by E Hall
Me for her.
Her for the fae king.
Shame on me for trusting her.
The cold, lifeless presence of the ghosts takes up space and presses against me like a vice. I consider the water below. Would my wolf drown? Would that be so bad? Life without Kenna sounds like no life at all.
But I can’t trust her. Never again. Dark thoughts knot in my mind, tightening, constricting.
He’s a king, and I’m barely keeping my pack together—Amanda betrayed us. Under Melchior’s command, lone wolves attacked and killed Trigg.
Melchior is the ruler of all fae, and I clean toilets at the lodge as part of the chore rotation.
He can make curses, and I can’t break them.
The fae king picked Kenna, and so did I. That’s the one thing we have in common. Only, I love her. He—he’s after power and fueled by jealousy and greed.
The cloak of night does little to ease the what-ifs playing in my mind. What if magicals are exposed? What if Melchior destroys us all in a jealous rage?
I grip my head in my hands. It’s like all my biggest fears are rising to the surface. I’m an Alpha, in command. I’ve schooled my thoughts, learned the art of courage and leadership, but I’m spinning wildly toward giving up.
I search the southwest sky for Canis Major. I spot Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. In a blink, my wolf sight picks up the variation in colors. Wolf shifters see the spectrum of light stars emit through the atmosphere as a rainbow variation—it’s much more than sparkly starlight.
I take a deep breath, feeling connected to the past, to myself. I try to summon my wolf, but he’s suppressed by the ghosts. Focusing, I attempt to contact the pack using the wolf-way, but I fail.
Instead of contemplating what I don’t know, I consider what I do.
I love Kenna and she loves me. There’s very little that can come between us since fate seals our bond. But she abandoned me.
I won’t know how it affects our seal until I learn her intentions. I worry she lost her wolf like I lost mine.
The curse makes the fae vengeful creatures. They’ll continue to kill huntsman until the curse is broken and they’re stopped.
If left unchecked, scientists and the Concordian authorities will discover their existence and thereby ours. Or, if the violence continues, vigilantes will hunt them down, one by one. If that’s the case, it might mean the end of humankind. The fae won’t take an attack lying down.
I rewind through the bare facts:
We found the Klave, the tool to break the curse. We’re missing the Wolf Jewel to complete the scepter, which we’re also missing. Now, on top of that, I’m missing my mate.
This feels hopeless.
I round back to how much I love Kenna and...that she loves me.
A chill winds around me, choking me. My chest tightens. She hurt me. I don’t know if I can ever forgive her.
“Good thing you offered yourself up,” the captain crows, appearing next to me.
“Yeah,” I mutter.
“Where to first?” he asks.
We didn’t bring the maps, but I drew one in the notebook, which I’ve now memorized. “The coast of West Africa, Dakar.” I relay the approximate coordinates to one of the fae queens.
“Just a foolish boy,” the captain says. “We won’t be needing coordinates. This ship doesn’t navigate using an assemblage of numbers or even by the stars.” He glances at the sky.
I’m afraid to ask what it uses to steer.
“Make way,” he calls, commanding his crew to set sail.
As the faint lights off the coast of Concordia shrink behind me, the chill in my blood doesn’t have to do with the ghost pirates, but with betrayal and abandonment. I’m on my own. Whatever oath I made, bargaining my life to the hands of the pirates, is now mine to follow through with. I’ll do it for Kenna, for magicals, to protect humans from death at the hands of the cursed fae. This isn’t how I wanted it to go, but there’s no one left to trust or turn to. It’s up to me.
The ship flies across the water. The coast shrinks until it’s merely a faraway star, glowing in the darkness as we sail toward Africa.
I blink my eyes as something glints in the water. We abruptly stop with a jerk that sends me grappling for the rail.
My stomach lurches. I can’t call upon my Alpha, who’s calm and confident under pressure. He’s blocked.
The ghosts shout and call orders. I peer down into the water, wondering what could stop a ghost pirate ship or any ship for that matter except solid ground or an iceberg. A vaguely familiar, putrid smell wafts through the air.
A slithering, hissing comes from behind. I turn around expecting a Kraken or some other beast and prepare to meet my demise.
Instead, slimly creatures in the brown and green shades of seaweed slither onto the deck, snapping with needle-sharp teeth.
The rank odor nearly suffocates me. Goblins. They move among the ghost pirates and worm closer to me.
The captain appears, planting himself between the goblins and me. “If you’ve come for the boy, be gone. He’s mine.”
The throng of slimy, oozing goblins halts at his command. One hisses over the others and they fade into near silence. The captain and one of the goblins confer in a series of sounds I can’t understand. The others surge forward, not heeding whatever the ghost pirate said on my behalf. Hissing fills my ears, causing a cold sweat.
I swallow hard, trying not to gag at the stench. At this point, I don’t know what would be worse, eternity indentured to a ghost pirate ship or enduring the sulfuric odor of the goblins for another second, never mind what they have in store for me.
Then I realize. The goblins are in Melchior’s service. He’s come for Kenna.
All at once, the unmistakable chop chop chop of helicopter blades cuts through the cacophony on deck. A spotlight shines on me. I shield my eyes. The helicopter hovers steadily lower, as though slicing the misty masts of the ghost ship if such a thing were possible.
My beta wolf, Baker, appears in the opening to the helicopter and waves. A ladder unravels. A daring rescue and I appreciate it, but I’m captive by choice. Sort of.
If I leave now, I’ll lose my chance to find the queens. Despite Kenna’s deceit, I still want to break the curse and save my wolves and people everywhere.
The spotlight dances across the deck in front of me as the helicopter maintains altitude. Its wind causes the boat to rock. The captain disappears when the light flashes across his form. When it goes dark again, he holds steady between the goblins and me. However, when the light drifts over the writhing mass of stinking creatures, their hisses grow louder. They shrink back, avoiding the light.
I cup my hands around my mouth calling up to Baker, “Shine the light over there.” I point, but it’s useless since he can’t hear me against the wind.
He disappears into the helicopter. It shifts position toward the bow, casting the light onto the goblins. Several disappear into the water.
“Yes, more of that, Baker!” I shout, hopeful my voice carries over the roar and the pirates. When that doesn’t seem to work, I try to connect the wolf-way again, but it’s still blocked.
Baker lowers onto the ladder.
“No, no,” I shout, but don’t dare move across the deck into the fetid midst of the remaining goblins. My power is useless on this ship.
Then my stomach sinks. I yelled Baker’s name, putting him at risk with the ghost pirates.
He sways on the ladder, hovering over the ghost pirates and goblins.
“Go back,” I call.
“Come on,” he responds.
“I can’t,” I say.
“I’m not a knight in shining armor, riding my valiant steed, but this was the best I could do.” Baker cracks a smile.
“I have to stay here. I can’t explain now. It isn’t safe.” The chop of the helicopter blades and the wind smother my voice. I have to follow through and find the fae queens.
Instead of retreating, Baker l
owers further, extending his arm.
I shake my head. “Go back.”
A horde of ghost pirates descends upon him, reaching and grabbing at his ankles. My beta shivers, swaying on the ladder. The ghost pirates draw energy from him and his fingers peel away from the rungs of the ladder. He crashes onto the deck.
I rush over to him despite the goblins and ghost pirates. His phone clatters out of his pocket. I hastily click on the flashlight to stave off the goblins.
“Cor—” Baker mutters then realizes the risk of using my name. “I feel so cold and lost, like everything inside emptied out. My wolf is gone.” He pales.
The same thing must’ve happened to me. I wonder if the ghost pirates are affecting my mood. My mind.
I whisper, “Don’t say my name. Don’t say your name. Whatever you do, don’t speak anyone’s name,” I say desperately. “We’re on a ghost pirate ship and—”
“Baker, is it?” the captain asks, looming over us.
I regret slipping up and speaking the name. I get to my feet, pulling Baker up beside me. His eyebrows wriggle together and his eyes widen.
“Welcome to the greatest and deadliest ship ever to sail. I knew if we lingered in this forsaken sea, we’d eventually have some fun.” The captain’s thin, faint lips lift into a smirk. “Perhaps you require some teaching in the ways of the ghost pirates. It’ll have to be another time, boys. My crew has needs. Once they have a taste, it’s awfully hard to hold them off. Why don’t you tell us your full names and spare their haunting hunger.”
I shake my head. “We had a deal.”
He clicks his tongue. “Think of this as a revision.”
“You said you’d take me to find the six fae queens.”
“There was a lot of fine print that you didn’t look at too carefully. Tell us your names, and we’ll be done with it.”
The goblins’ insistent hissing crescendos at my back. “I could throw myself to them instead.”
“Ah, yes. The goblins. Always a pleasure to have aboard.” He turns toward them. “As I said, he’s mine. Now, off my ship.”
A crowd of ghost pirates fall into a single-file line and meld into each other. Their black and white glow becomes brighter as they drive the goblins back.
I whisper to Baker, “Kenna betrayed me. We were on our way to find Melchior’s former consorts and appeal to them to help us defeat the fae king.”
“You should have told me.”
I shake my head. “I tried. I couldn’t connect with my wolf. How did you find me?”
“I’ve been tracking you, but then lost touch, right here.”
“How were you tracking me?”
“I’m your beta. No way would I let you out of my sight, boss.” He claps me on the back.
The helicopter banks sharply in the opposite direction.
“Where’s our ride going?”
“That’s Camilla piloting the thing. Pretty hot in the saddle if you ask me.” He winks. “She has to pick someone up at the landing strip. She’ll be back.”
The captain turns back to Baker and me. “Now, where were we? Yes, your full given names, if you would.”
I shake my head, but the hissing of the goblins rises and pitches loudly. I cover my ears. Baker does the same, lowering into a crouch and crying out.
The pirate captain whips around toward the goblins. They all slip across the deck as the ship heaves starboard. My fingers grasp the rail and close around a rope. Baker grips my ankle and we’re nearly vertical, dangling over the sea. The ship rocks again and we’re righted, but in mere moments, the horizon lowers as though the ship sinks.
Baker and I struggle to keep hold, both of us grunting and yelling with the effort.
The shining, slimy heads of dozens of goblins surround the ship, holding onto the rails as the bulk of the hull slips beneath the surface.
Chapter 3
Kenna
Pepper, my brother, and I pour over the magical items we’ve gathered—the diary, the cloak, the jewels, the Klave, and the books.
“Wolf Jewel, Wolf Jewel, where are you?” I ask as if it’ll appear out of thin air.
“Studying the journal makes me feel guilty, as if I’m prying, looking into the past when I haven’t received an invitation,” Clove says, closing the diary.
I no longer hear Isa singing from the journal, but the fae song echoes in the recesses of my mind.
“The cloak could come in handy, but I’m at a loss,” Pepper says, throwing up her hands.
“What I can’t stop thinking about is the fact that you left Corbin with the ghost pirates. We have to get him back.” Clove gets to his feet.
“How?” I ask absently, staring into the mirror and hoping it’ll reveal the location of the last gem. All I see is my reflection. That means Isa must not have found it.
My hand knots in my dark, reddish hair in desperate need of a wash. The only thing I have going for me is the sparkling ring on my finger—my engagement ring. The ring Corbin gave me. I put off our wedding so my mom could be a part of it. I probably ruined things by abandoning him on the ship. But there might not be a wedding if we don’t save the magical world.
What choice did I have?
My chest tightens and my stomach sinks. I knew he wouldn’t go along with it. He wouldn’t risk me being the one to break the curse.
“Pepper, you’re the code breaker and puzzle solver. Any ideas of what we should do?” I ask.
“Besides find your dad and figure out what he knew, no. I’ve got nothing.”
I slouch into a chair.
“But maybe we can find him,” Pepper says.
I lift an eyebrow.
“When a magical dies, they choose to be a ghost, go to the Sea of Dreams, or the otherside. But because of the, um, magic of magic, there are ways to contact them.” Pepper flips to the back of the dragon book she first used to translate the symbols.
“If you’re suggesting we go to the otherside, no way,” Clove says. “We’re not that desperate.”
“Why’s that?” I ask.
Clove raises his eyebrows and his crystalline blue eyes flash. “Because most of the time it’s a one-way ticket. Those who go, rarely return.”
“Greyson left some notes in the back of the book. A witch and a ghost once made the trip. Recently, it seems.” She shows us the symbols my dad wrote, but I can’t make sense of them.
“So?” Clove asks. “We’re not witches or ghosts.”
I smile, realizing what Pepper means. “But Alister is.”
We’re all quiet for a long beat.
“We’ve kind of run out of options.” I take a deep breath. “Alister,” I call.
The air cools. The butler’s wavy, misty figure appears in the secret room. “Yes, miss?”
“We need your help.”
Clove takes a deep breath. “We know it’s asking a lot, but we’d like you to find our father.”
Alister pales if that’s possible. “You know what that means, right?”
“It means you’d trade your existence here for his. Afterward, you’d go to the Sea of Dreams,” Pepper says. “It means you’d be free.”
Alister hovers for a long moment as though wavering, contemplating.
“We don’t know what else to do. We can’t find the scepter or the Wolf Jewel. Greyson left instructions, but we don’t know where to go from here or what to do,” I say.
The butler straightens and lifts his chin. “As one last act of service to the House of Slade, I will do it.”
I nearly jump to my feet and cheer but imagine Alister would prefer a more austere expression of gratitude. “We appreciate it.”
“How do I get there, and what do I do?” the ghost asks.
Pepper refers to the book. “I don’t think Greyson wanted to end up on the otherside, but—”
“But he made a trade to the ghosts, so he knew it was a possibility,” I say.
“I’m just realizing this now, but he left us a map to find him. Or for a g
host to find him.” She angles the book at Alister.
The rough drawing shows a rock structure just inland from the ocean by the mouth of a river.
Clove taps that portion of the sketch. “But where is it?”
Pepper smiles sadly. “I recognize this area—it’s called Broadhead and is a tributary that leads to the river out this way. The tide there works in reverse. When it’s high on the coast, it lowers and vice versa. It has something to do with the alignment of the earth, moon, and sun. The cool thing is when the tide is out, you can walk for what seems likes ages on what is usually covered in water. My grandfather brought me there once.” Pepper’s voice cracks.
I close my hand over hers. Clove edges near like he wants to hug her but is fighting the unseelie fae within.
Pepper clears her throat. “It appears as if the portal to the otherside is accessible when the tide is low.”
“When will that be?” I ask absently.
“The next dark moon.”
“Do we have that kind of time?” I ask.
“We don’t have any time to waste,” Clove says. “The moon is dark right now.”
We all look at each other and get to our feet.
“Are you sure, Alister?” I ask.
He nods. “Yes. I pledged my service to Greyson. If this means helping him, then I will do it. I’ve been here for a long time. It’s time to say goodbye.” He looks around the room fondly.
I jingle the keys to the Jeep.
“No, miss. I must go on my own, using the last of my magic. When I get there, I will find your father and free him. Best wishes,” Alister says.
Before I can ask questions or thank him, he disappears.
Again, we’re quiet.
I let out a long breath. “And we’re right where we started.”
“But maybe he’ll find Greyson.”
“We still need the Wolf Jewel,” Pepper says.
“And the scepter and Corbin,” Clove adds.
“Thanks for the reminder. Yeah, I know. I abandoned my future husband. No need to rub it in.”
“Your future husband?” Clove asks.
“Yeah, they’re getting married,” Pepper coos.
“Aren’t you a little young?” Clove asks.
