Billow (3 page)

Ewan glanced at it. "Lyondale Hospital. You've never seen it before?"

I shook my head. My mother admitted herself there eighteen years ago, fighting the frightening visions that threatened to overwhelm her.

Seeing the place for the first time left a bitter taste in my mouth.

He didn't notice my reaction. "There's a spot open."

It took eight tries to fit my car in. Mr. Nervous made all sorts of huffing noises under his breath.

He hastily opened the door and stepped out before I turned off the engine.

The Trident acquired its name from three streets veering off in a spear-like pattern. Small stores lined each, selling everything from antiques to handcrafted artwork. 

Hundreds of people filled the market, braving cold temperatures to find products by independent local artisans.

Ewan got off his cell. "Garreth said they're still at the mall. They'll be here in twenty minutes."

Vigilant selkie eyes swept the area. My senses were also on alert. Our war was kept under the radar and it was unlikely for Aquidae to show up with so many humans around.

But I wasn't taking any chances.

Virtue opened and a rush of emotions flowed into me. I no longer had to filter in these types of situations. My magic had strengthened and the barrage of sensations didn't knock me out.

Strains crackled in a sizzling current. Nothing unusual.

"You don't need to do that." Ewan sounded miffed. Using magic messed with his gardinel ego.

"Yes, I do."

I wasn't making the same mistake again.

Booths displayed brightly colored wares and energetic salespeople haggled with customers over prices. We wound our way through the crowds and I stopped to admire a table selling handmade jewelry.

"That's ridiculous!" A mammoth red-haired woman stood at the booth next to us. Her abrasive voice attracted a few stares.

The man in charge tried to get a word in edgewise. "Ma'am —"

"You're ripping people off," she boomed. "Selling arts and crafts crap like that for thirty dollars? It's too much!"

Blonde, limp hair hung over the face of the skinny boy next to her. His shoulders slumped and body curved as if he wanted to make himself as small as possible.

The woman continued arguing with the salesman and his hand moved. With one slick motion, he whipped a green swirl marble off the table and pocketed it.

It was so quick and effortless, I knew it wasn't the first time he'd done it.

"Come on, Nicholas." He winced at her overbearing tone. "We can get a better deal elsewhere."

She stormed off, obviously expecting him to follow.

The salesman looked a bit dazed. I couldn't blame him. It was like getting bowled over by a bulldozer.

The boy lifted his head and wide, grey eyes met mine. He was tall, but I now saw how young he was. Maybe twelve or thirteen.

I raised my brow slightly and a flush stained his pale cheeks. I wasn't sure if he was embarrassed over his mother's behavior or because I saw what he did.

He lowered his eyes and hurried after the woman.

"People really get into this stuff," Ewan said in amazement.

I paid for a pair of dangling earrings. "That's how it is every year."

Elementals didn't celebrate Christmas and treated it like any other major holiday. I didn't understand the craziness surrounding it, either.

Ewan spotted a table full of boring books on military history and dragged me over.

"Look." He pointed at an old battle map. "This is where Napoleon Bonaparte conducted the Ulm campaign and rounded up the Austrian army. It was a brilliant strategy."

His voice oozed reverence. Ewan was obsessed with everything related to combat.

I was, too. But not with stuff that happened over two hundred years ago.

He started drooling over a five volume set on World War II and it took a few minutes to pull him away.

We blended back into the crowds.

I tilted my head. "Sometimes I worry about you."

"Napoleon was a friend to the selkies." His tone was indignant.

"That's why you're excited over a short guy who had a major insecurity complex?"

"You should be more interested. Aren't you failing history?"

"What does that have to do with —"

My Virtue twitched.

An empty void darted through the tangle of human emotions.

Ewan tensed. "What?"

"Aquidae."

"Where? How many?" He adopted a protective stance, hand sliding under his jacket to rest on his
kouperet
blade.

"One. Not near." I closed my eyes and concentrated. "Up ahead, about a hundred feet. Moving away."

His voice was tight. "Probably didn't see your aura. We need to get you out of here."

Eyes snapped open.

The Aquidae may not have sensed the presence of an ondine, but the Trident was packed with people.

Innocent humans.

And as long as it was among them, someone was in danger.

Memories that haunted me for months resurfaced in a flood of unforgettable images.

I won't let you.

Hatred ignited and a burst of adrenaline propelled my arms and legs into motion. I dimly heard Ewan curse behind me.

Shoving people aside, I raced toward the emptiness.

A dark wave of fury rose.

You're not getting away.

Magic blazed, pouring through my cells in a searing gush of power.

I knocked people aside and shouldered through. My only intent was to reach that void.

"Hey! Watch it!"

"What are you doing?"

The distance between us increased. It was moving fast.

Shallow breaths pumped in and out. I blindly pushed on.

I had to get to it before someone got hurt.

Had to stop it before it happened again.

Had to….

It was gone.

I stopped. Throngs of people surged.

The empty void disappeared from my Virtue. As if the Aquidae vanished into thin air.

I pushed harder, extending magic in a wide perimeter. Drops of sweat formed on my forehead.

Fiery streams of energy burned hotter through my veins.

Nothing.

It was just gone.

Stunned, I turned in a circle and ignored the nasty looks people gave me.

Sweat slowly dried and a dull headache pounded against my skull.

Had I imagined it?

No, I was sure I felt it.

Doubt crept through me and I suddenly realized I was alone. Ewan was going to be pissed.

"Nicholas! Nick!"

The brash voice of the red-haired woman from the booth thundered down the street. It was now colored with panic.

"My son! Have you seen my son?" Large body caused a ripple effect as she barreled her way through the crush of people.

"He was just here!" Bystanders stopped to stare. A mother standing in front of me gripped her daughter's hand tighter. "He's missing! Nick!"

A few people tried to calm her down and offered to help.

But they wouldn't find him.

Because as soon as I saw her, I knew.

I sensed an Aquidae and couldn't stop it. He was just a boy. An innocent human kid.

I was too late.

Anxiety whirled up and blood throbbed in my ears. Hands trembled.

I took a few deep breaths to get ahold of the panic. I needed to be in control.

Focus
.

I had to find Ewan and tell him what happened.

Everyone stopped to watch the unfolding drama. The gathered crowd bumped against me and I struggled to find a path through.

Losing my balance, I pitched forward and slammed into someone's back.

"Sorr…"

The guy turned. I stared in disbelief.

"Ian?"

It couldn't be.

He hadn't changed at all.

Ian MacAllister was the only human I kept in touch with. Stringy, shoulder-length dark hair partially covered his face. Long black coat flapped around a tall, lanky frame and the diamond on his left earlobe winked in the misty sunlight.

"Kendra?" He blinked a few times as if he had trouble adjusting to the sight of me. Arms quickly wrapped around in a warm hug.

Unfiltered Virtue picked up his emotions. Shock and pleasure. Nervousness, too. It'd been three years since we last saw each other.

A part of me was genuinely happy to run into him, but it couldn't have happened at a worse time.

"What—" I pulled back and reigned in my impatience. "Um, what are you doing in Lyondale?"

His smile was uncomfortable. "I got here yesterday. Visiting a distant relative."

"Oh." I kept an eye out for an angry selkie. "You should've told me."

Where was he?

"Sorry. It was such a last minute thing, I didn't get a chance to write. You here alone?"

"No, I'm with my…" I almost said gardinel and managed to stop in time.

He'd have no idea what I was talking about.

"I'm with my boyfriend." It was a ridiculous lie. But there was no other way around it.

He stilled. "Really?"

Forcing an awkward smile, I craned my neck hoping to spot a tuft of brown hair. It was probably standing straight up by now.

"He's here somewhere. I should find him —"

Ian glanced over my shoulder and paled. Panic crossed his face.

He turned, pushing his way through the crowd.

A flash of movement whipped by and Ewan grabbed the back of his collar.

With an effortless tug, my gardinel dragged him into a narrow alley between two stores and roughly shoved him to the ground.

THREE

He moved so fast none of the humans noticed. Attention remained fixed on Nick's hysterical mother.

I ran to the far end of the alley. Ewan kept Ian down behind a pile of empty cardboard boxes.

"Are you crazy?" I pushed at his shoulder, but it was like trying to move a boulder. "What are you doing?"

"Step away,
sondaleur
."

His knee pressed against Ian's back. One hand held his wrists while the other gripped his
kouperet
. Ian lay perfectly still, wide eyes glued to the glowing blade tip. 

"Get. Off." I shoved Ewan's shoulder with everything I had.

Nothing. I couldn't believe it.

Running footsteps echoed. Garreth and Adrian joined Ewan, hands resting on the
kouperet
handles beneath their jackets.

The world had officially gone crazy.

"Kendra?" Chloe's confused voice came over my shoulder. "What's going on?"

Aubrey stepped in front of me to get a better look. Emerald green eyes widened. "Who's that?"

"Damn it, Ewan! Ian's human! What are you—"

"This is no human,
sondaleur
." Garreth's gravelly voice was more serious than usual.

"The aura around him is dark," Adrian said. "He's a dark creature."

Aubrey and Chloe took a step back.

Hands planted on my hips. "That's impossible. My Virtue would've sensed if he was Aquidae —"

"He's not an Aquidae," Ewan answered roughly. "He's a nix."

Nixes were originally dark shape-shifters who took human form to lure people into the water. Like many of the water elemental races, they eventually began living on land and mating with humans.

Adept at technology and information gathering, they were crafty businessmen known for outsmarting an opponent. A nix would sell back the very information he'd stolen from you.

"Thought you guys were smart enough to disappear." My gardinel's fingers tightened around Ian's wrists. "Haven't come across one of you in ages."

Nixes' shady practices added to their dark reputation and they were considered Aquidae accomplices. Most hid from the water elemental world, preferring to only deal with humans.

Ian's dark eyes met mine, thin body trembling beneath Ewan's weight. The truth was written all over his face.

A twinge of hurt shot through me at the deception. For whatever reason, he didn't tell me. But all I could see was the fear and desperation now rolling off him.

My stomach clenched. "I don't give a shit. He wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Maybe you should let them handle it." Aubrey put a hand on my shoulder. I ignored her.

"Get off him right now." My tone was icy hard. "Or I will make your life miserable from here on out."

The threat cut through the air.

Ewan looked up in surprise. I crossed my arms and gave him a flinty stare.

He reluctantly got off Ian's back and pulled him up.

I continued glaring.

With a loud sigh, Ewan let go of his vise-like grip.

All three gardinels tensed. But Ian just stood there with lowered eyes.

"Let's go." Ewan gestured to the alley entrance. Ian shuffled forward, hemmed in by the selkies.

"What are you doing?"

"It's policy,
sondaleur
," Adrian said quietly.

Standard protocol was to detain any dark creatures for questioning. Their presence in Lyondale was sufficient grounds for an arrest.

There was nothing I could do. For now.

Garreth and Adrian lightly gripped Ian's elbows. The commotion with Nick's mother had moved further down the street and no one noticed our progress as we headed back to the cars.

The girls and I hung slightly back. Ewan joined us.

Furious, I turned to face him. "Why are you wasting time on Ian when there's an Aquidae running around the Trident?"

"That nix could have something to do with it."

Chloe pushed back a strand of silky, bright blonde hair. "What happened?"

I quickly caught them up on everything. She paled, her blue eyes following Ian.

"You chased after an Aquidae?" Aubrey looked aghast. Short, red hair glistened, sleekly styled to show off her delicate features.

"Exactly." Ewan frowned. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking chevaliers are supposed to do things like that."

"Have you forgotten the fact you're not a chevalier yet?"

Semantics.