Siren's Call

by Cutter, Leah

  She never would have picked this style for herself, but Ru Yi was right, it suited her.

  Or rather, it was good for a short-haired version of her. She already missed her long hair.

  “Thank you,” Kai said as she stood.

  “Don’t lose that talisman,” Ru Yi warned again.

  “I know,” Kai said.

  “Good luck,” Ru Yi said, leading Kai out through the empty reception area. “Good hunting,” she said formally.

  “Good luck to you,” Kai returned.

  Ru Yi unlocked the door. Outside, the storm had started its approach. Instead of sunshine, dark clouds filled the sky. The wind was cold again, and the air smelled like sea water and rain.

  “By the way,” Ru Yi said after Kai had stepped out of the shop. “You’ll never catch the prince. He’s mine.”

  Kai looked at Ru Yi over her shoulder. “Why would I want him? He’s all yours.”

  “Really?”

  Ru Yi’s exclamation stopped Kai. “It was just Mama who wanted him for me,” Kai explained.

  “Still.” Ru Yi sniffed. “If you want to come congratulate us on our engagement at the ball tonight, you can. I wouldn’t kick you out, Cuz.”

  “Got other plans,” Kai said. Like saving New Orleans. “Have fun, though.”

  With that, Kai hurried off. She was on the right side of the Quarter, at least, close to the passageway that led to the Summer Palace.

  The passageway was less dark than Kai remembered. When she took out her talisman, the space grew lighter still, and the stairs, less steep.

  Maybe having a talisman would turn out all right.

  Kai forced herself to climb into the absolute darkness at the top of the stairs, gritting her teeth as her stomach bottomed out and suddenly, she was falling.

  The landing wasn’t as jarring, and Kai’s head didn’t whip forward. She still missed her hair, wishing she could pull on it now that she was there.

  The walls around the palace stood dark and solid in the distance. The pagoda to the right still looked the same, lit and fae. But blackness covered the sky, ominous and heavy, not the natural darkness of night.

  Kai tried cutting across the path, going down the grass. But even with her talisman, she found that she’d take two steps onto the grass, then would be back on the path again.

  She wished she could explore why, how far she could go. Had the prince rolled down the hills when he’d been little because it was the only way he could stay on the grass? But she didn’t have time, and so hurried along the smooth rocks instead.

  The walls loomed as Kai drew closer, bristling with defense. Those walls didn’t tolerate anyone crossing. It wasn’t so much the stones were made of magic, but infused with will that worked against not just her, but everyone.

  What was she supposed to do? Was there a spell she was supposed to say? Some incantation?

  The tiny voice at the back of her head that wanted those words was silent.

  Still, Kai waved her talisman at the gate. “Open!” she commanded.

  Nothing.

  “Open sesame!”

  Still nothing.

  “Abracadabra!”

  Not a crack.

  Shit. What was she supposed to do? She’d found her damn talisman. She’d cut her own hair to make it. Why wasn’t the gate opening?

  Kai looked at the hunk of hair in her hand. It felt unnaturally smooth, more like soft fur than hair. She noticed the jade pieces tied at the top and bottom. What had Ru Yi said about them?

  Focus.

  Kai stared at the gems for a moment, then closed her eyes. She wanted that gate to open. Needed it to open. It must open for her. It would open for her!

  She cracked open one eye.

  Nothing.

  Kai had to get through that gate, had to get to the palace beyond. She stubbornly squeezed her eyes tight. She never got anywhere by pushing straight ahead. She always had to feel and circle her way around her prize.

  How could she get through the gate?

  She didn’t actually have to go through, did she? She just had to get beyond it, into the courtyard, further up this road. The gate didn’t have to open at all. She just had to get beyond it…

  Damn it. Why did all the traveling magic start with that horrible feeling of falling?

  But Kai trusted that she’d always land on her feet, so she kept her eyes closed, and fell.

  * * *

  When Kai opened her eyes, she stood in the courtyard on the other side of the gate. Foreign winds that didn’t belong in this world gusted against her, carrying the smells of the human world: ocean rains, drunks on Bourbon Street, and sweet fried dough.

  The scents mingled with the smells from here, the old, old stones she stood on, musty and strong, the faint scent of temple incense, and the sirens.

  They were being held there.

  Large jade carvings of Chinese lanterns stood in each corner of the courtyard, glowing with their own light. Delicate maples arching over the stones tossed their heads in the wind, leaves torn from their branches and swirling across the ground.

  The path to the palace led straight ahead. The building loomed above her, with a huge stairway leading up to the imposing structure, all red brick with three huge, arching gateways. It went up from there, with many roofs with edges curved up, eight-sided towers, and even more gates and buildings.

  To the right stood more buildings, all a single story and unlit, while a large, ornate garden stood all the way to the left, also being torn apart by the winds.

  Kai started down the path, then hesitated. There was nowhere to hide along here. The path led down the center of yet more stone courtyard. She’d be completely exposed, in the open, if anyone—like a guard—saw her.

  Kai needed to get inside the palace—to the hall where the sirens were being held. Could her talisman just take her there?

  The wind continued to hammer against Kai—not hard enough to push her over, at least not yet. Kai looked into the jade stone tied to the end of her ponytail and closed her eyes, trying to imagine herself where the sirens were.

  But she’d never seen where they were being held, couldn’t imagine it.

  However, something did tug her to the right, toward the buildings. Black windows glared at her from the plain wooden walls. Thick wood planks hung down in front of the doors, which were then covered with locked chains. Though this path wasn’t in plain sight, it didn’t give her much to choose from in terms of bolt-holes, either.

  Were these the servant quarters? Or where outsiders stayed? They had that feeling of transient housing. The trees here were taller here, with deep roots that lifted the edges of the stone path. Still, the wind tore at them, knocking leaves and any fragile branches down.

  Kai lost sight of the palace as the buildings hunched on either side of the walk. She wasn’t worried, however. She could still feel it. The walls of the palace weren’t the same as the gate, but they were cousins, with that same bristling quality.

  They weren’t the only things bristling, though. Kai suddenly shivered, her back feeling exposed. A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed her worst fears: One of those damn dogs, with the smooshed-in face and red, glowing eyes, which she’d met at the warehouse earlier that week, was quietly stalking her.

  Kai looked around. She didn’t see anywhere to run to, no hole to hide in. The trees didn’t have any branches low enough for her to jump up to, maybe climb out of the way.

  Kai took off, running as fast as she could. The dog raced after her, much faster than she could go. Kai curved around one of the larger trees, then reversed and sprinted toward one of the buildings. The dog dug at the ground, trying to reverse its course.

  The move bought her maybe a few seconds.

  What could she do? Could she leave her talisman behind? Would that distract it?

  She’d never do that, though. She couldn’t lose it, let it out of her sight.

  Maybe, though….

  Kai snatched her talisman o
ut of her purse. She couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t focus. But this talisman was her, smelled like her.

  Maybe it could confuse the stupid dog.

  Kai ran toward the next huge tree, the dog hot on her heels. She brushed her talisman against the trunk as she circled it, once, twice, then she took a chance, and threw it up in the air, over one of the lower branches, catching it as it fell down the other side. Then she took off again in the opposite direction.

  The dog, however, stayed at the base of the tree. It circled again, looking up at the branch, whining.

  Kai knew the trick wouldn’t hold it for long, so she kept running toward the palace building.

  The lane between the smaller houses turned and turned again, and Kai suddenly found herself at a small side door to the palace. The rest of the building loomed like an angry mountain above her, the wall steep, smooth, and plain, not decorated or painted like the front.

  Definitely a servant’s entrance.

  The door was locked, of course. Damn it! She hit her palm against it, briefly wishing for Orlan, who had skills at picking locks, nothing she’d ever bothered learning.

  Kai ran her fingers across the door, but there was nothing there for her to find. And that damn dog was going to be here soon.

  She would not be defeated, though.

  Kai turned and ran along the base of the palace to her right, away from the front, looking for another entrance.

  Around the next corner of the building, Kai found columns as well as more solid wall. However, just one story up sat a balcony with large glass doors leading to a darkened galley.

  The growl of the stupid dog, carried on the wind, made Kai shiver. She didn’t have any time. But she still made herself look. It was too high for her to clear with a single jump. But maybe with a running start, she could get up to the base of the first column, then swing her foot there and push, and…

  If she didn’t make it, well, it was just one more fall. Maybe, if she was lucky for once, she’d actually land on the damn dog.

  Chapter Twelve

  Kai looked down at the beast from the safety of the balcony, breathing hard. She didn’t stick her tongue out and go nyah. But she did think about it.

  Just because it couldn’t follow her up the wall wasn’t about it stop it, though. After glaring up at her for a few moments, its red eyes blazing, it turned and neatly trotted off to the left.

  Great. As soon as it found an open door, it would track her down again.

  In the meantime, Kai had to find and rescue the sirens. The prince had said they’d probably be in an audience hall, but Kai had no idea where that would be.

  She turned and looked around the balcony. She realized she’d been damned lucky she’d vaulted over the railing where she had: on either side of her stood large ceramic pots filled with water and floating lilies. Concrete statues of Chinese dogs with their smooshed-in faces stood guard on either end of the balcony. Kai hoped they couldn’t see her; they were both taller than she, bigger than that damn beast who’d tried to get her.

  Tall doors filled with checkered panes of glass stood opposite the railing. Kai went and peered inside. It looked like a study, with a huge fireplace across from the doors, and stately couches and chairs scattered artistically through the room.

  The third door handle that Kai tried opened. Was her luck finally changing? Maybe the sirens were just down hall from here.

  Once inside, the quiet from the room pressed down on Kai. Everything felt muffled. She couldn’t even hear the wind outside. Kai walked through the room, going toward the interior door, sniffing. No scent of the sirens. Instead, she caught a trace of orange oil and stale perfume, leftovers from when this room had seen happier times.

  The sirens had to be here, in the palace. She’d caught a scent of them before, and the prince was certain they were here. But where?

  Kai stopped in the doorway of another hall. Brown half-circles of stone glowed on either wall, giving the place an eerie light. Beige tile made up the floor. It looked like her perfect nightmare: endless halls with no windows. At least the artwork looked pretty, and not generic: carved statues of Chinese gods, watercolor paintings, and vases of fresh flowers.

  After taking another deep breath, Kai closed her eyes and willed herself to feel a tug.

  Nothing. Of course. Because that was just how her luck would go.

  Did she need to use her talisman? Kai touched her bag, but it didn’t draw her.

  Nothing drew her. It was like she stood in a void of uncaring.

  What the hell?

  Was this magic? Was there a way to create spells like this? Would they work in the real world, or only here?

  And who the hell was she going to ask about it?

  With a sigh, Kai pressed her head against the wall and tried to think. She was good, she knew that. But Bao Deng wouldn’t be threatened enough by her talent to throw such a large shield over the entire summer palace.

  Unless…it wasn’t for her.

  The sirens could call both men and water. Maybe this dampening was the only way to protect the guards and everyone else in the palace from their call.

  But what the hell was Kai supposed to do? She couldn’t track anything through this damp fog of nothingness.

  Kai dug out her talisman out from her purse and focused on the jade piece.

  Where are the sirens?

  Nothing.

  What room are they in?

  Still nothing.

  What direction?

  Kai’s head pulsed in pain, and she focused her will as tightly as she could, but still, she got nothing.

  Finally, she simplified her thoughts further.

  Left or right?

  The slightest pull came from the right, as if a ghost had brushed its hand against her right sleeve.

  Damn it. This was going to take too much time, time Kai didn’t have.

  But she still ambled off to the right, hoping something more would tug her along.

  * * *

  Something tracked Kai.

  She couldn’t get a good read on it through the morass of dampness suffocating her senses. But as she walked through the empty halls, more than once she heard claws clicking against the cold tile floors, following her.

  However, Kai wasn’t any closer to finding the sirens. Her head pounded every time she dragged out her talisman and tried to focus, fighting to hold onto her passion and find Rilke and Gisa.

  Kai had circled in and out of the palace, going further into the labyrinth of halls, then back out again. She didn’t know where she was, which building she’d entered, how to find her way out. She pushed down on her panic. She could solve the problem of getting out later.

  The outer hallway she currently walked down had a series of arches with beautiful scrollwork in the corners along it, turning the passageway round,. The tall gallery windows looked out over dark water. She would have loved this walk in the daytime, with bright sunlight dancing on the lake. Now, it was just another nightmare to escape from.

  Kai stopped at the end of a small hallway. Like the other, inner hallways it was lit with the glowing half-circle brown lamps. At the end of the hallway stood a skinny black table. A single, gorgeous peony sat on top of the table, not in the center, but slightly to the left. Above the table hung a long watercolor painting of an ancient man sitting on a donkey, looking back over his shoulder at the viewer. His huge, bulbous forehead made him look like an alien, and he had countless lines and folds of skin circling his neck.

  That bowl bothered Kai. All the paintings, statues, formal rooms, and hallways she’d passed through had been perfectly ordered: sterile, stale, and with nothing out of place. It was like the paths outside that Kai couldn’t stray from.

  Why was that flower not centered?

  Kai dragged out her talisman again, seeking a direction.

  Was she imagining it? Or did the tug send her straight ahead, down a dead-end hallway?

  Kai looked up and down the hallways she stood in.
There was nothing there, nothing to indicate which way she should go.

  With a sigh, she walked down hall. No other paintings or decorations brightened the pale green walls. No sound came through the muffled air. Kai caught a faint scent of the water outside, but that was it.

  Almost at the end of the hall, Kai discovered a door, painted dark green and cleverly inset so she couldn’t have seen it until she drew closer.

  Of course, although the cold, black iron handle turned, the door itself was locked.

  Kai pressed her ear against the door, trying to hear something, anything.

  Nothing.

  No, wait…there was something.

  Kai strained to hear more.

  Faint, rhythmic clicking.

  It took her another minute to put it together: The noise didn’t come from behind the closed door, but from the other hallway.

  Frantic, Kai shook the door handle. but it didn’t suddenly unlock. She shoved her shoulder against it, hard, knowing she’d have bruises but not caring.

  The door didn’t budge.

  The hallway was a trap, with no way out.

  Kai held her talisman up high. Maybe she could drop it and rush past the hound, but how would she get it back? She didn’t want to lose it.

  The clicking grew louder, faster. Kai could tell it wasn’t one beast, now, but two.

  Maybe she could surprise them, rush past them and get away.

  She abandoned the door and took one, two steps toward the open end of the hall. The dark lake past the windows mocked her with its wide openness, not closed in and trapped like she was now.

  Kai tensed, ready to run, when a tall black man turned the corner toward her, with two large dogs beside him. She opened her mouth to scream, then shut it.

  “Caleb?”

  * * *

  “Is that you, Kai?” Caleb asked, cautiously taking a step toward her. He wore his usual preppy clothes, a red-and-white striped polo with long white shorts and high top sneakers.

  Kai nodded. What was Caleb doing here? With his two brothers? A large Rottweiler stood on his right, its coat so black it was almost blue. On the other side stood Jake, a bulldog, mean and tough, with one ear half torn off.