Hidden Realms

by Dean Murray

  Air pressed from my chest.

  “We thought,” Dad continued, “that if we kept you away from the water, maybe you’d stay safe. And for the longest time, it seemed like it was working. You were just so… so fine. Not hurt by the distance from the sea, not sick or anything. And we wanted that for you. Just… for you to be okay. We love you, Chloe. I know it hasn’t always looked like it, but we do. But we worried that if we let you anywhere near water, even brought up anything about the ocean at all, it would wake that side in you. Start making you more like one of them. And maybe kill you.”

  I shuddered and my hand grasped the edge of the dresser by the bedroom door. I’d passed out at Noah’s house after the boat capsized. I’d felt so weird, so shaky and so warm.

  And I could have died. I really, actually could have died.

  My stomach rolled and I swallowed hard. “You should have told me. I could have… I might have…”

  “We just wanted to wait for the right time.”

  “When?” I cried, looking back at him. “When I was thirty? Fifty? I…” Tears stung my eyes and furiously, I swiped them away. “A dehaian tried to kill me, Dad! And if… if I’d known…”

  I turned away, shaking. This was too much. Too stupid and too much. I couldn’t handle this.

  “We didn’t know there were dehaians who would try that, Chloe,” he said. “I promise. And if we had, we… we would have said something. We’ve only ever tried to protect you. Honest.”

  I didn’t turn back around. They would have warned me about robbers, or rapists, or something else of that kind. But not fish-people with glowing eyes. I knew that much.

  Even if I didn’t know anything else anymore.

  My hand tightened on the edge of the dresser.

  I’d daydreamed about them not being my parents, but it’d just been a stupid fantasy. Every kid did that at some point. And yeah, I’d wanted to be near the ocean, but besides them and their ‘landwalker’ people or whatever, who didn’t?

  Though come to think of it, that guy who’d broken into the Delaneys’ house had called me that. He’d said something about landwalker whores, and he’d–

  “Chloe,” Mom tried.

  The sound of her voice was like a barb straight into my side, and I gasped.

  “You need to understand,” she said. “You’re our daughter. You belong with us. We’ve only ever done what was best for you, and if we’d told you about Susan, and about that man she was with, that dehaian side of you might have–”

  I couldn’t take it. My hand went for the handle and I yanked open the door before she’d finished speaking.

  “Chloe!” Dad called after me.

  I raced across the living room, ignoring him. On the log bench, Noah and Diane looked up in shock as I burst past the front door. Grabbing at the rail, I took the steps at a run and bolted for the forest the moment I hit the ground.

  At my back, I could hear people calling my name. But I didn’t want to talk to them. To anyone. I just wanted away from here. Away from this. Away from landwalkers and dehaians and everything that had been the past weeks, months, and years of my life.

  Trees blurred as I dashed up the hiking trail. My shoes pounded over the uneven dirt as I climbed the hills and skidded down the slopes as fast as my feet could carry me. Tears burned in my eyes, further disfiguring the trees and the blue sky, and gasping, I raked them away and pushed myself to keep going.

  Time passed. My sides started to cramp and my lungs burned. Choking on air, I slowed and finally let myself look around.

  The river was just beyond the next curve of the trail.

  Breathing hard, I stared at the path, and then glanced back. It’d taken us three hours to get here before. And yes, we’d been hiking slowly, and yes, I didn’t know how long I’d been running, but still…

  Strong, Noah had said. Dehaians were strong.

  And if I let myself become like them, I’d die.

  Holding back a sob, I wrapped my arms around my middle as I walked toward the river.

  Sunlight glinted off the tumbling water, but near to where we’d had lunch, a cluster of trees shaded a pile of rocks. Trembling, I headed for them. The boulders were rough beneath my hands as I climbed to the uppermost rock, but they still felt blessedly stable and real. I sat down and drew my legs up, hugging my knees to my chest as I watched the water rush by.

  I couldn’t go home and I couldn’t go near the ocean. My parents weren’t my parents and I had no idea what to call them anymore. A few days ago, a madman had tried to kill me, and I didn’t even know why.

  Closing my eyes, I pressed my forehead to my knees.

  The sound of footsteps came from the trail. Flinching, I looked up.

  Noah jogged around the turn, only to stop at the sight of me. Tugging out his phone, he hit a number and then raised the cell to his ear.

  “I found her,” he said. “She’s fine.”

  He waited a moment and then hung up. Returning his phone to his pocket, he walked closer, not taking his eyes from me.

  “Chloe?”

  I didn’t respond. For all I knew, that wasn’t even my real name.

  The thought hurt. My arms tightened around my legs, trying to squeeze it away.

  Cautiously, he sank onto one of the rocks, and from the corner of my eye, I could see him watching me. Thoughts chased themselves across his face for a moment, and then his brow furrowed and he turned to the water.

  And said nothing.

  My gaze slid to him as the seconds crept by. There wasn’t any expectation in the way he was sitting there. No impatience either. He just looked like one of the rocks, content to wait forever till I wanted to speak.

  If I decided to at all.

  My eyes closed as a choked feeling grew in my throat. Water rushed past the rocks, babbling nonsensically.

  “They adopted me,” I whispered.

  I looked down to see his head turn toward me, though he didn’t try to meet my eyes.

  “M-my mother… she was Dad’s – I mean, my…”

  The words wouldn’t come. I didn’t know what they would even be.

  “His sister,” I finished. “She was his sister. And when I was born, she died.”

  A rough breath entered my lungs. “She was a landwalker. Someone who can’t come near the ocean. And my… my dad was a dehaian. But kids from parents like that, they die. They always die. Even if they survive long enough to grow up a bit, the water pulls them back. And then when they try to change… the shock kills them.”

  Noah didn’t seem to be breathing. Motionless on the boulder, he sat, his eyebrows twitching down spasmodically.

  “I’m not going to be able to stay away, though. I-I know I’m not. I want to, but it just… it hurts to even think about leaving. But if I don’t–”

  “You don’t have to,” he said, his voice tight.

  I looked down at him.

  “You’ve survived this so far. The spikes, the boat capsizing – you even survived that bastard in the bookstore. You ran from the cabin faster than I’ve ever seen anyone move, and you’ve held out against the pull of the water ever since you came back to town.”

  He turned, looking up at me. “They don’t know that. They just see other people and stories that make them afraid. But you’re stronger than they realize, Chloe. And you’ve already survived becoming more dehaian than they know.”

  “But at your house… I just collapsed. I–”

  “For a moment, sure. And maybe that was the shock they were talking about. But you woke up almost immediately and you haven’t collapsed since. Not when the spikes came out, not when your eyes glowed. You’re already changing, and maybe it’s just the tip of the iceberg, but it’s still something and you’re still alive.”

  He reached up, taking my hand. “You can survive this. I know you can.”

  My gaze lingered on his fingers around mine. He sounded so certain, so confident where no one else had.

  I trembled. I was afraid he w
asn’t right – I’d only ever changed a bit, and even that had been overwhelming – but I couldn’t say that. After one week, he had more faith in me than my parents, or whatever they were, had possessed in their entire lives.

  And right now, that felt more precious than gold.

  My eyes tracked up, meeting his deep green gaze, and I gave him a small nod. Echoing the motion, he looked back at the river.

  Seconds slid past with the water.

  “You want to head back?” he asked quietly.

  “Not really.”

  He glanced up at me, his mouth twitching into a smile, and after a moment, I managed a tiny one as well.

  His hand still wrapped around mine, we sat in silence and watched the river roll by.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Zeke

  The beach was still several miles away when I caught sight of the guards. A dozen of them sped through the water, and as I raced to catch up, my brow rose at the other person accompanying them.

  “Niall!” I yelled.

  He looked toward me as I swam closer.

  “What’re you doing here?” I asked. “Ren just said he was sending the guards.”

  Niall grinned as I pulled up alongside him. “What, and let my little brother have all the fun? Damsel in distress, psychotic cult… Seriously, you expect me to pass that up?”

  I chuckled.

  “So, you really saw Sylphaen?” he continued. “I mean, you’re sure?”

  “Oh yeah. Claimed they were the fourth sanctum of them or whatever. Which is just great, because it means there’re more out there.”

  “Yeah, fantastic. But why are they after this girl?”

  “Not sure. They think she’s some kind of monster or something. Kept calling her a ‘creature’, saying she wasn’t dehaian even though I saw her change – or start to, anyway. But they’re trying to kill her. Drug her up and then sacrifice her, to be specific.”

  Niall’s expression became flabbergasted. “That’s sick.”

  “No kidding. There is something strange about her, though. When she touches the ocean… you can feel it, Niall. It’s like electricity in the water.”

  His eyebrows climbed.

  The foremost guard signaled that Santa Lucina was in view, and we slowed.

  “Where to?” Niall asked me.

  “The house is just north of that park Ina likes.”

  “House?”

  I nodded.

  Niall’s brow shrugged. “Okay, you heard him,” he called to the guards.

  They took off. We followed.

  “So,” I started, “Ren was okay with you heading out here?”

  He hesitated. “Well… you know how he is.”

  “So that’s a no.”

  “I didn’t tell him.”

  “Ah.”

  Niall grinned. “He’ll get over it.”

  The water became shallower. One of the guards rose to the surface quickly, and checked around before diving again. He motioned for the others to fan out to either side, and then led the way to the beach.

  We broke through the waves and left the ocean. A curve of the bluffs obscured much of the park and I couldn’t see anyone on the rocky stretch of beach below the house. The lead guard motioned for several of his people to keep watch on the sands while the rest of us headed for the steps.

  “You think she’ll be here?” Niall whispered.

  I shrugged. “This is where she was staying.”

  “And the Sylphaen?”

  I met his gaze briefly. “Said something about Plan B.”

  We climbed the stairs to the yard, and then paused as the guard reached the top. He scanned the lawn and the mansion windows, and then hurried for the wall of bushes that ringed the house. Niall followed, while the remaining guards circled to the opposite side of the yard.

  I looked to the windows, but I couldn’t see anything moving behind them. It was possible she wasn’t home. That they’d gone into town or something.

  Nothing said the Sylphaen had found her already.

  Hanging onto the thought, I continued after Niall. Scales hardened the soles of my feet as we slipped into the brush surrounding the mansion. The bramble was wide enough to mostly shield us from view on either side of the hedge and, moving as silently as possible, we followed it onward. From the front of the house, I could hear voices rising over the sound of hammering, their words indistinguishable. As the driveway came into view, I spotted a truck with advertisements for window repair on its side. A few workers stood near it, while another was talking with the man I’d seen in the waiting room when Chloe was hurt.

  The man from the hospital gestured toward the window. The repairman turned.

  I froze. It was one of the behemoths that Kirzan had ordered to watch me.

  This couldn’t be good.

  “Him,” I whispered to Niall. “He’s one of them.”

  Niall nodded and then looked to the guards. They spread out, still watching the Sylphaen.

  For a moment, the Sylphaen studied the repair work, looking for all the world like a contractor evaluating a project. Nodding a bit, he said something to the man from the hospital, who nodded in return. The Sylphaen shook the other man’s hand and then turned, walking toward the side of the house and carefully scrutinizing the windows as he went.

  Until he passed beyond the view of the driveway. Like an actor leaving a stage, he dropped any pretense of caring about the mansion and strode straight for the steps at the rear of the yard.

  We ducked back through the bushes and hurried after him.

  The Sylphaen jogged down the staircase, getting all the way to the beach before we reached the steps.

  And then he heard us.

  He looked back, catching sight of us at the top of the stairs, and alarm shot across his face. Without hesitation, he raced toward the ocean.

  Guards rose from the water, cutting him off. The others ran down the stairs ahead of me and grabbed the man as he attempted to bolt. With ruthless efficiency, they yanked his arms behind his back and took his legs from under him, sending him face-first down to the sand. Another guard hauled him partially up again, wrapping an arm around the man’s throat. The Sylphaen struggled in their grip, snarling curses, and then he spotted Niall and me behind the guards.

  Fury suffused his expression. “You treacherous little–”

  “Save it,” I told him. “Where’s Chloe? Have your people found her yet?”

  He sneered.

  “Answer the question, scum,” Niall ordered, and I glanced back to see him jerk his chin at the guards.

  Spikes emerged from the forearm of the guard holding the Sylphaen’s neck, the barbs pressing into the man’s skin and coming perilously close to breaking it.

  Hatred joined the anger on the Sylphaen’s face. “Foul spawn of–”

  “Do you have Chloe?” I snapped.

  The Sylphaen was silent for a moment, and then his sneer returned. “All is according to our plan, and no creature will stop us now.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” I demanded.

  The hatred in the man’s eyes grew stronger as he glared up at me. “We have prepared for this day for generations. Our resources are vast beyond what your petty mind can imagine. And they have delivered us the creature’s location. Simple cell phone tracing is not out of our reach, and these foolish animals have given no question to the equipment we brought along.” His lips curled back in disgust. “All who stand against us are fools, but we will rid the world of you. The abomination will be ours within the hour. Nothing you can do will stop that.”

  “Damn, you babble,” Niall commented.

  “Where is she?” I said, still watching the Sylphaen. “Where are your people headed?”

  His sneer deepened.

  I glanced to the guard. The man pushed the spikes into the Sylphaen’s skin, bringing droplets of blood to the surface.

  The Sylphaen’s face tightened and his gaze went from me to Niall and back. “Nothing can sto
p us,” he said contemptuously. “Long live the Wisdom.”

  He thrust his throat onto the guard’s spikes.

  “What the hell?” Niall cried.

  The guard stumbled back, staring at the Sylphaen. Blood poured from the wounds on the man’s neck, even as contempt still tried to twist his face. His eyes widened as he choked, and then went still.

  I stared.

  “That… what…” Niall tried. He drew a sharp breath and looked to the guards. “Get… get that out of here.”

  The guards bent to gather the body.

  I turned away, blinking in shock. The guy had just…

  “Zeke,” Niall said, still sounding shaken.

  Air entered my lungs. I looked back at him.

  “We’re not going to be able to find her without…” He shook his head. “We should head back to the water. Have the guards watch–”

  “No. No, we can’t just…”

  My gaze went to the top of the bluffs. That guy. The one from the hospital. If we could talk to him, maybe we could warn her before they got too close.

  I ran back up the stairs.

  “Zeke?” Niall called.

  He chased after me.

  Reaching the yard, I kept moving, not bothering to hide anymore. Racing around the corner of the house, I took in the missing truck and the absent workers, and then caught sight of the man pulling out from the far end of the driveway in his car.

  “Hey!” I called, running after him.

  He was already taking off down the street.

  I stopped at the end of the drive, watching him disappear around the next turn. Snarling a curse, I looked back as Niall came jogging up behind me.

  “He could have warned her,” I said.

  Niall’s expression mirrored my own. “They still have to bring her back to the ocean,” he pointed out.