by Chloe Neill
“I think they mostly involve sheep,” I said. “And glaciers. And probably fish.”
“I’m cool with all those things.”
“You certainly would be in Iceland,” Burke said with a grin.
“And what are we going to do in this fantasyland?” Gavin asked, then snapped the fan closed and pointed it at Tadji. “Linguistics professor.” Then Burke. “Special ops.” Liam. “Cop.” Then me, and that’s where he paused. “Do you prefer flea market or hipster antiques?”
“Neither?”
“Correct answer. Future Nobel Prize winner,” he said, pointing at Darby, whose cheeks pinkened.
Liam stretched out. “And what about you? Layabout? Slacker?”
“Sure, if I can find a sugar mama to finance my lifestyle.”
“Nope,” Tadji said, shaking her head and pushing curls behind her ear. “There’s no way. You’re going to be a volunteer coordinator or a kindergarten teacher or something.”
“That’s insane,” Gavin said. “Why would I ever be that . . . responsible?”
“Because you’ve got a squishy little heart behind the layers of sarcasm, my friend.” She narrowed her gaze appraisingly, nodded. “You’re a pushover.”
“Objection,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m a hard-ass.”
“With a gooey center,” she said, and gave him a wink. “Don’t worry, Gavin. We won’t tell anyone.”
Gavin snorted, but there was a happy little gleam in his eyes. Snarky or not, he was glad Tadji had seen his expanded Grinch heart.
“I might also write some postapocalyptic fantasy. Because,” she said, and twirled a finger in the air, gesturing at the world around us.
“Honestly, it would be nice to read about it instead of living it for once,” Gavin said.
Truer words.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
We didn’t sleep. We watched as hazy dawn light began to filter across the room, and waited for the rattling wind to slow, to signal that we’d reached the eye.
When the howl began to lessen, Liam and I walked downstairs to check the store, found three inches of dirty water that had pooled on hardwood. I had to fight back tears as it lapped at the bottoms of antiques, soaked rugs and knickknacks. Because they weren’t the point. They were just the details.
We sat on the stairs above the waterline, others stirring to join us on stairs above.
“How long will we have?” Liam asked when Darby sat on a creaking tread. She’d fallen asleep beside Gavin, her head on his shoulder. They looked good together.
She rubbed her temples. “For the eye? Given how slow the storm is moving, I’d say a couple of hours at the outside if Seelies manage to keep their control. When they lose it, things are going to speed up. And then we’ve got the eye wall again.”
“We’re only going to get one chance,” Liam said.
We nearly jumped at the knock on the door, pulled back the plywood to find Rachel. She wore fatigues and rubber boots, and carried a large paper bag.
Behind her, Royal was drenched in several inches of water, and the sky was cloudy. The air was eerily still compared with the hurricane, but the hum of magic was still noticeable. And the remains of the store’s balconies were a block down the street, twisted around a metal fire escape like a lover.
“Nourishment,” Rachel said, passing out apples, water, and granola bars. “Commandant got Burke’s message,” she said as we sat on the staircase to talk. “And I raided the Cabildo.” She peeled open a granola bar. “I haven’t eaten yet. It’s been a long night.”
“You didn’t sleep?” Tadji asked, from her perch a few steps up beside Burke.
“Ran ops all night,” Rachel said. “Two house rescues in the Lower Ninth. Helped with a generator blowout at Devil’s Isle.”
“How’s the city?” Liam asked.
“Most of northeastern New Orleans is under six to eight feet of water. New Orleans East, the Lower Ninth, Gentilly, Algiers, Chalmette.”
“Storm surge?” Gavin asked.
“Storm surge, unmanned and broken pumps, floodwater, Lake Pontchartrain.” She looked up at us, and there were shadows beneath her eyes, and not much hope there. “It sat on top of us for nearly twelve hours, thanks to the Seelies.”
“Have you seen them?” Malachi asked, stepping onto the landing.
“I haven’t. But there have been a dozen reports, mostly from rescue workers. A ‘circle of witches,’ they’re calling them.”
“What about Devil’s Isle?” I asked. “Gunnar?”
“Devil’s Isle has flooding in a few low-lying areas, but that’s it. Damage to some buildings, and they’re rationing power, because there’s only one running generator. A few dozen minor injuries, mostly from debris. No fatalities. And I haven’t talked to Gunnar specifically, but I’m in touch with the man on post. He got some sleep overnight, but not much. Word is,” she said with a growing smile, “he was ordering Cam around this morning. Trying to get information, get resources moved, that kind of thing.”
I blew out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. I knew he was in good hands, but this wasn’t the time to get complacent.
“Speaking of resources,” Burke said, rising, “I need to get to the Cabildo to coordinate. If ops can make it here, materiel can make it down the road. I’ll be back.”
“Be careful,” Rachel said. “And watch out for gators.”
“Job hazard.” He turned to Tadji. “I’ll see you.”
“Yes, you will.”
He smiled, cupped her head, and pressed a kiss to her forehead, then turned to me. “Thanks for the slumber party, and congratulations.”
I nodded at him, waved as he splashed to the door.
“Congratulations indeed,” Rachel said, taking my hand to peer down at the diamond. “That is lovely.”
“It was Eleanor’s,” I said. “Liam’s grandmother.”
“I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting her while she was here, but understand she is quite a lady.” She checked her watch. “You’ve got no more than a two-hour window, and troops are on the way. So if we’re going to hit them, we need to hit them now.”
“Okay,” I said, and stood, looked up at Darby, who was looking more awake now that we were on the precipice of an operation. “You ready to go?”
“Sure thing.”
“You get it ready, and I’ll be waiting.”
“Why you?” Liam asked, tone dark.
“Because if something goes wrong, I can live without my magic.”
“How close does she have to be?” he asked.
“The effect can go far,” Darby said, “but the spread is narrow. Twenty or thirty feet. We need to be sure all the good guys are behind the weapon.”
I looked at Rachel. “You might put out an alert, if you can keep it quiet. Get word to any Paras outside Devil’s Isle that they need to stay downriver of the Quarter. Just in case.”
Liam looked at Rachel. “Your soldiers ready to draw down?”
“Is this a Wild West show or an op?” she asked with a smile.
“Whatever gets the job done,” he said. “If they don’t have magic, you should be able to round them up easily, reimprison them in Devil’s Isle. And that should be the end of the Seelie threat.”
“Until the next round of assholes comes through,” Moses said grimly. Then gnawed on the end of the bark I’d brought back from the Beyond.
“Eat your bark, you grumpus,” Tadji said. “We deal with the crisis in front of us. Because that’s the best we can do.” She looked up at me. “Right?”
“Right.”
“There are still contingencies,” Rachel said. “The Seelies actually showing up, the weapon working, and our beating them in combat.” She held up her hands at our dour looks. “Containment is on board with the plan. But there are a lot of civilians in here, and they
want you to be aware of the risks.”
“It’s worth the risks,” Liam said, and looked at me. “Saving New Orleans, saving ourselves, saving our community, makes it worthwhile.”
Happiness bloomed and warmed from the inside. Not because our circumstances had suddenly gotten better, but because I had a partner who loved me. Who believed in me.
That was a very good start.
* * *
• • •
It began with a kiss. And dirty underwear.
Tadji was in the store, piling things onto tables to get them out of the water. Gavin pointed out there wasn’t much point in that if the battle went bad.
“Are you gonna wear dirty underwear if you know you’re getting into a car wreck?” she’d asked.
He didn’t have a response to that.
Liam pulled me aside as Darby and Malachi set up the pieces of the Devil’s Snare outside, and Rachel organized Containment’s troops around the perimeter. Before I could say anything, my back was pressed against the wall, his lips on mine.
“Is this a good luck kiss?”
“Call it whatever you want, cher,” he said, lips near my ear. “Just be careful out there.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I have every intention of coming back for more of this later.”
“Damn right,” he said, and then his face brightened. “Well, well. What do we have here?”
I looked back, found Gunnar on the sidewalk in a nonmotorized wheelchair, water three inches up the spokes.
“Holy crap,” I said, and ran to the door, then outside, looked him over. He was bruised and thoroughly bandaged, and still wearing hospital-style pajamas. But there was a grim determination in his eyes.
Lizzie was at his side. I nodded at her, turned my gaze to Gunnar. “What the hell are you doing out here? You should be in bed.”
“I’m stable, just a little banged up. And I’m not going to sit in Devil’s Isle while you go toe-to-toe with Aeryth and the Seelies.”
“Little-known follow-up to Josie and the Pussycats,” Gavin put in.
“I’m not going toe-to-toe. I’m just here for the bluffing.” And I pointed toward the Cabildo. “You’ll go back there while this is happening.”
“I’ll just hang out in the store,” Gunnar said with a smile. “It’s magically insulated after all, right?” Before I could answer, he shifted his gaze to Liam. “Burke tells me you’ve swept our girl off her feet. Congratulations.” Gunnar held out a hand, and they shook.
“Thank you,” Liam said.
“Let’s get you inside,” Lizzie said, and Gunnar looked up at me.
“Give ’em hell,” he said. “If we survive this, I have a date next week.”
“Always good to have priorities, Gun,” I said, and kissed his cheek. “I’m glad you’re here.” At least this way I could keep an eye on him. And he’d probably thought the same thing about me.
* * *
• • •
Fifteen minutes later, I stood in the middle of Royal Street, rubber boots over my jeans.
The Inclusion Stone sat on a table to keep it out of the floodwater. Malachi held the rest of the Devil’s Snare inside the store behind me—the Abethyl now in an improved stand Darby had created last night from borrowed antiques. No cast iron or Gatorade required.
Now it was time to call a Seelie.
Pulling in the magic was easy now. I’d done it in a hurricane, in the Beyond, in a fierce battle. Peace and quiet and gentle rain was nothing.
I took more than I had before when we’d tested the stone in the gas station. I wasn’t sure how much it would take to send the beam into the sky, to actually get Aeryth’s attention, but I figured there was no point in being stingy. I’d refuel soon enough.
I funneled the magic into the stone, and I was relieved when it began to glow red, that I’d managed the first part of the task. That the rain hadn’t quelled the power.
“Three, two, one,” I murmured, and watched the golden beam of light rise into the gray sky. Malachi was right—it was visible in the humid air, as light and water and magic mixed together, so that the beam appeared to be glitter.
It was beautiful. And it would work.
So I watched, and I waited.
It took eighteen minutes.
* * *
• • •
They descended through the break in the clouds. Aeryth had added a fluttering white cape to her ensemble, which gathered around her like a cloud when she touched down nearby. The others touched down in an arc behind her, as if she were the designated spokesmodel.
I was worth only a flick of a glance. Then Aeryth’s gaze went to the Inclusion Stone. She blanked her face quickly, but not fast enough to hide the interest. And greed.
I thought I’d be afraid. Fearful or nervous when she touched down, when the inevitable threats would begin.
But I wasn’t. So much of war was waiting and anticipation and fear. And I was sick of all of it. Today, we’d move the needle. And then we’d figure out where our futures lay.
“For once,” she said, “a human does something interesting.” But her face went hard. “Where did you get this? It does not belong to you.”
“It does now. ‘Finders keepers’ is something we humans take very seriously.”
“It is a relic from our world.”
“It is a relic you stole and brought to our world,” I countered. “And we have it now. And because of that, I’m able to offer you a onetime deal.”
“What deal?” she asked flatly, and I was half-surprised she didn’t roll her eyes. She certainly didn’t think there was much to the notion of negotiating with me.
“A deal with humans,” I said. “We’ll give it to you as a gift, in exchange for leaving our world forever.”
She laughed. “What would I want with old stones?”
So she’d play it off as a relic, just in case we didn’t know its value.
“The Inclusion Stone?” I lifted a shoulder. “That’s up to you. But you might want its companion. You might want the Abethyl. And you might want the Devil’s Snare.”
Aeryth went absolutely still. “You do not have the Abethyl.”
“I do. We went to Elysium. We took it, and we brought it back. And you know what you could do with the Devil’s Snare, Aeryth. You know the trouble you could cause at the Citadel?”
She looked momentarily confused, as if baffled that I’d somehow learned to speak her language. “You lie. You do not have the Abethyl. I would sense it.”
Bingo, I thought. The Abethyl was currently in Malachi’s hands inside the store, where she literally couldn’t sense it. Yet.
“Do we have a deal?”
“I could tell you whatever I wanted,” she said, taking a step forward. “I could tell you that we’ll leave your home and never return. And I might stay and crown myself queen. Because you are weak. So it hardly matters what I say, or what I do. The peace won’t last for long, and neither will the center of the storm. And when the wind comes back, there will be nothing left of you. Not a single mark upon the land to show that you were here.” Her eyes were hard, her smile thin and cold as a gator’s. “You will be forgotten.”
“Like Callyth?”
Heat flashed in her eyes now, and I felt the thrum of magic like a bass throb in my chest.
“You are not worthy to speak her name.”
“So I shouldn’t tell you about her death?” A story that would take a little time to impart. Time for Containment soldiers to surround the Seelies, for the snipers on the nearby roofs to get into position, in case the Seelies attempt to take flight.
Aeryth went very still, her eyes narrowing to slits. “You know her murderer?”
“She wasn’t murdered. She was captured, interrogated as an enemy combatant. She wasn’t tortured, at least as far a
s we can tell.”
“Lies,” Aeryth said, but she didn’t look entirely certain.
“Truth,” I said. “She wasn’t harmed during the interrogation. She became ill, had a seizure, and died before the morning was done.”
“Seelies do not sicken,” Aeryth spat out.
“This one did. And if you’re so keen on justice, on judgment, the two men who interrogated her are dead.” I softened my voice. “Her remains are in the cemetery north of here. You could take her home again.”
The Seelies in her battalion looked north, wondering about the final resting place of their comrade. Aeryth took a menacing step forward, but she looked shaken. “Lies,” she said again, with less conviction.
“Believe what you will. I wanted to give you the chance. I know how it feels to lose someone you love. To lose someone you depend on. How it eats at you, makes you sad and guilty. But this isn’t about Callyth. It’s about you, and it’s about destruction. Doesn’t matter whether it’s Earth or Elysium. You just like to break other people’s things.”
I looked behind me. “Might as well come out and play,” I said to the seemingly empty street. “She’s not interested in negotiating.”
The air shimmered, and the illusion dissolved. Burke and Liam stood side by side, let their magic drop as Malachi joined them.
And that power had been enough to hide the three of them, plus Rachel and a battalion of Containment officers.
“You are very much surrounded,” I said with a smile.
Seeing her window for escape closing, Aeryth lunged forward toward the Inclusion Stone.
But I’d already planned for that. I powered up, lifted the stone into the air, sent it careening back toward Rachel. She caught it neatly, set it partially into the Devil’s Snare, which Malachi held like the monstrance in which the stone had once lived. We didn’t want the magic flaring too early.
I moved behind him, and out of its range.
“I will give you one chance,” he said, gaze on Aeryth. “One chance to leave this place, before we use on you the weapon that should never have been created.”
