by WB McKay
No time for lingering on those thoughts.
I raced back home, put on fresh clothes--a must for a mission that might take days--and packed supplies. I never knew what I'd need on a mission, and I was always missing something because I needed to pack light. My crow form wasn't great for toting crap around. I had my swords, fresh clothes, a hair band. I was pretty well ready to go once I downed a fresh cup of coffee and two granola bars. The most important supplies were those I carried in my belly.
Then it was back to Volarus, and the portal to Sayulita. Sayulita wasn't a Volarus location, meaning the fae city didn't occupy physical space in the Mexican town. That meant it was accessed by a portal. Portals were common in Volarus, but they were constantly changing depending on the moods of the fae who used them. Portals weren't easy to create or maintain, so they usually didn't provide any glamour. Someone stepping out of a portal would appear out of thin air. For that reason, portals were often put in strange places. At least that was the official reason for it. Didn't want someone who clearly wasn't human accidentally stumbling through a portal onto a crowded sidewalk in the middle of New York. Personally, I thought the fae creating the portals just thought it was funny to watch people climb into coolers in convenience stores, or walk out of a wall of a supposedly haunted house.
The portal to Sayulita was off the top of a three story parking garage in Volarus. Ava's mint green Subaru pulled into the parking space next to Art's Smart car. I was glad to see Ava's car was once again in perfect condition. The last time I'd seen it, the rear had been crushed by a panicked Owen in his dragon form. I had no doubt that Owen had paid for the repairs. He had the money and I knew he felt guilty about it. I felt a little of that guilt because he'd been under the influence of my fear magic at the time, but he'd been expressly told not to come with us. When it all evened out, Owen's pocketbook seemed best suited to take the hit for it. Which was a relief, because my pocketbook couldn't have handled it. The unpaid time I'd been spending investigating Mr. Supervillain was already putting my finances into a strained situation. The pirate life looked more appealing every day. It wasn't the first time I'd wondered how much ship maintenance really cost. Probably a lot less than moral high ground, I could be sure of that.
The five of us piled out of the cars and walked over to the low wall that surrounded the open air structure. The portal was only visible by a faint shimmer in the air at the outer edge of that wall. In order to pass through the portal, one would have to step into open air from the top of the three story garage. I glanced at Ava, Enid, and Art. They looked nervous, like wingless people being asked to step off a three story building. Or maybe I was projecting my feelings onto them. I wasn't used to being responsible for the well-being of other people. They all looked vulnerable to me in ways I'd never noticed before. Owen and I could fly if necessary. I'd even seen him jump off a building and shift mid-air. The rest of them had no such safety net.
I'd never much questioned the safety of portals before crossing through them, even though I'd had a problem a time or two before. Ava's ghosts had last spotted the pirates passing into the portal. And yet…
"I'll go first," I said, stepping up onto the low concrete barrier. "I'll come back through and let everyone else know what to expect on the other side."
"Enjoy the ride, boss." Art saluted. If I'd done that, it would have been with a sarcastic smirk. I think he meant it in playful respect. Somehow being called "boss" still made me feel like a jerk.
I gave a quick wave, checked that my swords were secure, and stepped into the open air.
My foot didn't touch anything solid on the other side.
For a brief moment I was falling, and then my mouth was full of saltwater. I flailed until my feet sunk into the sand. With my legs straightened under me, the water only came up to my chest. "Well, this isn't right." I wiped water from my face and scanned my surroundings. The beach was empty in this particular stretch. A ways down, it looked like there were a few swimmers near some resorts. Human swimmers, would be my guess. They were far enough away to be mere specks, extremely unlikely to have seen me appear out of thin air, thankfully. The beach curved around a huge bay. I finally spotted the portal, about ten feet further into the water and three feet above the gentle waves.
It didn't appear that my entrance had been spotted by any humans. I didn't hear anyone shouting "Did you see that?" or pointing excitedly, but that was only luck. There was no way this was where the portal had originally been placed.
If it was just me to worry about, I'd march up to shore and get to work. But it wasn't only me. The others were waiting. The threat of exposure was one thing, but there were other factors to consider. It seemed safe enough for them to come through the portal--no bodily harm, anyway. But where were they coming to? If I was right--and let's face it, I always am--the portal had been tampered with. I put my hands on my hips and scanned the area again. Was this Sayulita? Was this Mexico? For all I knew, the portal could have dumped me in Thailand. I struggled to the shore and looked around for something that told me we were in the right place. There was a small building to my left, peeking over a large pile of rocks.
The building looked to be a set of defunct bathrooms at the end of a road that ran along a golf course. There was no writing on the building to indicate where I was. On the manicured grass of the golf course was a sign that said "Peligro" and had a picture of a crocodile. My Spanish was extremely limited, but that was a word I recognized from warning labels as "Danger". Did they have crocodiles in Mexico? Hell if I knew, but at least the sign seemed to be in the right language. Definitely not Thai.
I started back toward the water, planning to strip down and shift behind the rocks. The portal was too high for me to return through in my human form. Before I had the chance to remove my clothes, Owen fell through the portal with a shout and a splash. He surfaced a second later, water splashing off his hair as his head spun from side to side. "Whoa!"
"My sentiments exactly," I called.
"Sophie!" he shouted, his relief clear. It gave me a warm feeling in my chest.
"Awww, were you worried?" I said, pushing my mouth into a wry grin. Just because I liked that he worried, didn't mean I had to let him know that.
He slogged out of the water and wrapped me in a big hug. "The pirates are playing games." His voice was an angry rumble in his chest.
"It doesn't look like they managed to move the portal far. I saw signs written in Spanish, and this looks like the Pacific Coast to me." I pulled back from the hug and patted him on the shoulder. "Do watch out for crocodiles on the golf course."
"Golf course?" he asked.
"Yes, the golf course is clearly the peculiar subject of that sentence," I agreed with him. "Why'd they build a golf course where crocodiles like to hang out? So rude." I scowled at the portal above the water. "We're not avenging crocodiles today, though. You give me a boost back into the portal and I'll wave the others through. We'll find our way to Sayulita from here."
"Sounds like a plan," he said.
"Why are you smiling at me like that?"
"Smiling at you like what?"
"You know like what."
"You're really hot when you take charge."
I rolled my eyes at him and waded out into the water. He followed behind and boosted me when we got to the right spot. It wasn't by any means a graceful exit. I wiggled over the low wall on my belly until Art grabbed my shoulders and helped me back to my feet.
"Why are you soaking wet?" asked Ava. "You smell like the ocean."
"Sounds like you answered your own question. The pirates' idea of a joke," I said. "They moved the portal. It's now floating a few feet above the water."
"Are we sure the portal is still in the right vicinity?" asked Art.
Enid stepped forward. "It would take a lot of magic to move one end of a portal and keep it stable on the other. They likely didn't move it very far."
"My thoughts exactly," I said. "I found a sign written in Spanish. I
say we go through and try to find our way to the right location from there." I fished my soggy phone out of my pocket. "If any of you have some small things that you don't want wet, I suggest you give them to Art. He can go through in his sea lion form and keep them safe. You can probably hold your bags above your heads and keep them mostly dry." I looked at Ava's small stature and chuckled. "Or maybe I should take yours."
"Very funny, Sophie," replied Ava. Apparently she knew the value of sarcasm too. "I'll carry my bag."
Art took the offered cell phones and shifted. Somehow he made hopping onto the wall in his sea lion form look graceful. We gave him a few seconds to get out of the way and followed one at a time. Ava went first, followed by Enid, and then me. It was much less traumatic the second time. I jumped like I was hopping into a pool and landed with a splash. My face didn't even go in the water.
Everyone gathered at the beach while I decided what route to take. Our previous instructions had to be tossed out the window since we had no real idea where we were in relation to the original location of the portal. After a couple of minutes I shrugged. "Anyone have any ideas?"
Ava had been looking around with a pinched line marking her forehead. "I've been to this coast, but it's been a long time. The landscape is slightly familiar, but it was less developed then. I'd heard that tourism went wild over the last few years, but this is unbelievable."
"We're supposed to be going somewhere in the water," said Owen, pointing out into the bay. "Maybe they just tweaked the portal to make it closer to where they needed to go."
I shook my head. "I can't imagine Tattered Vest leaving it there if that were the case. And there are hundreds of miles of coastline. I think we need to venture inland to ask someone where exactly we are." I sighed. This was a pain in my ass that I didn't have time to be dealing with. "Does anyone speak Spanish?"
"Sí," said Owen. He rambled off a long line of Spanish that I couldn't make anything of, but did give me a warm sensation in my middle.
"Congratulations," I told him. "You are officially our spokesperson. We're tourists here to go scuba diving. We got lost and need to know where we are. It's truth enough."
We trudged up the beach and headed in a generally northeasterly direction. The sun beat down on my exposed arms. I was probably going to have a wicked sunburn. Why hadn't I taken my own advice about the sunscreen? I really should have thought of that before leaving the cloudy northern California coast. We walked through a ridiculously nice golf community until we happened upon a marina.
It was around that time I started noticing signs that gave me pause.
Owen approached one of the men working near the docks and came back with the information I'd been dreading. "We're not in Sayulita. We're in Puerto Vallarta. Sayulita is about an hour drive northwest from here."
I nodded at the ground. I'd known it. "They must have some serious juice to have moved the portal that far." It probably took them five minutes to set us drastically behind. "Is renting a car the same in Mexico?"
"It will be faster to find a taxi."
"Taxis will drive you that far?" I asked. The only experience I had with taxis was in New York city. Those people wouldn't even cross a bridge.
"For about seven hundred pesos they will," replied Owen.
"That's ridiculous," I said with a groan. "Why are we even talking about this if it costs so much? Besides, we don't have any pesos."
Owen's grin could have lit up a concert hall. "Seven hundred pesos is only about thirty-five dollars right now, and I brought plenty more than that with me. I've never been to Puerto Vallarta or Sayulita, but I do enjoy a good trip to Mexico every now and then." He started walking toward a group of gathered yellow vehicles. "Let's go get a taxi."
Enid raised an eyebrow at me and then shook her head. "You caught a good one there," she said, plenty loud enough for Owen to hear.
I wondered if it was office gossip that we were together, or if it was just that obvious from the way we acted around each other. "Yeah," I said, unable to stop my smile. It was probably wiser to ignore her comment, but I was still high on our reunion. "He's pretty okay."
Owen planted us at one of the restaurants lining the marina boardwalk and ordered a round of al pastor tacos. He didn't wait for them to be served before walking off to find us a cab.
There weren't too many humans walking about the marina, and our restaurant only had a few other customers. I decided there wasn't too much risk of them being exposed to fae by witnessing Ava's behavior, no matter how much attention it drew. She kept her conversation to a minimum volume, even if it was with a big empty space next to her. I wasn't an expert on human assumptions, but I hoped it was rare for anyone to jump to the conclusion it was a ghost, and I couldn't think of a way for them to prove anything even if they did. It went against my survival instincts to let humans stare at a fae using her magic, but there was no chance of me asking her to cut it out when she was doing her best to gather intel on the pirates.
"You having any luck, Ava?" I asked.
She waved me off but said, "Patricia is having more luck than I am. It's fortunate she was able to come with." Patricia was a sassy, well-dressed ghost who was particularly loyal to Ava. She was usually around.
"Why would she--I mean, nevermind." I had a lot of questions about what she'd just said and what she was finding out, but I could see from the tension in her expression and the way she tried to turn away from me that splitting her focus between the ghosts and me was too much for Ava. It was better if I let her do her thing. I made a mental note of that. Good leaders let their people do their jobs.
The waiter brought out bowls of cilantro, onion, and salsa, and didn't even spare Ava a glance. He was trying very hard not to look, I thought, but he didn't look afraid, just curious and maybe a little uncomfortable. The tacos were spiced meat with small pieces of pineapple. I dribbled on some salsa, took a bite, and let my eyes roll back in my head.
"Mmm," moaned Art.
My sentiments exactly. I decided to put tacos in Mexico on the list for after-job food rewards. I should have thought to travel for food sooner.
As much as I wanted to focus on my taco and only my taco, the shifty stranger watching us from the corner of the restaurant made it impossible. They weren't looking at Ava, but observing our whole table. I didn't recognize them, but they had the generally scruffy look that screamed pirate. When I turned to look at them straight on, all I got was their gleaming bald head before they ducked in the bathroom, but it was enough to know that ignoring the problem was a bad idea.
"Guys," I tapped my fingers on the table to make sure I had their attention, "pirate in the bathroom." I stuffed the last bite of my taco in my mouth while walking across the restaurant, but it tasted sour. It wasn't until I was staring into the empty bathroom that I realized the sour taste wasn't from my food. The swell of magic from the pirate's shift had confused my senses. I rushed back to our table. "Art? Did you get a clear read on the guy's shift?" I didn't see anything around the restaurant, but it would at least help to know what he shifted into. Whatever it was, it had to be something small to have snuck out of the place unseen like he had.
"Sorry," said Art. "I didn't notice anything."
Ava stayed behind to pay the bill while the rest of us split up to search the marina, but found nothing. There were more signs warning of crocodiles. Hopefully that wasn't the shifter we were looking for. A crocodile shifter totally seemed like the type to be a pirate, though, and sounded like my kind of luck.
When I rejoined the rest of the group, they were piled into a white van waiting for me. Owen had negotiated the taxi to Sayulita for us. It came complete with air-conditioning and a very patient driver. He didn't even seem annoyed that he'd been waiting on us to get going for ten minutes since Owen had been good to go.
"Sorry about the wait," I told Owen.
"Everything okay?"
"They tell you I saw a pirate shifter?" He nodded. "I hope it's not a crocodile."
; "What makes you say crocodile?"
"The warning signs," I said with a shrug. "Also, bad luck."
"Maybe it was nothing," he said. "Maybe it was a coincidence. It could just be another fae out eating tacos in Puerto Vallarta and have nothing to do with us."
I just laughed at that. "How cute are you?" I patted him on the head.
"I don't know how to respond to that."
"How about you do it in Spanish?"
He laughed. I'm sure it shook the bench seat, but it was impossible to tell on the bumpy roads of Puerto Vallarta. The ride didn't get much smoother once we were out of the city, either. The jungle outside our windows was unfamiliar, and made me think I should really save some cash, take time off work, and travel more. Or better yet, angle to get some jobs in new places. Generally that was a pain in the ass--it was much easier to work on familiar stomping grounds--but maybe tacos and unseen lands were worth the trouble. I'd have to think about that.
Art, Ava, and Enid chatted quietly in the rear of the van. It hadn't taken them long to bond over their common love for the sea.
Everything was going well, all things considered. It was time to release the tension in my shoulders. Any second now. We were on our way to the proper destination. Everyone was getting along. We were fed. We hadn't run into any crocodiles. I was searching for more good things to add to my list when I felt something cool and smooth brush against my leg. In the half second it took me to register that it was a snake, its thick muscular body had wrapped around both of my legs in a crushing grip. "Snake!" I shouted, reaching for Haiku at my hip. "Snake!"
Owen punched the body of the beast, but it didn't react. Before I could bring my sword to bear, it had slithered up my body and crushed my arms to my side. I couldn't do anything but listen to Owen assuring me they'd get it off. Cold water rushed down my back. The shock of it helped me suck in more air.
"No more water!" Owen yelled at Art.
I heard Art agree behind me, and then ask what to do. Enid had gotten a finger between the snake and my arm, but promptly yanked it out again.
