Blood Rite

by E.J. Stevens

  I’d sent out a group text asking if my friends had any ideas on how to sneak into the Necropolis. Not that I had high hopes.

  Father Michael had been able to provide useful information on how to kill the lich king, which would solve our zombie problem and make me square with Gaius, but we hadn’t found anything helpful on how to get inside the Necropolis. The only gateway we knew of was guarded by a zombie dragon that I hoped never to lay eyes on again.

  “That sounds promising,” Ceff said.

  I called Forneus and put him on speaker.

  “A back door, for real?” I asked.

  We didn’t have time for niceties.

  “For reals,” Jinx said.

  Apparently, we weren’t the only ones using speakerphone. I could even hear Sparky playing in the background, the little munchkin. My chest swelled, happy my kid was safe.

  Forneus cleared his throat, bringing my attention back to our dragon problem. If I wanted to keep my kid, all of the city’s kids, safe, I should listen to him.

  “There is a doorway to the Necropolis in Highgate Cemetery,” Forneus said.

  “There’s a gateway to the Necropolis in a place called Highgate?” I asked.

  “Right?” Jinx asked. “Really makes you think about the term lich gate too.”

  She had a point. But Forneus continued on as if our comments were merely trivial. I suppose, in the grand scheme of things, they were.

  “At least, it was there when I negotiated a territorial dispute in the cemetery back in the late 19th century,” he said. “Have I ever mentioned how tedious the fetch and the banshee clans can be?”

  That was probably an interesting story, but my brain finally placed the cemetery’s location.

  “Wait, Highgate Cemetery, as in London?” I asked.

  “Of course,” Forneus said, letting out an exasperated sigh.

  “How are we supposed to get to London?” I asked.

  There’s no way I was flying across the ocean in a tin can. Too much iron. Not to mention all the opportunities for being overwhelmed by psychic visions. And how were we supposed to smuggle all of our weapons through the TSA screening? Nope, we’d have to find an alternate way to London.

  “What about Torn?” Jinx asked.

  There was a shuffling on the other end of the line as if someone was covering the phone and having a muffled conversation. Forneus wasn’t fond of Torn, not with the cat sidhe lord’s relentless flirting with Jinx. But I had to admit, my best friend had a point.

  If there was a way to travel through the shadows from Harborsmouth to London, Torn would know about it. It was like he could sweet talk the shadows into anything. If there was a secret pathway, Torn would be able to access it.

  “Torn and Delilah are keeping watch over the glaistig’s former territory,” Ceff said.

  “Delilah?” Jinx asked, voice raising an octave, rapidly approaching a screech. “As in the succubus who ruffied me? The bitch who almost got me killed?”

  I winced, rubbing the back of my neck with gloved hands. Mab’s bones. This could get ugly. Jinx had every right to be angry at Delilah. But there was too much at stake.

  Plus, deep down, I couldn’t blame the succubus. I wanted to, if only to shed some of my own guilt, but Delilah had been following orders. Knowing the feudal system most faeries lived under, and the magic that enforced the power of our leaders, she may not have had any choice.

  “Um, yeah,” I said.

  “You did not die, my love,” Forneus murmured. “You are safe.”

  My ears burned with embarrassment. I felt like a voyeur on that private conversation. Sadly, I needed to intrude further.

  “We’ve all done things we regret,” I said, my voice small and pleading. “Delilah was acting on the Green Lady’s orders when she did those things. I think…I want to give her a second chance.”

  We all deserve a second chance. If I stopped believing that, I’d question all the good things in my life. That way lies madness.

  “Fine,” Jinx said. “But if she double-crosses us, I want first dibs on shooting her.”

  “Deal,” I said, slumping in relief.

  My best friend was one of the most patient, kind, forgiving people on the planet, but I did not envy any fool who dared cross her twice. Jinx may be human, but she was a damn good shot with a crossbow. Who says you need magical powers to kick butt?

  The relief was short-lived, the weight of the bargain sucking the air from my lungs. I needed to stop doing that. It was way too easy to forget that bargains and promises were no longer nothing to worry about. I wasn’t human, not even half-human, as I’d believed. Being a faerie, and being bound to our laws, was still taking some getting used to.

  “I’ll talk to Torn and get back to you,” I said.

  “Need me to come along?” Jinx asked.

  Oh, hell no. There was venom in her voice, revenge simmering just below the surface. She might not shoot Delilah, not yet, but that didn’t mean I wanted us all to get together. No way.

  “That’s okay,” I said, voice abnormally chipper. “We’ve got it. Talk to you soon. Okay, bye!”

  I hung up and let out a shaky breath. Ceff shook his head and grinned.

  “I know, I know, I’m not a good liar,” I said, cheeks heating.

  “The worst,” he said. “Not that it was truly a lie. We do have this, as you say. It was smart to keep her away from the succubus.”

  “Far, far away,” I said.

  Chapter 23

  I bit my lip and dialed Torn. I didn’t want to interrupt him and Delilah in flagrante. My eyes had suffered enough.

  “I texted Torn to meet us by the service entrance,” I said, shoving the phone back in my pocket and facing Ceff. “Delilah can cover the front gate while we chat.”

  I crossed my fingers, hoping that Torn would know a way to get us to London and that he’d be willing to go to the trouble. For all I knew, he’d want to stick around the carnival and combine killing zombies with sexy times with Delilah. Either way, I needed a favor and it wasn’t the kind of thing I could ask over the phone.

  Thankfully, we made good time. That was partly due to the fact we were heading downhill, but we also didn’t meet any trouble. Joysen Hill remained ominously quiet.

  Torn quirked an eyebrow at our speedy arrival, but I shrugged.

  “So, what is this all about, princess?” he asked. “Are we ready to fight more zombies? Preferably, something larger than a gerbil. I do have standards.”

  “Actually, that’s why I’m here,” I said.

  A wide grin slid across Torn’s face.

  “We found a back door to the Necropolis,” I said.

  He flexed his claws, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

  “Where?” he asked. “I imagine there are plenty of deadly things in a place called the Necopolis. This is going to be fun.”

  “That’s the problem,” I said. “The portal is in Highgate Cemetery, in London.”

  “Ah,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “You want a favor.”

  “Think of it as a mutually beneficial arrangement,” I said, spreading my hands wide.

  “While I appreciate that attempt,” he said with a wink. “That’s not how this works. It’s a matter of supply and demand, and my reputation. But good on you for becoming sneakier, princess. I like it.”

  “Before we discuss bargains, we deserve to know if a pathway exists,” Ceff said. “Otherwise, we are wasting precious time.”

  If Torn wouldn’t take us through the shadows to Highgate Cemetery, we were screwed. I’d considered our options, rolling the possibilities around in my head, on the way here. The only choices we had were the back door or the front door which was guarded by a mostly indestructible zombie dragon.

  So, I forced myself to smile and negotiate with Torn.

  “I can take us all to Highgate Cemetery, if you’ll grant me a favor,” he said.

  “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” I asked.

  He s
hrugged gracefully and I resisted the urge to punch him in the face.

  “Okay, I’ll bite,” I said.

  He leered, but Ceff stepped between us, losing his last shred of self-restraint. My betrothed was a patient man, as was evidenced by him putting up with my never-ending stubbornness, but it had been a long day.

  “What do you want, cat?” he asked through clenched teeth.

  “I need something from a friend of yours,” Torn said, head swiveling to face me.

  That didn’t sound too difficult. I should have known better.

  “What is it that you need?” Ceff asked, suspicious.

  “It’s a mere trinket,” Torn said, waving nonchalantly. “But one of my kittens is in a bit of a bind.”

  “And this trinket will help this cat sidhe?” I asked.

  “Do this and I will take us through the shadows to the portal at Highgate Cemetery,” he said.

  It’s not like we had much choice. No way was I getting in a flying tin can, and we needed to get to London asap.

  “Fine,” I said. “So, who is this supposed friend of mine?”

  “Jenny Greenteeth,” he said.

  Mab’s bones. I was almost willing to hitch a ride on a plane. Jenny Greenteeth was a water hag who lived in a nearby swamp on the edge of the marshes where the river merged with the harbor. It was a place of razor-sharp saw grass, bloodthirsty flies, and deadly quicksand.

  “Sounds like fun,” I said, voice thick with sarcasm. “You coming with?”

  Jenny, all four of her personalities, lusted after Ceff. Knowing Torn, it was one of the perverse reasons why he’d chosen this task. I wasn’t looking forward to paying Jenny a visit, but it might go better for my fiancé if he wasn’t the only sexy man for the water hag to fixate on.

  “I can’t,” Torn said, actual disappointment in his voice. “Sadly, the water hag and I have a complicated history. This isn’t the first time she’s had something I wanted. It’s just the first time that I’m not fighting her for it.”

  Interesting. I knew that Jenny had spent some time at the Unseelie Court in my mother’s inner circle. That hinted at her power, but it was hard to reconcile that the water hag I’d met had somehow bested Torn in a fight. I guess that meant I’d have to settle for solving one of Jenny’s creepy riddles.

  “I can hardly wait,” I said.

  Chapter 24

  I was sorely tempted to make a pitstop at Eden Park before heading to the stagnant pond where Jenny Greenteeth lived. Marvin had saved my life the last time I went to the water hag for information.

  “Is it wrong that I want Marvin as backup?” I asked.

  On my last visit to the water hag, in my pig-headedness, I’d almost marched headlong into a watery grave. Marvin had stopped me, grabbed a piece of driftwood, and showed me the deadly truth. What had appeared to be solid ground, was in fact an interwoven web of floating moss, duckweed, lily pads, frog’s-bit, covering a deadly pit filled with a hungry water hag and the bones of her victims, and, I now hoped, a bracelet.

  “The young troll managed to turn the tide in your battle against the Pied Piper of Hamelin,” Ceff said. “I would not mind his assistance with the water hag, especially if what you say of her…appetites are true.”

  I’m pretty sure Ceff wasn’t talking about Jenny’s hunger for the tender, bloated meat of those who drowned in the murky waters of her home. No, the thought of the water hag devouring human flesh and picking her teeth with the bones of unwary children made my stomach churn, but it was a different kind of hunger that set my beloved on edge.

  Ceff had caught Jenny’s eye when he’d been chained and dragged through the marshlands by his each uisge captors. The water hag referred to him as the “handsome kelpie man” and all her personalities had expressed a desire to ride him, in all of his forms, horse and man.

  “Oh, trust me,” I said. “It’s true. Jenny Greenteeth has the hots for you.”

  In fact, promising to pass along that message was one of the reasons that Jenny allowed Marvin and I to escape. The water hag had wanted Ceffyl Dŵr to come visit. She was about to get her wish.

  Ceff flinched, but I held up gloved hands, palms out.

  “Don’t shoot the messenger,” I said, a grin tugging at my lips. “And you can’t fault Jenny for having great taste.”

  Ceff shivered and shook his head.

  “Forget that I broached the subject,” he said, wearing a pained expression.

  “Sure,” I said.

  I rolled my shoulders, but the tension remained. It would have been comforting to bring along backup, but everyone had their own responsibilities.

  Even Marvin and Hob were busy guarding Eden Park from the zombie threat. The garden dwelling faeries needed their own hero and I had a feeling that Marvin had found his calling. The kid had grown into a man and he didn’t shirk his duties. As Marvin had said, he’d protect them. He was their champion.

  This job, to retrieve a jeweled bracelet from Jenny Greenteeth, was up to Ceff and I. Anything else was selfishness.

  We walked in silence, both haunted by the fear of things to come.

  Chapter 25

  The marsh was unnaturally quiet here. We’d left the steady buzz of insects and the cry of seagulls behind.

  “Is the water hag nearby?” Ceff asked, scanning the area warily.

  I nodded, slowing and using caution as I placed my feet on the spongy ground. I wouldn’t go rushing headlong onto the ill-perceived easier path, not again.

  “I’d bet money on it,” I said, pausing to search for landmarks. “Those vines look familiar and it’s quiet as the grave in these trees.”

  Eerie laughter bubbled up from the water at our feet, and I had a distinct case of déjà vu. A slime-covered head rose to meet the pond scum-filled cackling. Faeries, the old ones especially, really do love a dramatic entrance. They’re nearly as bad as vampires.

  As the water hag broke through the pond’s slimy surface, rust-colored water and green strings of algae dripped from her long, straggly hair. It hung in sickly clumps, exposing patches of corpse-gray skin that clung to her skull. Jenny’s laughter trickled to an end as she laid eyes on me and someone just over my shoulder.

  Her eyes widened and a fiendish grin spread across her face. Thin blue lips pulled back to bare crooked, overlapping, green teeth resembling a jumble of moss and lichen covered bones, not unlike the mass grave that likely lay at the bottom of her pool.

  “Mab, darling!” Jenny Greenteeth exclaimed.

  I staggered, head jerking as if I’d been slapped by an ogre. I spun on my heel, searching the marsh for the evil Unseelie Queen.

  “That’s not Mab, you ninny.”

  “Sure looks like her.”

  “This one’s not nearly as pretty.”

  Ceff stiffened, but I stepped in front of him, toes of my boots at the edge of Jenny’s slimy pond. This was no time for foolish pride. Ceff breathed heavy at my back, and I wondered for the hundredth time if I should have come alone.

  The last time Ceff had been here, it was enslaved to the evil each uisge. It was a time of pain and torture for him, one of his worst memories. I should know. Whenever we touched, I relived his most traumatic moments.

  But Ceff had insisted and, to be fair, I desperately wanted him at my back. I hadn’t wanted to come alone, but maybe I should have brought Marvin, after all. I had to hope that Ceff, and Jenny’s crush on him, would be the ace in the hole we needed to retrieve Torn’s required bauble.

  Not that I trusted Torn. I doubted that the bracelet was the mere trinket he claimed it to be. I pursed my lips.

  If I was totally honest, I was still surprised that he’d required a price for the transaction of taking us through the shadows to London. Torn had been just as eager as the rest of us to go to the Necropolis, more so. But this was the faerie way. Our world seeks a balance, and this was the price we had to pay for travel to Highgate Cemetery.

  “I’m not Mab,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I’m
her daughter.”

  I heard a sharp intake of breath at my back, but I kept my eyes forward. This was a gamble and I had no way of knowing how the water hag would react.

  “The Queen of Air and Darkness had a babe?” Jenny asked.

  “I’m always the last to know.”

  “She’s not so special.”

  “Oooh, can we keep her?”

  “You used to visit my mother’s court,” I said, trying to wrangle Jenny’s attention and maybe, just maybe, infer a position of power and respect high enough to keep the water hag from deciding I’d make a great entrée.

  “Mab was a brilliant rider,” Jenny said.

  “She had the best stables.”

  “So many monstrous creatures to ride.”

  “I can still taste their fear.”

  A grub-like tongue lashed out to lick blue lips and I fought down my revulsion. I hadn’t wanted to shift Jenny’s thoughts to riding. Hell no.

  “I remember you,” she said, eyes locking on Ceff.

  “Handsome kelpie man.”

  “She did it.”

  “The wisp delivered our message.”

  Jenny leered, and I almost swore in frustration. There had to be a way to draw attention off Ceff. Too bad he chose that moment to step to my side in full view of the drooling water hag.

  “I seek a boon, water hag,” Ceff said.

  His voice was steady, but I could see the slight trembling in his hands. Ceff might be a kelpie king, but he wasn’t invincible and right now, this place and the memories it evoked was getting under his skin.

  The surface of Jenny’s watery pit rippled and quivered, her desire almost palpable. My beloved had just offered up a tasty morsel that she couldn’t resist.

  “What do you seek?” Jenny asked.

  “What do you offer if you fail?”

  “I do hope he fails.”

  “It’s been so long since we rode a kelpie.”

  “We seek a bracelet lost here long ago,” he said.

  “And I offer a swim in your pond if we fail,” I said.