to utilize all of the strange contraptions he had encountered in his short visit to the ancient underwater city.
“But that would be so mu
ch work for one person,” Myra said. “I didn’t see much of it, but you told me that the city was huge.”
“Yes, it is,” Twist said, nodding. “You’re right. It would be exhausting to do all of the explaining myself.”
Jonas silently nodded his own agreement with this theory as well.
“Excuse me, sir,” a voice said from behind Twist. He turned to find a smartly dressed porter with a clipboard in his hand. “You are Twist, aren’t you?”
“I am,” Twist responded. “Is something wrong?”
“No, no,” the porter said.“Just dotting an I and crossing a T. The quartermaster asked me to follow up with you. You are Sighted, aren’t you?”
Twist felt his anxiety rise to be asked such a question so bluntly. “Well, yes,” he muttered, frowning now.
“Oh, well, it’s just that you didn’t say anything when you checked in, and your name wasn’t marked properly,” the porter said with a wide, pleasant smile. “It’s no trouble, though. What sense does your Sight affect?” he asked, pencil poised on his clipboard.
“Why do you need to know that?” Jonas asked, his voice smooth but his tone chilly.
“For the manifest,” the porter answered, seeming confused. “With so many Sighted individuals on board, it was decided that we should keep track of them to make sure that everyone is comfortable. We don’t want to accidentally have someone with a hearing Sight or a sensitivity to vibrations trying to sleep in a room too near the engines, now do we?” he asked with a friendly air. “But you and your friends aren’t Rooks, so it’s of course quite reasonable that you wouldn’t know about the mandate. No harm done,” he added, his pencil still poised expectantly.
“Wait, wait,” Twist said, holding up a hand. “How many Sighted people are coming on this expedition?”
“Two hundred and forty-seven have responded to Aden’s invitation,” the porter said, glancing to his clipboard. “So far, just under two hundred have arrived.”
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