by Amy Sumida
“Samedi,” I whispered in surprise.
“I think so, but we need to be certain.” Cerberus leveled a hard stare on me.
“All right. Let's go.”
“Hold on!” Darcraxis snapped. “You want to go into the Bazaar right after Cerberus' office was vandalized? We're supposed to be staying away from there until this is finished, remember?”
“It'll work better if I have Samedi in front of me,” I said as if it explained everything.
“What will work better?” Declan asked.
“Spellsinging,” Slate said. “Elaria's going to use her music as a lie detector.”
“In a way,” I admitted.
“Then we're all going,” Torin declared.
“It's bad enough with me there,” Cer huffed. “If all of you go too, we'll definitely be spotted.”
“Maybe you should stay here, Cerberus,” I suggested.
“I'll go with you,” Declan announced while Cer gaped at me.
“I'm not sitting here twiddling my thumbs,” Cerberus growled.
“I can hide all of us under an illusion, just like I did with the nymphs,” Declan offered.
“You're too big and too well-known in the Bazaar,” I continued to argue with Cerberus.
“Hey!” Declan shouted at us.
Cerberus and I went quiet.
“I said; I will go and mask us—all three of us—in an illusion,” Declan repeated.
“Why can't all of us go?” Torin argued.
“It will be easier for me to maintain a smaller illusion,” Declan explained.
“And it will be easier for just the three of us to navigate the Bazaar,” Cerberus added. “All right, Alexandrite, you can come along.”
“Elaria,” Torin growled.
“I'll have Cerberus and Declan with me,” I said gently. “I'll be fine, Tor.”
“I'm expecting to be updated by RS every fifteen minutes,” Torin gave in grudgingly.
I got you, babe, RS declared in our minds.
Torin rolled his eyes and pulled me in for a thorough kiss. “Be careful, little bird, and be quick about it.”
“One song and I'm done,” I promised.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“A kitsune? Really?” Cerberus muttered as we strolled casually down the Lwa Stretch.
“You look good. Stop complaining,” I smacked his lean chest. “Your tails twitch more when you're upset.”
Cer's new, exotically slanted stare shifted over his shoulder to glare at his four, fluffy fox tails. “Hounds chase foxes; this is totally inappropriate.”
“Kitsune are the best-dressed race in the Beneath.” Declan smoothed his silk suit. “I figured if we were going undercover, our covers might as well be magnificent.”
“You make a very handsome kitsune,” I said sweetly as I slicked a lock of his thick, ebony hair behind his ear.
One of Declan's tails twitched over to wind with one of mine, and I automatically took his hand. It was a Kitsune custom for lovers to walk this way, but it felt extra-romantic since I'd never had a tail to twine with my lover's before. And yes; I could feel the tail. Declan has Illusion and Manifestation magic, which means that his illusions tended to be so detailed and vivid that it was hard to tell them apart from his manifestations.
“You'd better drop the illusion as soon as we're in Smoke and Mirrors,” Cer muttered. “Samedi will never let me live this down.”
“There is nothing embarrassing about being a kitsune, Cerberus,” I chided as we approached Samedi's shop. “Stop being so racist.”
“I'm not racist,” he growled and yanked the door open.
The scent of tobacco rode a cool blast of air out as we stepped in. As soon as the door shut behind us, Declan lifted a brow at me in question.
“Not yet; I don't want the customers to see us change,” I whispered, and Cerberus pouted. “Cer, we can't have word get out that we can hide under illusions.”
“Yeah. Okay,” Cerberus grumbled.
“May I help you?” A young man behind the counter greeted us.
“We're here to see Sam,” I said as I sidled over to the counter in my crimson kimono. “Could you please tell him that Ellie is here.”
“Yes, Ma'am.” He went into the back room and came back seconds later with Samedi in tow.
Sam's face was set in a wide smile but it froze in confusion when he saw us.
“Sam!” I hurried over to him and hugged him so I could whisper in his ear, “It's me, Elaria. Can we speak privately?”
“Of course,” Sam said brightly. “It's good to see you, Ellie. Come on back to my office, we can talk there.”
Sam took us into his office; a small space full of expensive furniture. A hand-carved Centaurian desk dominated the room with two matching chairs set before it and a wide, leather one behind. A cigar burned in a crystal ashtray on the desk and a cup of chicory coffee sat steaming beside it, adding its sharp scent to the smoke. In direct opposition to the grand furnishings, an expanse of monitors curved from one side of the desk to the other and a Voodoo flag hung on the wall behind it with Baron Samedi's veve—his lwa symbol—sewn on it in garish sequins.
When the office door was shut and locked, Declan dropped our illusions.
“They're looking for you both,” Samedi declared with a wave at Cerberus and me. “What the fuck are you doing here, Elaria?”
“They trashed my office,” Cerberus growled and got in Sam's face. “Any idea of how they knew to target me?”
“Are you accusing me of something?” Sam leaned up toward Cer.
“You're damn straight—”
“Cer!” I cut him off. “Give him a chance to speak.”
“Fine. Go ahead, Samedi,” Cerberus snapped. “What have you got to say for yourself?”
“I didn't rat you out,” Sam looked at me as he spoke. “I swear to you, Elaria. Peter Demos came by and asked me a few questions, but he seemed to be doing it just to check me off his list. Neither of your names was mentioned; not by me or Peter.”
“Then how did you know that they're looking for us?” Cerberus countered.
“Everyone knows that,” Sam huffed. “It's all over the Bazaar. There's a fucking bounty on your heads; you, Elaria, and the Terrencal brothers.”
“They're after the Terrencals too?” I asked.
“That's not exactly surprising,” Declan pointed out. “Kasteo started this; they were bound to find out about him sooner or later.”
“If it's not you, it could be someone close to you,” I said to Sam. “Would you mind if I used my magic to find them?”
“Knock yourself out.” Samedi waved his hand at me. “I'm innocent, of this at least, and if it is someone I know, I want to find them as much as you do.”
“Thanks, Sam.” I gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Kyanite?”
As my lady commands, Kyanite said dramatically.
You're an idiot, RS muttered. No; you're a nerd. A nerdy jewel. A newel.
And she calls me the idiot.
The electric pulse of Von Grey's “Poison in the Water” vibrated through the office, and Sam's eyes went wide.
“You have gained power,” Samedi whispered.
“That's Kyanite,” I explained, “my jewel. It's his way of singing with me.”
“But, yes, she has gotten really fucking badass,” Cerberus added smugly.
Then a haunting whisper of sound merged with the pulsing; a ghostly crying rising as my cue. With the music came my magic, and I closed my eyes to feel the power fill my throat and then seep into my words. A chanting, steady march of lyrics hunted the Judas who had betrayed us. If it was Samedi, I'd know it in seconds. It would connect with him immediately. I prepared for the shock of knowledge, but it never came. The music kept reaching further, beyond the Baron. I would have breathed a sigh of relief if I wasn't already lifting my voice into a powerful strike, lashing out with words and magic and music to find the true culprit.
My inner eye searched with the so
ng, penetrating the walls around me and reaching with its invisible fingers to stroke the souls outside. Seeping like poison, dispersing through the air like a drop of toxin in a well. Spreading, touching, infecting. My whole body tensed when it found its mark, and I shivered through the realization of how careless we'd been. I should have known better but it had been a long time since I'd prowled the clogged lanes of the Beneather Bazaar. I'd forgotten how thin the walls were inside these stone buildings and how fast information could be sold to the highest bidder.
I released a breath as the music faded and opened my eyes to fix them on the Baron.
“No,” he whispered. “Not one of mine. It can't be.”
“I'm so sorry, Sam.”
“Fuck!” Samedi clenched his fists. “Who? Tell me who betrayed me, Elaria.”
“I don't know her name, but she's in the club right now.”
“Her?” He asked, even more shocked. “One of my girls did this?”
I nodded. I wouldn't bother pointing out that women could be just as traitorous as men. Samedi knew that as well as anyone else. No, he wasn't shocked that the traitor was a woman, he was dreading what he'd have to do to her. Betrayal can't go unanswered in the Bazaar. Then Samedi's spine straightened and he took a deep breath.
“Show me,” Sam's voice dropped into deadly tones as he shrugged out of his coattails and flung it over a chair.
“Declan, can you replace our illusions?” I asked my husband.
Our masks fell back into place as Samedi rolled up his sleeves. I led the way out of the office, my feet taking me unerringly forward. I could have navigated the shop with my eyes shut; my magic had already shown me the path to the traitor. Customers drew back from our procession, and employees gawked as I led their boss into his gentlemen's club and straight up to one of the waitresses.
“It's her.” I pointed at the woman.
Tight, ebony curls crowned her head, held in place by silk ribbons. Her full bust bulged temptingly out of a midnight blue corset and long legs peeked through layers of sheer silk skirts. Her heavily-lined eyes widened at my pointing finger and then lifted to Samedi's furious face. Cognac skin paled as her tray fell from limp fingers. The other waitresses pulled back, gasping, as the woman frantically searched for an escape.
“Babette,” Samedi sneered the name as he snatched her wrist, “we need to have a chat.” He dragged her back the way we had come as he smiled at his patrons. “Nothing to concern yourselves with. I'm just having a little problem with employee loyalty. A free round on the house as my apology for the disturbance.” Then he glared at the other waitresses. “See to our customers!”
The waitresses snapped back into action, one of them cleaning up Babette's tray, and the customers started excitedly murmuring among themselves about the drama. But our group ignored it all and went right back to Samedi's office where he shoved Babette into a chair, leaned his hands on the armrests, and loomed over her.
Declan closed and locked the door then gave me another questioning look. I shook my head at him. The last thing I wanted to do was give the traitor more information.
“I didn't do anything!” Babette shrieked before Sam spoke. “I swear!”
“I have it on the best authority that you are a rat, Babette.” Samedi narrowed his eyes at her. “Do you want to confess or shall I force some libation down your throat to help loosen your tongue?”
Babette started sobbing.
“So be it!” Samedi pushed off the chair and stomped behind his desk.
He yanked open a drawer and withdrew a bottle covered in strange symbols and garish paint. A metal, filigree cup covered its base, a skull formed by the negative space between the designs. It looked old and menacing. Strange to call a bottle menacing, but this one was. Perhaps it only seemed so because I knew what was inside it; the Baron's secret concoction. Libation; an elixir that could turn even the most powerful beneather into a slave. The stronger you were, the sooner its effects wore off, but even minutes could feel like forever when Samedi had you under his sway.
“Okay!” Babette shrieked. “I told the Demos Family about your visit from the Spellsinger and her friend. They questioned all of us while Peter Demos was talking to you, and I wouldn't have said anything, but they offered me so much money, Sam. I don't want to be a waitress forever. I have dreams.”
“Not anymore, little girl,” Samedi said in a terrifying voice. “Your dreams belong to me now.”
Babette started to cry pitifully.
“How did they know to go after Cerberus?” I asked her before Sam did something fatal.
“Everyone knows that Cerberus and the Spellsinger are friends,” she stammered. “If you want to reach Elaria Tanager, you go to Cerberus Skylos.”
“Fuck,” Cerberus growled. “What about the Terrencal brothers? How do they know about them?”
“What exactly do they know?” Samedi clarified. “Tell us everything.”
“I don't know anything else. I only told them about the Spellsinger having a meeting with you, that's all, and they didn't tell me what they know. I swear it.”
“Well, you told them enough,” Declan noted.
“More than enough. Without other leads, Elaria looks guilty.” Samedi straightened and stared down at Babette viciously before he looked over at us. “You'd best leave now. I'll handle this then I'll see what I can do about the Demos Family.”
“I appreciate it, but don't mess with them,” I said. “You've done enough; we'll take care of the satyrs.”
“Very well.” Sam refocused on Babette.
“I'm glad it wasn't you, Sam,” I said as we left.
Chapter Thirty
“We need to find Kosmos and get him the hell out of here,” Cerberus growled as we left Samedi's shop.
“Do you have a way of contacting him?” Declan asked.
“No, but I'm a hound; I can find a damn cat.” Cer lifted his nose and started sniffing.
Declan and I followed Cerberus through the maze of the Bazaar; up stairways, across bridges, and down alleys. He'd stop, inhale sharply, curse, then continue. It went on for hours, but neither Declan nor I interrupted him.
Finally, Cer turned in a frustrated circle and growled, “Where the fuck are all the Cats?”
“What do you mean?” I asked as my stomach clenched. “You can't find Kosmos?”
“I can't find any of them.” Cerberus set his panicked stare on me. Then his eyes widened. “Hold on! I've got something.”
Cer rushed away, and Declan and I ran after him. We chased him down an alley and found him crouched by a crevice in a wall.
“Come on now, it's okay. It's your Uncle Cerberus,” Cer said gently. He looked over his shoulder at us. “Declan take this damn illusion off me.”
Declan dropped the magic and a tiny meow emerged from the crack in the wall just before a sleek black kitten did. It tumbled into Cer's hands as if it were exhausted, and he picked it up to cradle against his chest.
“Where's your mommy?” Cerberus asked the kitten as he stroked its tiny head. “Where are the Cats?”
The kitten gave another pitiful meow before shifting into a naked little girl. Her eyes were the same pale gray that the kitten's had been and her hair the same sleek black as its fur. She wrapped her slim arms around Cer's neck and sobbed brokenly.
“It's okay, Lily, Uncle Cer's got you. You're safe. I won't let anyone hurt you.” Cerberus rocked her. “Tell me what happened to your family, sweetheart.”
“Satyrs... took... them,” Lilly whispered between bouts of tears. “Took everyone. Mommy, Daddy, Lucy, Liam—”
“Okay,” Cerberus cut her off before she listed her entire family. “Okay, we're going to get them back. Do you know where they took them? I can't smell them here.”
“I heard one of them say; portal.” Lilly shivered, and Cerberus slipped her inside his coat.
“The Portals.” Cer looked at me in horror. “They took them off-world.”
“Don't panic,” I said c
almly as I stroked the girl's hair. “I can find them, remember? We'll get them back.”
We even have the perfect song, Kyanite said in my head.
I'll update the others, RS added.
A scrolling guitar filled the alley with the accompaniment of some tapping drums, and Lily lifted her head in surprise. I smiled at her reassuringly as the music rose around us and thrummed through my throat. I gave Lily a wink then shimmied my shoulders and launched into “Stray Cat Strut” by the Stray Cats. As soon as Lily heard the kitty lyrics, she began to smile.
