The Immortal City

by Amy Kuivalainen

  Her kidnapper laughed when he came back and saw her struggling.

  “Even if you were to escape, I have men surrounding the building.” He eyed her in a way that made her skin crawl. “The Acolyte and I have brokered a deal for your life. He said I’m not to injure you any further because he wants to be the one to break you.” He grabbed the back of her chair and dragged her down the small ramp to where the tide was coming in. “Fortunately, there are many ways to break someone without ever leaving a mark.”

  He pushed her backward into the dirty canal water.

  Penelope thrashed, trying to flip the chair back upright. Her fear of drowning surged back in a terrifying rush. I’m going to be taken by the sea after all.

  She fought and struggled, but all of her free diving training was for nothing in a situation like this. Only when she thought she couldn’t hold out any longer was she brought back up. Her ribs screamed in agony as she coughed out water and gulped air. Oil from the water slicked her clothes and ran down her arms. The oil! Penelope pulled her arms back and forward, the slime on her skin loosening the tape ever so slightly.

  “Make this easy on yourself and tell me what happened to Lorenzo,” the man said. “He was my best killer; how did you get the better of him? Who are you working for? And why does the Acolyte want you dead so badly? If you tell me the truth, maybe I will kill you quickly before he arrives. I’ve seen what he does to women in his special sacrifices, bella. Believe me, you would be begging me for a blade if you knew the fate that awaited you.”

  “I—I don’t know what you are talking about,” Penelope said, shaking. “I’m here on holiday.”

  “Why would someone like the Acolyte want a tourista dead? I’m not that stupid.”

  Penelope was still shouting her innocence as he kicked her chair, toppling her back into the water. She tried her best to hold her breath as she rolled her oily wrists, loosening the tape further. Inside her mind, she reached for the strange connection that Alexis claimed he had followed to her. Magic is real. Maybe he’ll feel it. The darkness started to fill her mind, head squeezing from the pressure of holding her breath and she tugged at the string of light. Alexis, help me…

  Penelope was pulled out of the water again and slapped awake. She coughed up brine and swore at him between breaths. There was another man in the shed with them now, watching her with cold eyes.

  “I don’t think she knows anything, Giacomo,” he said in English. “She would’ve cracked by now.”

  “I saw the look in her eye, I know she is holding something back. Why would the Acolyte pay so much for her? What is special about her? Who are you working for, Dottore? Who are you protecting? We can do this all night.”

  “F-fuck you,” she mumbled through frozen lips. The man smiled darkly, and she readied herself for a blow that never came. There were voices from outside the shed followed by gunshots.

  “What’s happening out there?” Giacomo shouted. “Go and see what they are doing.”

  With their attention elsewhere, Penelope pulled at the tape with all her might, and her bruised hands squeezed out from underneath the damaged plastic. She grabbed the wooden chair and swung it hard, crashing it heavily into Giacomo’s back.

  “You bitch!” he swore as he stumbled. Penelope hurried to the broken gondolas behind her and found a broken oar.

  “You’re brave, but that will not save you.” The other man held out his knife toward her.

  A shadow danced across the lights making both men pause. A thick plume of glittering black sand filled the shed, and Alexis stepped out of it, bringing the blade of his yataghan down on Giacomo’s skull. The other man threw his knife at him, but Alexis moved like smoke, cutting the man down. Penelope gripped the oar tighter as he turned to her, pale blue light flickering under his skin and making his eyes glow.

  “Are you okay, Penelope?” he asked cautiously, the light in his skin disappearing.

  “There are other men outside,” she said, unable to lower her oar. He rotated the bloody sword once, and it disappeared.

  “Not ones that are still breathing,” he growled.

  “Y-you heard me?”

  “I did, though you seem to be doing okay without my help.” He held out his hand to her. “Put the oar down, Penelope. It’s over now.”

  Penelope started to tremble all over, the oar clattering to the ground as she collapsed wet and freezing into his arms.

  “You’re all right, I have you,” Alexis said softly. “I called Marco Dandolo. He should be here shortly.”

  She held onto him, shivering and bleeding until the sirens wailed in the distance. Wrapped in the warm, spicy scent of him, she started to cry.

  “You heard me. I can’t believe you heard me,” Penelope whispered. She tried to remember all of her breathing techniques to lower her adrenaline, but her mind was blank, and her lungs felt like they would never have enough air again.

  “We can talk about it later,” he said, his grip tightening as her legs gave way. “It’s okay. I have you.”

  Alexis carried her out of the wooden shed as police arrived in boats. He placed her in the care of a paramedic, and someone wrapped a blanket around her. Marco pushed his way through the crowd to get to them.

  “Penelope, are you hurt?” he asked urgently, his face filled with worry.

  “I’ll live,” she wheezed as the paramedics inspected her.

  “What happened?” Marco asked her before recognizing Alexis standing behind her. “Signore Donato! What are you doing here?”

  “Alexis helped save me. You know each other?” asked Penelope.

  “Only by reputation,” replied Marco coolly. “There are seven dead bodies, and you two are the only ones left alive. Tell me everything.”

  “Doctor Bryne and I are old friends,” Alexis lied smoothly. “We had dinner together, and I walked her back to her hotel just after midnight. Some suspicious men passed me as I was leaving, and I heard them mention Penelope’s name, so I backtracked. When I arrived at her hotel, I saw them carrying her out, and I followed.”

  He said it so confidently that even Penelope almost believed him. Marco nodded intently.

  Alexis went on. “I called the polizia when I found where they were holding her and was waiting for you to arrive when there was shouting and gunfire. When it stopped, I checked the building and found Penelope fighting off two other men with a broken oar, and then you all arrived,” he finished, his blue eyes filling with admiration as he turned to look at her. “She was fearsome to behold.”

  “Is this true?” Marco looked at her questioningly.

  “As far as I know. I was grabbed from the hotel. The big one inside said he had sold me to someone called the Acolyte, who had contracted them to kill me.” She rubbed the side of her ribs with her good hand. “I think he’s the murderer and he knows we are onto them.”

  Marco ran his hands through his hair. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Penelope. I’ll send men to watch the hotel and—”

  “No,” Alexis interrupted him. “I want Penelope to stay with me at my palazzo. I have enough private security to protect her from these thugs the Acolyte is sending after her.”

  “I don’t think involving more citizens is the right approach—”

  “I don’t care what you think. Penelope can make up her mind as to where she would like to stay.”

  “The both of you can stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Penelope interrupted. The two men eyed each other coldly.

  “Excuse me, Signore Donato, I need to speak with Penelope alone. Due to the confidentiality of the other case,” Marco said stiffly. “You understand.”

  “Of course, I’ll be waiting right over there. There are calls I really should make,” Alexis said smoothly, and Marco’s nostrils flared.

  “How in the world do you know Alexis Donato?” he asked once they were alone.

  “Academic rivalry in the politest way.” It was only half a lie. “He came to a lecture of mine a few years
ago. I caught up with him last night, as he said.” Penelope thought about going back to the hotel and tightened the blanket around her. The palazzo had a door no one could open unless it allowed it. Staying in an invisible palazzo would be useful. But would you be safer in a house full of magicians? Alexis had come to help her when she needed it. He killed her attackers without hesitation to protect her.

  “And you trust him?” Marco frowned, as if sensing Penelope’s hesitation.

  Penelope looked across the crowded jetty to where Alexis was standing, head and shoulders above the officers. He was watching her and the crowd around her, scanning for danger. She thought of the day they’d had and the memories they’d shared. The way he constantly tried to reassure her. He was trusting her with a secret he had done everything in his long life to protect. Sink or swim, Penelope.

  “Yes, I trust him,” she whispered, and by admitting it aloud reaffirmed it to herself.

  “I can’t force you into police protection, although I don’t know if letting you leave with him is a good idea,” muttered Marco. “Being involved with a man like Donato is a whole other danger in itself.”

  There are no men like Alexis Donato, Penelope thought, looking across the crowd and finding his eyes on hers. She turned back to Marco and asked, “Why do you say that? What do you know about him?”

  “He’s quite notorious here in the north. Extremely well-connected, so much so that there are rumors he is mafia. Everyone knows of him—judges, police, politicians—but no one knows him personally, or what he does.”

  “Being mysterious and having influential friends doesn’t make him mafia,” Penelope said.

  “Is there any way I can convince you not to go with him?”

  “No.” Penelope cringed at the thought of going back to the hotel. She would never sleep well there again. The fear of having someone waiting behind every door was enough to send her packing right now. “Alexis saved me, Marco. I feel safe with him, and I don’t want to be alone. I want to be with friends.” Friends who know magic and can protect me from psycho demon worshippers.

  Marco smiled weakly. “I’m your friend, and I was joking about you sleeping on my couch. I have a spare room if you don’t want to stay in another hotel—”

  “Let her go home, Inspecttori,” a blonde woman said brusquely. “I just got off the phone, and the Questore has approved her leaving with Donato.”

  “Doctor Bryne, meet Agent Bianchi. She’s the DIGOS agent that is now assisting with the case,” Marco said through gritted teeth.

  “Nice to meet you,” Penelope said. The woman’s brown eyes narrowed when she looked at the bodies being zipped into bags.

  “This is why you should never involve civilians, Dandolo,” Agent Bianchi growled. “Make sure you get her statement before she leaves.” She headed for the shed, leaving them staring after her.

  “Wow, I can see why you were so excited to work with her,” said Penelope before she started coughing. She would be tasting oily brine at the back of her throat for weeks.

  “You are still a consultant on this case,” Marco replied firmly. “I don’t care what she says.”

  The paramedic finished numbing and binding Penelope’s bruised hands and broken finger before finally clearing her to leave.

  The sun was starting to rise over the terra-cotta roofs as Penelope climbed off the gurney. She swayed dangerously as the drugs kicked in, but as she tipped forward, Alexis’s arm was there to steady her.

  “Will you come with me?” he asked Penelope.

  “If you don’t think Nereus will mind having me,” she replied.

  Alexis’s smile was remarkably sweet. “Of course she won’t mind. She loves guests.”

  “Would you like to come with me and some other officers and get your luggage from the hotel?” Marco interrupted.

  “I’ll have someone collect Penelope’s things from the hotel so she can rest,” Alexis told him. “Her phone was damaged by those thugs, so you can contact her at this number.”

  Marco accepted the white card Alexis handed him. “I’ll call you soon. We will need an official statement once you are feeling better.” He let them leave without further argument, but Penelope could see the questions in his dark eyes.

  Once they were out of police sight, Penelope steered Alexis over to a canal and wretched up oily water. Her lungs were burning, and her head pounded.

  “Oh God, this is so embarrassing,” she whimpered when Alexis passed her a crisp blue handkerchief. He looked up and down the alley before scooping her up into his arms.

  “Hey! I can walk. Put me down.”

  “Please, just hold on for one moment,” he instructed. Penelope grabbed the lapels of his jacket as he opened a doorway of shadows and they stepped through it, leaving only streaks of sunlight behind them.

  Back at the palazzo in Dorsoduro, Alexis helped Penelope upstairs to a guest room in a wing that overlooked the Grand Canal. The palazzo tended to know exactly where to put people, and this time it had created a room near the entrance of his tower. It would give her space, but she was still close enough if there was an emergency.

  She isn’t yours to protect all the time, a voice reminded him.

  “Apart from breaking your finger, did they stab you with any needles? Or hurt you in any other way?” he asked.

  Penelope leaned against the bathroom basin as he turned her shower on and closed the glass doors. She looked pale and unsteady. He had an irrational and inappropriate urge to hold her. You should have known they would come for her.

  “They only tried to drown me. Apparently, the Acolyte didn’t want them marking me up.” Penelope pushed damp curls away from her face. “I don’t know why. They talked about him making sacrifices. Maybe the Serpente gangs work for him as lackeys.”

  “There are rules about sacrifices being whole from the beginning. It’s to do with the ritual.” Alexis hated the look in her eyes; she knew full well what would have happened to her. “Have a shower and get warm, Penelope. I’ll be outside the door if you need anything.” He left her looking like she was going to throw up again.

  Outside the bathroom, Alexis slumped against the wall, sliding down to sit on the floor. How had he let this happen? He should’ve known that if it were so easy for him to find her hotel, others hunting her would too. The Serpente gang had more of a presence in Venice than he would have guessed, and it would be something else for him to investigate once the Acolyte was dead. If Penelope was right, and the Acolyte was using them as his group of flunkies, he might be able to get one of them to tell him how to get in contact with their boss. You can’t do that now that they are all dead.

  Alexis had done his best not to show Penelope how angry he was at himself. He had killed people in front of her; what the hell had he been thinking?

  But of course, the answer was: he hadn’t been.

  Alexis had been in his tower, reminiscing about the day and how Penelope had been so openly delighted by everything she had seen. He knew he would enjoy her company, but it had been a surprise to learn how much. Even Nereus had told him to bring her back to the Archives whenever she liked.

  Penelope’s pain and fear had hit him like a kick to the stomach, and he hadn’t paused for a moment to consider what he might be portaling into. Panicked, he had used magic to get to her without thinking about who might see it. He hadn’t felt fury that strongly for a long time. Without a second thought, he had killed everyone who had believed her life worth less than theirs. He would never forget the look on her face, either, her bruised and broken hands gripping the oar, ready to attack anyone who went near her. Brave as well as brilliant—how can I not like her?

  Inside the bathroom, the shower water shut off and the hair dryer switched on. Alexis should’ve left her alone, but the deeply protective side of his nature wouldn’t allow it until he was satisfied that she felt calm and safe.

  Alexis tensed as the bathroom door opened and she stepped out in a robe. She spotted him sitting on the floor, a
nd the worried crease on her brow softened.

  “Are you going to be guarding my door all night?” she asked, folding her arms.

  “Probably,” he answered.

  “Then you might as well sit in a chair like a person and talk to me for a while. I’m too wired to sleep.”

  Alexis politely looked away as Penelope took off her robe and slipped under the bright orange bed covers.

  “How well-connected do you think the Acolyte is?” she asked as he sat on the chair beside her bed.

  “If he has the money to pay off Serpente errand boys then we can assume he isn’t an amateur at this. He’s been planning this display of violence for a long time, and he’s not about to let anyone get in his way.”

  “You can tell from the details in the ritual how careful he is. Every glyph, every element of it is precise. There is an artistry to the arrangements, despite the horror.”

  Alexis saw frightened streaks of color in her aura, and felt it pulse through their connection.

  “I want you to know there are more than magicians protecting this palazzo. Nothing will harm you while you are under this roof.”

  “Thank you for coming tonight. I didn’t think it would work. I thought…” Tears filled her hazel eyes and Alexis wrapped his hand around hers.

  “You don’t have to say it, Penelope. I’m only sorry I didn’t get there sooner.”

  “You got there in time, and that is all that matters.” Penelope’s hand had the slightest of tremors as she asked, “How many people have you killed, Alexis? The way you moved…I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

  “I’ve had a lot of practice. If you want an exact number, I can’t give you one.” He hoped that his honesty would make her less afraid but, these kind of truths had a way of blowing up in his face. “I have lived a long time, Penelope. I have fought many wars in countries that no longer exist, for kings whose names are dust. I have protected the seven survivors of Atlantis for ten thousand years, and I’m good at it. You found us and are counted as one of our friends, so I’ll always come when you need me.”