by Connor Crowe
Good thing for us.
“Any idea where the Key would be held?” Hugo whispered as we rounded a corner and faced down a long, narrow alleyway.
“If I had to guess, it would be in the Hub. It’s the most secure place for it, anyway.”
“Um,” I started, “isn’t that kind of the opposite of what we want to be doing? If it’s so well guarded, we won’t have a chance!”
“That’s what distractions are for,” Tristan said with a wink. “I was part of the Black Hands, too, remember? Let’s just say I learned a thing or two.”
Well, that shut me up. He had a point. I just hoped he didn’t get us all killed.
We made our way down the alley and I marveled at the architecture and sheer opulence all around us. It was like a greenhouse mixed with a museum mixed with a fashion show. Everything sparkled. Everything moved in its own perfect way. Each click of the mechanical engines holding the city aloft was measured, timed just right.
It was true, what they had said. The Floating City was a treasure all its own. We had just exited the alley and onto a street that looked like some sort of marketplace when a flicker of movement caught my eye.
Someone was running toward us, waving furiously. She was tall and thin, with a flowing white dress that billowed out behind her as she ran. Her eyes fixed on me immediately, shining with recognition.
But that was the problem. I’d never seen her before in my life.
“Martin! There you are!” She stopped short and appraised Tristan and Hugo. For a moment, I had the urge to duck and run. What if she recognized Tristan and sounded an alarm? But she seemed to be too interested in “Martin” to give him a second look.
“Uh, hi...” I said, plastering on a smile. Hugo glared at me, but Tristan mouthed something I didn’t catch. Perhaps this would be our chance to get some information.
“I’ve been looking for you all over,” the woman said. “You’re going to be at the Ataraxian Gala tonight, right?” She batted her eyelashes and brushed a tendril of hair behind her ear.
Wait a second. Was she flirting with me?
“Yeah,” I said, in as confident of a voice as I could muster. I had to think fast for my next words. “Thing is,” I wrung my hands and tried to look as forlorn as possible, “I seem to have misplaced my invitation, and you know they’re not going to let me in without one. You don’t have a spare, do you?”
She rolled her eyes and let out a high-pitched, tinkling laugh. How grating. “Oh, Martin! Silly gryphon, you’re always forgetting things.” She drew closer and eyed me with a conspiratorial glance. “Don’t worry though, as long as you’re on my arm, you won’t need an invitation. Everyone who’s anyone knows who I am, after all.”
And who’s that? I dared to wonder. Too bad I couldn’t ask aloud.
“Great,” I mumbled, breaking out into another false smile. “That sounds really great. Where should I meet you?”
She looked me up and down again, pursing her lips. I tried to look as casual as possible, though inside my mind I was freaking out. Just what was I getting us into, and what would be the consequences if she found out we were lying?
“Say, you’re not going to be wearing that to the Gala, are you?” Her lip curled upward in disgust. “You look like you’ve been rolling around in the industrial district all day.”
“I—“
“No matter, you’ll just have to come to the tailor with me. I’m due for a fitting and I’m sure she can fit you in.”
Yup, she was definitely flirting with me.
“What about my friends here?” I gestured at Tristan and Hugo, who waved.
“Oh!” She said, as if they were merely an afterthought. “Well, I’m not supposed to let anyone in that’s not registered...” She frowned.
“But...” I prompted her. “It would make me really happy.”
At that, her face brightened. I could practically see her resolve shattering before my eyes.
Bingo.
“Oh, all right!” She said at last. “They can come, too. But if anyone asks, they’re servants.” She said the last word in a whisper, raising an eyebrow.
“Wait just a second!” Hugo started, but Tristan threw out his hand and held him back.
“Thank you very much, Miss.” Tristan bowed his head and dipped low in a complicated looking gesture. I guessed it was some local courtesy. “Your hospitality is most appreciated. Pay no mind to my friend there—we’d love to join you. After all, the Gala is certainly not to be missed!”
“You got that right!” She said brightly, now literally bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Gods, where did she get so much energy? And where could I get some of that?
“Excellent.” Tristan beamed. I marveled at how his entire demeanor had changed. He adopted her speech patterns and body language as easily as putting on a new set of clothing. Whether that was because he had grown up here or because of his time in the Black Hands, I couldn’t tell. “But do excuse, me, Miss. I never caught your name.”
I could have sworn she blushed. “Myrella,” she said with the same complicated bowing gesture. “A pleasure to meet you, Mister...?”
“Dorne,” Tristan said without skipping a beat. “Lukas Dorne, at your service. Martin and I go way back.” He threw an arm around Hugo’s shoulder. “And this here is Anders. Don’t let his demeanor fool you, he’s one of the best. His father and mine worked together, back in the day.”
“Charmed,” Myrella said with the bowing gesture again. “I will be seeing you all at the Galloping Gryphon at High Sun, then. Ciao!” With a flip of her hair over her shoulder, she turned and hurried off across the nearest bridge, the long silk of her gown billowing in the breeze.
I let out a breath and for a moment, the three of us just looked at one another.
“What. In the heck. Was that.” Hugo whispered.
Tristan gave us a grim look and shrugged. “Welcome to Ataraxis.”
12
Tristan
This place hadn’t changed a bit.
The moment we set foot on the furthest platform, it all came rushing back to me. The steam. The gold. The glass.
And most of all, the attitudes. Myrella had been no different than the rest of them, always concerned with appearances and showing up the neighbors. Whoever this “Martin” was, I had no idea, but when she mistook James for someone else, that was our opportunity.
James, for his part, had reacted admirably. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said he’d had some training himself. And here I’d thought he was just a shy, over-practical healer.
“You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?” I said with a grin. James looked away. Could have sworn I saw him blush.
“Well, none of you were speaking up...” He shrugged.
“Wait, so you really don’t know who she is?” Hugo asked.
“Never seen her before in my life. But hey, her little mistake might help us get an in, right?”
“It very well might,” I mused. “But we have to be careful.”
“What are we going to do until then?” Hugo asked. “I assume ‘High Sun’ is noon, but that means we have time to kill.”
“First of all,” I started. “We’re gonna lay low, and hope no one else tries to rope us into something.”
“Do I really look that familiar?” James shrugged.
I shook my head. “No, it’s not that. She was probably on Haze.”
“Haze?” James echoed. “What is that, like a drug or something?”
“Yeah, it dulls the mind but produces a powerful high. Lot of the rich and famous like to use that stuff. Something of a status symbol, though I never understood why.” I shook my head. “This place hasn’t changed a bit.”
“Sounds dangerous if you ask me.” James frowned.
“They’re mostly harmless.” I shrugged. “Mostly. Let’s just hope she doesn’t sober up enough to realize her mistake, and she’ll take us straight to the Hub.”
James nodd
ed, but I could tell he was still stewing over something. He chewed his lip and shifted from one foot to the other, not meeting my gaze.
“A lot of things don’t make sense here,” I offered as explanation, though it wasn’t much of one. “I know.”
“I can’t believe you grew up here,” James muttered. “Is everyone like...” he waved his hand vaguely. “Like her?”
I grimaced. “Are you gonna kill me if I say yes?”
“Sheesh.”
Hugo cut in. “We can talk about all that later, but I don’t think we should just be standing around out here. Never know who might be watching.”
I nodded. He was right, of course. “I know a place we can go until High Sun. No one will bother us there. Follow me.”
The Redstone Tavern was one of the few lower-class establishments in Ataraxis. And by lower class, I meant that it wasn’t filled with literal royalty. The people were just as annoying, of course, but they left you well enough alone, and people knew to mind their own business.
It wasn’t trashy by any means. The decor was tasteful, if a little less opulent than the tea rooms and taverns in the Hub. People chattered quietly, shrouded by velvet curtains that surrounded each table for privacy. The clink of china and silverware punctuated the soft, tinkling music played from an old fashioned gramophone.
I slid into a plush booth and motioned for James and Hugo to join me. Bless them, they were still staring in awe at the decor and the ambience. A good way to get us questioned and thrown out, if you asked me.
“Over here!” I hissed, waving wildly. James had done such a good job thinking on his feet when Myrella approached us. I couldn’t have him blowing our cover now.
They shuffled over and slid into the booth next to me. James sat across from me, while Hugo chose the seat next to me in the booth. I waved over one of the waitresses and waited.
“You guys gotta keep your cool,” I whispered under my breath. “Act natural, just like you did out there when we ran into Myrella. Got it?”
Both men nodded, their faces ashen.
I was about to speak up again but the waitress arrived. She wore a frilly lace dress and a floral crown that was bigger than her head. A necklace of sparkling rubies accentuated her neck and chest, and a leather belt cinched at her waist to give her an hourglass figure. Her amber eyes sparkled in the dim candlelight.
“What can I get you gentlemen?” She asked in a far-too-bubbly tone.
“A pot of the chrysanthemum tea, please.”
“Right away!” She bobbed her head, turned on her heel, and hurried off.
“What’s with the getup?” Hugo asked, jerking his thumb toward her disappearing figure. “Looks like she’s about to be in a parade or something.”
I shrugged. “What did I tell you? All the world’s a stage in Ataraxis.”
James huffed out a small, soft laugh. Not a spiteful one, no. But his amusement was clear enough, and just like that the tension in the room dissipated.
We smiled, laughed, and talked among ourselves as if we weren’t in such dangerous territory. As if the fate of the world didn’t hang in the balance.
Just three friends—no, three mates, I corrected myself—enjoying one another’s company. Nothing wrong with that.
“So you think this big ball could be our shot at finding the Key?”
“I think so,” I said, poring over the lines and scribbles I’d scratched onto the napkins nearby. “They have these twice a year, and I was so wrapped up in everything going on I didn’t realize the date. This is actually perfect timing.” I pointed at a large circle I’d drawn in the middle of the napkin. “This is the Hub. Everyone who’s anyone is going to be there tonight, and you know what that means?”
“The rest of the city is ripe for the pickings?” James offered.
“Right.”
“But won’t they have guards or something?” Hugo shook his head. “Surely not everyone is going to this thing.”
“You’d be surprised,” I said. I drew a line and arrow pointing from the Hub to another nearby platform. “The security in the Hub is going to be greater than ever, yes, but it will all be concentrated on the site of the Gala. We’ll go in, mingle with the guests, and then make our way over here—“ I pointed. “To the collections room.”
“You think that’s where it will be?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it’s a good starting place. Remember, these people like to show off more than anything. They’ll have all their greatest treasures on display.”
James furrowed his brow. “And that helps us...how?”
“It helps us,” I explained carefully, “because it won’t seem out of place if we’re hovering around looking for a valuable artifact.”
Hugo took a sip of his tea—more like a gulp, really—and set down the tiny porcelain cup on the table. It was kind of comical, actually, seeing the dainty tea set in his large hands.
I gulped as another wave of heat rippled through me. The way he manhandled the tea set was amusing, but it only made me think: what might it be like for him to manhandle me?
“Hey Tristan?” A voice called. “Tris?” Fingers snapped in front of my face and I blinked. Shook my head.
“Yeah. Sorry.” I refocused on the two men beside me. Right. Focus.
“So are we trying to steal it, or what?” Hugo asked. “Cause you know what happened when the Fire Key fell.” He shrugged sheepishly. “Still dealing with the fallout of that one.”
“Steal isn’t exactly the right word,” I said. “Let’s call it more like...insurance. It’s the only one remaining, after all.”
“What are we trying to do, here?”
I sighed. “I only know as much as Markus told me. And I’m telling you as much as I know. The other three Keys have fallen, and we’ve seen what that’s done. If we can protect the final Key from destruction, that’s what we need to do. In the meantime, I think I heard that Felix had an idea about where to go from here.”
“So we’re glorified bodyguards.” Hugo crossed his arms.
He was taking this the wrong way. “Do the same that happened to you to happen to all of these people? Do you know what that would do to not only the shifters, but the environment? The very fate of the world?”
He averted his gaze. Finally, he said softly, “You’re right. I’m sorry. Even if the people here are assholes, I don’t want anyone to have to go through what I have.”
“Exactly.” I nodded. “Now let’s get out of here. There’s a few things we need to pick up if we’re going to look the part.”
I stood up from the booth and stacked our dishes into a neat pile for the waitress to bus. As soon as I did so, though, the world swam around me. A sharp, shooting pain lanced through my temple and I clapped a hand to my forehead, wincing.
“What’s wrong?” James was immediately at my side.
Anxiety and adrenaline fired off in a heady one-two punch inside my brain, but I pushed it all aside. I had to focus. I had to be here for my men. I had to...
The world swam again, and I sunk bank down into the booth. My body lurched forward bonelessly onto the table, and I lay there, eyes wide, mind filled with too much and not enough all at the same time.
Hugo and James—I heard their voices. Felt their concern. But I couldn’t form the thoughts, much less the words to communicate.
There was only sensation.
Only the feeling that something was wrong.
Hands were at my side. On my shoulders. Holding me up.
A wet cloth on my forehead.
The steady thrum of my heart, pattering hard against my ribs.
And like a bubble popping, it just...disappeared. My mind cleared. My vision refocused. And there I was, sitting at the table with my two men staring at me in horror. I felt...fine. Good, actually.
But what the hell was that?
“Tristan!” I heard James’s voice clearly this time. Felt him shaking me. “Talk to me, man!”
I blinked. “What?” M
y tongue felt heavy, swollen in my mouth.
“You just...I dunno, passed out or something!” James’s usually calm voice had taken on a frantic tenor. And I didn’t blame him—my mind was still reeling as well.
“I...” I shook my head. “I don’t know, everything just went...weird for a sec. You guys okay?”
“Yeah,” Hugo and James said in unison. “Maybe we should sit here a little longer,” James offered. “Just to make sure you’re all right.”
“I’m fine,” I grumbled. But was I?
“You’re not fine,” Hugo said in a tone that brooked no argument. “In fact, it seemed almost like...” He frowned, paused for a moment. Shook his head.
“What?” I asked.
“Kind of reminded me of...you know...” He shrugged. “My little problem. Could it be that you’re reacting to the Air Key’s presence? Does that mean it’s nearby?”
I stared at him, and a shiver passed through my body. I hadn’t thought about it that way, but now that Hugo pointed it out...
Was it really that powerful? Was it really that close?
I huffed out a breath and steeled myself. I had to be strong. For them.
“If that’s the case,” I said finally, “then that’s all the more reason to get this done.”
James still watched me warily. I didn’t blame him. I’d totally blacked out for—how long even was that? And though I was trying to put on a tough face, the fear remained deep in my gut.
What if it happened again? What if I wasn’t ready?
And what if...I dreaded the thought...Hugo and James weren’t around when it happened?
“Well...” James said at last, drawing me out of my worries. “If you’re sure.”
I gave him a nod and forced a smile. The sooner did what we set out to do, the sooner we could go home. The sooner we could be safe. “I’m sure,” I said, and tried standing again. This time, I didn’t waver. “Let’s go.”
