by LJ Andrews
From behind, Nova saw two men come into the room from a back door. They were bare-chested with spiraling tattoos covering their chests.
“You don’t mind a little extra security, do you? Sometimes, those I trust the most walk away with my most prized possessions.”
“I don’t deal like that anymore, Lennon. I paid the debt in full,” Briggs insisted.
“Even still, no businessman would take a chance. It seems you had the same idea, what with the lad’s loaded pistol there,” Lennon said, darkly nodding toward Atlas.
Atlas shifted uncomfortably but never tethered his weapon, the conversation growing more sinister from the tone in the room.
Nova sighed impatiently. It was clear Lennon was stalling, and she didn’t have time to play his games. “We’re here for black copper. Do you have any?”
Lennon faced her, his pock-marked face curling in annoyance. “Black copper? That isn’t something I’m asked for every day. I wonder what you might be up to, Gareth.”
“I thought yer policy was no questions asked.”
Lennon narrowed his eyes, and Nova disliked the trader with every minute they stayed in the smelly shop.
“Much has changed and my rates have increased, especially for such valuable items like black copper. How much? Two, three ounces?”
Briggs clenched his jaw as if knowing it would end up costing him dearly. “Best make it three.”
Lennon raised his bushy eyebrows. “My, you are planning an adventure. Nellam, go to the vault. Do not touch it with your hands, remember.”
One of the bare-chested men nodded and left through the same door he’d entered.
“Let us talk price,” Lennon said, standing for the first time.
He was tall and thin, but Nova’s attention was instantly drawn to his leg. Instead of a matching black boot as he wore on one foot, there was a crudely placed wooden peg that thumped across the floor as he limped toward them.
“Last time I paid ye in ivory jagger teeth.”
“Oh, Gareth, for black copper I cannot accept anything so…easily accessible. No, my payment is something of much more value. The red book.”
Nova’s brow furrowed. It sounded so trivial, so meaningless, but Briggs seemed particularly put off by the request.
“I can’t get me hands on something like the red book, and ye know it, Lennon,” he cried.
Lennon shrugged and shuffled back to his chair and pipe just as Nellam walked back into the room holding a small metal cylinder the size of a thick cigar. “Then I suppose we have no reason to continue our dealings, but seeing as you know I have black copper in my collection, I’m afraid I cannot just let you leave with the ability to speak. Nellam, Hamish, would you please remove our guests’ tongues.”
Nova spurred into action, but Nellam was too quick. Hamish took Atlas with little struggle and pulled out a small knife while pinching his cheeks together.
“Stop!” Briggs cried. “I’ll find a way, Lennon, just let them be.”
Lennon held up a hand, and Nellam and Hamish paused. Nova’s face ached beneath Nellam’s firm grip as she appealed to the dark power, but no response even sent a flicker of strength through her veins.
Finally, Lennon nodded his head, and Nova and Atlas fell to the floor gasping.
“Wonderful, I’ll expect payment before the winter solstice. And Gareth, you know what will happen if I don’t receive payment,” Lennon said.
Briggs nodded, taking the cylinder from Nellam and helping Nova from the ground. Without another word, they pushed back into the alleyway as the door slammed behind them.
Nova eyed Briggs as they silently walked back to the main road.
“What is the red book, Uncle Briggs?” she finally asked.
“Somethin’ that will be nigh impossible to get. Somethin’ I won’t bother ye with, lass.”
“Why would you agree to something so difficult then?”
“Because we needs this,” he said opening one end of the cylinder.
Curiously, Nova peeked inside the tube. Three cubes sat on top of one another. Each cube was shiny black with small flecks of a glistening gold color like the manu nailed to all the ships in Launi to keep them afloat.
“That’s it?” Atlas said.
“This can cut through anythin’ once it be molded down into bullets, or stretched around a blade. It be the only thing able to kill any creature on one shot in the entire kingdom. It be more than meets the eye,” Briggs insisted.
Atlas seemed impressed as Briggs closed the top of the metal container again.
“I’m worried about your bargain,” Nova admitted.
“It’ll be fine, lass,” Briggs said. “Now we best be findin’ a place to lay low for a while, until we can get on back to get Miss Raine.”
They walked along the street, feeling a shroud of tension between them. Finally, Atlas chuckled, stepping in front of Briggs.
“So, should I keep calling you Briggs or will Gareth do?”
Briggs snarled. “Ye should call me sir if ye know what’s good for ye, boy.”
Atlas laughed and walked faster as Briggs took a playful swing at his head.
“There’s a pub. We can get somethin’ to eat,” Briggs said after another turn down a new street. He pointed to an open door, bustling with jabbering patrons just beyond.
“No!” she said quickly. “Not there.”
“Why not?” he asked, looking hungry and disappointed.
“Remember Dirk? That’s where we had our…altercation. They might recognize me.”
Briggs sighed, looking longingly at the dry building. “Even this far away that dog be interferin’ with me comfort.”
“Come on, there’s an inn just down the lane,” Atlas said, tugging on the strap around his shoulder.
The gray clouds hovering around the rainy island were darker as night crept upon them and they took their place along a long wooden table. The inn was full of merchants, naval officers, and even several obvious tourists.
Nova leaned against the back of her chair, feeling a wave of exhaustion creep over her.
“What’ll it be?” a swarthy barmaid said, handing them three steaming mugs of cider.
Nova inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent of cloves and foreign spices. The drink spilled down the back of her throat, chasing away any chill the rain of Regen could offer.
“Just a bit of buttered bread,” Briggs said.
The barmaid nodded, notably bored with her position, and sauntered away.
“This is delicious,” Atlas slurped through a mouthful of cider. He winked at Nova once he finished gulping the drink down. “Don’t you want to stay a bit, make some new memories on Regen? If we can drink this every day, it might just be what we need.”
Nova flushed and glanced in Briggs’ direction. He had turned his head away, but she was certain he knew what Atlas meant.
“Hopefully someday,” Nova said quietly, but the words didn’t even convince her.
Atlas’s bright eyes seemed to fall slightly, but he nodded with a smile before taking another swig of cider.
“Well, look who it is.”
The words sent a trembling fury up Nova’s spine. Burning metal heated the inside of her calf as the Djinn dagger woke, ready for a fight. Slowly, she turned and met his smug expression.
Dirk took a long gulp of his drink, then sloppily wiped dribbles from his chin.
“I thought I’d seen the last of you lot when you tucked tail and ran from the graces of the Tuckers.”
“What are you doing here?” Nova said through clenched teeth. Even Briggs’ cheeks had turned a shade of purple as if seeing Dirk made it hard to breathe.
“Perhaps you don’t recall—I live on Regen, and after you tainted my image for Captain Tucker, I returned. I could ask you what a bunch of pirates are doing on our peaceful island. I have half a mind to turn you in.”
Nova’s face flushed with burning anger as she rolled her fists into tight balls as she stood from her seat. S
he jumped when Atlas placed a hand on her arm, and he smiled as he stepped in front of her.
“As much as I’d like to see you obliterate this cockroach, let’s wait for when we don’t have so many people around,” he whispered before turning to Dirk. “Go ahead and turn us in, but you know what she can do, and you know what pirates are capable of. We know right where your family does business, so go ahead—take the risk of going against pirates.”
Dirk’s eyes smoldered beneath his leather hat, but he didn’t say anything in return.
“You!”
Nova whipped her curls from jumping back from the shrill shriek. Geni stood behind her, gripping a beaded clutch with such vigor, Nova was certain she would snap it in half.
“Geni?” she said, her surprise too difficult to conceal. “Why aren’t you on Silva?”
“As if you don’t know, you…you…oh, I can’t even say because no respectable lady should use such words.”
Her face was red and splotchy with fury. Nova couldn’t stop her lips from pulling into an arrogant smile. No matter how she tried, the raging Djinn side looked upon Geni with annoyance and humor.
“You find it funny?” Geni wailed. “You find it entertaining to destroy a man’s chances at happiness? A man who was free of your despicable life of thieves. You know, for a moment I thought you were his friend. I even thought you might have cared for him, but you’re just selfish and…and…a pirate!”
Nova saw Geni’s hand fly, ready to strike her face, but she moved too quickly. Nova wrapped her hand firmly around Geni’s wrist, stopping her in midair and enjoying the surprised expression on her face.
“Let me go,” Geni shrieked, tugging against Nova’s strengthening grip.
Onlookers let their straining eyes watch over their warm cider mugs, seeming to enjoy a bit of excitement over the gray rain.
Let them watch, Nova thought. If she swings again it will be the greatest show they’ve seen.
“Lass,” Briggs’ grumbly voice broke her from her anger. “Let her go.”
Reluctantly, Nova released Geni’s wrist. Dirk was at her side, wrapping a thick arm around her shoulders. “You’re lucky she didn’t curse you,” he said, offering Nova a triumphant smile behind Geni’s back.
“What are you talking about, Geni?” Nova snarled. “Where’s Kale?”
Geni scoffed, rubbing the red ring encompassing her wrist. “Do not patronize me and pretend as if you don’t know.”
Nova felt as if an enormous hand had entered her chest and wound her lungs like a taut clock the tension was so heavy. “I don’t know what you mean,” she responded slowly through a frozen jaw.
“We haven’t seen Kale,” Atlas said loudly. “Now, leave us be and we’ll be on our way.”
For the first time since meeting, Geni seemed genuinely confused. She glanced back and forth between Nova and Atlas, then back at Dirk. “He…he refused to take a position…with my father after admitting his naval career was over. The…the next morning he left. The only courtesy my fiancé left me was a note saying he didn’t belong on Silva anymore and had gone after…you. He was mine,” she said, finishing with a fresh wave of bitterness.
Nova’s stomach sunk to her toes. Not even a whisper of Kale searching for them had reached her ear. He’d known they were going to Koning. Could King Beaumont be holding him? It didn’t seem plausible. Kale wouldn’t rush the palace; he planned and prepared too much.
Nova cleared her throat, hiding any sign of concern over Kale’s absence, and glared at Geni. “Yours? You don’t honestly think it escaped his notice the close friendship you developed with Dirk, here.”
Geni’s cheeks turned a bright rosy shade as her mouth dropped. “You…you don’t know what it was like…to think your fiancé was killed by pirates!”
“You don’t need to explain anything,” Dirk interjected. “Why don’t you go on back to the pub. Mother will fix up somethin’ nice for you. I’ll see to it our friends find their way to the docks.”
Geni nodded, dabbing beneath her nose with a lacy handkerchief. She glared at Nova once more before leaving. “You know, you did something to Kale Tucker. Something I couldn’t break. He and I might have had our differences, but I cared about him and looked out for him. What have you done that isn’t only for your own benefit?”
Nova followed her as she stormed out of the inn. It seemed as if every eye were on her as she turned away from the door. Geni’s words shouldn’t have affected her in such a way, but she couldn’t deny the piercing jab in her heart.
“There now,” Dirk breathed once she’d left. He lifted a lantern and set the oil aflame before turning back to them. “I’ll make one thing quite clear. I don’t like any of you, but I can see you all are sincerely surprised Kale Tucker was lookin’ for you. That leads me to believe somethin’ might have gone astray. And I think I know what happened to him. Come on with me. I need to show you somethin’.”
“Why would we ever trust you?” Nova said.
“Don’t then, witch,” Dirk snipped. “Whether you want to believe me or not, I care about Geni, and despite what I want, if somethin’ happened to Kale I want to find out for her sake. Even if he did just up and break her heart. You know what made it worse, he told her soon after you all left he didn’t think it right they get married. Said his head was all mixed up. Then he just up and leaves in the night. Not the gentlemen I thought he was. I’ve never seen a father so disappointed in his son than I saw in Captain Tucker.”
Nova bit her lip, feeling the weight of her stomach in her feet try and fall even further. Dirk was an imbecile, but he was right about one thing: Kale was a gentleman, and abandoning his family with nothing but a note didn’t seem like him.
“I don’t like this,” Atlas whispered, grabbing her hand gently.
“Something is wrong, Atlas,” Nova insisted. “What if Kale is in trouble?”
The words escaped her throat so desperately, so anxiously, even she was surprised. Her tone hadn’t escaped Atlas’s notice as she’d hoped. He nodded slowly, his face flat and suddenly cast in shadows.
“I understand. Let’s go.”
Nova let him pass her, opening her mouth to call out for him, but no words came. Briggs wrapped the strap of the bag over his shoulder and signaled her to go before him. Reluctantly, Nova followed behind Atlas and Dirk out the back of the inn.
Dirk led them down a muddy path through heavy shrubs and wild tangles of brambles. The night sky offered a rare moment of clear skies on their journey. The brilliant bluish moon shone through a single opening in the clouds as its ghostly moonbeams brightened the treacherous path.
Atlas cursed when he stumbled on a jagged rock jutting from the ground. “Where are we going, again? How does this pertain to Kale?”
“Just keep watchin’ your step there.” Dirk chuckled. “It’s somethin’ I saw when we arrived on Regen. It made me wonder if there was more to his leaving, but then I decided it was nothin’ until I saw your surprise. It’s just right there, at the line of those trees. Come on.”
Dirk led them to a small forest, just at the base of the hill the inn sat on. The trees were tall, damp and smelled strongly of sweet, syrupy sap as it leaked out from the blackish trunks. The needles lining the trees carried drops of dew and rain from the endless storms that glittered beneath the lamp light.
Atlas cocked his pistol, stopping at the line of trees. The forest was quiet, and Dirk’s lamp cast eerie shadows along the dark tree trunks.
“Come on now. It’s just here,” Dirk said pointing a few paces in front of him.
“This be wrong,” Briggs said.
“If it will help us find Kale then I’m going,” Nova said, defiantly ignoring the foreboding feeling washing over her.
She took a few steps into the trees, closing the gap between Dirk’s lamp shining on his smug face. Her boots had hardly snapped the twigs littering the forest floor when a musty black sackcloth covered her face and she was pulled to the ground.
; Nova kicked and thrashed against endless hands reaching for her every limb. She felt someone grab the dagger from beneath her pant leg as she desperately tried to release the rage of the Djinn on her cowardly attackers.
“How did a Dia pirate get this?” someone asked. Their voice was strangely smooth, like churning butter. It was a familiar tone, but she couldn’t place it in the stress of the moment.
“Hurry now. He told us they may have treasures from the mountain,” said another quickly.
Behind her, she heard Briggs and Atlas shouting and growling at what sounded like a mob of people until, at once, both grunted and the leaves on the forest floor rustled as two heavy thuds silenced Atlas and her uncle.
“I thought there would be more. You told us you saw them raid the palace archives on Koning,” the smooth voice said from behind her.
“They probably already traded it in,” Dirk’s voice said sharply.
Every ounce of strength seemed to drain through Nova’s every pore as if something was sucking away her power, keeping her subdued. Her head lolled to one side as she relaxed on the forest floor. She was too weak to even lift a finger, but the rage still boiled inside, unable to grant her desire when she heard Dirk’s ragged breathing over her face.
“You think I’d let Geni go to that nobody Tucker? I sent him into the shadows just like you’ll be goin’. I always get what I want, witch. You should’ve learned that the first time we met. Enjoy what’s left of your life.”
Nova wanted to shout and scream curses at Dirk for his betrayal, but her tongue was frozen. Thin fingers curled under her shoulders as she was lifted from the ground and carried away by faceless people—people who seemed to only live in the shadows.
Chapter 10
The Cave
Nova’s eyes burned as she slowly cracked them. Above her, pointed rocks dripped with blue and green water. The smell was earthy, with a hint of sweetness that appealed to her senses and made her stomach churn in hunger.
Her head throbbed, but she couldn’t recall being struck. What had happened?
“Lass,” Briggs called out in the dim light. “Yer alright.”
