by AE McKenna
The ballroom erupted into laughter and excitement.
I nodded. “Thank—”
Mal pinched me! I frowned at him, rubbing my arm and barely catching his subtle head shake.
“You will submit to the metamorphoses if you lose,” she said.
“We don’t plan on losing,” I replied.
“Easy, tiger,” Mal whispered.
Cliodhna arched a brow, then signaled someone in the back. “Take them away until the race is ready.”
The guards circled us and moved us out of the room. Mal gripped my hand the moment the doors closed behind us. Every time he tried to say something, a guard yelled at us.
They opened a door and shoved us into a sparse room with a couple cots and a pitcher of water.
My stomach gnawed on my intestines. “Will we get—?”
A small, winged man hobbled in after us. He slapped Mal’s forehead with an explosion of powder and Mal crumpled onto a cot, unconscious.
“Hey!” I gasped.
Then he smacked me. I was asleep before I hit the cot.
Chapter 14
Dusk encroached on the estate. Staff followed pixie trails with bell jars. They probably needed to replace the ones that had died last night. My stomach cramped painfully. Or, since pixies are hatched, harvest their eggs to make Pixie Glitz, the fancy champagne fae enjoyed drinking.
Luce shivered next to me despite the warm summer evening. Being forced into an enchanted sleep affected everyone differently. Some were well-rested and ready to face the next two days, like me. It hung others over. They woke up starving, and prone to fall asleep at a drop of the hat. Either the enchantment had sapped her body heat, or her bad luck was taking control.
A female djinni dressed in rags stood beside us. The word “Liar” in bright green slashing letters was splashed across her chest. I could guess why she was competing. A Satyr—a woman with goat legs—stood on the other side of Lucy, and bringing up the end of the line was a Brownie—a short, human-like man with wrinkly skin and curly brown hair.
I scanned the estate. A thick forest lay to the east, with who knew what beyond it. Directly north lay a grassland probably riddled with snares and pitfalls. To the west were cliffs and Cliodhna’s mansion behind us. If we found a hiding spot, we could lie low, survive the night, and Cliodhna would give us a piece of the Blarney.
The huntsmen arrived on ponies—their human features long gone. Trotting beside the horses were their Dandy dogs. The Dandy dogs resembled harmless, long-legged corgis. Their eyes and mouths appeared natural, only because they weren’t hunting. Once they did, their fangs would elongate, their eyes would turn hellfire red, and they’d chase you until your legs broke, then bring you back to their huntsman in their jaws. Once the Dandy dog’s metamorphosis was completed, it was retired as a faehound. Fae enjoyed using them as guard dogs. They fed only on your emotions until you had none left.
Luce grabbed my hand. She struggled to keep her breathing normal. I couldn’t blame her. They’d stitched these huntsmen together from their victims like Frankenstein’s monster. One was a pieced-together fae—purple hands, pink legs, mismatched eyes, and a wolf’s snout. Another resembled a spiny fish with panther legs.
“Oh, god,” Lucy gasped, her fingers tightening around mine. “What is that?”
It was an abomination.
A Satyr approached with the torso of a squid interconnected with that of a wasp and an intact stinger. But that was where normalcy—if you can call this normal—ended. Instead of wings, it had tentacles, and where the face should have been was a sharp beak.
Soldiers marched onto the green and parted. Cliodhna strolled in front of us. Her silvery hair was woven in a tight braid, and her silk gown matched her purple eyes. At first, I’d thought her stunning, but the more I saw of her influence, her arrogance, the less she appealed to me.
“Huntsmen!” She turned away from us and the monsters stood to attention. “Today is an unofficial Taming. You will stable your mounts and Dandy dogs.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. With the huntsmen stabling their horses and Dandy dogs, it gave us a chance to survive. I glanced at the abomination. Maybe.
“Runners.” Cliodhna’s smile turned sly. “You may not use weapons—or hide inside your bottles.”
My roiling stomach dropped and a sour taste flooded my mouth. I squeezed Luce’s hand. Maybe it would’ve been better to have sacrificed the memory of Pops’s love, but even if that were still an option, I wouldn’t be the same person afterward. We’d get through this. We’d survive. And then it would be over, and I’d treat my entire family to a movie if Pops was well enough to go.
A squire appeared next to Cliodhna and lifted a bronze horn. The huntsmen tensed; worry rippled across all of us except for the Brownie. The horn blew.
The Satyr took off, shooting toward the grasslands like a frightened deer. The Brownie hustled toward the cliffs, and the djinni shifted to acid-green smoke, barreling for the grasslands as well. Luce shot me a look. She was taking my lead; I knew it, but I hated the obvious route we needed to take. The huntsmen leered at us.
Cliodhna sighed. “You can’t wait here. You’ll forfeit.”
I shifted to smoke and a second later, so did Lucy. I zipped toward the thick forest. It might’ve been the obvious choice, but right now we didn’t have much of any. Glancing over my shoulder between the twists of green and tan smoke, Lucy’s blue dervish was close on my tail.
And the huntsmen were chasing us.
Two peeled off toward the grasslands. But the squid-wasp abomination had set its sights on us. Lucy put on a burst of speed, and I matched her, charging for the opening in the trees.
The trees moved, closing the gap I wanted to take into the forest. I skidded to a stop, my smoke whipping away from me as I faced the abomination. The weapons I had at my disposal were against the rules. If I drew one, not only would our memories be taken, but so would our lives. Being subjected to mutation didn’t mean surviving. The only thing available to me was martial arts. Mother instructed me and demanded I practice whenever I visited. She was a master; I was a mere apprentice.
I summoned a belt. “Don’t crowd me.”
Lucy stumbled backed toward the forest, her eyes darting side to side while the scent of fresh flowers and grass permeated the air. I held both ends and readied my body. When the abomination lunged, I stepped forward, intending to catch a tentacle with the belt and sweep behind it. The abomination’s tentacle slipped from the belt; its other limb gripped it and tugged me forward. I summoned my smoke and barreled over it.
The beast yodeled and snapped its goat legs apart, crashing to the ground. I smirked, never assuming victory would be so easy. I blew my smoke out and yanked on the belt to tie it around the huntsman. It turned its beak and spewed. Inky liquid splattered me. My hands went numb, no longer taking orders from my brain. My arms fell loosely to my sides, and the abomination rose to its legs. I couldn’t feel the upper half of my body. I sidestepped, scanning the area for my next great idea.
A blur of not-quite-navy smoke bowled over the abomination, slamming it to the ground. Lucy shot past me, spun, and rode over the huntsman one more time. It flipped to its back and shrieked. Lucy stopped before me, the black fringe of her lashes circling her wide, frightened eyes.
She reached out to me. “Are you hur—Ahhh!” Her arms fell.
The same inky liquid that had immobilized me splattered her back and shoulders. The abomination rocked its body back and forth, its tentacles slapping the ground. My fingers and elbow tingled, and soon my forearms and biceps joined them. I reached down and clumsily gripped the tail of the belt and yanked, disrupting whatever progress it made to get to its feet.
I prodded Lucy toward the forest and shifted to smoke. She quickly transformed and we raced for the trees. Smoke and mirrors, we were lucky it hadn’t shot that substance on our legs.
Banyan tree roots dropped from branches as they strangled the
host tree. Some roots acted like cages with faces peering out. The tree had once been a Dryad, now dormant or dead from the strangling roots. Ahead, roots shifted, and thinner trees uprooted themselves and walked away. I kept to the path, my pulse pounding in my ears. Could we safely hide in these trees, or would they become a different sort of prison?
We outpaced the abomination, but the deeper we plunged into the thick forest, the more the trees posed too much of an obstacle. Lucy blew out her smoke, and I followed suit. Thrashing and laughter wafted through the trees behind us. My heart raced as fast as we darted through trees. Every time I thought I found a path to a hiding spot, a massive tree blocked it. The noises of the forest grew closer, and I couldn’t tell danger from everyday sounds. Yodeling erupted ahead of us. Lucy gasp-screamed.
I scanned the area, searching for something, anything, to shelter us, but all I saw were the enormous banyan trees and their roots that would get up and walk away if it suited them. Bottle it. We were out of options. I grabbed Luce’s hand and propelled her ahead of me through a root enclosure. It was larger than I imagined, and darkness pooled, promising safety or peril. The sun finished setting, and the large strawberry moon cast murky light, just enough to see we were alone under the roots.
“Can we hide here the whole time?” she asked, teeth chattering with fright.
I sniffed the air for her magic, but all I smelled was the gunk the abomination had sprayed on us, humid-heavy summer air, and damp earth. “No, probably not. We just need to wait it out until the huntsman chasing us goes elsewhere.”
She crouched and peered between the roots, staying in the shadows. “I feel so awful for saying this, but I wish someone else would do something stupid for once.”
I nodded; I understood how she felt.
Slap-slap! Slap-slap!
We pulled farther into the shadows, holding our breath.
Slap-slap!
A huntsman yodeled. Then, a few trees away from us, the abomination moved into view. Sweat dripped into my eyes and I swiped it away with trembling fingers. It sniffed the ground, yodeled, then its tentacles shot out, wrapped around two branches before it, and it yanked itself along, faster than a slingshot. Slap-slap!
The roots we sheltered under shuddered and moved. My throat closed.
Slap-slap! The huntsman shot closer. The roots were pulling themselves out of the ground. We hastily scrambled farther back, but the roots continued to rip free from the earth.
Slap-slap!
Luce made a strangled noise. I glanced at her, the opening beside her grabbing my attention. We were far more exposed now, and if the huntsman veered from his projected path, it’d see us.
The Satyr burst through the trees north of us and froze. The huntsman yodeled and slingshotted toward her. She screamed, her arms windmilling as she struggled to change her trajectory, and spun west. The huntsman yodeled again and gave chase.
I released my pent-up breath and urged Luce through the new opening, scurrying south. Yet every time we made headway, the trees pushed us in a different direction. The banyan trees herded us north along a muddy path. The number of roots strangling trees diminished until the footpath narrowed and cypress trees became more abundant. Rather than stumble onto the huntsmen like the Satyr, we followed the soggy trail opening before us to a bog. Bald cypress trees waded in deep shadowy water with a thick screen of buzzing mosquitos. A yodel echoed, but it bounced off the trees, masking where it came from. It was closer than it had been since we hid in the root cage.
Grabbing her hand, we splashed along the trail, which seemed more stream than mud. How could it know where to follow us so quickly? Were the trees pointing them after us? Insects buzzed around us. Some feasted on my arms and face, but I didn’t bother swatting them away. We had to keep moving. We had to survive. I didn’t want to become the thing chasing us.
The humidity wavered over us like a thick blanket of fog, and the smell wafting from Lucy was foul. I dropped my nose to my shoulder and sniffed. I reeled back, gagging.
Another yodel, this time closer. The more we splashed through the water, the easier it’d find us without smell. Luce was pale, frightened, and her breathing was frantic. I wondered if there was more going on in her head than being chased by monsters. Then again, the monsters were enough to freak me out, too.
My foot slipped off a ledge and the water came up to my thigh. We could hide in the water by the bald cypress trees. Nothing moved aside from the bugs, us, and the huntsman scenting us.
“We’re gonna have to hide again,” I whispered.
Her brows wrinkled together.
“I think it’s tracking us by a scent it splattered on us.”
The blood drained from her already pale face. “How do we cover our scent?”
I gestured at the water. Her frown deepened but she followed me toward a thick band of cypress trees and pond grass. I summoned a couple titanium straws from my bottle and handed her one. For the first time in my life, I wished I liked bubble tea. The straws for that drink would’ve been perfect. But titanium was practical, and while the diameter wasn’t ideal, it’d still work. Hopefully, the spiky grass would hide them as we breathed through them.
“Oh… Oh gross.” She curled her lip and took a step closer to me.
“Trust me, tiger.”
“Yeah, yeah. But I don’t have to be happy about this.”
“Control your breathing and make sure you fully exhale before inhaling.”
I motioned her behind me. The water came up to my chest and it nearly covered her shoulders. I plugged my nose, tucked the straw in my mouth, and crouched until the water hit my chin. Grimacing, Lucy copied me. I motioned her deeper, and when her head no longer broke water, I sank underneath with her.
My eyes itched but I could make out the trees well enough. Minutes ticked by. Then I heard a muffled yodel and the huntsman with the panther legs ran by. It wasn’t searching for us, at least not in the water. I began counting to one hundred. My lungs burned and controlling my breathing became difficult.
I broke the surface, quietly breathing in deeply. The huntsman with the panther legs stalked the Satyr. I sank back into the water enough to watch. Lucy touched my arm, but I kept a firm hand on her shoulder as the huntsman pounced on the Satyr, who screamed. A shiver knocked against my spine despite the summer heat. The ground shook from the force of the tackle. After a brief struggle, the huntsman trussed her up like a pig and carried her out. I waited until all I heard were mosquitoes. I urged Lucy up.
She surged up, coughing and sucking in air. I felt awful for keeping her underwater for so long, but she was still alive and herself. The risk paid off. Panting for breath, she swiped hair and water from her face. We climbed out of the bog and continued north. The sour twang of musk floated off her, and when I sniffed myself, it wasn’t as strong. Taking a dip in the bog had cleaned most of that crap off.
We moved quietly and steadily. In the distance, screams and yodels pierced the bug-song night, but none were close enough to make us run. A glint caught in the moonlight and I lifted a hand to stop her. I snatched up a half-rotten branch and touched the glint. A snare snapped around the branch, ripping it from my hands. Luce scanned the area and found a longer branch and swept it in front of her.
Smart girl. I grabbed another, and we cautiously moved through the bog until the ground became solid under foot. The grass grew taller, reaching my waist, and trees became sparse. There was no longer a risk for hanging snares, and we dropped our branches. Crouching, we moved forward. I hated the grasslands. Despite the tall grass, I felt exposed. I wanted to shift to smoke and get through this territory as quickly as possible, but something held me back. I didn’t question my instincts.
Luce stumbled forward. The ground gave way under her feet, a squeal erupting from her. Heart pounding against my ribs, I lurched forward enough to grip her arm and yank her against me. The rest of the ground fell away.
The djinni from earlier lay at the bottom of the pit, impaled
by gold spikes. I swallowed hard, wishing we hadn’t discarded the branches now. They were too far back to consider backtracking for them.
“Stay close to me,” I whispered.
“I planned on it,” she murmured, wide eyes locked on the djinni.
I edged around the pit, testing the earth before taking a step. It was slow-moving, but we eventually made it to a thicket. I hesitated. What if it was like the forest, and the bushes uprooted to move us toward the huntsmen? We needed a place to lie low until dawn, until the hunt ended. I glanced at the sky but the distant treetops held the bloated strawberry moon high, making it impossible to tell how much of the night had passed.
“What do we do?” she asked. “Are we gonna go in?”
“I don’t know.” I hated admitting it, but I really didn’t.
“You think it’ll be like the forest?”
I nodded.
She hummed in the back of her throat and slapped a mosquito buzzing her head. “We can’t stay here, though.”
“We should keep moving. Just give me a minute to think up a plan.”
She rubbed my arm, and I used the silence to brood.
Think, Tanaka! We needed to survive this; we had to survive this. I would not let either of us undergo huntsmen mutations or die. I rubbed my mouth, racking my brain for the options available to us.
Lucy screamed bloody murder. I gaped at the knobby hand wrapped around her ankle.
Chapter 15
In a blink of an eye, a gun appeared in Mal’s hands. He aimed at whoever was grabbing my leg, snarling, “Release her.”
“Quiet! Quiet!” someone hissed.
I was still screaming. If one of those monsters wanted to eat me, they wouldn’t insist on silence, right? I clapped my hands over my mouth, trying to calm down. Whimpers slipped through my lips like an animal unable to register they weren’t being mauled to death.
“Bloomin’ bumbling idiot.” The hand released my ankle, and the wrinkly man stood. The thicket he hid in was taller than him. He glared at me. “If I’d known you’d be such a screamer, I would’ve kept going.”