by Gabby Fawkes
I looked at my friends. “Here goes nothing.”
I pulled my hood up over my head, hoping no one would recognize me from the news reports, then we climbed out of the van.
There was a full moon in the sky, criss-crossed by helicopters whose blades threw off an unsettling background hum. The streets were heaving. People chatted loudly and merrily, like this was some kind of a festival. A festival of bigotry. Ew. Just ew.
We began to muscle our way forward. The closer we were to the statue when I fired the arrow the better. But there was still a whole park separating us from the water.
The audience jostled. Despite the large TV screens all over the park beaming a live feed of Geiser’s stupid face, everyone wanted to get a good look at the actual event. People were getting pissy as we pushed ourselves past.
“Hey, watch it!” a Baphomet growled at me as I accidentally jabbed him with my elbow. So I did it again before quickly losing myself in the crowd.
I pulled the toggles of my hoodie, closing it even more tightly over my face. I was sure it made me look even more shifty but shifty was better than being recognized for who I really was.
The closer we made it to the ocean, the clearer the view of the stage became. There were camera crews set up. This was like the president’s inauguration or something. Like a moment in history. I could just make out the figures of Conrad, Geiser, Emerald and Mom as they milled around on the stage, surrounded by security personnel. I couldn’t help but wish Geiser was closer; shooting him in the face might be a better use of my golden arrow.
Finally, the churning ocean came into view. It looked dark and foreboding. I didn’t have much faith in our plan, it was shaky at best, and part of me was certain the whole thing would fail. But I wasn’t the sort of girl to let impossible odds stop me.
We made it all the way to the oceanside. My heart was beating so hard I could hardly breathe. I thought of my bow, infused with the magic of my Elkie ancestors, and mixed now with the magic of my Mage ones. It felt more like mine than ever before, like a friend who’d always have my back. Incidentally, I seemed to have several of those now, too, standing shoulder to shoulder with me. My bow and my friends made me feel even stronger. Bolder. Ready to take on the world. Or, you know, this corner of the world.
Aaron came up to my left shoulder. “The second I let go, the glimmer falls away. You ready?”
I could feel my palms grow sweaty. I looked from Aaron’s face to Cora’s, then from Lucas to Gus and Nik. Finally, my gaze rested on Retta. She gave me a nod of solidarity. One arrow and our fates would be sealed. Once I made this shot, things would never ever be the same again.
“I’m ready,” I said.
My friends shuffled in closer, forming a sort of barricade around me to provide as much privacy as possible. Then Aaron’s glimmer started to falter. All at once, my bow and the glowing arrow appeared before my eyes. Aaron thrust them into my hands.
The second my skin made contact with my weapon, all my anxiety melted away. A surge of rightness and power swept through me. I got this.
My friends stepped back to make a gap and give me a clear shot.
Moving at lightning Elkie speed, I brought my bow up into a shooting stance, pulled back on the bowstring, and released the glowing arrow.
Time seemed to slow down. The arrow soared across the dark ocean swells, leaving a golden arc in its wake, glittering like a shooting star. People in the crowd around me made noises of awe, like they thought it was fireworks. Best to keep it that way.
Quickly, I shoved the bow back to Aaron and it disappeared behind his glimmer.
My eyes fixed on the arrow as it zoomed closer and closer to the stage.
Then it hit the water and was swallowed by the darkness.
The audience around us clapped. No one seemed to have realized what I’d just done.
I stared at the water. Nothing happened. No movement. No sound. I may as well have thrown a pebble into the water. It was like the arrow had been consumed.
“It didn’t work,” I murmured.
The spell had failed. Lucas must have flubbed the incantation. It was a stupid idea to have ever relied on that frickin’ pretty boy. Hell, maybe his weed-addled brain had invented the whole concept of a Siren Call in the first place?
I looked to my friends, desperately. “That could’ve gone better.”
But at that moment, I noticed Retta’s eyes widen, and in her dark irises was the reflection of golden light.
I turned back to the ocean. At the place where the arrow had hit, golden light was starting to radiate like a pool of oil. It sparkled, spreading across the surface of the water. Holy shit balls. It was working!
The crowd began to murmur again, pointing their fingers at the glittering water.
Then it happened.
A huge gush knocked me off my feet. I slammed back, hitting my tailbone hard onto the asphalt. Around me, other people were pushed over by the force, scattering across the ground like skittles.
Water spray covered me. I brought my arm up to protect my face and glanced toward the ocean to see a huge jet of water bursting into the air like a column.
I gaped, mouth open, as the column grew taller and taller. Ten feet soon became twenty feet. Twenty became thirty. It was astounding.
The audience began to scream. To stagger back. To run. Within seconds, everything descended into pandemonium.
“That’s our cue,” I heard Nik say as he grabbed me by the arm and heaved me up. “Time to make like Elliot.”
I frowned. “And poop?”
“No, dimwit. Run!”
We began to sprint, following the rest of the crowd as they streamed away from the huge column of golden light.
Then, just as quickly as the column had burst out the ocean, the water began to fall back down like a giant fountain. It hit the ocean with a splash, causing an enormous wave to come rushing our way.
“Guys!” I screamed, as the surge of water came our way. “Get your stomp on.”
We picked up the pace, racing back through the park. Water spilled over the sidings and whooshed toward us like a wall of water.
I looked back over my shoulder to see what was happening. Several uber-buff Sirens were standing in the wake of the wave. Several semi-naked uber-buff Sirens, I should add, holding tridents.
Gus, clearly having snuck a peak behind him as well, suddenly grabbed my arm, halting me.
“Whoa, mama,” he said, his mouth gaping open. “Look at those abs!”
Whilse the crowds scurried past us, screaming in terror, the six of us stood like statues watching the scene we’d instigated unfold.
The Sirens looked like warriors as they floated slowly across the water toward the Statue of Liberty and the stage. All around the empty, flooded park, the live feed of Geiser’s terrified face was projected onto the big screens, repeated over and over, reflected in the puddles of water like a funhouse mirror. He seemed to be cowering. I couldn't help but feel a smug surge of in-your-face satisfaction.
“Duuude, that’s Uncle Roberto,” Lucas exclaimed.
Something about this ripped half-naked man being Lucas’s uncle tickled me, since my only uncle was a tubby Elkie with a furry beard.
Lucas motioned as if to wave but Retta grabbed his arm and stopped him in his tracks. “Not the most sensible idea you’ve ever had, sweetie,” she said.
“Right, right, right,” Lucas said, tapping his nose. “We’re being covert.”
Just then, Geiser’s trembling voice came over the microphone. “What… what… what is the meaning of this?”
Uncle Buff began to speak. His voice sounded like nothing on earth. It was loud enough to boom across the water, echoing all around. He spoke the same language Lucas had when he’d recited the incantation, an undulating song punctuated with clicks and squeaks, like a drunk whale arguing with a dolphin. His booming voice was enough to make my eardrums ache.
“What’s Bob saying?” I asked.
“Tha
t someone summoned him,” Lucas explained, nodding along. “Ah. Neat.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Translate!” I exclaimed.
“Right, yeah. So he’s like, totally got the picture of what’s going on, and he’s gonna call for backup.”
Backup?
Uncle Buff bashed his trident into the ocean and another swell of water surged up. This one brought a ton more Sirens with it. They were all gorgeous. Men and women, almost impossibly beautiful, with flowing hair and perfect, radiant skin. They were all naked from the waist up and their tails shimmered in colors like aquamarine, silver, and rose gold.
Gus clutched his chest. “I can’t handle this. I’m going to pass out.”
My own mouth was dry from the sheer sight of all that sexy.
“More relatives of yours?” I managed to ask Lucas.
He squinted. “I see a couple of cousins. Ooh, and Sadie, my first girlfriend. Total babe.”
The little muscle twitch of jealousy in Retta’s eye was unmistakable.
I watched, completely in awe, as the Sirens used their strong, perfectly honed arms to pull themselves up onto the Statue of Liberty. They started draping themselves across every inch of it, lying languorously in a way that reminded me of sea lions. If sea lions were drop-dead gorgeous, of course.
“What are they doing?” Cora asked.
“Hold up….” I realized what was happening. “Are they doing a sit-down protest?”
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Of all the outcomes I’d been expecting, this had not been it. A goddamn sit-down protest, like the one we did at Sunny High that time they threatened to close the library. The Sirens weren’t great warriors or archaic monarchs; they were goddamn hippies!
Cora started flapping her wings with excitement. She and Retta embraced, jumping up and down on the spot with joy. Gus slapped Lucas on the back, his hand lingering on a ripple of muscle.
Soon, the entirety of the statue was draped in Sirens.
Uncle Bob spoke, this time, in English. “The Sirens will not allow a second Shadow War.” He had the exact same stoner beach bum accent as Lucas. I bet he decorated his house with mandala cushions as well.
I watched as he climbed onto the last available space of the Statue of Liberty, right beside her torch. Thanks to Lucas’s Bohemian relatives, its flame would turn yellow at dawn, then back to black at dusk, just as it had done for over a century.
34
“We’d better split,” Nik announced.
“Doesn’t Lucas want to introduce us to his family first?” Gus asked with a hopeful tone. “The available gay ones, preferably.”
I tugged on Gus’s hand. “Now’s not the time, horndog.”
Adrenaline pumped through me as we hurried back out the park, heading for the manhole cover — one of the many secret entrances to the remaining relic of Underground New York. It would take us through the sewers first, and, from there, the secret tunnels toward the old, moon-class controlled underground part of the city. Then it was a case of finding Mayor Storm’s house on the Upper East Side where she’d hopefully be able to wrangle us some kind of political asylum for the time being.
I couldn’t quite believe I’d gone through with it. That I’d faced off against my nemesis and succeeded. I felt untouchable, like I’d grown balls of steel.
We made it back onto the streets. Everything was in chaos. No one had any idea what the heck was going on, or why their bigot-party had been interrupted. Debris littered the whole place from the little Geiser for Governor flags and posters people had dropped. I stomped on his big smug face and crumpled it satisfyingly under my boot.
Nik pointed ahead. “There it is!”
The manhole cover looked totally ordinary. Presumably that was the point. It was meant to be a secret route into a hidden city, after all.
Nik ushered us to a manhole in the road and Lucas heaved the metal cover up off the hole like it weighed nothing at all. I should never have underestimated him. When we’d needed him, he’d really come through. That big, muscly bonehead.
“Ladies first,” Nik said, ushering Cora through the hole.
Retta drew up next. “Cut the chivalry crap. Didn’t you just see a lady save this city? Aren’t we on our way to seek asylum with another powerful lady, so a third, awesome lady can launch a proper election campaign?”
“Just get in the hole,” Nik replied dryly.
Retta disappeared down with a humph, then Aaron and Gus followed.
When it was Lucas’s turn, I couldn’t stop myself. I flung my arms around him. “I really hope they sell hippy tat in Underground New York because I want to buy you a whole bunch of shit to say thanks.”
He patted my back with his big, strong hand. “I told you it would be fine. You just had to chill.”
“I’ll never doubt you again.”
He let go and disappeared into the hole.
It was just me and Nik left.
I grinned at him. “We did it. Sort of.”
“You did it,” he replied, grinning back.
I was elated. After everything we’d been through, somehow we’d made it out the other side.
“Nik…” I said.
My gaze fell to his lips.
Maybe I was caught up in the moment. Or maybe I actually liked Nik and that’s why he had the ability to send me spiralling into fury so easily. Whatever it was, right now this second, I wanted a taste of him.
Clearly realizing what I was about to do, Nik raised his thick eyebrows with surprise. “Now? You want to do this… now?”
I moved on instinct and pressed my lips to his.
The whole world stopped. I could no longer hear the screaming crowds or the humming helicopter blades. All that existed was me and Nik. The sensations pulsing through my body were stronger than any Mage magic I’d ever felt before. Stronger than any chemistry I’d ever felt with a boy before. Nik was the real deal. I never wanted this moment to end.
Until I heard the clicking of guns. Actually, especially then.
I jerked back from Nik and glanced around me. My heart leapt into my throat. We were surrounded by security guards. Geiser’s security guards.
“Hands in the air!” a Marchosias guard cried. “I said hands in the air!”
Well, shitsticks. That was so not how I’d expected my and Nik’s first kiss to go.
We exchanged a quick glance then held our hands up in truce position.
“Theia Foxglove and Nikolas Storm, I’m arresting you!” he screamed. He was standing right in front of the manhole cover, our escape route to freedom.
“Can you even do that?” I asked, scathingly. “I mean, you’re not a cop, are you? You’re hardly a big fish in the security guard world, either. Protecting a wannabe governor.”
“Theia…” Nik warned out the corner of his mouth.
“I can do a citizen’s arrest,” the Marchosias shouted, looking riled by my sass.
I rolled my eyes. “Or you could put the gun away and I’ll come willingly.”
Nik’s voice ratcheted up with panic. “Theia! What the hell?”
“It’s me Geiser really wants,” I told him. “You have nothing to do with this.”
It was true. I was the one Geiser wanted to punish, not him. It had always been about me. About the inconvenience I was to him. About the dirty Elkie blemish I was on his otherwise pristine reputation. And I wasn’t about to let Nik get nailed for this.
“But we’re in this together,” Nik said back. “If you go down, I go down, too.”
“Cute,” I said. “But there’s nothing romantic about us both being in prison.”
I knew I had to save Nik. But I had to act fast, because the second I did, it would all be over. The guards would pounce.
My bow was with Aaron and he’d taken it underground with him, which meant I was only left with my Mage powers.
I reached inside myself and searched for my magic power. I found it, hiding deep within me.
Drawing on what little strength I ha
d, I summoned the magic, pulling it up through my insides. White light began to coat my hands.
Nik noticed what I was doing. His eyes widened. “No!”
But I wasn't stopping now. Two huge white orbs of glowing white light blasted from my wrists into the Marchosias standing by the manhole. He went flying backwards.
In the same split second, the other guards barreled toward me. Nik, realizing he had a chance to escape, took a running dive for the open manhole. As he looked back, the pain in his eyes sent a knife of grief through me. He plunged through the hole and disappeared, leaving me to face my doom alone.
I felt the slam like a quarterback on the football pitch. I fell and hit the ground hard. The wind was forced out of me as the weight of several guards pressed on top of me. I heard something crack. A rib. Maybe two.
I didn’t resist. I just lay there as the guards pressed my face against the cold earth and screamed obscenities at me. They pinned my arms behind my back and cuffed me. The whole time I lay there, I looked at the manhole. I hadn’t saved myself, but I’d saved my friends, and that was more important.
The guards hauled me to my feet, my arms now bound behind my back, and marched me to a prison truck. They shoved me roughly inside. As I stumbled onto one of the cold metal benches, I slunk down, exhaustion overcoming me.
Through the open doors, I stole a look at the sky and the bright, full moon. Its light illuminated the black flame of the Statue of Liberty. I smiled.
Then the doors slammed shut and I was plunged into darkness.
Also from Gabby
Hey! If you are after even more Urban Fantasy action and adventure, why not check out my other series - Tala Phoenix. The first two books in the series are out now and Book 3 will be out later this month. Just hit the links below to get your copies.
Book 1 - Tala Phoenix and the School of Secrets
