"When I came through, the veil didn't seem that big," Fletcher remarked.
"It's not, " I replied. "That one wasn't, at least. This one might be."
"If a ship can pass through it, it must be huge," Saff said.
"It might explain what happened to Amelia Earhart," Fletcher added.
"Who?" I asked.
"Never mind." He slumped down.
I frowned at him for a moment, but didn't press the question. Instead, I changed the subject. "All right then, I suppose we should get some sleep. Tomorrow might be a long day."
"We could sleep," Saff started. He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
"You almost died," I reminded him.
"All the more reason to make the most of my time," he said cheerfully.
"You would all be better of sleeping than screwing," Khat remarked.
"You really seem to object to sex," Saff pointed out.
"I don't object to it, I just prefer sleeping." Khat curled himself up in a ball.
"He is a cat after all," Fletcher said.
Khat cracked open an eye and stared daggers at Fletcher, who held up his hands in surrender.
"The cat does have a point though," Huon said. "We should get some rest."
I sighed. "Yes, we all should." I shot Saff an apologetic look and lay back on my blanket. The sand was soft underneath, and moulded to my body as I wriggled slightly. Truthfully, I was tired and welcomed the chance to lie down and watch the stars twinkle overhead.
"All right, sleep it is," Saff said with a nod.
His response made me smile. I liked a man who could accept no for an answer, without having to press the matter or get sulky. I respected him all the more because he respected me.
"Sleep well," I told him.
"I will. Sweet dreams. Not too sweet though," he joked.
I laughed softly and closed my eyes.
Try as I might, I couldn't still my mind.
One by one, the breathing of everyone around me became relaxed and even. Someone—I think it was Huon—began to snore. I rolled over onto my side, then the other one. I tried to sleep on my stomach, but sleep still eluded me.
I couldn't stop thinking about the anchor and wanting to take a look at it.
I chewed my lip. I should contain my curiosity, I knew that, but it still itched at me. Gods, I didn't even know how far down the beach it was.
I sighed and rolled over again.
Finally, unable to relax and not wanting to disturb the others, I rose and crept away from camp.
The moon was full, but partly obscured by clouds. What was visible lit enough of the beach to light my way.
I walked with one eye on the sand in front of me and another on the tide. It was a long way out now, but I had already seen how quickly that could change. The gods only knew if it could move faster if it wanted to.
I shook my head. Was I thinking about the ocean as a living thing? Whether it was alive, or the seafae Saff claimed to have seen was real, certainly something had caused it. I would continue to be wary of that something.
The clouds drifted and exposed the rest of the moon. The beach was illuminated almost as bright as day.
I stopped to suck in a breath and admire the light sparkling off the ocean. Waves lapped gently at the edge of the shore. If I hadn't seen it a couple of hours ago, I wouldn't have believed it could look so calm and benign. For a little while I just stood and let my mind wander. Not to the quest we'd found ourselves on, not even to all these incredible men who had surrounded me for the last few days.
Was it only days?
No, I thought about the days before Birch had died. The good times before lesser magic had been stolen by dark magic. Carefree days and nights of dancing, singing and just sitting on a leaf with a book. Nothing had mattered back then, at least in comparison to now. Even the arguments with my sisters seemed like petty squabbles that didn't matter any longer. What had we even argued about? I couldn't remember. A part of me actually missed my sisters. When this was over, I would try to get to know and understand them better. Maybe we could learn to get along somehow.
Maybe mimicats could fly. At least I could try.
A cough sounded behind me. Ash clearing his throat.
I startled and my hand flew to my chest.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said, his deep voice a rumble in his chest. "I saw you get up and thought you shouldn't be out here alone."
I hesitated. Part of me was irritated at him having interrupted a quiet moment of introspection. Then the rational side kicked in and reminded me he was right. None of us should be wandering around here by ourselves.
"I couldn't sleep," I admitted. "I was hoping to see the anchor. I might be able to figure it out." I was glad it was too dark for him to see me blush at my own arrogance. If Ash, Tavar and Khat had no idea, then what chance did I have?
Where Huon and maybe Saff would have laughed, Ash just rubbed his chin and nodded.
"It can't hurt to have more eyes and minds on it."
"Really? I mean, of course." My face felt hot.
Ash reached out and took my hand. He gave it a squeeze and said, "You are a smart woman, and more than capable of taking care of yourself. You've proven that time and again. Why do you doubt yourself?"
I looked away, toward the waves. "You're smart. Khat is a smartass. Huon is a king. Fletcher knows all about the human realm." Even though I had been there many times, he had already taught me how little I really knew.
"Tavar seems to know everything you and Khat don't, and Saff is, well, Saff. What does that leave for me?"
Ash pulled me to him gently and wrapped his arms around me. "You're the one who saved Fletcher, more than once. Without you, we wouldn't have found the vault or the first key."
"You would have," I told him. "You're the foretold."
"Foretold or not, you were the anchor. Without you, we might have had to break our way in. You also blasted a hole in the mountain, which is no small feat of magic."
"I suppose so," I said, although now I was squirming. It was my fault for fishing for compliments. Now he was giving them, I felt uncomfortable. All right, I had done a few things, but so had everyone else.
Possibly, deep down, I had hoped to be the one to wield the keys when we found them. After all, Birch had set Huon and I on this path. The idea was foolish, I knew that. As long as we got the keys and released lesser magic, it didn't matter who did it.
He put a finger under my chin and turned my face toward him. "You are an asset. We need you. I need you." He leaned down and pressed his mouth to mine.
I deepened the kiss and wrapped my arms around his neck. As I did that, I heard a peculiar scratching sound from behind me.
I whirled around so see Khat crouched a few metres away.
Moonlight shone in his eyes as he regarded us, looking unamused, as though we were intruding.
"What?" he asked. "Even a mimicat has to shit." He shook his behind and began to scrape the sand back to cover his business.
"Right." I sighed. "Maybe we should rest anyway. The anchor can wait until morning."
25
"You're right, it does look ordinary." I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but the anchor was just a tarnished piece of metal, half buried under the sand. It had no fancy carvings, nothing to suggest it was anything but a piece of flotsam.
"Can we dig it out?" I asked.
"It's heavy," Huon said, "I tried lifting it yesterday. Maybe between a few of us we could, but Ash suggested we wait."
I looked over to Ash, who looked thoughtful.
"The vault responded to you. I thought if this is related to the key in any way, it might do the same." He pursed his lips and his ear twitched. I hadn't noticed that before, but now I had, I couldn't stop looking. It was just so gods damned cute.
"Summer?" Huon interrupted my musing. "Do you want to touch it?"
"Yes," I said, only having half-heard. I blushed. "Oh, the anchor."
Huon b
roke into a grin. "Yes, the anchor."
"Not that Ash's right ear isn't adorable," Saff interjected.
Ash regarded him with amusement. "Indeed. Anyway, we should hold hands as we did near the vault, in case Summer ends up inside the anchor."
"That would suck," I agreed. From the corner of my eye, I saw Fletcher step closer to the anchor as though he might touch it too.
"Wait!" I said before he could move any closer.
He drew back as though alarmed. "I was just—"
"I know. But you ended up inside the ruins on the other side of the trap door, like I did. Ash said if I hadn't been anchored, I would have ended up in the vault. If I can end up inside the anchor, maybe you can too."
"You mean, if we had touched the trapdoor, nothing would have happened?" Huon asked, frowning.
"I have no idea and we don't have time to go back and check, but if it's possible here, then we should take precautions," I said.
Ash nodded approvingly. "If that's the case, then Fletcher might be important somehow."
"Me?" Fletcher looked surprised and disconcerted. "I'm just a human, stuck here by circumstance. It's just by coincidence I ended up there."
"Maybe it is," Huon agreed. "Maybe it's not. We should do what we did with the vault. Me, Summer and Ash. That worked then, it might again."
"It might not," I said, but I took Huon's hand and he held Ash's. After I sucked in a deep breath and blew it out my nose, I leaned over and pressed my fingertips to the anchor.
Nothing happened.
I waited a minute, two minutes.
I drew back. "That answers that then."
"What about Fletcher?" Saff suggested. "Maybe he can take you—wherever this is supposed to lead."
Everyone turned to Fletcher, who blanched.
"If you're supposed to do this, then there has to be a way out," I reasoned.
"I… suppose so." He swallowed audibly and took Huon's hand. His fingers trembled as he reached toward the anchor. They lightly brushed the tarnished metal before he pressed them against it hard enough to turn his skin white.
I counted to a hundred in my mind before they all dropped hands and stepped away.
"I must say I'm relieved," Huon said. "I didn't really want to end up in there."
I smiled softly and tapped my finger against my lips. "I suppose we should try pulling it out. Maybe there's a riddle engraved on the other end."
"Or this has nothing to do with any puzzles," Khat remarked. He was lying curled up a few metres away, watching us as though he thought us silly for trying any of this.
"Do you have a better idea?" I asked.
He hesitated before saying, "No. I'm just getting bored."
"Well, try to contain yourself a bit longer," I suggested. "Or look around for some alternative."
He swished his tail, but dropped his head onto his paws with a huff. "Fine."
"All right, it we all grab on to a section, we should be able to shift this without too much trouble," Huon said.
"Can't you use magic on it?" Fletcher asked.
"We risk destroying it accidentally," Huon replied. He cast a sidelong look at me and I smirked in return.
"I don't always blow things up," I retorted.
"Not always, no," he agreed cheerfully.
I gave him a rude gesture with my finger, which he responded to by grinning.
"Anyway," he said after a moment, "we can try this with our hands first. If that doesn't work, we'll resort to magic."
We arrayed ourselves around the anchor and to some unseen cue, put a hand onto the cold metal. It felt rough under my palm. It must have weathered a lot, even before it ended up here. How many times had it sat on the sea floor, holding its ship in place? How had it come to be here in the first place? I would probably not get answers to either of those questions.
"One, two three, push!" Huon directed.
The anchor moved slightly, but the sand held it fast.
"Perhaps we should dig it out?" Tavar suggested.
Huon shook his head, his chin jutted out. "We can do this."
"You don't need to disagree with everything I say, simply because of what I am," she said, her tone curt.
Huon's face reddened.
It was Saff who spoke in his defence. "Huon is a stubborn bastard. He'll dig if we have to, but only if we'd tried his way long enough to know it won't work."
Huon mumbled something. "Come on, let's try again. Push!"
I closed my eyes and pressed against the anchor as hard as I could. My feet sank into the sand as I struggled to keep my footing.
"Push!"
The anchor started to move.
"Push!"
The sand began to fall away from it, dark with the moisture down deeper.
With a series of grunts, we shoved the anchor until it fell onto its side on the beach. The moment it hit the ground, it broke into several pieces.
"Rust." Saff poked it with his toes.
"No, it's not." Fletcher stepped forward. "I mean, it is, but rust isn't that even."
I cocked my head. "You're right. Is this a literal puzzle? As in, we put the pieces together and they make something else? That seems too simple."
Fletcher scratched his head. "You're right. There has to be a pattern here."
"It's still more or less anchor shaped," Saff remarked.
"No shit." Huon poked Saff in the arm.
Saff punched him on the shoulder in return.
"Ouch." Huon rubbed his arm. "I'm pretty sure there are rules about hitting your king."
Saff shrugged, eyes shining with humour. "I like living on the edge."
"Do you want me to throw you both into the ocean?" I tried not to smile at their banter. It was nice, in such difficult times, to have them act their normal, ridiculous, funny selves. Maybe we should be more serious, but the lighter mood made the situation more bearable.
"Only if you're there too," Saff said. "We can make the most of it." He shot me a wink which made my heart flutter.
I rolled my eyes playfully. "That would defeat the purpose of tossing you in."
"You're a hard woman," he teased. He blew me a kiss and only stopped smiling when Tavar gave him a dark look.
"You should focus on the task at hand," she said, her voice tight.
"She's right," I said. "Fletcher, do you have any more clues there?"
He had crouched beside the remains of the anchor. He rested his knee on his thigh and his head on his hand. The sun hit the other side of his face, highlighting his scars. He might hate them, but I found them sexy as hells. They were a sign he'd been through hard times, but he'd survived. Of course, no one deserved to go through anything as terrible as he'd endured, but he had and I adored him for his strength.
"I think some of these pieces would fit together if I tried, but…"
I crouched beside him. "It's that's the case, then there's magic involved, and magic is unpredictable and scary as shit."
He turned his eyes to me and the sides of his mouth twitched upward. "Yes, that's pretty much right. How do we know this isn't a trick? You thought the wild tide was caused by dark magic. Just because Saff didn't die, doesn't mean you were wrong."
I nodded slowly. "I hadn't thought of that," I admitted. "But we won't know if we don't try."
I looked up at the others. "What do you think? Do we do this or not?"
"What's the worst that could happen?" Saff asked.
"We die," Huon replied and shuddered.
"We release dark magic into the realm and end it sooner," Ash said.
"I don't like either of those scenarios," I said.
"It may be that nothing happens," Tavar remarked. "That would be almost as bad. While we waste time here, the realm is slowly dying."
I nodded. As much as I didn't want to die, I didn't want all of this to have been for nothing either.
"Maybe you should stand back," I suggested. "Fletcher and I will try to piece this together."
"Um, Summer."
Fletcher's worried tone drew my attention back to him.
"What's wrong?"
"I think we need to hurry." He pointed toward the broken anchor.
Just as the trees had began to decay, the coating of rust on the metal had started to spread.
"If it all falls apart, it could be useless." Fletcher gritted his teeth and reached for a piece.
When he didn't disappear, I did the same. The moment my fingers touched the metal, my skin tingled, like magic recognising magic. I had the strangest sensation that the chunk of former anchor was actually happy.
Clearly I needed to get more sleep.
I picked up the piece and felt an immediate tug toward another, which had been a part of the opposite side of the anchor.
"It's as though it knows where it needs to go," I said, not sure if I should be alarmed or relieved.
"Same with this one," Fletcher said in wonder. "It feels alive, or… something."
"Do we give it what it wants?" The tugging became more insistent.
"I think we have to," he replied. He crab walked around the sand and placed one piece beside another. With a flash of light and a pop, they melded together. The edges softened until they looked like part of something flat, but circular.
"All right, that wasn't weird at all," I said sarcastically. I followed his example and my piece did the same. Now we had two of what looked like slices of pie.
"I wonder…" Fletcher slid one across the sand toward the other.
The flash was bigger this time, but the pieces melded again until they formed half a circle, with a smooth surface.
"I'm guessing that's not complete." I reached for two more pieces as Fletcher did the same. Two more flashes and we had two more quarter-slices.
"I really think you should stand back," I said over my shoulder. I heard Huon and Saff's disgruntled muttering, but Ash and Tavar herded them a few metres away. Whether that was far enough remained to be seen.
"Ready?" I looked over to see Fletcher's face, tight, but determined. Of course, if this worked, he could go home. Part of me was happy for him, but my heart ached at the idea of being away from him, after all we had been through. What I felt for him was just as strong as what I felt for the three fae men. Whatever happened, he would always hold a piece of my heart.
Shimmer (Summer's Harem Book 1) Page 15