by Ellie Margot
“No,” Mekhi said, but he dragged the word out. He looked to Cassian, who was softly snoring next to them. Mekhi turned back to Riette and raised an eyebrow.
“I wasn’t talking to anyone but myself.”
“Yeah, I’m supposed to look out for your ass turning crazy too.”
“Who said that?” Riette asked. She shook her head slightly and reared back.
“Who hasn’t?”
“I’m not full-blown crazy. Just because I visit—”
“Just because you talk to yourself and almost fell for Water Boy Wonder.”
“Water Boy Wonder?” Riette asked.
“You know. Tall, dark, and deadly? Mr. Under the Sea?”
“I didn’t fall for him or anything else.”
“So you’re crazy naturally.”
“Crazy like a fox.”
“As long as you’re not one of those sea monkey fuckers, I’m fine with whatever issues you come with. Come on, Georgette wants us upstairs. Apparently, we don’t have long before we arrive.”
“Thankfully,” Riette said.
“Right. I don’t think you can handle much boat living. This one either.” He gestured at Cassian.
They spent the next part of the day and into the night putting the ship back in order. The monkey bodies were easy to get rid of, but the blue residue they left behind was not. Georgette barked initial orders, and no one fought her. Jeffery ran the ship in her absence as she steered from the helm and then went to her office.
Riette wanted to get back downstairs to examine her new acquisition, but she couldn’t leave Mekhi without looking suspicious, and it would be hard to get a good look at the monkey with so many people milling around.
“Tomorrow, we’ll be there,” said Jeffery. He blinked his big eye and pointed to the small bit of land that was becoming clearer in the distance. Riette looked at Jeffery. Despite all the stuff they’d gone through to get to this point, she didn’t feel tired, nothing like Cassian did.
“Why am I not passed out like Cassian?” she asked aloud. “Why are none of the Elves tired outside of Vitan perpetually?”
“There’s probably a number of factors, but I’m guessing the boat.”
“How would the boat help?” Mekhi asked. “Why didn’t that help Cassian then?”
“It’s mainly of Vitan trees,” said Jeffery. “From what I’ve been told. As far as your friend isconcerned, sometimes you overextend yourself. Vitan can’t always fix that.”
Jeffery offered them a shrug and then walked a few feet away to straighten.
“I feel like it’s taking forever to get there,” said Mekhi. His words sounded light, but he scratched his arm and didn’t look away from the shore he was squinting to see.
Riette knew that it was killing them, both of them, to not know where Corin was or if she was okay.
“We’ll find her,” Riette said. She said it softly, as to not let Jeffery overhear.
“I know.” He stopped for a second before barely speaking above a whisper. “I just hope she wants to be found.”
Eventually, sleep did come for Riette. It was the one thing she couldn’t get enough of when sleep did call her. She checked her bag when no one was looking, and all she saw was Bark looking up at her, betrayal showing in his little eyes as he gestured to the monkey sleeping in the small space they shared.
“It’s not a permanent situation,” whispered Riette.
Bark grunted.
“No, I’m not going to get rid of him, not until I know what his deal is.”
Bark grunted again, but it was higher pitched this time.
“I’m not saying I don’t love you because I’m making you share. I swear, Bark.”
He grumbled some more, but Riette made some quiet promises until he stopped mumbling and turned to the other side of the bag to tune her out. She closed the bag softly and put it back on the far side of the bed.
Mekhi’s snoring was too close to her head on that side, so she turned and tried to ignore the mildew smell in the air and the covered-up windows.
Riette wasn’t fully claustrophobic, but being forced into the small quarters with the seasickness headache that hadn’t entirely gone away wasn’t her idea of a good time.
Hours later, Riette awoke to the noises of people moving around on the main deck. There was a new energy in the air, and there were so few people downstairs, she guessed it meant they were close to the other side of the sea.
Cassian was awake on his bed, watching her.
“Not creepy,” she said, smiling.
“We’re just about there,” he said.
“I figured. Where’s Mekhi?”
“He went upstairs. He’s gnawing at the bit to get off the boat. These last five days haven’t been easy for him.”
“For any of us,” said Riette.
Cassian looked down. He worried the small edge of the blanket.
“You look better,” Riette continued.
He nodded. “You ready?” he asked, looking up at her. He had an expression on his face that Riette couldn’t pin down. That was strange. Cassian was the only person in the world besides Mekhi that she felt like she always could read. Not being able to do that was disconcerting.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
They walked up the steps after Riette made sure her bag was securely tucked away under her cot as much as it could be, given the situation.
Mekhi ran up to them as soon as they got to the top deck.
“Look, we’re here,” he said, and they turned to look.
The port they were arriving at was busy, busier than Riette believed the world could be. There were other ships, large ones, even though they had felt alone for all the time they were on the water.
Jeffery walked up behind them. “Everything you expected?”
“When you didn’t know what to expect, I’d say so,” said Riette.
“There’s hundreds of people, thousands,” Cassian said. “How will we find her?” There was a tilt to his voice that put his frustration on display.
“Ah, the young girl,” said Jeffery. “Georgette mentioned something.”
“We’ll find her,” Riette said. “We’ll ask around, and then we’ll get to go home.”
No one bothered to argue with her.
Riette gathered her stuff and was waiting on the top deck with everyone else when they finally docked. The men on board had a rhythm. They knew what barrels and crates to take out and which to leave. It was a system, not unlike ants, that Riette didn’t want to skew by getting in the way.
People started to leave the ship, but Riette hung back, the guys with her. She walked up to Georgette, who was also staying out of the mix with Jeffery by her side.
“What do you do now?” asked Riette. “Where do you normally go?”
“You’re looking at it,” said Georgette. She looked at Riette briefly but then looked away.
“You don’t get off the boat?”
“I may not go home, but I know there are some places where I’d never make it,” said Georgette, and her voice was quiet. Jeffery touched her shoulder. A laugh came from her lips. She looked back at Riette, at the others beside her.
“We all have our own journeys,” she said. “Mine is on the sea. For now, okay? Let’s leave it at that. Stay safe. Maybe I’ll see you when you try to return. And remember what you owe me.” She turned to walk off.
“You will,” said Riette to her retreating form.
Mekhi looked at Jeffery. “What about you? You leave the boat?”
“I go where she goes, or stay where she stays, rather,” said Jeffery. “You all, however, better get going before you don’t have the option.” He blinked a few times and touched Riette on the head.
He punched Mekhi softly on the shoulder, nearly toppling him over.
“Go on,” he said, and he turned to keep the last few tasks of the men in order.
Riette took the first steps off the boat, and Cassian and Mekhi were close behind her.
“We need a plan,” said Cassian, and he sounded like himself.
It was already late afternoon by the time they got moving, and Riette shook in her clothes. They were all damp, even soaked through. She thought the wind would have dried them out, but everything she owned felt damp now.
“Right,” said Riette. She turned and tried to fluff out her hair. It had curled thanks to all the moisture in the air.
They walked down the port side of the street. At several points, Cassian held her arm, and Mekhi held part of her bag just to stay together against the slew of people gathered there. They did this for an hour before they stopped to get their bearings.
“We have a problem,” said Mekhi. His voice sounded gruff over Riette’s shoulder.
She didn’t slow. “What?”
“We have company.”
“We have a cluster fuck of people,” said Riette.
“He’s right; we have an audience,” said Cassian, and his voice was gravelly.
Riette stopped. “What? What’s going on?”
She turned to face Cassian, who looked at her clothes and then immediately averted his eyes to look up.
“Well, no shit,” said Mekhi. He moved closer, ripping his cloak-like jacket off as he did.
“You’re a walking peep show, cousin,” said Mekhi. Cassian still hadn’t looked back.
Riette looked down. She’d always been on the smaller side, but she always had curves too. Her clothes were never bulky because that wasn’t practical. How was she supposed to fight with billowy everything? And sure, her clothes were a little damp, but she didn’t know what they were worked up over. Not the best phrasing since one of the guys was her cousin, but whatever. Upset, then.
“You guys are overreacting.”
“Look behind us,” said Mekhi. “Perv one and perv two and all of their friends have been following us for the better part of the last hour.”
“You all are paranoid,” said Riette. “We need to find out where people go here and make a plan.” She turned, but Cassian jerked her back around, tying the cloak closed securely. She rolled her eyes and went to a cluster of women standing off to the side of the main flow of traffic.
When Riette got closer to the women, she saw they were all partially scarred. There were three of them, and they were gathered around a small board that almost looked like chess in a way.
Riette looked away. It was a game her father used to play. He tried to teach her a few times, but she never got the full swing of it. Hooks and Harpoons. She smiled, remembering, but she dropped the smile and remembered the mission.
When her shadow crossed across the board, the women stopped and turned to her.
“Yes?” one asked. She had one eye, not a cyclops, but instead, a scar that ripped down her face from her forehead to chin. The eye was glossed over, light blue when the other was dark green.
“We’re looking for someone, a girl,” Riette started.
“Lots of girls here,” said the other woman, snickering.
“She’s young, my height, brown hair—”
“You’re describing half the population,” said the woman closest to Riette. The woman with the scar quieted her. The third woman stayed so quiet, she seemed to fold into herself, wanting to get away from the newcomers. Riette tried to give her some distance, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.
Mekhi stepped forward. “There’s a guy with her, I think. Guy? Something like that.”
“Oh, Guy,” said the woman with the eye.
They all sighed, not unlike young girls fawning over a pretty male face.
“You know where to find him?” asked Cassian. His brow was pinched.
“Guy is always at Low End Tide” said the other woman. “There’s only so many places to go in Gnatty Point after all. Low End’s a drinking hole and the main place to find trouble.”
“Don’t go there,” said the quiet one. Those were her first words to the group.
“Oh, hush, Alice. Not everyone is a scared old fuddy duddy. In my day—”
“No one has time to deal with your time travel stories, Janice,” said the woman with the scar. “They’re half made up anyway.”
“Jealousy isn’t your color, Martha.”
“Neither is whatever color lies are on you. I swear, each time you tell a story, I get older by the minute.”
“No, just more boring.”
“Where is this place again?” asked Riette. She almost hated to interrupt, though. These women reminded her of her grandmother. How she didn’t take shit from anyone. She almost smiled at the thought.
“Down the road, to the right off the main straightaway,” said Janice. “Chances are there will be a lot of people outside of it. You know the type, broke, old, and beggarly. You can’t miss it.”
“Thank you,” said Cassian.
“Let me get a better look at you. You know back in my day, you and I would have—”
“Stop embarrassing the boy, Janice. Shouldn’t you be over your hormones by now?”
“Thanks again,” said Mekhi, steering the others away.
“Now, me, I don’t mind a ginger boy myself,” said Martha. The scar didn’t move when the rest of her face was in a wolfish grin.
Riette laughed, and the guys didn’t stop moving until they were far out of sight of the women who’d helped and wanted them. Or wanted the guys in the group anyway.
They got away from the women, but not away from the trouble.
They started to walk, but Mekhi kept grumbling behind them. Eventually, Riette turned. “What’s going on?”
“They’re still there,” he said.
“You’re paranoid.”
Cassian turned. “He’s right. The guy from earlier—”
“Perv one,” Mekhi added.
“Yeah, he’s definitely still there.”
“A lot of people have been looking. A ton, actually.”
Riette turned around. She glared at Mekhi but then looked around them. She caught several people looking in her direction. Some had puzzling expressions, but most looked angry. What was that about?
“Follow me,” said Riette, and she turned down an alleyway from the main stretch.
“Riette—”
“No, if they’re coming, let them fucking come. I’m ready.”
Her tattoo tingled, and the flames showed up on her palms again in an instant.
Cassian grabbed her hands. “No. Definitely not.”
Riette struggled against him.
“No,” Cassian said, not letting go. “We’re not showing off powers here. Not until we know what kind of people we’re around. You’re getting too much attention as it is.”
“There are Elves here.”
“Riette.”
“Doesn’t every Elf have something? Whether or not it’s strong enough to use it is something else.”
“Your fire is weird, and you know it,” said Mekhi.
“I do not have weird fire.”
“Yes, you do,” Mekhi said. “It’s a different color, kind of, and you have more of it than you should.”
“You do,” said Cassian.
“Fine. No powers, but what do we do about them?”
“Who?”
Riette looked over their shoulders at the people at the mouth of the entrance of the side street they stood on.
“Them.”
Chapter 13
Three men stood in front of them when they turned. They were still ten feet away, but their expressions weren’t anything friendly.
“No powers?” Riette asked.
“No, not unless we have to,” said Cassian. “We don’t need the extra trouble if one runs off and tells others about us.”
“We’re sure about this?”
“Yes, old-fashioned ass whoopings only,” said Mekhi. He cracked his knuckles and squared up.
“They’re big,” said Riette. She wasn’t afraid, but she wanted to make sure they were sure.
“Bigger they are, the higher they bounce whe
n they fall,” said Mekhi, and he shifted his weight on the tips of his feet. He yelled to the strangers. “Ay, can we help you?”
The one in the front, also the biggest of the three, looked at the others before facing Riette’s group again.
Riette didn’t know what they were. They looked like men, but they weren’t Elves. Their skin was a shade she hadn’t seen before, brown but with green running through it. They had scars, too, but apparently that was par for the course.
They looked at each other for a beat before the front one nodded.
“The girl,” he said, and his voice was gruff.
“What about me?”
“What are you?”
“Who’s asking?” Riette said. She stepped forward, and the guys tensed next to her on either side.
“Benson, and when I see something I want, I take it.”
“If you’re talking about me, you’re full out of your fucking mind,” Riette said, and her voice was a growl.
He laughed and looked back at the others. “Claws, I like it.”
“Get fucked,” said Riette. “I’d like that.”
“Bring it on, little girl,” he said, still laughing, and Riette’s palms itched.
She wanted to burn a hole into his head, but she hadn’t mastered her skills enough to focus it like that yet. Cracking his skull would have to do.
The others with him looked pleased as pink berry punch, and that pissed Riette off as well. She stepped forward. Mekhi and Cassian did in kind, but Riette closed the distance first, and her fist found Benson’s teeth before he knew what exactly had hit him. He grabbed his mouth and spit some blood on the ground.
“You’re lucky I don’t want to mess up that pretty face,” he said, and when he smiled, blood colored his teeth.
“You’re not lucky because I don’t have that fucking problem,” said Riette. She kicked him in the shins and elbowed him across his chin.
The others attacked Mekhi and Cassian, but they held their own.
Benson grabbed her arm when she tried to repeat the move, and he jerked her forward. She punched him in the opposite temple, and he growled, yanking at her arm.