At the front of our metal box, the door split into two parts. Each side disappeared into the wall. I started to dash out, but Lev caught my arm with one hand and placed his other on the elevator door to keep it open.
“Wait, dear Woe,” he whispered, peering down the long, but empty corridor.
“Let me out, Lev.” I hate small spaces. I hate small spaces. My stomach churned. I couldn’t even remember the calming techniques.
That wasn’t just the excess of hormones talking. I rubbed the base of my throat. A noose tightened on my neck. The seam in the middle of the wall turned dark. It’d open soon. My favorite part of an elevator ride was always when the doors opened.
“Stop,” he grunted. “Think first.”
I glanced back at Mara and tried to still my careening thoughts.
“We don’t know what’s out there,” he said.
“Home is out there,” I whispered back. My bathtub. My bed. My pillow. Food.
Lev lodged a bag in the door and crouched down beside Mara. “Watch the front,” she said.
Gingerly, he let his fingertips graze Mara’s arm. When he flinched, I jumped.
He winked. “Just kidding.”
I grimaced. “I should wing-smack you.”
He chuckled at that but remained preoccupied with his examination of Mara. He began murmuring to himself.
I turned to peer out of the elevator.
A few minutes later, Mara’s groan came next, and Lev helped her to a seating position. He whispered something in her ear.
Sweat covered her from head to toe, and her hair stuck to her neck. She rubbed her temples and squinted up at the both of us, her head swiveling from side to side. “What happened?”
Lev gestured to her leg. “I guess Vic didn’t manage to deactivate it.”
Tears welled in Mara’s eyes. “I know. She did the same thing to me in the bathroom. She said if I told, if I told….” Her throat worked. “I’m so sorry.”
“Sssshhh,” Lev hushed her. “We’ll make it out.”
Something clattered at the end of the hall.
I snapped my wings. “Guys, we have to get out of here. It’s time to go.”
Lev hooked an arm beneath Mara’s elbow and dragged her to her feet. “We have to get out of here, Mara.”
“I can’t,” she whimpered.
“I need you to try, Mara.”
I laid my hand on Lev’s arm and nodded toward the noodle-legged Mer. “What if she gets zapped again?”
He grimaced. “That’s a risk I have to take. If it happens, you fly.” His gaze drilled into mine. “Promise me that you’ll fly, Woe, and don’t look back.”
I nodded.
Lev grabbed as many bags as he could, and I gathered the rest.
“We have to run, Mara,” Lev said to the woman next to him. “It’s the only way out.”
Mara trembled.
My feathers stood on end, and I spun slowly toward the invisible gauntlet that stretched between us and the way out. Something is very wrong.
“Something’s about to happen,” I whispered. “I can feel it in the air.”
“I feel it, too,” he answered, “but the only way through is forward.”
We stepped into the hall that stretched between the entrance to Raishana and the platform. Bombs didn’t explode, arrows didn’t whiz past our ears, and a heavily armed horde didn’t descend.
“First step down,” I said, though the words didn’t make me feel better.
Despite Lev’s missive to run, we inched down the hallway. Mara could barely walk, and I determined to stay with Lev. We made painstaking progress.
At the next palm pad, I put my hand on the sensor. It flashed twice. The light didn’t turn green, it turned red.
I grimaced. “We’re trapped.”
When I turned back toward Lev, he stared at the pad, his expression a mixture of shock and horror. “Indeed,” he said, still focused on the lock.
He maneuvered Mara around me, his hand outstretched. He laid it on the sensor. The light flashed twice and then turned red. The blood drained from his face, and his shoulders sagged.
“We’re in a shooting gallery,” he said, glancing back down the hall. “We can’t stay here. Any other ideas?”
“Try my hand,” Mara wheezed, flopping her arm toward me.
I caught her hand and laid it over the sensor. The light flashed twice and then turned green. I took a step back, uncertain what to make of it. The door slid open.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“The only thing we can.” He scrubbed his chin, his face tight. “We go forward.”
I re-situated my pack slung over my shoulder until the strap was more comfortable, then followed the fearless whale shifter.
Lev grasped his bags and cautiously inched through the unlocked door. He elbowed me. “We made it this far. I expect there’s something unexpected behind this door.”
“Do you think we’ll make it out alive?” I couldn’t figure out how to can the hurricane of emotions that swirled through me.
He barked a laugh, the sound harsh and humorless as it echoed against the stone. “I won’t have it any other way.” He jerked his thumb toward the door.
Goosebumps spread over me at his show of fury. “No dying tonight.”
“To whatever is on the other side of the door, I’m sorry,” he bellowed.
He touched my arm, distracting me from the rising tide of anxiety. “You ready?”
My heartbeat thundered in my ears. “A sliver of hope always leads us to some of the craziest decisions, doesn’t it?”
He gave a sideways grin and winked. “Every time.”
“Let’s go, then.”
He settled Mara in the corner by the exit. “I’ll go first.”
Mara laid her hand over the sensor once more.
“The way is made,” Lev said, pronouncing it reverently like a priest’s benediction over his parishioners. He cleared his throat. “Before we enter hell, I have one request that I have no right to make.”
“Better now than in there.” God, be quick, Lev. I couldn’t handle another moment.
He didn’t meet my eyes. “Spare Mara?” His hesitant request speared my heart, and I couldn’t deny him.
She has so much to answer for. She’s a traitor. But I would leave her for Lev to sort out. I could give him that much. “If I can, I will,” I said, hoping he couldn’t hear my emotional tumult in my voice.
“That’s all I ask.”
“When we go through, you get low as quickly as possible and find cover. I think the desks are the closest.” His gaze was intense, and it felt like he was trying to impress with the importance of this.
“I’ll remember.” I put my hand on his arm.
“Ready?”
“For the love of wings, please, let’s not delay any more.”
He laughed then and shoved the thick panel hard and fast. It burst open and slammed against the wall behind it, exposing the platform.
Dropping my chin, I settled into a crouch, waiting for the onslaught of attackers. There could be hundreds of them. We had to assume that The Boss had many henchmen at her disposal.
Without taking time to look, I dove toward the customs counter, tucking myself under the customs counters. Behind me, Lev did the same, but he picked a desk down the line.
No hordes advanced. No rush of hundreds of feet. No projectiles were lobbed at us, and I wasn’t riddled with bullet holes.
Easing my head above the counter surface, I scanned the area.
The polished floor reflected light from the fixtures above. Outside, ominous clouds darkened the sky, and the waves were choppier than they’d been since we’d arrived. The weather was building to a crescendo. I hoped their construction was really as sturdy as it seemed.
Unless they were invisible, there was no army-in-waiting.
Lev went back for Mara. He carried her out and tucked her behind the customs counter. She stroked his cheek and gave him a sad
smile.
He settled beside me. “See anything?”
There was a notable absence of passengers, officials, and the Raishana. Nobody was there. “This is weird, Lev. Where did everyone go?”
From far away, a woman crooned, “Come out, little kits.” A laugh rose from the direction of the food stores. “Come meet your puppeteer.”
Bitteen sauntered out of the shadows and stepped up onto the benches as though she was leader preparing to address a crowd. She no longer wore her khaki uniform but had changed to short pants and a fitted shirt that shimmered in greens and golds. Her hair had been piled atop her head, a golden mass of braids and curls that caught the light like a crown.
“What does she want, Bitteen?” You’re not getting my baby or Lev or me. No matter what. She couldn’t have my baby.
“What does she want? Your womb, for one,” she said, as though she heard me. “Once she has that, she can take over the world.” She winked. “Worlds.”
“What did you do with everyone?” I asked the question as I stood.
Lev tugged on my arm. “What are you doing? Get down.”
“Travel advisory,” Bitteen smiled, and her green ears quivered. “During unusually inclement weather, they withdraw the track, and all personnel retreat into Raishana.” She turned slowly. “Isn’t it spacious?”
“Spacious,” I said.
“Where’s Mara?” she asked. “My assistant? I’m sure you’ve met her.”
Assistants didn’t get zapped. “None of your business. She’s hiding.”
Bitteen cackled then. “Oh, let’s stop the game. She’s behind the desk with the self-righteous whale shifter.”
Lev stood then. “Bitteen.”
“It’s been quite entertaining watching you all squirm in the middle of my chess game. You didn’t know she turned you all into pawns, did you? Shall I tell you which piece she named you?”
“How can you do these things?” How she could have become so twisted? Crime didn’t happen in Eilean Ren. It wasn’t their way. “You’re Fae.”
“I’m Fae,” she repeated. “What of it?”
I swayed on my feet. Spots danced in my vision. The Boss had been circling me like a vulture since I’d had my wings ripped away. She’d caused Hannah’s murder. How long before that? How close had she gotten to Arún? Each thought was another dagger in my heart.
I gasped. “Is that how you slip in the capital without notice?”
Bitteen wagged her eyebrows. “Smart little mortal, aren’t you? They don’t read minds without permission, and pointed ears make the best camouflage.” She blew me a kiss.
I wanted to recoil, but I held still.
She went on, “Do you remember the handcuffs that held Jane until she sucked the life from Arún?”
I nodded but pictured ripping her from limb from limb.
She leered. “Do you remember the foul creature that killed Hannah and slit your throat?”
I raised an eyebrow. “What of him?”
Lev bumped me. “Don’t let her get into your head, Woe.”
Bitteen sashayed near. “You set him free, but she put the murderous thought in his head. She sent the blight to eat away the future of the Fae, knowing that your baby will be the only cure. Once she has the cure, she’ll be poised to become the queen.”
“There’s no baby.” It was a wild bluff.
Bitteen shrugged. “If we capture you, Arún will come for you. He’s proved it time and again. It’s an easy problem to fix.”
The Boss doesn’t know I’m pregnant. Hope thrilled me.
At our feet, Mara moaned, and Lev patted her hand.
“And what do you get out of it?” Arún was in danger.
Bitteen smirked. “I will reign beside her.”
“Why do you need the girls?” Lev hurled the question like a grenade.
“To test the blight virus on them. Unfortunate that mortals succumb rather quickly with no chance of recovery.” She stared past me. “The ugly things those men did….” She re-focused on me. “Let’s just say I didn’t care how they used them before or after her tests.”
She discussed murder and rape as though it was as superficial as the weather.
“If I’d known that my tests would have brought such a hiccup into my plan to seduce the Fae prince, I might have been more careful.” She shrugged. “I suppose into every plan a little rain must fall.” She raked me with her gaze, derision tightened her mouth. “Or, in my case, a little angel.”
Bitteen wasn’t The Boss, but she knew who was.
We have to capture her.
Hell hath no fury like an angel’s wings… I could have… should have…
Bitteen tapped the side of her head. “Don’t be clever,” she said. “I don’t follow the Fae rules when it comes to mindreading.” She gasped. “You’re already… you’re…”
I can’t let her tell. Rising to my toes, I prepared to launch myself at Bitteen. If I could knock her to the ground, maybe Lev could help me neutralize her.
Bitteen spun away. “I have to tell her. I have to let her know,” she jogged toward a desk in the middle of the platform.
Now or never.
I dashed toward the evil creature, flapping my wings to gain speed so I could catch her by surprise. Just as I reached out for her and was almost close enough to grasp her shoulders, Bitteen ducked.
I didn’t anticipate her movement, and I bobbled in the air, crashing into a light fixture. My wings shattered the globe, and the shards gouged into my back and sent pain screaming through me. I plummeted.
“I’m a mind reader,” Bitteen crooned at me. “You won’t be able to catch me by surprise. Not this close.”
My face was sore, pressed into the smooth floor. I already felt like I’d been run over by a truck. I gasped. Baby. Please, baby. I couldn’t risk a drawn-out fight with her. She knew what I was going to do as soon as I decided to do it.
When I brushed a hand over my abdomen, peace flooded my heart, and I could almost hear her cooing. I couldn’t articulate how I knew, but I was sure the baby was fine, even after the beating. I pushed off the ground, groaning with pain.
“Oh, how the mighty fall,” I scoffed, scorning the Fae woman who stood in front of me. My insides were a jumble of frightened mush, but I hoped I sounded braver than I felt. “You will never reign with her. You are not equal.”
“You will be silent,” Bitteen screamed. She waved her hand, and the benches flew across the terminal and crashed into the bank of windows.
There was the sound of glass breaking as one of the panels fell outward. Moments later, I heard it hit the waves beneath. Alarms blared as the building shuddered. A feminine voice announced something in a language I couldn’t understand.
Rain poured in, along with strengthening hurricane winds, and I squinted against the stinging drops. I raised a hand to help shield my eyes from the salty spray.
Bitteen sauntered toward Lev, peering into his face. “Join us, shifter. Know what we know.” She snarled. “I already know the angel’s secrets. Come, come tell us yours, and we’ll help you find your son.”
Mara reached for Lev. “Bitteen knows where your son is. Don’t kill her until she tells you.”
Wait… Was Mara was helping Bitteen? The world spun beneath me.
“A whale shifter loved a Mermaid,” Bitteen purred. “We’ll fix that.”
I strained to hear her over the noise of the storm.
Bitteen didn’t know anything. Not really. She didn’t know about loyalty. When it got down to the nitty-gritty, we were all each of us had—the Keepers were a family.
Yet Lev didn’t answer. He studied his toes, his expression wavering between anger and sorrow. As the silence wore on, time ground to a halt. Being a Keeper mattered more to Lev than anything.
We’re family. I silently pleaded.
He took Mara’s hand and helped her to her feet.
Betrayal requires trust.
Then he reached for Bitteen. “I’d l
ike to join you.”
Mara wailed and collapsed to her knees. My chest tightened until it hurt to breathe in, and my knees buckled.
He can’t possibly mean…
Lev stepped away from us both. “I’m sorry, Woe,” he whispered. “Bitteen holds the key to finding my son.”
“That’s it. It’s settled,” Bitteen cackled. “Let us kill the Mer and take the mortal to our leader.”
Hand braced on the floor and stunned by the turn of events, I didn’t see the chair flying through the air straight for me.
Until it was too late.
38
Betrayal
Mara
Arrival Platform, On the Hurricane Sea, Raishana
The hurricane burst in through the broken window and Lev had betrayed us.
I wanted him to capture Bitteen…
Not join her.
The wind swept the decking, and the benches we’d slept on creaked with the strain. My skirt whipped about my legs, and my hair swirled about my face. The end had come for us all. A tremor tore through me. Everything hurt, but most of all my heart.
Woe… Shannah… Me.
It had to be a bluff.
But Lev stood on the platform, clutching the hand of the enemy, beaming up at her with adoration in his eyes. The truth stabbed my heart, a three-pronged trident pain. He hadn’t been who I thought he was at all, and Woe had paid the price.
Woe had gone over the edge without so much as stopping, and Lev wore the measure of blame. He hadn’t flinched at all, a resolute figure, declaring his allegiance to us all.
I waited… For him to let go of Bitteen. For him to announce that he had made a joke and then throw Bitteen into the Hurricane Sea, offer his arm, and escort me to the caves and burial catacombs beneath Raishana.
To help me find Shannah.
Instead… Instead…
A million thoughts spun in my head. For all the deserved suspicion they had all had of me, Lev had been the one to betray the Keepers.
I dropped to my knees, and my tears mixed with the torrential rain. Everything had fallen apart. I didn’t have Shannah, and Lev was no longer on our side, and I had no more to give.
A void threatened to come up out of the depths of the sea to swallow me.
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