by S. M. Boyce
“None for me,” Shiloh said in the backseat.
Victoria flinched, and Audrey jumped at the voice. They both stared at the ghost in their backseat, then shared a fleeting glance as Audrey rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I figured, Legolas.”
“My name is Shiloh, human girl. Get it right,” he said, cheek resting on his fist as he stared into the dark sky.
Victoria shook her head, biting back a grin. “Thanks for handling the gas, Audrey.”
As she stepped out of the car, Victoria's skin crawled with discomfort and the vulnerable sensation of being watched. Her eyes scanned the rest stop, taking in every detail she could. Blue sedan parked by the door. Two people in the cabin, plus one kid in the back seat, judging by the small head. The only other car was a beat-up green SUV tucked out of sight in the back corner by the dumpster, probably an employee’s based on its location. Inside, only two silhouettes meandered the aisles. No one waited at the cash register.
The hairs on her neck stood on end, and she gritted her teeth harder with every step she took toward the store. Nothing new. Ever since she had seen Shiloh in the back seat and learned that there was a ghost—or whatever—attached to this strange thing shoved all up in her arm, she felt as if someone were standing over her shoulder and watching her every move.
It screwed with her mind, not to mention her nerves.
She entered, a blast of air conditioning hitting her in the face as a bell jingled. Rows of Twinkies, beer, and power drinks led the way toward the blue restroom sign hanging in the back of the store. She needed to wash her face and take care of some of the sweat sticking to her from a day on the road.
As she pushed open the ladies’ room door and surveyed the scene, she couldn’t help but sigh with relief. Empty. Two stalls. One sink. Red light flashing on an empty paper towel dispenser. The door slammed shut behind her, and she locked it to give herself some privacy. Palms on the filthy counter, she leaned against the sink and stared at her reflection in the foggy mirror.
Same honey-colored skin. Same green eyes. Same pale-pink lips. And yet, she felt like a different person. She examined her arm, still safely hidden by her long-sleeved shirt, and fanned the sweat still clinging to her neck. She gingerly lifted the sleeve to study the relic that had given her these strange powers. The metal tendrils of the dagger’s hilt were fused seamlessly with her skin to the point where she almost couldn’t tell where one started and the other began. She noticed a few twinkling jewels embedded in the brass, something she hadn't registered before. Rubies, from the look of it. Strangest of all, the hilt had four gaps in it that showed the linoleum floor clear through her arm. No blood. No bone. Nothing. Just open space.
No wonder her dad had always worn long sleeves. This thing freaked her right the hell out.
A stabbing sensation burst through her chest at the thought of her dad, at the thought of him on the living room floor, burning with the house. She gritted her teeth, both enraged and horrified. All at once, she wanted to both hide and kill.
The shield appeared, cutting through the sink and taking her to her knees with its weight. Water spewed into the bathroom from the broken faucet, hitting her square in the face. She blubbered, trying her best to breathe as she fought to wrench the heavy shield from the floor. Instead, she fell hard on her ass, cursing all the while.
Once again, the shield disappeared as quickly as it had come as soon as she lost her focus. She sat in a puddle of water in a gas station bathroom, a stream of water hitting her in the face. Hands guarding her eyes, she crawled toward the water turnoff valve at the base of the sink and twisted the knob. The torrent ebbed, and she spit out water as she heaved for air.
She surveyed the damage. Half an inch of water slowly drained into the dip in the floor by the first toilet stall. Shards of the porcelain sink littered the bathroom, a hefty chunk resting in the far corner. Little black specks of who-knew-what floated in the makeshift lake she had created, and she studied her hands in disgust.
Her cheeks burned with anger. She needed to figure out how to control this thing, how to—
The shield appeared again, cutting through the pipe just below the water turnoff. The water blasted her in a relentless stream all over again. She cussed as loudly as she could, choking again on the water, hands out to shield herself.
Faintly, she heard Shiloh sigh.
***
The gas handled, Audrey perused the cookie aisle as she waited for Victoria to finish up in the restroom. She faced her toughest dilemma of the day: snickerdoodles or chocolate chip?
The squelching smack of wet sneakers on a hard surface caught her attention. She pulled herself away from the cookies just as Victoria, head held high, emerged from the bathroom and headed down the next aisle as if she weren't dripping wet. Her long-sleeved shirt clung to her body, hair sticking to her face like strands of spaghetti as she sucked in a deep breath.
A slow smile spread across Audrey's face before she could help herself. She gave her friend a once-over, wondering what the hell had happened. But before she could say anything, Victoria stopped in front of the clerk and grabbed one of the pens by the register. She scribbled something and handed him the paper. “Send me the bill.”
With that, Victoria passed through the front doors and into the night, the clerk's gaze following her deliberate movements. His jaw slowly dropped, and he snapped his head toward the back bathrooms.
Oops, that was Audrey's cue. Time to go. She tossed the cookies back onto the stand and hurried outside. They could find food somewhere else.
Jogging across the gas station lot, Audrey hopped into the passenger seat as Victoria plopped into the driver’s side, still dripping. She stared straight ahead, turning the car on as if nothing were wrong.
“You, uh, want to share with the class?” Audrey grinned.
Victoria hesitated, shivering a little. “I'm fine.”
“She broke the sink because she can't control that shield,” Shiloh said.
Audrey and Victoria flinched at the same time, both tilting their heads toward the ghost as he once again appeared without warning. In her surprise, it took a second for Audrey to fully process what he had said.
When she did, she burst out laughing.
“Shut up,” Victoria said softly, but she chuckled. They caught each other's eyes, their giggling intensifying the longer neither of them spoke. Audrey brushed away the tears in her eyes, core hurting from the laughter.
“Hey, you!” a man shouted, his voice muffled by the closed windows.
Audrey spun in her seat to see the clerk running out of the gas station.
“I already told him I’d pay, and I am not in the mood,” Victoria said, flooring it. They peeled out of the gas station, Victoria's smile fading as she headed again for the freeway.
“Good thing we brought a change of clothes,” Audrey said, shaking her head.
Victoria laughed. “I do feel pretty guilty about this whole thing. There wasn't much left of that bathroom.”
Audrey’s smile fell. “That bad?”
“This thing, whatever it is, it’s powerful. And heavy as fuck.” Victoria cleared her throat, shivering again as she continued to drip all over Audrey's car. Truth be told, Audrey didn't even care about the mess. It was perfect, in its own way, because she would never, ever let Victoria forget this had happened.
“I need a shower,” Victoria said.
“It's probably for the best. Let's find a place to pull off. And V?”
“Yeah?”
“You need to figure out how to control this thing. What if it happens while we’re driving or—”
“Stop! Stop, dude, what the hell? I’m nervous enough as it is.” Victoria glared at her.
“You shouldn’t drive any more, at least. Once we find a place to pull over, let’s switch.”
“Fine.”
Audrey studied Victoria as the girl stared into the darkening night, the occasional passing freeway lamp illuminating her scowl with soft orange ligh
t. They didn't need to discuss this any further. Both already knew the risks. Next time someone might be in that bathroom with her. Whatever Victoria's new powers were, they could destroy things. Hurt people. Maybe even kill.
The two of them needed to find Fairhaven and this Fyrn Folly character—fast.
CHAPTER 8
As the car finally passed into the Santa Barbara city limits, Victoria rolled down the passenger-side window and leaned out to get a better view of the beautiful city. Palm trees lined every street, and the main road ran parallel to the beach. Women and men lay on the sand not far away, basking in the hot California sun. The water glimmered and glistened, the light bouncing off the waves like a million small diamonds.
It was paradise. No wonder there was a magical city hidden here.
Eighteen hours of driving over two days was no mean feat, and after all that time on the road they needed a place to sleep and a hot meal. Still, Victoria couldn’t quell her excitement. Soon she would find Fyrn Folly. Soon she would start training to control the magic in her arm. And soon she would have everything she needed to get her revenge.
Her jaw clenched.
Audrey slowed as the speed limit was reduced, adjusting the towels she sat on to protect her from the sopping-wet seats, still soaked from yesterday. “Okay, Victoria, where am I going?”
Victoria dug into the glove box for the notes she'd scribbled on the back of her dad’s letter. A knot caught in her throat as her fingers brushed her father's handwriting, but it wouldn't do any good to dwell on how much she missed her parents. “Looks like we need to find a bridge. The Riviera Bridge. Is your phone charged? I'll look it up.”
Audrey handed her the familiar white cell phone with the black skull case, and Victoria typed in her friend's security pin. They'd known each other's access codes for ages.
Her thumb accidentally hit the recent calls button, and Audrey’s home phone was on the outgoing calls list. Apparently she had snuck away at some point to check in with her family. Victoria’s throat tightened, a bit envious of her friend’s surviving family, but she buried the resentment and opened the GPS instead.
“Turn left on West Carrillo Street,” a robotic female voice said through the phone's speakers.
“You heard the lady,” Victoria said with a grin. She tilted the phone slightly toward Audrey so she could easily glance at the map on the screen while driving. Trees and medians filled with flowers lined the road. Building after building had sparkling white walls and red-tiled roofs, giving the street a classic and uniform look.
“This place is beautiful,” Audrey said, leaning forward a bit to stare through the windshield, her eyes lingering on an historic five-story hotel as they passed.
Victoria nodded. “I'm so grateful mom and dad didn't send me to Alaska. Pretty, but cold.”
“Would've been easier to hide that thing,” Audrey said with a nod toward Victoria's arm.
Victoria’s smile fell, and she let out a small huff of air. “I guess that's a good point. It's a little harder to get away with long sleeves in a place where it's never cold.”
“Turn right on Olive Street,” the robotic female voice interrupted.
Audrey obeyed the little voice coming from her phone and turned onto a side street. Road by road, they obeyed the GPS’s directions, twisting and turning as they drove deeper into Santa Barbara's Riviera suburb. So far, not a bridge in sight.
After about half an hour, the GPS led them to the Riviera Bridge. The road led over it, but from what Victoria could remember they had to find a way underneath.
“Over there,” Victoria said, pointing to a gravel lot just in front of the bridge. As the car bounced over the uneven path, the thin and winding road led down to a clearing underneath the bridge. The tires crunched over gravel as they inched their way down the steep side-road, Victoria never quite sure whether they would stay on it or fall off and roll down the hill into the reservoir below.
“You have arrived at your destination,” the robotic voice said.
The gravel path ended directly under the bridge, which was nothing more than a slender stone arch at most thirty feet over their heads. Concrete walls blocked them in on both sides, and Victoria had a sudden rush of claustrophobia. If Luak found them here, they would be trapped. Dead. He could easily roast them in their car before they escaped, or maybe —
Panicking, afraid the shield would appear at any second thanks to her wild imagination, she threw open the car door and jumped outside. She grimaced, hands over her head as she waited for the inevitable weight on her arm to take her to the ground. Thankfully, it didn't, and she let out a relieved sigh.
Audrey got out as well, throwing the backpack containing the crystals over her shoulder. Looking around, she kicked her door shut. “What next?”
Victoria unfolded the paper and scanned her notes. “We need to touch one of the symbols spray-painted under the bridge. The triangle, I think.”
They walked toward the concrete barrier, Victoria on edge as she continued to scan their surroundings. On the other side of the bridge the road ended in forest, gravel fading into dirt and weeds.
Victoria located a couple of strange symbols, their spray-painted lines reminding her of Nordic runes. She reached for the triangle, suddenly doubting how well she had remembered her parents’ notes.
“That will electrocute you,” Shiloh said from behind her.
She jumped, a little scream escaping her as he once again surprised her. “Christ, will you warn me before you do that?”
“If I remember,” he said, shrugging.
So, no, he wouldn’t.
She rubbed her temple, annoyed with the ghost elf who had the personality of a thirteen-year-old girl. “So that one will electrocute me if I touch it?”
He nodded.
She waited for him to tell her which one to touch, but he simply stared at his nails.
“Should I touch the square, or—”
“Oh, no, that will melt the skin from your bones.”
“Oh, awesome.” Victoria rolled her eyes.
Audrey chuckled.
Again, Victoria waited, but the ghost didn’t say anything else. She bit her lip to bite back a sarcastic remark and gestured to the symbols on the barrier. “So, which of these will not kill me?”
He huffed. “I think you meant to ask me which will let you inside.”
“Oh. My. God,” Victoria said, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.
Audrey laughed harder.
“Touch that one.” Shiloh rolled his eyes and pointed to a crude hourglass-type symbol comprised of two triangles.
“Thank you,” Victoria said, gritting her teeth in annoyance as she smacked it with her palm.
Beneath them, the ground trembled. The gravel vibrated from the sheer force of whatever was happening. Pebbles fell off the bridge, and for a fleeting, panicked second Victoria wondered if it would collapse on them.
Gold light shot from the barrier with the symbols, piercing them and sending a ripple of ice down Victoria’s spine. A puff of her breath hovered in front of her, suddenly visible despite the hot day. She shivered and watched as the gold energy spread around them like a force field, encapsulating everything within a fifty-foot radius.
The concrete barrier crumbled like a mishandled cookie, the loose chunks of rock disappearing the moment they hit the ground. Bit by bit a jagged hole appeared before them, as tall and wide as a large truck. Stairs appeared one by one, popping out of the ground and leading downward into the darkness. Embedded in both walls, thousands of glowing green crystals lit the way.
“Welcome to Fairhaven. I can take your car,” someone said behind them. If a mouse could speak, it would sound like whoever this was.
Victoria spun on her heel and lifted one fist as if preparing to fight, but paused when she saw a little gremlin-like creature with massive winged ears. He—or she—was a murky green color that reminded her of a swamp, with skin covered in little bumps. The creature looked
vaguely familiar, and Victoria wondered if she had stumbled across a picture of one in her brief time with their parents’ spiral notebook.
She frowned at the memory of the notebook, furious and frustrated that Luak had destroyed such a valuable collection of information. Just one more reason to bash his brains in, she supposed.
“Your car, please,” the creature said again, voice squeaky as an old wheel. He lifted the palm of his hand and gestured with his fingers.
“Where are you going to put it?” Audrey scanned the empty gravel lot.
The gremlin creature squeaked in a rapid and unintelligible succession that sounded a bit like laughter. “The car lot, of course.”