by Lyra Evans
“Follow me,” he said, but instead of his own voice, Amber’s voice emerged from his mouth. Disturbed, Cobalt stared at Niko with wide eyes, but the group of Selkies immediately turned to attention, watching him and waiting for guidance.
“That is unsettling,” Cobalt said as Niko traded back for his own voice and moved to the door to scout the area beyond.
“I’m just glad the voice worked,” Niko said. “My next thought was to transform my whole appearance, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
Cobalt was silent for a moment while Niko scanned the corridor, then dashed out toward the darkest area at the edge of the amphitheatre, the victims in tow. When they reached the narrow passage toward the exit where Niko had knocked out the guard, Cobalt pressed up close to him, his hand on Niko’s back. Despite himself, Niko felt calmed by it. He soaked in the warmth of Cobalt’s hand, and the Stone in his chest radiated strength in him.
“You know why I’m here, then,” Cobalt said quietly. It wasn’t quite a statement, neither quite a question. His eyes searched Niko’s, but Niko wasn’t sure what they would find. He wasn’t sure how to answer at all. He held Cobalt’s gaze for only a moment, then jaw tight, he pressed onward to the doorway where he’d left the guard.
The one guard was gone, but two were standing in his place. Either they’d found their unconscious friend or he’d woken up and told them what happened. Either way, Niko wouldn’t be able to risk playing stupid with them. Their weapons were still holstered, thankfully, but they had their gloves off, hands bare and poised at the ready. Searching their gear quickly, Niko identified the small, embroidered runemark on the breast of their jackets. It was a one-way blocker, designed to make them impervious to trades made on them but not blocking their own magic. Rolling his shoulders back, Niko took a deep breath and went out.
Niko dashed out from the shadows and toward the closest of the two guards. Holding his arm up, elbow bent straight out, he watched the guard react to try to both dodge and block at the same time. But as Niko closed in, he jerked his knee forward into the guard’s knee, causing him to buckle and collapse. Before the other guard could remove her gun from its holster, Niko brought his elbow down hard on her trapezoid muscle, knocking her head to the side. Turning, he stomped on the first guard’s calf and struck him on the side of the head, right at the temple, with the side of his fist. The guard’s head spun, and he fell down, unconscious. But Niko was already turning back to the second guard, jabbing at her solar plexus and catching her wild punch to spin her arm and fold her in two. From there he caught her neck in a targeted grasp and applied pressure until she went limp. She dropped to the ground, and he leaned in close to ensure she was still breathing.
Cobalt emerged a moment later and helped Niko prop them both up in the shadows, tying them with their own shoelaces, reinforced by a simple trade on Niko’s part. Cobalt took one of their guns, checking the magazine briefly before sliding it into his waistband like Niko had done. Niko watched him do it, and when Cobalt looked up, he caught Niko’s eye. There was a silent exchange between them, but Niko wasn’t sure they were having the same conversation. He looked away when Cobalt’s expression grew too much for him, too personal. He’d lied to Niko, to the Captain and the Chief, to everyone. And sure, if he’d told them the truth about what he intended to do when he found the killer, he would likely have been arrested or sent back to Azure’s Court. But to maintain that lie to Niko, when they’d—after everything—
Only maybe it made perfect sense. What were they to each other, really? Niko was a means to an end for Cobalt, a partner to help him find Indigo’s murderer and save the other Selkies. He was a tool. Even the Woods thought so, it seemed. Cobalt was a Fixer, little better than a hitman, he supposed. He owed Niko nothing.
You are my Soul Mate…
The Soul Stone pulsed in him, and Niko wanted to rip it out of his chest. It was all a lie. Had to be. Just something he said to get Niko to back off, to give him space. He pushed too far, though, and now Niko was feeling things he’d told himself he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. He cursed himself again and again, angrily slapping bricks down inside his chest, rebuilding the walls that had crumbled there in the last few days. Why he kept allowing himself to get involved with men like this—dangerous men—he didn’t know. Why he had a kink for getting hurt so badly he couldn’t recover, he didn’t know. But he was done with all of that.
Niko jerked a gesture at the waiting victims and led them and Cobalt to the exit door to the blocked side of the lobby. Neither of the guards had a key card to allow them through the door, so Niko pressed his hand to the door and made a series of fine, detailed trades. His fingers began to melt through the surface of the door, the magic keeping it locked eventually revealed to his sense of touch. He closed his eyes, fiddling with the little connections and bindings, trading here and there until finally, a little clicking sound told him he’d managed. Pulling his hand back, he pushed through the door, leaving a muddled handprint mark on the surface as though he’d touched wet cement.
The victims filed through, followed by Cobalt, and Niko closed the door again on the other side. He took a moment to press his hand to the knob and lay a set of trap locks, hoping it would slow down anyone who tried to follow after. This side of the lobby had been blocked off with temporary walls and magic set up on the other side, but it was being used as a temporary storage area for building materials, furniture, and props. There were stacks of wooden skids piled high in blocks, boxes labeled with codes and numbers that probably made sense to someone, dressers made of wood that looked as though they were hewn from stone, couches sitting on their sides covered in faux fur like wolf and bear pelts, statues made of plaster and painted to imitate marble, and sheets of drywall and particle board leaning against towers of old speakers and sound equipment.
“The exit should be this way,” Cobalt said, pointing toward the opposite end. Niko nodded, and they guided the victims between a pile of furniture meant to look like it belonged in Connor’s Court and a stack of boxes that seemed to be filled with clothing from several different eras. “We should pick up the pace. I think we’re running out of time.”
“Oh, you most certainly have,” a voice said from behind them.
Chapter 29
Niko’s instinct was to run, to sprint for the door, dragging all the victims and Cobalt along with him. But the problem with running from something is that you’re showing it your back. Vulnerable. So instead of doing what his instinct told him to, Niko turned slowly to face the speaker. The voice had had that quality like what he’d overheard in the dark room. A vaguely soothing tone that settled under the skin, tugging at his mind’s edges, trying to call something up.
Amber stood there, arms crossed over her chest, her long, white blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. The man next to her was the one who had spoken, evidently. He wore a crisp navy suit with a light pink shirt. His shoes were soft brown leather, and his hair was strawberry red with a hint of white at the roots. It took Niko far too long to recognize him, and when he did, he still couldn’t quite believe it.
“You—you’re the real estate agent from the manor,” Niko said, wracking his mind for the name. “Oak!”
The man smiled at him, but the expression didn’t meet his eyes. “Nice to see you again, Detective Spruce.”
Niko wasn’t sure what was happening, exactly, but he was very aware that the victims they’d been guiding to safety were now standing, vulnerable as infants in their state of compliance, between Niko, Cobalt, and the people who had kidnapped them. He tried to urge the nearest ones behind him, subtly, but they wouldn’t move.
“They only obey direct vocal orders,” Oak said. “For instance, detain Spruce and Sincloud. Oh, and disarm Sincloud.” But the orders weren’t normal. They weren’t like the instruction Niko had given them with Amber’s voice. These were a song—the notes on the air chilling Niko to the bone and awakening all of the victims in turn. They went from docile and doll-like
to active and rough, grasping Niko and Cobalt by the arms with force. Those who could not reasonably grab Cobalt and Niko stood guard, like a living wall, around them to stop their every possible escape. One of the Selkies reached for the gun Cobalt had slipped into the waistband of his pants and removed it.
“How—how did you do that?” Cobalt asked, watching in wide-eyed alarm as the people he’d attempted to rescue turned into his captors. Cobalt struggled against them, but there were too many. Niko didn’t bother to fight, knowing he was outnumbered and outmanoeuvred. Instead, he searched the faces of the victims. Their eyes were full of purpose now, but they were no more seeing than before. As though they operated in a dream. “That was Song. You’re Fae. You shouldn’t—”
“For a Royal Guard, you’re not as perceptive as you should be, Sincloud,” Oak said. He reached up and flicked at his pointed ears. “Pointed ears are a much easier disguise to maintain than, say, a full Werewolf transformation. And Wizards wear too many baubles, really. Everything is magic there, even when it need not be.”
“You’re a Selkie,” Niko said, more to himself than anyone else.
Oak laughed. “Obviously,” he said. “Allow me to re-introduce myself. My legal name now is Vermillion Oak, but once I was Vermillion Burke, Selkie of the Southern Reefs and Head Physician to the King.”
Cobalt struggled again, but the victims who held him had no other purpose than to restrain him, and so he failed to free himself. His eyes were fierce with fury and determination, focused on Vermillion Burke and no one else. Niko, meanwhile, remained as calm as possible, slow in his movements. None of the Selkies had yet noticed the gun concealed at his back.
“King Azure has no Head Physician,” Cobalt shot back. “The post was terminated years—”
“Many, many years ago, yes,” Vermillion agreed, nodding. “Azure was only Prince at the time. His father, King Celadon was the one who terminated the position. After he banished me.” He rolled his eyes, picking at his nails. “He was a short-sighted fool. He should have known nothing would stop me from continuing my research.”
“What? The last Head Physician died in a terrible accident, pushing too far into the mysteries of the Stones and the Great Reef,” Cobalt said, and Niko could hear the party line in his words. He’d bought into whatever the Royals of the Court had told him, and likely everyone else had too. He’d grown up on it. But even through the innocence of that, Niko could identify a convenient lie when he heard one.
“Interesting, isn’t it, that they said that after all the books regarding Stone research went missing? Doesn’t it seem like a helpful excuse to stop people looking too deeply into what happened?” Vermillion asked. He shook his head. “Figures Azure would send a sap loyalist to try and stop me.” He shrugged after a moment. “Ah well, no matter. Your Stone will be just as useful as any other. Now, give me your Soul Stone.”
A look of disdain crossed Cobalt’s face briefly before being replaced by bald fear. His eyes went wide as his body tried to comply, his hands, still held by the Selkies at his sides, reaching for the spot on his chest where the Stone would have been. One of the Selkies allowed the movement, but all Cobalt accomplished was revealing the patch of skin marked by the absence of the Stone.
“You said that was impossible,” Niko said quietly to Cobalt, who was still half-enthralled in the instruction. But Vermillion was more interested in the blank space.
“No Stone? You sly seal, you gave it away,” he said, his mouth quirking slightly, as though impressed. “The question is—to whom? No Royal Guard would be stupid enough to leave it unprotected. You must have given it to someone you trusted, at least. But you also couldn’t have come on land without it.” He thought about it, then he Sang, “Tell me who you gave it to.” Cobalt choked. He looked both as though he wanted to comply and as though he would rather die. Vermillion heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Fine, fine. I didn’t imagine that would work effectively without control of your Stone, but it was worth a try. There are still limits, it seems. Something to rectify later.”
Niko glanced between Vermillion and the other Selkies, studying their faces. He had full control of them because he had control of their Stones? Cobalt hadn’t mentioned that. But then, perhaps Cobalt didn’t really know. Was Niko able to control Cobalt because he had ‘control’ of Cobalt’s Stone? Or had Vermillion done something else to the Stones to achieve that?
“What did you do with the Stones you took?” Niko asked suddenly, his mind working furiously with too little information. The grip the victims had on him never wavered, so his best bet was to play for time. If Uri got his message, then he would have MCPD on the way. Someone. He would get them help. Even if only Uri himself showed up. Vermillion turned his attention to Niko. “You kept them all, obviously. But what did you do with them?”
“You would hardly begin to comprehend the complexities of the magic I wrought, little Fairy,” Vermillion said. The disdain in his voice was compounded by the condescending term he used. No one called Fae ‘Fairies’ if they wanted to keep all their natural functions intact. But Niko ignored the barb.
“You’re going to kill us both,” Niko said, his expression indifferent. “Obviously. You’ll sell Cobalt to one of your demented rich friends, and who knows what you’ll do with me, but you can’t have an MCPD officer wandering about knowing what I know. Easiest to just kill me. So, I’m a dead man. Why not enlighten me once before I die?”
Vermillion considered him. “You’re missing an obvious alternative, Detective,” he said. “Nothing at all is stopping me from controlling you. An MCPD officer under my power could be very useful indeed.”
Before he could begin to Sing, however, Niko interrupted him. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m really stubborn. And I question pretty much everything I’m told. So you might try, but do you really have the energy to keep me consistently in line?”
Vermillion frowned. “That’s not really how it—”
“Plus, I’m fairly sure if I start becoming too compliant and helpful, my coworkers are bound to notice. And my Captain. Definitely my Captain. And if you let up on me for even a second, I’ll tell them what’s going on. I’m just too much of a risk for you not to kill.”
“Niko,” Cobalt murmured, shooting him glances.
“Do you—have a death wish, Detective?” Vermillion asked, squinting at him.
“I’m just a realist,” Niko said, expressionless. “So, we’ve established you definitely killed Indigo. Not totally sure how, but I think that’s a bit beyond the point now, isn’t it? So all that’s left is to wonder why you didn’t just try to sell him instead, and what you did with the Stones you took. Since I’m going to die, it seems fair to use me as a sounding board. Hell, you should probably be using me to get whatever information you can about the investigation and how far it’s come.”
For a moment, everyone stared at Niko. “Are you volunteering information about the case?” Amber asked, her face a mask of incredulity. Vermillion waved her off.
“He knows nothing of particular value,” Vermillion said. “He didn’t even know I was the one in charge until he saw me. They’ve got nothing.”
“Correction, had nothing,” Niko said. Vermillion’s expression flashed. Everything around him grew fragile, and Niko walked a wire now. “But the moment I found your captives, I sent a message to an officer on stand-by with all the information I’ve collected since being here. They know Amber is involved, the names of all your top clients, everything that’s going on here tonight, and they should, quite frankly, be here any minute surrounding the building.”
Vermillion stared him down, searching Niko’s pale blue eyes for a sign of a tell. But Niko had a very good poker face. The key, he’d learned over time, was to fill your lie with enough truths that the bluff comes out naturally. Uri knew where they were, but there was no way he was coming with much backup. There was no way to secure that when someone in the justice department was in Vermillion’s pocket. But Vermillion couldn
’t know that for sure.
“It seems you’re right, Detective,” Vermillion said after a moment. “You are more trouble than you’re worth. But however smart you think you are, you did give something away.” Niko’s heart skipped a beat. “Cobalt?” An avalanche of ice dropped over Niko’s spine as Vermillion smiled darkly at him. “Closer to Sincloud than you wanted to get, I bet. So this should be a nice little gift for the two of you. Sincloud, kill Detective Spruce.”
Niko’s entire body braced, his muscles wrought to tension strong enough to snap, but as his mind raced, his vision narrowing to the space between him and Cobalt, he caught the slightest detail. When Vermillion Sang, every victim under his control tilted their heads slightly, as though trying to hear him better. Without many options to defend himself, Niko latched on to this detail and acted on instinct. If the Song worked when it was heard, what if the victims couldn’t hear?
Niko’s hand twisted in the grip of one of his captors, moving just enough for him to wrap his fingers around the Selkie’s wrist in return. And he made a trade. Forcing the magic through them both, Niko traded the Selkie’s hearing for something less useful in the moment, his sense of taste. Within an instant, the Selkie’s eyes cleared slightly, and he blinked. It might have worked, but Niko’s attention was already elsewhere as he realized Cobalt had not yet killed him.
When he looked back at his partner, he found Cobalt struggling with himself, choking on nothing and fighting invisible chains on his arms and legs. The victims around him had all but released him, leaving him to struggle on his own. He glared pure hatred at Vermillion, but he did not try to kill Niko.
“Fascinating,” Vermillion said, turning his attention from Cobalt to Niko. His mouth split in a wide, unsettling smile full of teeth. He looked shark-ish, hungry, and malevolent. “He gave you his Stone.” Niko’s heartrate spiked, his eyes trained on Vermillion as he twisted his other hand to make a trade with the Fae victim on his other side. “Give it to me.”