by Hazel Hunter
“Shayne?” she said.
When he turned, his eyes were clouded again and slightly unfocused. When he saw her, he blinked, frowning.
“Gillian, are you all right?”
“Yes, but…” She thought desperately for any excuse, aware of Konrad watching. “I need a little help. The portal in the room is stuck.”
“Oh, of course…I…” Shayne turned stiffly to Konrad. “Were you saying something?”
“No, not at all,” Konrad said pleasantly.
But as Shayne turned away, Konrad’s smile vanished abruptly. Though Gillian couldn’t be sure, he seemed to glare at her before looking back to his pipe.
She was silent as she led Shayne back to the cabin. Once the door had closed behind him, he stood stock still for a few moments. Gillian could actually see him shake off Konrad’s spell. She knew now that’s what it had to be.
“That son of a bitch,” Shayne swore, spinning around. “I’m going to hang him from the mast.”
Gillian grabbed Shayne’s arm. For an instant she was sure he’d shake her off and go. Then he visibly calmed and halted.
“That’s not going to work,” she said. “I wish you could just go off and rearrange his face, but that’s not going to work. He’ll start humming or singing or whatever he does. It’ll just be rinse and repeat.” She glanced at the closed door. “Except this time he may realize I’m a problem for his plan.”
The words made Shayne clench his jaw, but he nodded.
Gillian hesitated for a moment, but then plunged onward.
“I have a plan,” she offered. “In a lot of ways, it’s your plan, so I don’t think you’re going to complain too much.”
“Why do I get the feeling that I’m not going to like this?”
“Actually, you might like it a lot––at least at first.”
CHAPTER FOUR
THE DOOR TO their cabin crashed open. It banged so loudly that Gillian thought it shook the ship.
“Get out of here,” she shouted. “We’re on a goddamn ship. You can do your job just as well from the deck!”
“You don’t know what you’re fucking playing with,” Shayne snarled. “You think I’m going to let you order me around? You think a man like me will put up with that?”
“I don’t owe you a thing,” she spat. “This is a job, remember?”
“I’ll do what I please. It’s up to me who–”
He never got the words out because Gillian’s hand smacked across his jaw. The slap resounded in the silence. Gillian stared up at him, panting slightly, watching the red print show up immediately on his face.
“Get out of here,” she said, through clenched teeth.
For a moment, Shayne was truly terrifying in the doorway. She wondered if she’d gone too far.
“Fine,” he growled. “It suits me fine.”
He spun around and stomped up to the deck, leaving their cabin in silence. Gillian took several deep breaths to calm herself. She glanced at the mound of pillows in the bed that were laid to look like a sleeping woman. From a pocket of her backpack, she took a handful of tissues.
Moving as lightly as she could, she crept down the hallway, meeting Sal, who was approaching with a frown.
“Shh, it’s fine. We’re going to get your skin back.”
The two women crept into the darkness of the hallway, and down to the storage room. Gillian tried the knob, hoping it wasn’t locked. She breathed a sigh of relief when it opened. Sal silently followed her in, and Gillian left the door open a crack. She could just see Konrad’s cabin.
They waited for what seemed like an hour. Then there were noises in the corridor, a shuffling step and the sound of two male voices. They were speaking too softly to hear what was being said, but a few minutes later Konrad began to hum. It was a curious eldritch melody, something that seemed to slide around in a register that felt both alien and familiar to Gillian. She didn’t realize how it was affecting her until Sal grabbed her shoulder. She blinked, realizing she’d been on the verge of opening the door.
Something about the hypnotic quality of the song jarred something loose in her mind. Selkies weren’t the only creature that lurked in the depths. Though she’d suspected she’d need the tissue, she swore in her head. The name of the ship had been staring them in the face. She tore the tissue in two, wadded the halves up, and stuffed them into her ears. When she offered the same to Sal, however, the other woman refused.
“You’re beautiful,” Shayne was saying.
There was a drugged quality to his voice that made Gillian’s skin crawl.
“No, you’re the beautiful one,” Konrad said. “If that girl can’t appreciate it, well there are others who can. So lovely and strong. I think maybe I’ll keep you.”
Shayne’s laugh was slightly slurred, as if he had been drinking. “Of course you will.”
“At least tonight.”
Konrad unlocked the door to his cabin, gesturing Shayne in first. Shayne wasn’t wearing his shirt and went docilely, Konrad following him.
As the door began to close, Gillian tore across the hallway, followed by Sal. Both of their weights hit the door. With a satisfying thump, it collided with Konrad. He crashed to the floor in an awkward sprawl.
“What in the name of–?” he yelled.
Gillian threw herself at the siren, doing her best to pin him to the ground. But he was far bigger than she was. He took her by the arms.
“Little bitch,” he snarled. “Get off me!”
As though she were a doll, he threw her to the floor. She landed skidding on her side.
“Shayne!” she screamed. He stood there shaking his head. “Shay–”
Konrad’s angry face cut off her view. Still on his knees, he swung a wild fist at her. Though she managed to get her arm up in time, the blow glanced off her jaw. Her head snapped sideways. A rough hand grabbed her shoulder, righting her. Konrad’s grinning face swam in her wobbly vision. He cocked his fist back.
Suddenly Shayne was there. His hand covered Konrad’s fist. He grabbed the siren by the back of his neck and leaned close.
“Don’t you ever touch her again.”
At that, Konrad’s mouth dropped open. He was pulling in an enormous lungful of air.
“No,” Gillian muttered, trying to get to her feet. “No!”
Konrad’s shriek filled the air. Even with her earplugs, the sound was painful. Shayne howled, staggering back. Gillian lurched to a standing position and threw herself at him. She clapped her hands over his ears. But to her horror, Shayne slumped to the floor. Then there was a horrible silence.
Gillian turned to see Konrad stalking toward her, but it wasn’t the Konrad she knew. His hair writhed with electricity and his eyes glowed with internal heat.
“When he wakes up,” Konrad growled, “he won’t even miss you. I’m going to stuff you in a barrel and sell you to the highest bidder. He’ll remember nothing except–”
A wild yelp filled the room. Gillian barely had time to realize what was happening before a dark blur crossed her vision. The giant seal took Konrad’s head in its jaws. With a resounding crunch, it viciously bit down. Though Konrad’s mouth gaped open, no sound came out. The seal savagely shook its head. Even over the rumbling growl, the distinct sound of breaking bones could be heard. Though Konrad’s eyes were still open, his body went limp. With incredible speed, the seal loped to the door, dragged Konrad through it, and they were gone.
Gillian flew to Shayne’s side. He lay still as death, and a trickle of blood ran from his nose.
“Oh gods,” she whispered, kneeling next to him. She cradled his head in her arms. “Shayne? Shayne, please wake up.” She shifted and bent her head to his chest. His heartbeat was good and strong. She saw his chest rise and fall. “Shayne,” she tried again, looking down into his face. “Oh gods, Shayne. Please, wake up.”
His eyelids fluttered once, and then again. Gillian held her breath. Finally they opened, staring up at the ceiling.
“S
hayne?” she whispered, her voice trembling.
But when he looked at her, his gaze was clear. “Hells below, if I ever suggest you or I act as bait again, just kick me where it hurts, all right?”
Gillian closed her eyes and hugged him fiercely. “Are you all right?”
Shayne pushed himself up to a sitting position. He wiped at the blood trickling from his nose.
“I think I’m going to be fine, though I’m a little dizzy. What happened to Konrad?”
There was a clumping step on the stairway. Shayne scrambled to his feet, pulling Gillian with him. He moved her in back of him, crouching. But it was Sal.
Looking much as she had in the bar, she appeared in the doorway, but with one exception. A black seal skin was draped over her shoulder, and a huge grin spread across her face. Shayne relaxed.
“Oh thank god it’s you,” Gillian sighed with relief.
“You won’t need to worry about the singer again,” Sal said. “He won’t be a problem for anyone again.”
Gillian stared. “You can talk!”
“The singer kept me in bondage in more ways than one,” Sal said, looking as if she wanted to spit. “He took my skin, and my voice went with it.” Sal laughed, a hoarse barking sound. “But now I’m free, as is my ship.”
“Your ship?” Shayne asked.
“Come up. I’ll show you.”
On deck, Gillian could hardly believe what she was seeing. Under Konrad’s ownership, the vessel had looked like a ghost ship. But now pure white sails billowed softly with the wind, and the deck looked as if it had been scrubbed until it shone. At the bow was a beautiful woman carved in wood, holding a lantern in one hand and a seal pup in the other.
“Konrad may have raised her from the bottom,” Sal said, “but he couldn’t keep her. For that he needed me. His folk lived next to the sea. But what’s in it and what sails on it, well, that belongs to my people. All sirens know how to do is ruin ships.”
As Shayne retrieved his shirt from the deck, he glanced around.
“What happened to him?” he asked.
“I cracked his head open and dumped him overboard. The sharks will finish him.”
Sal’s satisfied tone sent a shiver down Gillian’s spine. Shayne put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
“Thank you both,” Sal said. “With just me on the ship, he was never careless enough to drop his guard. It took something pretty to catch his eye.”
Sal looked pointedly at Shayne, who frowned.
“I can’t say I’m too happy about that, but I’m glad you’re free.” He paused, sweeping his gaze from the deck to the surrounding ocean. “Do you have a plan?”
“The first thing I’m going to do is take you to the Midnight Market. It’s the least I can do.” Sal gazed out to sea, a faraway look in her eye. “But then I’ll go see my family.” With a smile, she turned back to them. “If you don’t mind me saying, it’ll be good to be around real people again.”
Gillian grinned. “No offense taken. I’m so glad we brought you a little closer to home.”
• • • • •
Though the next day of sailing was peaceful, Gillian was anxious to make landfall. According to Sal, the Midnight Market was only another day or so away, and its nearness stirred something in Gillian. As she stood alone at the railing, watching the bow split the waves, she felt ready to move on. It was time to move to the next stage, and from there to Tenebris. As the boat rocked beneath her, slapping against the choppy waves, Gillian also realized it’d be good to feel land again.
With a start, Gillian realized Sal was next to her. Completely at ease, forearms on the railing, she looked as though she’d been waiting for Gillian to notice her.
“There is something you should be aware of,” she said, without preamble. “Konrad had no intention of taking you to the Midnight Market.”
“What?” Gillian said, surprised as much by the topic as hearing Sal speak. She still hadn’t gotten used to it.
“I didn’t hear everything, but he had orchestrated a very tidy bidding war over you. He was going to deliver you to the highest bidder.”
“Templars,” Gillian said grimly.
“Yes, but more than that. There was at least one other aggressive bidder.” Though Gillian had been about to interrupt, Sal held up a hand. “There were even others that fell out. Someone is willing to pay a lot of money to secure you.”
“Me?” Gillian said, scowling. “I’m just a researcher. Are you sure you don’t mean Shayne? He’s had centuries to make enemies.”
Sal seized her by the arm and shook her lightly. Gillian yelped with surprise.
“Not Shayne,” the selkie said sternly. “You. Konrad was going to keep Shayne for himself. No, it was you they were bidding millions of dollars for.”
The sum of money swam in Gillian’s head for a moment.
“I’m nobody,” she blurted out.
“No, you’re not.” Sal’s eyes were hard. “Whatever you are, whoever you are, someone wants you very much.”
Gillian was still stunned when Sal let her go.
“But the Templars aren’t your biggest problem,” Sal continued. “The Midnight Market is.” Sal paused. “I think you should reconsider going.”
“No,” Gillian snapped. “Out of the question. It’s the only way to find Tenebris.”
Sal pulled Gillian close. For a moment, Gillian flashed back to their kiss in the bar.
“Be careful,” Sal said lowly. “I won’t be there to protect you.” She let Gillian go. “There are worse things than sirens.”
CHAPTER FIVE
GILLIAN WAS AWAKENED by a soft kiss on her cheek. Shayne’s faint, musky scent and the light rasp of stubble on her skin made her smile, if drowsily.
“Come back to bed,” she said softly. “There’s nothing worth being up this early.”
“Usually, I would agree with you, but today you’re wrong. Come on. We’re going to be pulling into the Midnight Market soon.”
Gillian sat up so fast, she nearly butted heads with him. She had laid out her black dress and flats the night before. Now she slipped into them and slung on her backpack. Shayne was already dressed in his pinstripe pants and dress shirt. Rather than carry the still sleeping Max in her coat, she tucked him into the backpack.
They climbed to the deck. The sky was still more black than blue, but Gillian knew how quickly that would change. Sal met them with a wave. She still wore the canvas pants and tank top.
“Are you ready to confront a wonder of the world?” she asked.
“I’m more interested in surviving it,” said Shayne.
Perched atop the cabin, Vlasti seemed to echo the sentiment with a tiny screech.
“First we have to get there,” Sal said. “It takes someone with the sea in their blood to steer to the Midnight Market. Go to the prow and watch. You will see a wonderful thing…or rather, you won’t see it.”
“I’ve read so many things about the entrance to the Midnight Market,” Gillian said. “Some of it sounds like a fairytale.”
“I was nearly seduced by a siren,” Shayne said, “and a seal woman is steering our ship. Who’s to say we’re not living one?”
At the prow, things looked as they always had. The water below was the same deep blue it always was in the morning. The wind and spray still stung.
Abruptly, however, the wind died away.
The water in front of them boiled white, as though they were shooting a rapid. But when Gillian looked down into it, she could see it start to swirl. In the murky depths, she glimpsed enormous pillars. Some said that they were the work of ancient wizards, others that they were the teeth of a leviathan of the deep. Gillian thought of the thousands of ships that must have wrecked here. But somehow Sal was steering around the hidden obstacles, weaving this way and that, the ship bobbing dangerously close.
Eyes wide, Gillian pressed back against Shayne’s body, but she couldn’t stop looking. The waves were becoming more violent
. The ship listed sharply to the left.
“She’s a madwoman,” Gillian said.
“You’d have to be to make this crossing,” Shayne said.
He sounded calm, but he released her waist to grab the railing in front of them. They watched as the barely visible pillars grew more numerous and the spaces between them tighter. Behind them the rigging and pulleys slapped this way and that, without the wind to keep them taut.
There was a hideous scraping sound as the hull of the ship dragged across something. Gillian imagined the underside being ripped open. Through the crashing of the waves, she could hear Sal’s wild laugh. The ship bucked in the frothy chop. Gillian might have fallen overboard if Shayne hadn’t sandwiched her between him and the railing. They were thrown into it, and just as quickly, they were pitched backwards. All of a sudden, the Sirena was coasting again, and the water around them had stilled. The salmon sunrise in the east lit the sides of dark gray cliffs. How had she missed those? To port and to starboard, the sheer cliffs shot upward, their tops too high to see. With chagrin she realized she hadn’t missed them. An enchantment must have made them invisible.
“Gillian, look.”
Shayne was pointing ahead. Over the point of the bow, a gap had appeared––a narrow one. As the cliffs pressed in on them, Sal steered the Sirena down the center, and they slipped into darkness. When Gillian looked up, the dawn sky had disappeared.
“The Midnight Market is entirely covered,” she murmured.
It seemed as though they were in a tunnel, the blackness only alleviated by the lanterns on the ship. Gillian wasn’t claustrophobic, but the inky murk was oppressive.
As if sensing her dismay, Shayne summoned a ball of fire, setting it in the air just above them. It took Gillian’s eyes a few seconds to adjust, but she’d been right. They were in a tunnel.
From above, the Midnight Market must look like an isle of rock, a dot of basalt in the Atlantic Ocean. No plane passing overhead would think otherwise. Few ships could come close enough to see. Only navigators like Sal and her people made it this far.