by Cory Barclay
“I don’t think she likes me,” Scarlet said when she was gone.
Dale chuckled. “She probably wants to screw you like every—” he stopped mid-sentence and shook his head. “Jesus, what is wrong with me?”
Scarlet smirked. “I have that effect.” She seemed to enjoy it—toying with everyone around her.
Dale leaned forward, tore open the box of beers, and handed them out. Steve was the only one who didn’t partake. He had over a year of sobriety and wasn’t going to give that up, even if the end of the world was nigh. He knew he needed a clear head to get Annabel back.
“Okay,” he said, cracking his knuckles and looking over to Scarlet. “What can you tell us?”
“Well,” she said, putting her hands on her hips, “it looks like you already found an ally. I guess my little note worked after all. It was more of a pep . . . note, really. Get you guys off your asses.”
“It worked marvelously, dear,” Aiden said with a wide smile. He blinked slowly and it unnerved Scarlet. She winced and looked away.
“Why do you want to help us?” Steve asked.
“Ever since you told me Aiden didn’t kill my mother, I’ve been thinking. I don’t believe for a hot second she was killed during a random burglary. In the middle of Pacific Beach, in broad daylight? Bullshit. And if that’s the case, I’m convinced someone from Mythicus killed her.”
“How?” Dale asked. “I thought the fairy people only lived in the fairy land.”
“Unless they’re brought here by someone like Steve,” Scarlet clarified. “A Myth Seeker.”
“Ah, yes,” Dale said. He sipped his beer and leaned so far back into the couch he was at risk of melting into it.
“Why do you think it was someone from Mythicus?” Steve asked.
“Because some of those assholes know her lineage as the sister of Overseeress Garnet.”
Steve scratched his cheek. “But—”
“She’s right,” Shepherd blurted out, speaking for the first time. All eyes turned to him. He seemed nervous, twiddling his dirty hands, one leg shaking uncontrollably.
Scarlet narrowed her brow. “What do you mean?” Her tone had become ice cold, devoid of the playful heat and surliness she usually expressed.
“I-I’m sorry, but did you say you were January Amos’ . . . daughter?”
“That’s right.”
Shepherd’s mouth fell open, to reveal a haphazard display of yellow teeth and black gaps. In a low voice, he said, “I can’t believe I’m sitting in a room with—”
“Enough of that,” Scarlet snapped.
“But you’re royalty!”
Steve sniffed loudly. “How is she royalty?”
When Scarlet and Shepherd didn’t answer immediately, Aiden butted in. “I can answer that,” he said, clearing his throat. “Overseeress Garnet was the leader of the Brethren, yes?”
Steve nodded.
“Her sister was January Amos. If anything happened to Garnet, or April, as she was birth-named, her role as Overseeress could plausibly fall on January. And if anything happened to January, then it could fall to her next of kin.”
“Scarlet . . .” Dale said slowly. He took another sip of beer and melted even further back.
“Correct, Thor,” Aiden said.
“You’re forgetting one thing,” Shepherd said, raising a finger. “That Overseeress Garnet had her own daughter. She is the one leadership should fall on.”
Aiden waved off that notion. “She’s been missing and forgotten for years,” he said. “Practically abandoned Mythicus as a whole.”
“I don’t blame her,” Scarlet said. “I’ve done the same.”
Shepherd threw his hands out wide. “But you can’t!” he exclaimed. “Your mother and aunt are both dead. The line of succession rightly falls on you!”
Scarlet wrapped her arms under her bosom. She didn’t seem too intrigued by the idea. “Oh, so I should simply go there and claim my right? Then everything would be nice and tidy? You must have lost your mind when you came here.”
Shepherd muttered under his breath, “I didn’t say it would be easy . . .”
“Besides,” Scarlet continued, “You couldn’t pay me enough to lead those fools. The only thing Mythicus has ever brought me is grief. What do I owe them? Nothing. If anything, I want to kill the bastards who hurt my mother.”
“Perhaps I can help with that,” Shepherd said, again in a low, timid voice.
“Guys, guys,” Steve interjected, flapping his hands in the air. “Let’s all calm down here so we don’t destroy Shannon’s lovely home, yes?”
Scarlet’s arm launched out and she snapped her fingers at him. “Shut up.” Turning back to Shepherd, she said, “What did you just say? ‘Perhaps I can help with that.’ How?”
Shepherd’s leg was shaking again. It was clear he’d gotten himself into something he’d been trying to avoid. Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then he seemed to gather his wits. He stared at Scarlet with hard eyes. “I’m a blackguard defector, ma’am. I know many things you may not know about the Brethren of Soreltris. I thought that was why I’m here.”
Steve said, “Well—”
“It is,” Scarlet interjected.
Shepherd entwined his hands on his lap. “To understand how I might be able to help, it’s important to know how we got to where we are.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Scarlet asked angrily. “Don’t throw riddles at me, man.”
Shepherd held up a palm. Scarlet was quickly losing any modicum of patience she might have had. “I meant no disrespect, my lady. But you must understand how Overseer Malachite came to power.”
Steve flinched at hearing his father’s title. He’d been avoiding this subject for entirely too long. But, if he was being truthful, he ached to know how his father had come to power in the land of Mythics.
Shepherd cleared his throat. “It’s common knowledge among the blackguards that Overseer Malachite had an affair with your mother, January Amos, here on Terrus.”
“Yes, it is common knowledge,” Steve said. “Even I knew that.”
“After that, he was brought to Mythicus by January’s sister, April. They had an affair and fell in love. Malachite was going to marry April, the Overseeress, thus making himself the second most powerful person in Soreltris.”
Steve leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Was he still married to my mother when all this happened?
“Before they could wed, April died of mysterious circumstances. Though I have an inkling about what happened.”
“What happened?” Steve asked, taking the bait.
Shepherd held up a finger. “Hold that thought.” He took a look gulp of his beer, finishing the can. He belched, then sat as straight as possible, which was still pretty wobbly. “Following April’s death, the Brethren Council had an emergency meeting behind closed doors. The end result of that meeting is now legend, and known far and wide.
“In the Council meeting, Malachite was voted into power. It was not unanimous by any means—remember, Soreltris had been a matriarchy up until this point. There hadn’t been a male leader in ages. So, Malachite’s ascension caused a stir among the citizenry of Soreltris. What would the new Overseer be like? People wondered. A man? And lord forbid if they found out he was a human.”
“You mean the people of Soreltris don’t know Rich—Malachite is not one of them?” Steve asked.
Shepherd shook his head. “Why would they? He is above them in everything, and he hardly ever meets with anyone outside his Council.”
Scarlet began pacing the room, in small circles, her arms crossed. “Do you know how the voting went in the Council meeting?”
“No, my lady. But it’s quite obvious what happened, or at least it quickly became obvious.” Shepherd reached into the box of beers and grabbed one of the last two. Dale lunged from the loveseat and took the last one.
Shepherd cracked the beer and took a long, slurping sip.
“Come on, man,�
�� Steve said, rolling his wrist. “Don’t leave us hanging.”
“One of the Councilmen, Lord Onyx, maneuvered past his wife, Lady Opal, to take the head position. This didn’t happen until after he made a command—”
Steve tensed at the mention of names. Lord Onyx was Jareth Reynolds, and his wife, Lady Opal, was Dosira.
Shepherd sighed. He turned away from Scarlet. “Lord Onyx ordered his son to come to Terrus and kill January Amos, in case January got the idea to come back and vie for power. It was in her right, after all, being Overseeress Garnet’s sister.”
The air seemed to get sucked out of the room. Scarlet stopped pacing and her knees knocked together. Dale jumped up surprisingly fast for a big man and took her by the shoulders, sitting her on his loveseat.
Steve squeezed his fists. He could feel the muscles in his neck spasm.
“I’m sorry, my lady,” Shepherd said, bowing his head. “But you deserve to know, being her daughter.”
Tiberius fucking Reynolds, Steve thought, anger coursing through his veins. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“How do you know Lord Onyx made that command?” Scarlet asked, her voice little more than a whisper. She seemed helpless and was slowly curling into a fetal position on the couch. “I’m sure he wouldn’t publicly announce—”
“No, no, my lady. Nothing like that. I only knew because I was one of Lord Onyx’s son’s bodyguards. Me and five other blackguards heard the order directly, ma’am.”
“Tiberius . . .” Steve said to no one.
Scarlet began sobbing quietly into the arm of the couch. Aiden moved to sit on the other arm, trying to console her by pulling her head close to him.
Shepherd’s bleary eyes turned on Steve with a strange lucidity. He didn’t seem like the drunken homeless man he had an hour before, or even moments before. Now he seemed like he was lost in his past, giving a field report as a blackguard.
“You know the name?” Shepherd asked, tilting his head back in surprise.
Steve nodded. “What happened after that?”
Shepherd paused, keeping his eyes on Steve for a moment too long. “It was quite muddled, but I was close to the initial command. Lord Amethyst—Tiberius Reynolds—killed January. When he returned, Lord Onyx had assumed full leadership of the Council. It was clear he’d been the one vying for Overseer Malachite to take control all along. You see, Lord Onyx sees humans as weak . . . malleable and easily manipulated. With one leading the Brethren, he thought he could control from behind the scenes.”
Shepherd hesitated.
“But?” Steve asked.
“But he didn’t count on his other Council members to subvert his authority. He didn’t have the necessary votes to pass the decisions he wanted, I believe. Don’t quote me on that—”
“No, you’re right,” Steve said. He recalled a terrifying event, when he’d overheard Jareth and Dosira Reynolds speaking with Constantin and Mariana Lee about marrying their children. With Tiberius and Annabel married, the Reynoldses would have the votes necessary to . . .
“Wait a minute,” Steve said, shaking his head as his thoughts reached their natural conclusion. “If Jareth was the man behind the curtain, why would he now want to overthrow Malachite?”
Shepherd cocked his head to the side. “What?”
Steve rubbed his chin. “Never mind,” he muttered. He realizing Shepherd hadn’t been a blackguard during that time. What Steve just mentioned was clearly news to everyone in the room, except Aiden. And Dale, who was blowing into his empty beer can, trying to make whistling noises, so he clearly didn’t give a shit. But Shepherd and Scarlet were hearing this for the first time.
“How do you know Onyx wants to see Malachite overthrown?” Shepherd asked.
“Because I heard him say it,” Steve said.
Shepherd paused. “Hmm,” he said, putting his grimy hands to his chin. “That’s odd. I have no idea.”
“Then that’s the question we need to answer,” Steve said with finality.
After a moment of silence, Shepherd tapped his chin, deep in thought.
“What is it?” Steve asked.
“Well, the ‘question we need to answer,’ as you say, regarding Onyx wishing to overthrow Malachite . . . it made me think. There is a legend that passed through the blackguard while I was there, half-jokingly.”
Steve raised his eyebrows.
“It’s about Onyx’s wife, the Lady Opal, Dosira Reynolds. You see, she is an undine, a water elemental spirit. Undines resemble humans, in appearance, but they lack a human soul. But there is a way to for them to gain a human soul, which allegedly grants them immortality. Now, I don’t know if it has anything to do with anything—”
“Just tell us what you’re thinking, please,” Steve said, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes.
Shepherd nodded and cleared his throat. “If undines mate with a human, they can steal that human’s soul. That is the legend, anyway. People speculate it’s why Jareth Reynolds has brought so many humans to Mythicus—to force that . . . issue. But it’s never been achieved.”
A tense quietness fell over the group. They all shared looks with one another. Finally, Steve said, “That’s a disturbing accusation, Shepherd.”
Shepherd raised his hands, palms forward. “Like I said, I don’t know if it’s relevant to Jareth overthrowing Malachite. I simply thought it was worth mentioning.”
“It’s definitely that, mate,” Aiden said. “Is that something Jareth’s wife . . . wants?”
Shepherd shrugged.
Steve had heard enough. If Tiberius and Jareth are the savages that Shepherd makes them out to be, then Annabel is in more danger than I ever imagined . . .
He ran a hand through his hair. “Shepherd, will you help us? You’ve already proved your worth.”
“Who is ‘us’?”
Steve smirked and shrugged. “The Vagrant Kinship two-point-oh, I guess.”
CHAPTER FOUR
It took a while for Scarlet to recuperate and stop crying. By the time she’d gathered herself and her tears had dried, she’d gone from unimaginable grief to being absolutely livid. Learning who killed her mother, finally, after so many false flags, devastated her. In a sense, it was also a relief. Now she had an idea of where to aim her vengeance.
Dale passed out on his loveseat after his second beer. He’d been drinking all day. An empty beer can rested on his prominent belly. Shepherd quickly followed suit and slept horizontally on the couch.
It was quiet in Shannon’s house. The sun was beginning to set. It was a somber moment, as Aiden and Steve wanted to give Scarlet her space so she could grieve. But time was of the essence.
Scarlet stood from the couch where she’d been crying and started pacing again. Fury replaced her grief.
“Tell me of this Tiberius Reynolds, Steve,” she said, staring at the ground as she walked in circles and bit her lip. “I’ve heard the name, but he must have been a boy when I was last in Mythicus.”
“He still is,” Steve said, “so to speak. He’s a spoiled child. Okay, he’s not really a child, he might be in his mid-twenties. He’s an arrogant, entitled man-baby who thinks the world revolves around him. I never liked the guy, but I didn’t know the extent of his evilness until Shepherd told us about your mo—about January.”
“Then you have no qualms seeing him dead?” Scarlet asked matter-of-factly. She stopped pacing and stared at Steve to gauge his reaction.
Steve winced. Dead bodies were not really his thing. He was squeamish of blood, even though he’d stabbed a blackguard with a spear in the past. That was during a free-for-all brawl in the middle of the night where he couldn’t see any face clearly. He had simply stabbed into a mass and his spear had come away bloody.
This was something entirely different. This was someone he’d met, had conversations with, and had “served.” How would Fueda feel if Steve returned to her household only to kill her masters? He was already on a shaky relationship with the brow
nie.
“Steve,” Scarlet repeated. “Where are you?”
“Sorry,” Steve muttered, shaking his head. “If it’s possible, I’d rather not.”
“Steve is opposed to killing, dear,” Aiden said, clarifying for his blubbering friend. “That’s what I’m gathering from his waxy pale skin and standoffish demeanor.”
With a nod, Steve said, “If there’s any way to avoid killing him, I mean, that would be ideal.”
“There isn’t,” Scarlet assured him. “But you won’t have to be there. You just have to help me find him.”
Steve pointed at the sleeping body of Shepherd. “You heard the defector, Scarlet, he was one of five bodyguards for Tiberius.”
That didn’t phase the succubus. “Did he have bodyguards when you lived at his house?”
“Well, no . . .”
Scarlet threw her hands in the air. “Well then. They’ve gotten complacent. They think they’re safe in their little manor. I will fucking show them the error of their ways.”
Steve sighed. There was no dissuading her, of course. And he couldn’t blame her—if Tiberius had killed one of his parents, he’d be thinking the same way. He said, “The two people who care about Tiberius the most, his parents, are powerful Mythics. I watched Jareth Reynolds turn into a fire giant and burn the face off one of the strongest Vagrants around.”
“Jareth Reynolds is an Ifrit,” Aiden interjected. “His wife is an undine, a water elemental. They’re yin and yang. Together, Steve is right, they’re very powerful.”
Waving her hand at the two naysayers, Scarlet said, “I’m powerful too, boys. You know that. You know the power I have over men, especially. I won’t have a problem getting Tiberius alone.” She smirked. “You just have to bring me there.”
“How?” Steve asked. He didn’t doubt her capability—Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and all that—but he wasn’t sure what she was asking. “I only managed to get back here through the Parallel Reflector, which is in Mythicus. In fact, I was in Ethereus when I did that. I have no idea how I made it work. And my Myth Maker, who betrayed me, mind you, is still stuck in Mythicus. So, tell me, how can I help you?”