I grinned at her. “Well, you and Dad will be there to keep an eye on me, won’t you?”
She smiled back before picking up her own uniform from the bed. “You bet,” she muttered.
If my father had not instilled in me a love of mechanics and sub navigation since I was a child, I doubted I’d be standing here right now. Some of my most cherished childhood memories were of crouching alongside my father in a submarine, working on fixing something, or sitting in the control seat with him showing me how to maneuver. Now that I’d reached the age of nineteen, I wanted to use my skills for something meaningful.
And my parents understood that, as did the majority of other parents in The Shade. Long gone were the days when they used to hide their children away from the world in an attempt to keep them safe and sheltered—like Derek and Sofia had done initially with my cousins Rose and Ben. The ethos of parenting on our island had changed drastically in the past two decades from protecting to actively encouraging children to develop skills to help the outside world. All of us who expressed a wish to join the League underwent vigorous training, not just in combat, but also in other areas like first aid. Although, in theory, I’d have no use for anything other than my skill with machinery, I’d been prepared thoroughly like the rest.
I swept my straight black hair into a tight bun before grabbing my backpack, which I had already filled with a bottle of water, snacks, and some extra-warm clothes in case we hit a chilly spot.
My mother eyed me before placing her forever-cold hands on my shoulders and squeezing gently. Now she had a look of pride in her eyes, which I definitely preferred to her look of concern. She kissed my cheek. “Well, look at you all grown up,” she said.
“Yeah,” I muttered, half yawning. I really wasn’t used to getting up at this hour…
Glancing at myself in the mirror again, I had to admit I looked pretty kickass in this suit. It made my tall, slim body look lankier than ever—definitely not the build of a fighter. But, being fairly tight, it did highlight some musculature in my arms and thighs that I’d forgotten I had, built up from years of working with machinery.
“Vivienne, Vicky,” my father called from outside the room. “Are you two done in there? We need to leave.”
“You can come in,” my mother called back.
My father opened the door and walked in, towering over us in his own uniform. His eyes warmed as he took me in. “You look so grown up.”
“That’s what Mom just said,” I said, chuckling.
Then my father’s eyes fell on my mother. “How come you’re not dressed yet, darling? I just got a text from Sofia. Everyone’s waiting for us.”
“I’ll be quick,” she said. I could see she had been so absorbed in getting me ready that she had forgotten about herself.
My mom went to the bathroom, leaving my father and me alone.
“Come with me while we wait,” he said.
He led me out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. On the counter were three small silver guns. He picked one up. “You remember how to use one of these?”
“Yup,” I said.
“Okay.” He made sure the safety catch was on before handing it to me. “On the inside of your jacket you’ll find a secret pocket. Put the gun in there and keep it there at all times… As your mother and I have told you, anything could happen.”
As we arrived in the clearing, my eyes shot straight to my four fellow new recruits, Arwen, Grace, Brock and Heath. They smiled at me as I made my way over to them.
“Hey.” I waved, arriving at their side.
“Sleepyhead.” Grace smirked, a teasing spark in her turquoise eyes.
“I was held up, okay?” I said, raising my hands in surrender.
“You look pretty,” Arwen complimented me.
“You do, too,” I replied, and it was not an empty complement. Arwen, with her chestnut-brown hair, eyes the color of light oak and caramel skin, had a natural, exotic beauty that shone through whatever she was wearing.
“And how awesome do I look?” Brock suggested, raising his dark brows, his green eyes traveling from one of us to the other.
Arwen giggled.
I nudged Brock in the shoulder. “Your head is big enough.”
“Will everyone please stand still now.” My uncle Derek’s voice boomed through the clearing. “We’re doing a final count.”
We fell silent and waited until he’d finished. Then it was time for all of us to head to the huge black submarine—a submarine that had been granted to us by the US government.
“Catch you guys later,” I murmured as I made my way toward Kyle. The two of us boarded the vessel. We headed to the control room and took seats. If they would let me navigate this one, it would be the largest that I’d ever had experience with. I watched intently as Kyle began preparing the controls. Although my dad was as expert as Kyle, being a vampire, he was useful for things other than navigating the sub.
“We’re all in.” Ben’s voice came from somewhere in the back of the submarine.
Then there came a grinding of metal, the closing of the hatch.
“All right,” Kyle said. “Let’s go.”
I was too busy watching what Kyle was doing to notice when my uncle Derek and my mother entered the room.
“When will we find out what exactly we’re heading toward?” I wondered aloud.
“Fowler’s usual way of doing things,” Derek muttered as he took a seat.
We fixed our eyes straight ahead on the dark waters as we passed through the island’s boundary.
About an hour into the journey, Kyle let me sit in his seat and I took over navigating. It really wasn’t that much more difficult than smaller subs I’d had experience with. I was in control for several hours with only occasional help from Kyle. As we began approaching the Northern Mariana Islands, I took a break.
Leaving the control room, I stopped by the galley to pick up a glass of orange juice and then headed to the main chamber where most of the passenger seats were.
I spotted my gang of friends in the corner and headed over to them. They were all snacking on their packed lunches… or breakfasts, as the case might be. I rummaged in my backpack for a granola bar before taking a seat next to Arwen.
“It’s so weird to finally be on a mission,” Grace said, as she munched on a peanut-butter cookie. “Kind of nerve-racking too…” I could not blame her for feeling nervous. As much as she wanted to be here, she would actually be leaving the submarine, unlike me.
“I don’t think you have anything to be nervous about,” Heath said in his deep baritone voice.
Grace stopped chewing, and I couldn’t miss the adorable blush that crept to her cheeks. It was no secret to anyone that she had a crush on Heath. She was one of many girls on the island who had fallen for his rugged good looks.
“What makes you say that?” she asked in a small voice.
“I’ve seen you in training,” Heath said, a smile reaching his navy-blue eyes.
“Back in a minute,” Brock muttered. He put down his sandwich and stood up. I guessed he was going to use the bathroom, but to my shock, before he walked away, he placed a kiss against Arwen’s cheek.
I widened my eyes, gaping at Arwen as Brock left.
“What?” I stammered. “Since when have you two been…?”
Arwen bit her lower lip. “Since, uh… yesterday actually. He asked me out after math class.”
Well, that explained why she had not told me yet. Their going out was not entirely unexpected though. I’d observed them giving each other the eye for a while at school.
Then a grin split my face. I looked around to see if I could spot Corrine or Ibrahim, but they didn’t appear to be in the room. “Does your mom know you’ve hooked up with Kiev’s son yet?” I asked Arwen.
She half scowled, half grinned at me. “No, not yet.”
I chuckled. “Please do invite me round for dinner when you plan to tell her.”
Arwen narrowed her eyes at me. “Defi
nitely not.”
The discord between Corrine and Kiev was a long-running joke on our island, even though Corrine had forgiven Kiev like two decades ago for his past… mostly. Anyway, Arwen and Brock were a good match for each other, being full witch and half warlock. I didn’t see why either of her parents would object.
Brock hadn’t possessed the powers of a full warlock from birth, but he had worked hard under his mother’s tutelage and he could pretty much pull off any spell from what I knew. He used to get himself in trouble when he was a kid, messing around with spells and potions—hence the faint scar beneath his cheek where he had once tried hovering knives. He was lucky to have lived to tell the tale, first from the knives, and then the chastisement his parents had given him. I doubted he’d played with knives again after that.
I averted my eyes to Grace and Heath. If they ever got together, I couldn’t help but feel that they would make another perfect couple. Heath was half-dragon, and although he could not shift into a beastly form—unlike some of the other half-human, half-dragon kids who’d been born in The Shade—he was able to breathe fire, even as a humanoid. Just not in as much intensity as a dragon could. Grace, on the other hand, was half fae, and she could manipulate natural elements, fire especially. I could not wait to see them work together as a team.
When Brock returned, he leaned over to Arwen again, this time taking the liberty of kissing her full on the mouth.
Grace and I rolled our eyes.
“You two should just get a room already,” Heath muttered, biting into his apple.
Arwen and Brock ignored the three of us and continued to make out as if nobody else was present.
Grace—her cheeks still rather rosy—cleared her throat. She was clearly about to change the subject when Ben’s voice came booming through the chamber.
“Attention, please,” Ben said, moving inside. “We have details. I’m not sure how many of you remember reports of that missing cargo ship off the coast of Canada? Well, it’s been located and that’s where we’re headed; the assumption is that supernaturals hijacked it.”
“But we have no idea what kind of supernaturals?” Eli spoke up from his seat next to Shayla.
Ben shook his head, addressing Eli even as his eyes fell on his daughter, Grace. “Be prepared for anything.”
Ben
It was a bizarre feeling to be looking at my daughter, Grace, sitting in this submarine. Already sixteen years old. How the time had flown. I still remembered the day she was born like it was yesterday. What a miracle she had been to us as she emerged into the world for the first time, hardly even crying. River and I had both shed tears. It’d been a long, hard struggle for both of us, and on many a day we’d believed that we would never have a child of our own.
We had first tried to conceive while River was still a half-blood, thinking that just maybe, since she was still half human, it would work. But it didn’t. I also considered the possibility that there could be a problem with me. Could fae even have children? I didn’t know. None of the other fae who were on the island—Lucas, Kailyn, Marcilla, Chantel or Nolan—had begotten children while in their fae bodies, so I was left in the dark. River had suggested that we continue to look for a cure for her, since it was most likely her womb that was the problem.
And so had begun a journey that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. We’d tried the same cure that worked on full vampires—a dose of immune blood followed by exposure to sunlight in the Pit. At least the risk of death was less for her, since half-bloods could tolerate sunlight much better, and I was able to sit with her. We sat there for the usual time it took vampires to be cured, and hours more. But by the end of the day, she still hadn’t changed.
Eventually, with the help of the witches and jinn, we’d realized that the trick was to stay there longer still. So we gave her a more intensive course. We arrived at the Pit early in the morning before the sun rose, in order to catch the first rays upon her skin, and then stayed the rest of the day right up until dusk. We returned to our home and slept for a few hours, and then returned again at the break of dawn. We did this for three days in a row, and finally it happened. She turned back into a full human.
I’d never forget the joy of that moment. We were like bunnies for a while, and shortly after, our daughter was conceived. We called her Grace because that was exactly what she was to us. Half fae, half human, although she couldn’t thin herself or fly like I could, she possessed the power to manipulate elements—fire especially.
As I gazed at my daughter now, all grown up, I felt quite overwhelmed by emotions. This was the first true transition into adulthood—joining the League, and embarking on her first mission.
Leaning down, I kissed her forehead.
“You okay?” I asked her.
Her turquoise eyes met mine. “Yep,” she replied, a little too quickly.
Drawing two earpieces from my jacket pocket, I positioned one around Grace’s right ear while putting the other on mine. It was our method of communication while on the cargo ship, which our sonar had already detected by now. I estimated we’d be ready to board within twenty minutes. “Only a few of us will climb aboard first,” I said, now addressing the group of new recruits. “But you will be included; as part of your induction it’s important to go through all stages of a mission. You will each accompany your parents. They’ll equip you with your own earpieces. I suggest you go to them now.”
I took Grace’s hand while the others went their separate ways.
“Will Mom come too?” Grace asked.
“She’ll come later,” I said, cracking a smile. “For now it’s just you and me.”
Once we were close enough, our initial group of scouts opened the hatch and climbed out onto the roof of the submarine. The creaking, rust-colored cargo ship loomed over us like a monster. It truly was massive, possibly used for transporting heavy machinery.
The witches among us—Ibrahim, Corrine, Arwen, Brock, Mona and Shayla—vanished us onto its sprawling deck. Then we split up to begin our search. We checked the entire deck and verified it was devoid of life. Then we split up into pairs and trios to begin searching the rest of the ship.
Keeping Grace close to me, I crept through a door and descended a narrow staircase to the level beneath.
“Now tell me,” I whispered to her as we reached a wide corridor at the bottom of the stairs. “Before we decide on any course of action, what is the first thing that we must always do?”
“Scope the place out for vulnerabilities, i.e. humans.”
“Good,” I said.
We moved down the corridor and reached the end of it. Every door in the hallway had been open, leading into empty cabins. We turned left down another corridor and then another. Still no signs of life. Then, on the third level down, Kiev’s voice crackled through our earpieces.
“Ogres,” he said. “From the fifth level downward. So far, they all appear asleep.”
I grimaced, exchanging a glance with my daughter, whose eyes were wide and alert.
“Glad it’s not Bloodless,” Grace murmured.
“Yes. I guess it could be worse,” I replied. “Now, if all is going to plan, the witches will be sealing off the areas the ogres are in. Remind me why that is?”
“Because, wherever possible, humans need to be located and evacuated first, before supernaturals are stirred… and we still don’t know if there are humans here.”
“That’s right,” I said.
Our earpieces went silent for a while again, with the occasional person chiming in to say that they had still found no humans, although they were discovering more pockets of ogres to seal off. As Grace and I ventured deeper, we too began finding sleeping ogres in the larger storage rooms.
“Maybe there are no humans here,” Grace whispered.
“That is an assumption we never make until we have searched in every nook and cranny.”
As if to prove my point, we had just finished scoping out our portion of the ship when Jeriad spoke: “We??
?ve found humans. Head to the tenth floor down—” His breath hitched suddenly. “Oh, gods. This is not good. Hurry, people.”
I grabbed Grace’s hand and we rushed downward. We spotted a group at the end of a long corridor, standing outside a steel door. All of them were already there, waiting for us, except the witches. My father looked at me darkly as he indicated the steel door. I stared at it and could already detect a nasty stench coming through. The stench of rotting bodies.
“We already took a look,” Xavier said, his nose wrinkled in disgust. “A lot are already dead.”
“All right, well, now that all of us are here”—I looked to Grace pointedly so she understood that I was emphasizing another point in her training now—“we must go in and salvage all those we can, and then later come back to deal with the ogres.”
We steeled ourselves as Jeriad and Heath pushed open the door. The stench was so overwhelming, I was worried one of us would pass out. As we descended, I fumbled against the walls and found a light for the non-vampires among us. The scene beneath us was just as bad as the smell. I wanted to cover my daughter’s eyes, but I reminded myself that gone were the days where we hid our children away.
As Xavier said, many corpses scattered the floors, and those still alive hardly appeared to be in a much better state. They all looked painfully emaciated, some of them with limbs missing, maybe even half chewed off. All of them were men, with the same dark uniform. Workers. Poor guys. The ogres had not cleaned out their food bunker in a while…
“Okay,” my father said, grimacing. “The witches are still sectioning off the ogres—there appear to be more than we thought—but in the meantime we can start salvaging… whomever there is to salvage.”
We tried to work efficiently, forming a chain as we escorted the surviving humans up the stairs one at a time and laid them down in the corridor. Once we’d fetched as many as our present group could carry, we hurried with them back up to the deck. In the meantime, we communicated instructions via the intercom to those waiting in the submarine. By the time we arrived on the upper deck, my aunt Vivienne, my mother and Rose had already prepared five lifeboats. We had taken the humans who’d looked like they had the most chance of living during this first shift. We needed to hurry them to the submarine where they could start receiving medical treatment.