by LJ Andrews
Atlas’s bright eyes drifted to the side without turning his head. Raine took no cues from their behavior and whipped her head in the direction of the fountain. “What man?” she asked, squinting her eyes.
Nova rolled her eyes. “The man in black, leaning against the…” she trailed off. He was gone. As if he’d simply evaporated into nothing, the man was gone. She looked up and down the road, but only ladies and gentlemen in fine silk clothes, with servants trailing behind, could be seen.
“You will pardon my abruptness,” the waiter said in a long, nasally drawl, shaking them from their focus on the wall. “But this establishment will be closed for the coronation celebrations of King Beaumont. You understand, of course.”
He smiled at them while holding his hand out for payment. The smile was not kind but degrading, and Nova had a sudden desire to bend one of his arms around his back until he cried out in pain.
She shook the dark thought from her mind while gathering the satchel and following Briggs out of the café. Her eyes ticked slowly back to the wall. A man dressed in black had been there. He was strange as if he hadn’t belonged, not just on Koning, but in Launi Kingdom.
“We best be gettin’ back to the pub to get ready,” Briggs said over his shoulder as the rest of them stepped out of the café, careful to stay out of the attention of other patrons.
The buckles on her dusty boots jangled as she plodded down the blemish-free road. Nova’s pants were worn and tattered, and despite Jenna’s valiant attempts, the moldy stench of the Star’s Vengeance brig would always soak the fabric. Raine held herself confidently, but even her handmade merchant clothes were nothing compared to the fine garments of the people passing them on the street.
Nova scowled beneath the brim of her floppy leather hat as she imagined their condescending eyes taking inventory of every inch of her unworthy appearance. Her chest tightened as a hand made up of power, arrogance, and bitterness seemed to wrap thick fingers around her lungs, making it difficult to breathe deeply. A small voice, no more than a whisper, seemed to call out to the humanity that was slowly ebbing away. The more she focused on the voice of reason, the more it sounded like Kale.
Nova gripped the leather strap over her shoulder, shifting her thoughts to the brilliant blue sapphires lining the hilt of the Djinn dagger. She had an overwhelming desire to throw the blade at something to ease the frustration of knowing she was more powerful than those around her, but also to ease the regret seeping into her heart for leaving Kale behind.
Suddenly, a palm wrapped around her upper arm, stopping her abruptly.
“Ouch, Uncle Briggs,” she whined as he pulled her off the pub’s doorstep.
“We’s got to get out of here,” Briggs said, his gray eyes flashing with a dangerous urgency.
“How did those get there?” Raine said shrilly.
Nova followed her finger. Hanging by heavy, rusted nails were three pieces of parchment. Her stomach lurched angrily, and heat seemed to radiate from the satchel as if the dagger urged her to take up arms. Her face was drawn with expert precision in a black and white sketch. Next to her drawn face was Briggs, a perfect likeness down to the bushy mustache covering his thick lips. Next to her uncle was a drawing of Atlas. But instead of his fine coat and brass buttons, the drawing had a black bandana and the seal of the Star’s Vengeance drawn on one corner, explaining the tattoo could be found on his left wrist.
Beneath each picture was the same list of crimes: Pirates and Dia hunters.
“Only one person knows all those details,” Atlas said darkly, reaching beneath the coat and gripping his pistol.
“You aren’t saying Kale did this?” Nova’s voice was shrill, her eyes narrowed menacingly at Atlas.
“Who else would know what we looked like perfectly, except someone who had been with us for months and months.”
“It don’t matter who it was,” Briggs said. “Could’ve been anyone we came across at the Tuckers. But somethin’ isn’t right. We need to find a place to hide up.”
Nova felt it, too, as if a blanket of eyes covered her. She was being watched—by more than one person. Dropping the satchel, she accepted the furious wave of power washing over her as she gripped the dagger and took in the town square.
Only a few stragglers shuffled toward the royal hillside for the remaining coronation celebrations. The island was becoming eerily quiet. Her shoulders slumped as her heightened anxiety ebbed away when nothing seemed to happen.
“Come on, we will have to take a camp to the jungle side of the—ˮ Briggs began, but was interrupted by a swarm of black rushing around them from shadows behind the buildings. In one swift movement, they were surrounded by darkly clad people watching them from behind black masks.
Silver blades unfolded from the dark robes, and with barely enough time to react, the four of them were engaged in heavy battle against the dark enemies. Shrouded men front flipped off the walls of the shops and tall apartments, landing effortlessly on their feet as they rushed toward them. Others had expert balance as they leapt over chairs and tables blocking their path. Even more encircled Nova and the others by running their feet quickly on a wall and walling off any escape.
Nova gripped her dagger tightly, smiling as the Djinn seared her skin painfully yet filled her with welcome comfort. An attacker lunged at her with a curved sword, unlike any she’d seen before. He was taller than she was, his clothes made of the deepest black hue. Even his boots were so dark, if it had been night, the man would have been invisible.
His eyes were filled with hatred for her, but Nova sneered in return. Raising the dagger, she swung down forcefully until her blade locked against the curve of his sword. Turning out of the connection, the man kicked his legs over his head in an intricate front flip and swung his weapon, aiming for her stomach. Nova could see it happen almost before he seemed to decide his next move. The blade glimmered brilliantly as time slowed its pace in her mind’s eye. The metal was smooth, with the perfect balance from tip to hilt. She saw each pulse of the small muscles in his hands as he wrenched it toward the fatal blow with such ferocity.
As the tip sliced through the final stage across its horizontal plane, Nova’s feet seemed to move on their own accord, remembering the exciting battle scenes she’d practiced as a child. With a great leap, Nova’s boots pounded along a nearby brick wall as if running on her side. Just before the force of gravity would push her off the wall, she pounced and flipped over the head of the dark man, landing behind him.
She raised her dagger to his masked face and her hatred seethed toward him.
His eyes narrowed behind his disguise. “How do you know true order of battle?”
Nova watched him curiously, surprised by his sudden question. But before she could blink, the masked man ducked low and darted toward the jungle.
Releasing a long breath, Nova turned and took in the scene. Atlas was fighting against a small, hunched man. His opponent rolled on his back over a table without even rocking a chair out of place. Atlas stopped, hesitating for a moment, before chasing him toward the fountain.
Nova scrunched her forehead, watching the hunched man. He blasted through the air, arms outstretched, until he gripped the edge of the stone fountain. With remarkable strength, he propelled upward with only his upper body scaling the structure. When he finally reached the top, the hunched shadow pounced like a ferocious beast off the fountain, landing in a perfect tuck and roll on the low roof of a small linen boutique across the square.
“Stop, demon!” Atlas screamed after him, picking up his pace as he tried to meet his acrobatic enemy.
Raine dodged the swipe of a bowed knife before the slender man going against her pursued Atlas from behind, leaping elegantly from table to table along the café. Nova clenched her jaw, rushing toward Atlas. He hadn’t seen the sneak attack. She stopped quickly when Raine leapt onto the sneaking man’s back and wrapped her skinny arm around his neck, holding tight. The dark man flailed his arms wildly, even rolling on the gr
ound, trying to shake her thin body off his back. Incredibly, Raine held on, her face filled with a fierceness Nova had never seen. Raine’s countenance twisted in a strange arrogance, and for a moment it seemed to Nova as if she were looking a mirror when the inner power took over.
Finally, the darkly dressed man succumbed to Raine’s grip and slowly crumbled into a heap on the brick road.
Atlas turned in surprise as the first attacker pranced swiftly into the shadows of the jungle. He watched Raine with a new sense of admiration, and Nova couldn’t determine if the twist in her stomach was jealousy or simply a reaction to the ambush attack.
Raine’s head whipped around toward a home down the way. Nova thought she had heard someone shout out to them, but her attention was soon taken captive by another dark figure running into the square with a curved sword much like the one she’d fought off.
“Nova, come quick,” Raine shouted, rushing down the road followed by Briggs, who was clutching his forearm, a fresh river of red soaking his sleeve. He’d lost his cutlass and was losing blood quickly. Dark men ran off toward the edge of the jungle, just beyond the marble fountain. Atlas was locked in battle again with a new foe dressed in long billowing black robes.
She stepped forward, seething in anger as the man narrowly missed Atlas’s neck with his blade. The brilliant bricks crunched, cracking beneath her foot. A force like a powerful thunderstorm rattled the nearby windows as she prowled closer to the fight. The shadow-man eyed her beneath a black hat before stumbling from a shudder beneath the earth. Atlas tossed his cutlass and loaded his pistol as the man scrambled to run away. Raising his gun, Atlas aimed for his back and fired. The mysterious attacker cried out in pain and fell again to the ground, clutching his shoulder. Atlas prepared to reload while still stalking the man. Nova followed closely, feeling ready to destroy anything standing in her way.
The wounded man made it to his feet and ran quickly toward the jungle, free of Atlas’s aimed flintlock barrel.
When he disappeared into the shadows of the lush green trees, Nova relaxed, feeling fizzing power bubble beneath her skin. Atlas’s shoulders fell in heaving breaths when he faced her. He’d been struck on his cheek and was bleeding, but he paid it no mind.
Nova smirked at him smugly. “You tried to shoot a man in the back. That is very pirate-like of you.”
Atlas scoffed, but his eyes darted around the neighboring buildings and shadowed jungle line, ready for another attack. “Some things never change, I suppose,” he said, trying to sound light, but his voice was on edge. “Where did you learn to run on the walls like that?”
Nova flushed remembering the playful days in the back of her home with her father. He would leap from the ground, quickly take two steps along the wall before landing smoothly back on the ground.
“Where did you learn to do that, Papa?” she’d asked with all the awe and wonder a child could possess.
“Someone very special taught me, my wish,” Varick had said, tapping her nose.
That was the only answer he’d ever given her. Now, Nova wondered if the truth was he’d been a pirate and knew how to be agile in battle.
“My father used to teach me silly things like that,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
Atlas nodded. “Good thing. It came in handy today. Come on, someone let Raine and Briggs into their home.”
“We shouldn’t trust anyone. What are they thinking?” Nova said angrily.
“Come inside,” a breathless woman with pinned up blonde hair said, ushering them inside once they reached the door.
She quickly slammed the arched door and locked it behind them. Raine was already tending to Briggs’ wound when they stepped into a small, plain parlor.
“Atlas,” she cried. “Come sit. You’re injured, too.”
“Raine, what are we doing here?” Nova said, trying to keep the venom to a minimum.
“We’ll be safe here,” she said, gently touching Atlas’s face while she studied his gash.
“Where, Raine?” Nova demanded.
“My name is Katherine,” the blonde woman said, bringing in a tray of chilled pear juice.
“She saved us, Nova. I had no idea you lived here, Kit,” Raine said sweetly, placing a white bandage on Atlas’s cheek.
“Who is she?” Nova felt her cheeks heating up.
“She was my handmaid,” Raine said, with a stubbornness only given to royalty when pressed too long. “And she was my only friend.”
“When I saw Your Majesty in the road, I almost couldn’t believe it,” Katherine said quietly.
“Kit, you know my real name, and that is who I’m going to be now that Insel is gone. You don’t need to treat me as a royal. I am not one.”
“You aren’t the least bit suspicious that she came out of nowhere in just the nick of time?” Nova said.
Raine’s eyes narrowed, and for the first time since they’d met, she appeared angry. “No, I’m not.”
“I am not an enemy. I live a common life by serving in the palace still, though since the queen…supposedly died in the shipwreck,” she said, unable to conceal her relieved smile as she spoke, “I am not privileged to live in the palace. I rent out this small place until I can earn passage off Koning.”
“Do you know who it was that attacked us?” Briggs grumbled.
Katherine shifted her feet uncomfortably and nodded her head. “I saw the wanted posters go up this morning, just after morning meal. When I saw the description of your crimes, I suspected they would come looking for you.”
“Who would come looking for us? Is it a man?” Nova asked. Lurlina was telling the truth, and it twisted her stomach like knotted rope.
Katherine sat next to Raine on the faded sofa. “They are led by a single man, or woman, I suppose. No one ever meets with their leader. They don’t live long enough.”
“Who are they, and why would they attack us?” Atlas asked.
“They are the only people who hate pirates more than the navy, but more than hating pirates they hate anyone who looks for Dia. They are a dangerous group of fighters and have slipped passed the naval fleets for years. They are swift and thrive on ambush attacks, usually in concealed dark areas.”
“That’s fascinating, but who are they?” Atlas asked, earning a frown from Raine.
Clearing her throat, Katherine looked around as if to make sure no one was listening. “They call themselves the band of shadows, and if it was them who attacked you, then I’m afraid all of you are now marked. They won’t stop until they find you again.”
Chapter 7
Twisting Fate
Her toe tapped anxiously against the wooden step. Nova gnawed on her bottom lip as Katherine watered a pleasant pot of sunny flowers in the windowsill.
“I know you think this is foolish, Nova,” she said without looking around. “But you don’t know what you’ll go up against if they find you. You’ve been spotted on Koning. What’s to say they left? If you make a move on the palace, I’m certain they will know it.”
“What are we supposed to do then? We’ve already stayed here for five days. I can’t take it another day. I have to know what Insel kept in his archives.”
Katherine sighed, placing the watering can gently on a small table. “Raine said you were headstrong. I wish you’d see reason—for your own safety.”
Nova scoffed and pounced off the step, pushing her way into the shared yard between three other buildings. The long grass was deep green and plush like a spongy cushion beneath her feet. Katherine’s home was considered lower class to the people on Koning, but to others on neighboring islands, her home would be comfortable and fine.
The edges of the grassy patch were decorated in waves of brown and gray pebbles. Nova picked up a handful of the smooth rocks and tossed them against a wooden post marking the boundary of Katherine’s portion of the yard.
“You know, I don’t recall that post doing anything to offend you.”
Nova turned and smirked at Atlas. He leaned in
the doorway, his broad shoulders nearly filling the entire space. He looked handsome with his hair pulled back and his sleeves rolled halfway showing his muscular arms. The pirate tattoo glared on his wrist as a reminder of choices they’d made not so long ago—choices they’d made to survive.
“I shouldn’t be waiting around, hiding from those cowards who attack in shadows,” Nova said. “I mean really, they surround us with twice our number, and we still send them running to the jungle with their tails between their legs. I don’t see why everyone speaks about this band of shadows with such awe and fearful reverence.”
“They weren’t like any soldiers I’d ever seen. You saw their weapons,” Atlas said, a smile spreading across his face.
“Don’t tell me you’re intimidated by them,” she said in disbelief.
Atlas chuckled as if he was teasing. “Not at all. Nova, why do you sit back and wait for someone else to make a move? You’ve accepted who you are and what amazing power you have inside you. We should follow you, not the other way around.”
Nova raised her eyebrows. “You think I should just call all the plays then? Because…why?”
Atlas’s cheeks flushed slightly, as he took the ends of her fingers between his. Slowly, he traced the edges of her nails and lines of her palms. Nova’s breath caught in her throat. It was an exhilarating feeling she’d nearly forgotten, but she couldn’t shake the nagging, subtle urge to move away.
Atlas leaned in a little closer, his lips curving into the half-smile she’d once found irresistible. “You’re a Djinn. You have more power than anyone I know. Use it, Nova. I cannot speak for everyone, but I for one would follow you anywhere.”
Nova’s cheeks lit on fire when he pressed his lips to hers quickly before standing and releasing her from the frozen stupor he’d placed upon her.
“Think about what really matters—what you really want,” he said, offering one more coy smile before turning inside the small apartment.
Her heart pounded hard inside her chest as sweet memories pushed away the transgressions they’d both committed against one another. Atlas encouraged her to be who she was. To him, she was a Djinn, a powerful being able to twist the fates. It was tantalizing to imagine perfecting the heavy power now attached to every piece of her soul. Why then, she wondered as she watched blue-winged song birds flitter about the spikey palms, did the memory of Captain Tucker’s wide porch come to mind? She could almost feel the humid air wrapping her face in a warm shroud as Kale took a cautious step closer. The tension had been so thick between them as if they both knew they were approaching a forbidden path.