by Lyra Evans
“Beneficial, then, that as a Waterdancing creature, I have had significant training with magnetism-based navigation,” Cobalt said, his smile taunting Niko. Niko was mildly surprised by the revelation until Cobalt reminded him, “Electronics don’t work under water, Niko.”
With a rankled frown, Niko shoved his hand into his bag to retrieve the compass just as his phone buzzed oddly. He stopped, looking back down at the screen. It was a message from Starla.
If you’re stupid enough to still have your phone on, turn it off! Banyan just issued an order to widen the search to the northern territory. Using scanners to pinpoint cellphone signals in odd locations. Like in the middle of the forest.
Niko stared at the words for a moment, everything slowing down. The timestamp on the message was odd. He’d just received the message now, but the time indicated it was sent over half an hour ago. Signal was spotty in the dense foliage. His stomach dropped.
In a flash, Niko powered down the phone, shoved it into his bag and tossed Cobalt the compass and paper map. The look on his face must have worried Cobalt because his smile vanished. Hands swiping over his ears, Niko made a trade to improve his hearing temporarily. With a single gesture, he motioned to Cobalt to stay quiet, and he listened.
The low, rumbling growl of an alligator nearby, underlying the soft rushing of water over stones, told Niko they were close to one of the rivers that ran through the jungle. Leaves rustled on the air, vines pulled and stretched with swinging monkeys hopping from tree to tree. In the distance, to the Northeast, a senate of gryphons sharpened their claws along tree trunks. The low hiss of a large snake slithering over fallen leaves and soft moss came from the left, and the cheeky chittering of pixies hovering in the upper branches of the trees played a plinking melody. And beyond all that, buried under layers of sound, was the unmistakeable chuffing of helicopters.
“We have to move. Fast,” Niko said, swiping his hands back over his pointed ears. The trade back to regular hearing was momentarily disorienting, as though everything became muffled, but Niko took no time to shake it off. He began forward, jumping over the roots of a gnarled willow tree and pushing onward toward uncertainty.
Cobalt caught up quickly, somehow running as he searched out a direction on the map. “We need to aim further West,” he said, holding the compass to gage the appropriate route.
When he started leftward, Niko grabbed his arm and shook his head. “Takes us too close to the river,” he said. “We need to stay in the densest area for now. They’re coming, and a break in the trees could give us away.”
The Selkie veered in his tracks, angling his motion back toward the route they were already taking. They were moving North, at least, and Niko allowed Cobalt to take the lead to guide him through the trees and brush and wild of the jungle-forest. It was difficult progress, moving fast over uneven landscape and through vines and branches and tall grass. Bamboo shoots blocked their way forward suddenly, forcing them westward as they needed, but every sudden change in the flora around them meant the chance for the searchers overhead to notice something they shouldn’t.
The hot jungle air filled Niko’s lungs with moisture that didn’t belong there, stealing oxygen from him and giving little help in return. He felt as though he was drowning at times, struggling to pant as Cobalt pushed onward without difficulty. Sweat-slicked skin wet Niko’s clothing and hair, hampering his movements further. But the sound of the helicopter blades cutting through the air remained in his mind, playing on loop to urge him forward.
They ran, inasmuch as it’s possible to run in the dense jungle, until suddenly they stopped. Cobalt dug his heels into the soft forest floor, causing Niko to collide with him. He held out his arms to catch Niko, holding him in place. Niko looked around Cobalt to see what had made him brake so hard and immediately felt all the warmth leave his body.
A soft but distinct growl played on the air. Heavy amber paws folded over one another, a man-like head perched gently atop them. Thick, unruly red fur puffed out around the head and down the neck, and a thin but spiny tail, tipped in lethal poison, curled around the body, twitching on occasion with a readiness to attack that seemed unnatural for a soundly sleeping animal.
Manticores were rare animals. They were difficult to observe in the wild not least because of their habit of spraying poison-tipped needles from their tails at any perceived threat. The few that existed in the wild were mostly located in Maeve’s Court but seemed to keep to the most remote parts of the jungle-forest, where the trees began to give way to the stone and slope of mountains. This one, snoring gently in the middle of the woods, was seemingly very out of place.
How it hadn’t stirred at the sound of their heavy, running footsteps, Niko didn’t know. But neither he nor Cobalt moved for a long moment as they stared at it, waiting for it to wake and spook. Though manticores were not actively hostile creatures, they were exceedingly reclusive and easily panicked. Niko thought this odd considering they had no natural predators, but he wasn’t questioning the validity of the knowledge just now.
Cobalt pointed toward a smooth-ish pathway to their right. It circled behind the large sequoia trunk against which the manticore was resting. Niko nodded carefully, afraid even the slight ruffling of his hair might alert the creature to their presence. In the distance, the chuffing of the helicopter grew loud enough to hear clearly. As they stepped slowly sideways toward the safest, quietest path, they saw the manticore’s tail twitch, the helicopter moving closer.
Niko and Cobalt shared a flickering look, then both bolted down the pathway, keeping the massive tree trunk between them and the startled creature. They didn’t slow to look back and see if it followed them. Instead, Niko felt his legs spinning wildly beneath him, hitting the ground hard and fast to propel him onward as his heart pounded a terrified rhythm in his chest. They passed over felled branches and protruding rocks, through thick bushes and thorny acacia trees, and somehow, neither of them tripped and crashed face-first into the ground.
There was no way to tell how long they’d run, neither of them wanting to risk a look behind or at the time. But when Niko finally hit his limit, stumbling to a stop by a set of eucalyptus trees clumped together. He braced against the tree, holding his side with the other hand to tamp down the cramp forming there. Panting hard, Niko thought he might faint, but the feeling soon passed.
Cobalt stopped near him, breathing heavily though not as hard, and pulled one of his last remaining bottles of water from his bag. He downed the bottle in a single gulp and immediately seemed to catch his breath. Still heaving from his exertions, Niko glared at Cobalt.
“I don’t believe it followed us,” Cobalt said, scanning back the way they’d come for signs of the manticore. Niko listened closely, trying to calm his breathing enough to hear over it, but couldn’t make out the sound of any movement. Swiping his hand over one ear, he listened for the helicopters, but that too had faded.
A slow nod and Niko managed to straighten. “I think we lost the helicopter too,” he said. “At least for now.” He shook his head, cursing himself for relying so heavily on electronics. He should have known it would give him away somehow. But knowing they were now completely cut off from Starla and Coral, from Uri and any news of the case or what was going on, was unsettling to Niko. There was no other way forward now but to find Preston. Or get lost in the jungle-forest for the rest of their lives.
“The light is dying,” Cobalt said, staring upward at the canopy. The eucalyptus trees were surrounded by baobabs and willows, an unlikely mixture anywhere but the jungle-forest. The combined branches and vines blocked out much of the sky, but what Niko had thought was only shade from the trees was actually the steady rise of night.
“We won’t make much more progress tonight,” he said, taking in their surroundings. The eucalyptus circled a small flat area that could serve well enough as a temporary camp. “We should probably set up for the night. Continue on in the morning.”
Cobalt held out the map, setti
ng the compass over it to gauge their position and direction. “We have corrected our path unknowingly.” Lifting his head, he moved to the left and stepped beyond a large baobab for a moment. Reappearing, he said, “The river is just on the other side of this tree. We can fill the filter bottles there.”
Niko located his bottle and handed it to Cobalt. “You do that. I’ll set up a quick shelter.”
Cobalt raised one eyebrow, as if questioning Niko’s confidence, but took the bottle and disappeared toward the river. Trying not to take Cobalt’s reaction as a slight, Niko pulled out the tarp and rope Uri had sent them off with. He may not be terribly useful with wilderness navigation, but Niko knew his way around a temporary shelter. He’d had to make due enough on his own on the streets in his youth to figure some things out.
With quick work and careful consideration, Niko strung up the rope through some of the lower branches of the eucalyptus trees and hung the tarp over it. Then, slipping the rope through eyelets at the corners of the tarp, he tied the edges down to exposed roots and the narrow trunk of a nearby bush. By the time Cobalt had returned, Niko was set to gathering some kindling for a fire.
“Impressive,” Cobalt said, and he sounded as though he meant it, taking stock of Niko’s shelter. Niko snapped a few twigs. They bent too much before breaking to make for very good kindling. He needed dry pieces with lots of fibres. He remembered that much at least.
“It’ll do for tonight, anyway,” he said. Reaching down into a pile of nearby leaves, he scrunched them together. They squished under his fingers, too moist to serve as tinder. “But I need some kind of tinder to get a fire going. This shit is all too wet.”
Cobalt set the bottles down by the base of the tree that served as the back of their shelter. “Is a fire essential? Would it not serve as a beacon to our location?”
Niko cast his eyes up to the tree cover blotting out the slowly darkening sky. “It might be,” he said. “But it’s kind of necessary. More for protection than anything. Scares away most animals. The last thing we need is a blessing of unicorns to come trampling us in the night.” He considered the area again. “I don’t think the light from it will carry up through the canopy. The smoke will, but spotting smoke at night is harder than it seems.”
Shifting slightly, Cobalt nodded. “If you think it best.”
Eyeing the Selkie a moment, Niko wondered why he was so uncomfortable. He didn’t particularly feel like spending the night awake and alert for any passing danger, so he pushed through some trees to search for better tinder. He didn’t have to go far, thankfully; a pine tree stood a lonely sentry of the North amid a copse of rubber trees. Niko felt around for the more resinous patches of bark, then nicked some away from the trunk with his knife. He returned to camp with sticky hands and a small pile of tinder.
Cobalt had laid out the sleeping bags in the shelter and was searching through their food options. He watched Niko curiously when he returned, perhaps fascinated by the process of creating fire. Niko often took for granted the things that living on land allowed him. Coming from the ocean, Cobalt had little first-hand experience with fire and would never have learned how to start one.
“That will burn all night?” Cobalt asked, staring at the small pile Niko set into a small hollow in the ground. As a fire pit, it was somewhat lackluster, but it would serve. He picked up some drier branches and twigs from nearby to use once the tinder caught, but it wasn’t ideal.
“No,” Niko said, striking the ferrous fire starter with the back of his knife. It sent a shower of sparks onto the resinous bark he’d brought from the pine tree. He’d have to return to get more pieces to keep the fire alive. “The tinder is what catches. Kindling will help it grow, and then bigger logs or branches will serve as fuel to keep it alive.”
He struck the fire starter again, the tinder catching this time. A few sparks settled into the resin and flared immediately, burning bright and hot. Niko tossed a few dry leaves onto the small flame, adding in pieces of twigs one at a time as the flames licked upward, expanding slowly. It wasn’t a cold night, but the sudden burst of heat in front of him soothed his tired muscles.
“It’s—strangely beautiful. Isn’t it?” Cobalt asked, watching with wide, steady eyes from his position under the tarp. He seemed unwilling to come closer, but the flames danced in the dark of his eyes, lending him the look of a smouldering deity. Niko licked his lips.
“It is,” he said. Fire was mostly comforting to him. It had kept him warm and fed, which was more than he could say about his father. He added the rest of his kindling and got up. “I’ll be right back with some better fuel. Don’t let it go out.”
Cobalt opened his mouth to say something, but Niko didn’t wait for his answer. He went back to the pine tree to collect a bundle for the night, needing space. The jungle darkened significantly in a short time, and as Niko hacked away at parts of the tree, he tried not to think. But as he picked his way back to camp, squinting in the low light, he felt his mind wandering back along old, beaten paths.
Someone was trying to frame him for murder, to get him killed. That someone had to be in the Woods. There were too many coincidences, too many powerful people in play. And though Preston was Niko’s best guess, he also could not be pulling the strings alone. Chief Banyan was involved somehow, either willingly or not. She had seemed terrified, in her own sitting room, when questioned about her son. Were they threatening his life? Would they so openly do that? To a police chief? Or was that something else?
And the level of torture to Sade bothered Niko. Which was a strange sensation on its own. He never would have thought he’d feel any compassion for Sade under any circumstances, and perhaps what he was feeling wasn’t compassion. But the things done to him had been rather extreme. True, Sade had done them all to Niko too, save one. But there was a difference there Niko couldn’t explain. Perhaps he was simply too removed from his own experience to fully appreciate the depth of depravity there. Or it could simply be that he had survived his torture, where Sade had not.
Then there was also the constantly shifting set of emotions regarding Cobalt. He was angry still. And hurt. But Cobalt had explained, and it wasn’t unreasonable. But Niko was still angry. Yet every time he looked at Cobalt, he felt the familiar fire in his belly, the surge of warmth in his chest, and the desire in his blood. He wanted Cobalt, wanted to kiss him and fuck him and belong to him. And then a voice whispered in his head, and the hollow in his chest pulsed empty, and he shied away from Cobalt’s affectionate words.
He still felt the heat and weight of Cobalt’s hand on his throat, the sensation of his cock pushing deep into Niko, his fingers digging into Niko’s hips from earlier. Niko felt himself stir at the memory, constantly hungry for Cobalt. His mind conjured innumerable possibilities for what they might try next, a million different ways Cobalt might hurt him and give him pleasure at once. But even as he considered those, moaning inwardly, he felt his heart cower away from Cobalt’s words calling him family. It wasn’t new for Niko to be more open with his body than with his heart. But—
Cobalt had called him Soul Mate during their last case. And before the Selkie left, Niko had confirmed it. He’d felt it too. He admitted he thought the same. They were Soul Mates. Had to be. It was the only explanation, the only thing that made sense given what they were feeling, what they did to each other, just by being near. But as he arrived back at camp, setting his pile of wood next to the fire, Niko felt himself close off again, unable to really contemplate the weight and meaning of words like family and forever and— But if they were Soul Mates, wouldn’t it be easier for them? Would Fate really make it this hard if they were meant to be?
Niko settled down by the fire, tossing wood onto it to help it grow. He stared directly into the pale yellow heart of the flames, searching for answers the fire couldn’t give him. His head ached, a throb seeding behind his temples. Maybe he just had too many questions to answer at once.
“I meant to prepare a meal for you, but—” C
obalt said, nodding to the fire. He held the small pot in his hands, filled with a mixture Niko took to be one of the camping meals Uri had sent them with.
Niko looked at the flames, now large enough to easily to cook their food. Eyebrows furrowed, Niko nudged at one of the logs with a twig in his hand. The fire sputtered slightly, coughing up a sprinkling of ash and embers toward Cobalt. The Selkie flinched, retreating sharply into the shelter though the embers were still over a foot from him. Niko watched him.
“You’re afraid of fire,” he said, understanding dawning slowly on him, like a flower opening to the morning.
Cobalt frowned, eyeing him. “It’s not an issue of fear,” he said, though the way he was holding the pot indicated otherwise to Niko. “Selkies are—particularly vulnerable to fire.”
Getting to his feet, Niko moved around the fire and closer to Cobalt. He sat himself down next to his would-be Soul Mate. Cobalt’s fingers clutched tightly to the pot, but Niko offered his own hands, waiting. After a moment, Cobalt eased, handing him the pot gently. Niko swished the contents around a bit, then set it carefully onto the fire, finding a corner with a stable base. Sitting back, he turned to Cobalt who was watching him with something like wariness in his eyes.
“You never told me that,” Niko said quietly. “About Selkies and fire.”
Settling back into a more relaxed position, Cobalt let the concern out of his features. “It had never come up. Your modern magical designs have ensured open flames are a rarity in society. Heating is provided through piping systems using water or air or electricity. Cooking can be equally removed from flames, with electric ranges and ovens and those fascinating micro-wave machines. I’m still unclear on how they work.” He shrugged. “I’ve even seen those who indulge in smoking use electronic devices to do so.”
Niko thought about this, watching the pot as he did. Flames wrapped around the edges, turning the base of the pot black over time. It would be ready quickly, thankfully; Niko’s stomach chose that moment to growl loudly.