“Are you going to tell me who those men were?” I asked, irritated at the lack of an answer considering they had just attempted to murder me.
“I just need to… get to my boat,” she panted.
Although impatient for answers, I didn’t press her. We traveled along the maze of wooden platforms that extended into the sea and connected each of the ships. It was our good luck that I didn’t spot anyone else here at this time of the morning. I had to hope that it would stay that way while I found a vessel to steal for myself.
Julie halted in front of a small boat whose deck was covered entirely by a curved wooden shelter. She leapt up onto the deck’s railing and looked down at me. “This is my boat,” she said. “I suggest you hurry up and find yours.”
“Julie—” I began, exasperated.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter to you who those men were. All you need to know is that you have to get out of here. Go to your boat and just… get lost.”
With that, she leapt from the railing down onto her deck and disappeared from sight.
I exhaled in frustration. I cast my eyes around the harbor.
I’m going to have to steal another boat.
Surrounding Julie’s boat were mostly large ships, none of which would be suitable for me. I raced through the harbor, weaving in and out of vessels until I came across a boat that looked more suitable for my purposes. It was even smaller than Julie’s, and I guessed that it belonged to a vampire because it also had a wide covering. Feeling guilty that I was thieving yet again, I climbed aboard and headed to the small compartment at the front that I could only assume was a control room.
Stepping inside, I felt confused. This was unlike any boat I had ever traveled in. What I had thought was a compartment was more like a long screen, separating the back of the boat from the front. There was no wall in front of me. The compartment was wide open, giving a full view over the bow of the boat. A wide cushioned seat was fixed a few feet in front of the door I’d just stepped through, and in front of that was some kind of metal stand upon which rested two thick ropes. The ropes, secured in place by iron clamps, trailed down the front of the vessel and extended into the water. I thought perhaps this was a way of anchoring the boat, so I followed the ropes to the edge and looked down into the sea.
Not exactly an anchor.
I found myself staring down at two black shadows beneath the water. Some kind of sharks. Their shiny fins poked above the surface. The ropes bound the creatures like… reins. I cast my eyes around the other boats and spotted the same type of sturdy reins dipping down into the ocean, each tied to a variety of sharks and other smaller creatures—a species of dolphin.
My eyes traveled back to the sharks that were tethered to my boat, and I looked around the deck once more, just to be sure that there was no kind of engine. Heck, there weren’t even sails on this boat.
I’d learned to navigate a submarine, and found it fairly intuitive to navigate a boat—but a boat drawn by sharks? How exactly would I communicate to them which way to go? Perhaps it was a bit like riding a horse, something I’d never done in my life.
Brushing aside my apprehension, I took a seat in front of the reins and slowly unraveled them from the stand. I clutched them tightly and tugged a little, feeling the resistance of the sharks. I experimented tugging with different levels of pressure, but found that the sharks only bolted forward once I tugged hard.
Their speed caught me by surprise. I found myself forced back in the seat. They swam straight ahead, and while I still wasn’t sure how to steer them, straight ahead was good enough for now.
I looked back toward the shadowy harbor as the sharks pulled me away. A wave of déjà vu washed over me as I recalled the last time I had stolen a boat. I’d been with River. She’d taken it upon herself to scare off the security guards while I navigated. I remembered the shaken look on her face as she’d put down the gun…
“Help!”
A strained call. Julie’s voice.
It came from somewhere behind me, to my right. I spun around to see her standing on the bow of her boat, soaking wet with her arms outstretched, waving frantically.
What in the world?
I tugged on the sharks and managed to pull them to a stop. With a lot of trial and error, I steered the animals around and headed toward Julie’s boat.
“What?” I called in a hushed tone as I neared her.
She pointed down at the water. It was stained with blood. The corpses of two sharks bobbed near the surface.
“They came here to my boat first,” she breathed. “They destroyed the cabin area, plundered my supplies, chopped the reins to bits, a-and slaughtered my animals.” Tears of panic lined the corners of her eyes.
Swallowing hard, I moved my boat closer. Steadying herself, she took a leap, and landed shakily on the deck.
“We need to get far, far away from here!” she whispered.
Tugging on the reins again, I tried to steer the sharks again. Noticing my inexperience, Julie gripped the reins and pulled them from my hands, taking control of them herself. She guided them toward the open sea with practiced ease.
As we skidded through the waves, Julie cast a glance my way. “I-I’m sorry,” she said, her voice low but a little steadier. “I hate to intrude like this. I won’t be a burden. You can drop me off wherever you’re headed and I’ll find my way from there.”
I highly doubt you want to go wherever I’m headed.
Chapter 14: Ben
Wrapping the reins around her wrists, Julie took a seat on the chair.
I remained half-glaring, half-watching her closely until, finally, she threw me a bone.
“Those men,” she said. “They meant to kidnap me tonight.”
“Why? Who were they?”
She drew in a deep breath. “They are allies of my father.”
That was the last answer on earth I’d expected to hear.
“Why would your father want to kidnap you?”
She smiled bitterly. “Fair question… One that wouldn’t surprise you if you knew anything about the Taihang coven.”
I raised a brow.
She let out a sigh.
“It’s a coven that used to inhabit the Taihang Mountains. In China.”
So the Elders had infiltrated China too. I doubted my parents knew about that—at least they’d never mentioned it to me. India, China, where else?
“My father was—and still is—its leader,” she continued. “After the demise of the Elders, he led us into this supernatural world where we all became full-time wanderers. Or perhaps pirates would be a better term. We—or I should say they—have a big ship that they live on—mostly at sea, though sometimes they stop at a port if the atmosphere isn’t too hostile. I… I escaped.”
“Why did you escape?”
She turned her gaze away from me and set it straight ahead on the ocean.
“Because my father is a tyrant.” She bit down hard on her lower lip. “My mother died a year ago, and something snapped in him. He was always an authoritarian, but now he rules our coven with an iron fist. And me…” She paused. “He was forcing me into a marriage I was desperately unhappy with.”
Great. So I’ve got some kind of runaway princess on my hands.
“So you’re Chinese?” I said.
“My mother is… was… Japanese. But my father’s birthplace is China.”
I hadn’t been too far off in guessing her roots.
“And you came to The Tavern because you thought you would be safe there, I assume,” I said.
“Yes,” she replied. “I hoped I could keep my head down and live there inconspicuously. But I was stupid to think that my father wouldn’t find me. Those guys who broke in, I’m sure that they were my father’s two right-hand men… Ling and Zhao.” She seemed to sense my tension. “Look, as I said, I really don’t want to be a burden. You can drop me off wherever you’re planning to go.” She looked around the boat. “Where did you get a boat like this??
?? she wondered. “I noticed you weren’t exactly proficient in leading your sharks…”
That’s one way to put it.
I didn’t see much of a reason to lie. This girl seemed harmless enough and clearly had more than enough of her own problems.
“I stole it,” I said bluntly.
She frowned. “Oh. So you don’t actually own a boat?”
“No.”
“You told me that you travel alone, so then how did you get to The Tavern? And what is your name, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“My name is Benjamin. I got to The Tavern with… someone else’s help.”
“And where do you plan to go now?”
“Just far away enough from The Tavern to be safe. And then I plan to float on the water until my companion returns for me.”
“Oh. So your companion has a boat?”
“Not exactly… My companion is a jinni.”
“A jinni?” Her eyes bulged. “Oh, my goodness. I never even knew there was such a thing.”
“Well… there is. She’ll appear on this deck. I expect her to find me within a few hours. And when she does come for me, you can have this boat and go wherever you want.”
Julie paused. “Where do you come from, Benjamin?”
From the depths of hell, I thought grimly to myself, but replied, “Egypt.”
“You’re not Egyptian though.”
“No.” I heaved a sigh. “Originally, I’m from an island in the Pacific Ocean.”
I would have been stupid to not expect her to instantly respond with: “You mean The Shade?”
The Shade was a legend to almost all vampires. That much my parents had told me.
“Yes,” I said heavily. “The Shade is my home.”
“Then why on earth did you come here? Who in their right mind would leave that island?”
I wasn’t exactly in the mood to dig up my whole horror story. But seeing that there wasn’t much else to do while I waited for Aisha to return, I found myself giving Julie a brief history. I could see from the look on her face that much of my story was blowing her mind. She had apparently grown up in a coven of vampires, but I supposed that she had been fairly isolated from the rest of the world in those Chinese mountains. And then when she’d arrived in the supernatural world, she appeared to have been living in her parents’ shadow, or more specifically, her jerk of a father’s.
Inevitably, my recount also involved revealing that I was a Novak, and Prince of the island, at which point she looked at me with awe.
As hours passed, and Aisha still had not returned, I came to the brink of telling Julie the real reason why I had entered the supernatural world. I hesitated, wondering whether I really wanted to go down that rabbit hole with her. In the end, I did. Partly to pass the time, and partly because I’d already told her the rest of my story. I didn’t see much point in holding back the last piece.
She gaped at me. “Imprinted by an Elder. That’s… horrifying. W-What are you going to do?”
I shrugged. “That’s what I’m here to figure out. Aisha, my jinni companion, has gone to find Arron. And I’m expecting her back anytime now.”
I blew out in frustration. I wished I had a watch so that I could keep track of the time. Then again, perhaps I should have been grateful that I didn’t have one. Watching the minutes go by might have just made me more tense.
“So you’re basically on your own here, except for the jinni who is helping you?” Julie asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “And of course I have Bahir who’s still within me… somewhere.”
Julie’s eyes were filled with concern. She chewed on her lower lip. “What… What would happen if you weren’t successful in breaking the bond the Elder has with you?” she asked.
I looked at her. It should’ve been obvious to her what would happen. “I can’t afford to think about not being successful.”
Chapter 15: Ben
The sun had already risen by the time Aisha finally returned. I was infinitely grateful that the boat had a wide covering over it, allowing us to remain untouched by the sun’s rays. I breathed out in relief as the jinni appeared on the deck. But a second later, when it registered that she was alone, alarm gripped me.
I shot to my feet. “Where is he?”
Aisha looked a little flustered, her hair disheveled. She glanced curiously at Julie, who was gaping back at her, before fixing her focus on me.
“I found him,” she said.
The knot in my stomach loosened a little. “Then where is he? And what took you so long?”
“It took me a while to find him. Aviary’s city, where he used to live, has been abandoned since the war, and they shifted to an entirely different part of their country… It just took me a while to locate it. As for Arron, I left him on a nearby islet. I think it will be better to talk there than on this small boat… But, Benjamin, what happened to you? I fixed you up with a room, so why are you waiting out here?”
I groaned internally before outlining what had just happened. Aisha looked taken aback, her eyes falling once more on Julie.
Catching Julie’s eye, I gestured to the boat. “Well, this is all yours now.”
I expected her to look relieved, but strangely she didn’t. She looked… torn. Conflicted. Perhaps even a little disappointed.
“Um, Benjamin… if I’m honest with you, and with myself, I don’t really have anywhere else to go now that I’ve been kicked out of The Tavern. I guess I could try to find some neutral land where I could stay, but… I’ve kind of got a lot of free time on my hands. It sounds like you’ve got a huge load on your plate, and doing this all alone…” She paused, clasping her hands together. Her eyes darted to the floor. “If everything you’ve said about the Elders’ plan to rise to power through you is true, your success or failure in this mission will determine the safety of all realms… I mean, it seems that this isn’t just your fight. This is a fight that we all have a stake in… if you’ll excuse the pun.”
I stared down at the vampire, wondering exactly what she was suggesting.
“It doesn’t seem right that you should go through this so alone. I have nothing better to do and I couldn’t think of a better use of my time than this… I’m willing to help you in whatever small way I can.”
It was of course true what she said, that the outcome of this mission would affect every realm in existence, but it didn’t dampen the strong desire I had to go through this alone and not bring anyone along with me. Besides, I had no idea how her accompanying me would even be of use.
“I appreciate that, Julie,” I said. She clearly had guts to offer to come with me after everything I’d told her about my situation. “But I honestly don’t see how you could be of help.”
To my surprise, Aisha spoke up. “Actually, Ben,” she said, looking thoughtfully at Julie, “if this girl is really willing to come along, having a second vampire might just come in handy.”
I was taken aback. After all Aisha’s jealousy and possessiveness over me with River, I’d expected her to treat every female I happened to stand within a few feet of the same way.
Now she was recommending that we bring a second female into our fold—and a vampire, at that.
“How exactly?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” the jinni replied. “We still don’t know what this journey holds for us, but I just have a feeling—call it an instinct—that we might be better off bringing her.”
I looked back at Julie, still unconvinced. “Look,” I said to the vampire, “you don’t need to do this, and you will regret this decision. I’m grateful for the help you offered me so far, and that has been more than enough to set me on my way. It seems to me like your main reason for wanting to join us is that you have nothing else to do.”
Julie looked slightly offended. “It’s true that I’m on the run with nowhere to go… but that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t think it’s right that you go through this so alone. I’ve been in the supernatural world for a long t
ime. I’m sure I have some knowledge or could offer some assistance that could help you along the way.”
Aisha touched my forearm. “This girl is offering to come, Ben. I suggest you just let her. She seems to be quite aware of the risks… But whatever you decide, hurry up. Arron is waiting for us.”
I’d been going to refuse Julie outright before Aisha butted in and recommended that I let her come. Now, I felt conflicted. It didn’t seem wise to ignore the jinni’s words—especially when it appeared that she had no hidden motive and was simply giving advice on what she thought was best. That was rare behavior from what I had observed of Aisha since I’d met her.
I looked reluctantly back at the vampire. She might get cold feet soon enough anyway—I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened directly after our meeting with Arron, who, considering my luck, would probably deliver some more grim news.
I also had a thought at the back of my mind that perhaps, just perhaps, stumbling across Julie was meant to happen. Perhaps Julie really could be of use to us at some point during this uncharted journey.
The vampire was right that I needed all the help I could get. Though I still wasn’t sold, I found myself agreeing. “Okay. You can come with us. But you do realize it means leaving behind this boat? So you’d really better be sure about this decision.”
Julie eyed the boat, then clutched her shoulder bag closer to her. She nodded, swallowing hard. “I’d like to come with you. It feels like the right thing to do… And I guess I will still have the option to pull out. I might lose this boat, but perhaps Aisha could drop me off somewhere…”
“All right, enough talk,” Aisha said briskly. “She’s made up her mind. Let’s go to Arron.” The jinni clutched my arm and then reached for Julie’s before all three of us vanished in a veil of mist.
Chapter 16: Ben
Aisha made us reappear on an islet populated by small fruit trees and wild bushes. Now that we were away from the covering of the boat, I expected the blinding sun to begin digging into my skin as we stood out in the open, but Aisha had already taken care of that for us. The top of a wide parasol hung midair above our heads, keeping the worst of the sun away. There were definitely perks to traveling with a jinni.