Knight instantly reached back and forcibly yanked Quill’s hand away from my butt. Then, without another word or action, he turned back to rowing again. As far as I could tell, Knight wasn’t obeying his own advice regarding taking cover. Instead, he was still sitting up, with no protection or refuge from the daunting monster bird.
“Knight, why aren’t you taking any cover?” I whispered.
“Because someone needs to get us to the other side,” he whispered back, talking out of one side of his mouth.
“But it’s going to see you,” I persisted, just as Quillan’s hands found my butt again. This time I didn’t bother to reprimand him, as I was far too concerned for Knight’s safety.
“It’s already seen us,” Knight responded. “It shouldn’t attack me though. It should recognize what I am.”
I just sighed and chalked it up to yet another of Knight’s mysterious abilities. How many more, I wondered, has he failed to inform me about? Then, I reached around and ruthlessly removed Quill’s hand from my backside.
“Your smell, Dulce! It’s driving me crazy,” he whispered. “I can’t be this close to you and not touch you.”
“Control yourself, Romeo,” Knight spat out, “or you’re going overboard.” From the corner of my eye, I could see him glaring at Quill. “I feel it too, but I’m controlling myself.”
Quill didn’t get the chance to respond. The loud shriek of the creature’s squawking shattered the stillness of the air. It sounded like the screech of a cat being tortured—something that assaulted my ears and made me wish to Hades I never had to hear it again. The creature’s high-pitched yell was even more discouraging when accompanied by a swishing sound, which seemed to be getting closer and closer.
“What’s it doing?” I demanded.
“It’s flying,” Knight said calmly. He didn’t sound especially concerned. “It’s telling us that this is its territory.”
“Can you tell it that we want nothing to do with it or its territory?” I snapped back.
Knight chuckled, but didn’t say anything more. He continued to paddle through the encumbering swamp while Quill started to gyrate on top of me. At least he was keeping his hands to himself …
The creature continued to squawk and carry on, the flapping of its wings becoming increasingly louder. I could feel my heartbeat race as images of myself as the creature’s dinner flashed through my mind.
Could Trey have been channeling this moment when he had his vision or feeling? I wondered. Could I possibly meet my end in the jaws of such a horrible beast? I closed my eyes tightly to force my brain to eject them at once. However I would die, I refused to let it be in the beak of a gargantuan bird.
Hearing another screech, as a shadow passed over our small boat, I realized the monster bird was swooping down closer to us. I wondered why it never even attempted to snatch Knight since he was obviously more accessible than either Quill or I. But I also figured it was one of those things I probably would never know the answer to—maybe it was just a Loki thing.
A large “thump!” sounded against the bottom of our boat, next to my cheek that felt as if someone threw something very heavy against it. My heart stopped beating for at least two seconds.
“Oh my God,” I whispered. “What the hell was that?”
No one responded, but Quill stopped gyrating against me. I held my breath and tried to convince myself that whatever whacked the bottom of our little boat was no more than a tangle of reeds, or a dirt mound that we’d passed over. It definitely wasn’t something as hideously ugly and terrifying as the thing that was currently making its rounds in the sky.
But whatever made the thump wasn’t reeds or a random dirt mound because it rammed into the hull again, only this time with more speed and power. It hit us right where my throat lay against the wood. The blow was so jarring, it rocked the entire boat, wobbling it back and forth unsteadily. I started to pull myself up, if only to escape whatever was charging at us from underwater, but Knight shoved his hand onto my back, forcing me back into the boat.
“Knight!” I started.
“Don’t say anything,” he countered. “It’s trying to make you sit up so the Kegogog can pick you off. Don’t move at all. Just stay the hell where you are!”
I didn’t say anything else. I couldn’t. My heart rode up into my throat and its frantic beating pulsated throughout my entire body. Then another, even stronger wallop sounded from beneath us. This one hit my collarbone and the entire boat rocked even more violently. Whatever warred beneath us was getting impatient and hence, more forceful in its strategy. Strangely enough, it definitely seemed that the water beast and the bird monster were in cahoots. If I didn’t think it impossible, I would have believed the screeches from the bird monster were its way of getting help from the swamp monster to compel Quill or me to sit up.
“Just hold still!” Knight called out. “We’re less than twenty feet from the shoreline; and once we make it into the forest, nothing will come after us!”
I swallowed hard and wondered how far it was from the shoreline to the forest. Then I wondered if the thing beneath us could run as well as it swam. ’Course, if the thing below us didn’t get us, the thing above us might. The water monster suddenly slammed into the side of the boat, sending the small vessel into a tailspin. Knight’s breathing as well as his cursing accelerated as he struggled with the oar to keep us on our trajectory. Nausea began to churn my stomach as the boat circled round and round, but I resisted the urge to heave. Knight finally managed to stop the boat; and with a loud groan, he started rowing forward again. I wasn’t sure if it was just my own wishful thinking, but it seemed like the boat was suddenly moving faster.
“Once I give you the go-ahead, you run as fast as you can into the trees; you got it?” he said to both of us. “Quillan, you have to sit up so Dulcie can get out.”
“Just tell me when,” Quill answered.
Knight didn’t say anything else, but continued to paddle. The water beast went eerily quiet. The sudden serenity unnerved me because I knew its attacks were far from over.
“Okay, Beaurigard, sit up and be prepared to jump out in about ten seconds,” Knight ordered.
Quill wasted no time in pushing himself off me. A few moments later, I felt the boat skidding on land as we hit the shore. Quill jumped over the side at the same moment the swamp creature charged us full bore, ramming into the stern of the small boat. I was instantly yanked backwards as Knight gripped me by the waistline of my jeans. Just as he wrenched me backwards, the boat exploded and splintered into a thousand pieces. The creature’s jaws devoured the boat, and splinters of the wood gouged its gums. Blood filled its mouth and the rows of countless serrated, miniature teeth, mixing with saliva and water, only seemed to cause further outrage in it. Maybe it was the pain inflicted by the splinters of wood, or the taste of blood that sent it into a tizzy, but it made a horrible wailing sound. Then it opened its mouth wider, revealing even more layers of jagged, razor-sharp teeth, all stained red with blood. If Knight hadn’t snatched me back when he did, my head would have been inside the creature’s bloody mouth.
“Run!” Knight called out as I turned to face Quillan. He was watching the scene in abject horror, but he turned around and ran for the forest line. Knight hoisted me over his shoulder and jumped down from the bow of the boat. We landed on the shore just as the swamp creature vanished under the water.
“It’s coming around the boat!” I screamed. The creature swam for the shore, hoisting itself up out of the water onto its two short flippers. Its head looked like a prehistoric dolphin—dark grey with tiny eyes centered in the middle of its forehead, which was huge. Its forehead dominated the upper part of its face, making its small eyes appear sunken and dead, and even more dreadful. But its massive mouth captivated all my attention. From what I could see of its body, it was mammoth—as in the size of a minivan. It definitely couldn’t move as quickly on land, but it managed to swivel back and forth like an alligator, using its s
mall fins to gain traction. Knight was too fast for it, though, and dove for the tree line just when it seemed the thing was ready to strike.
When my face hit the ground, my cheeks stung as my skin met the sand. I braced my arms around my head for protection, but luckily, didn’t hit anything. Instantly, arms encircled my waist, pulling me upright as I opened my eyes and blinked a few times. Wiping my arm across my face, I attempted to dislodge the grains of sand, which seemed to be caught in my hair as well as my eyes, ears and nose. Once free from as much of the sand as possible, I gazed up into Knight’s broad smile and realized we’d made it to the forest and were now bathed in the cover of the tree branches.
“And that, my friends, is the main reason why it’s best to avoid swamps when traveling through the Netherworld,” Knight said with a hearty chuckle. He acted like everything we’d just gone through was nothing more than an awesome roller coaster ride and now he wanted another turn.
I couldn’t even find it within myself to respond, so I didn’t. Knight dusted me off as he inspected me.
“Is she okay?” Quill asked, coming up behind me.
“Looks like some minor lesions to her face, but she’s a trooper; aren’t you, Dulce?”
I shook my head and took a deep breath, trying to regulate my heartbeat. Then I turned to face Quill, before spitting out a mouthful of sand, spit and plants.
“Where to now?” I demanded in a rough voice.
Quill smiled at me and sighed deeply. He appeared to be relieved. He motioned through the trees to the side of Willoughby House, now only thirty feet in the distance. Even though my vantage point didn’t allow for much, it was fairly obvious that my father’s home was colossal. This particular wing must have been four stories high, with a turret that imbued it with a castle-esque quality. I could see a matching turret on the other side of the house in the distance. As far as my father was concerned, he really did fancy himself a king—well, that is, if Willoughby House was the standard.
“The library is on the third floor in that tower,” Quill said, pointing up at the turret.
“We must have been caught on camera?” I started. Seeing how the beach dominated this section of the property, and after Quill’s comment that my father had cameras pinned to the grassland as well as the beaches in general, it was the obvious conclusion.
Quill shook his head. “Your father raises those creatures,” he started. His expression said just how troubled he was by the information. “He believes they do a better job at deterring unwanted guests than cameras do; well, on the swamp side of the house anyway.”
I just looked at him vacantly, traumatized that my father would breed the winged aberrations of the sky. I’d already witnessed one taking out a tourist in line at the airport during my first trip to the Netherworld. Then this one nearly ate us for lunch. Before I could react, Knight’s walkie-talkie began buzzing, its white and red lights flashing through the fabric of his jeans. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out.
“Christina,” he said in greeting, “over.”
“It failed,” she said between gasps. She sounded as if she’d been running and was now taking a breather. She panted for a few more seconds. “Somehow, the Netherworld Guard were tipped off that we were coming for them. They were fully prepared for us when we attacked.” She took another breath. “Over.”
I felt my heart sink as I put the pieces together and realized the gist of what she was saying. Bram had basically backstabbed me. Why? Because he’d instructed us to attack the base at Squander Valley. He’d set me up. He’d set us up. And I’d stupidly walked right into his trap.
“Where are you?” Knight demanded, turning his back on both of us. “Over.”
“I … I don’t know. I could only get out with about twenty of our soldiers. We made it through Squander Valley and now we’re in some nearby forest, just trying to keep ahead of them.” Her voice sounded seconds away from becoming panic-stricken.
“You took your gas mask off?” Knight demanded to which Christina coughed, as if on cue.
“It’s okay,” she said finally. “We’re far away from the Bregone swamp and its fumes, otherwise this forest wouldn’t be able to survive.”
“Okay, listen to me very carefully, Christina, you need to find water—optimally, a river—just anything flowing. Once you find one, follow it downstream. Whatever direction the water flows, follow it. And make sure you’re on your own, or at least don’t have more than one person with you. You’ll be harder to find if you’re separated from the group.” Then he paused for a few seconds. “Where is Dia? Over.”
The silence on the line lasted so long, I wasn’t sure if Christina was still on the other end. “I don’t know,” she answered finally, her voice sounding pained. “Over.”
I felt my entire body deflate on itself once I heard that Dia wasn’t accounted for. And as soon as that news landed in my lap, I concluded that I was the whole reason for the failure of our mission. I should never have trusted Bram. I should have known better. As soon as he’d said he was always in cahoots with my father, that should have been the end of my liaison with him. I should have cuffed him right then and there and taken him to jail where he could have rotted until Kingdom Come.
Knight warned you time and time again that trusting Bram was a mistake! I railed at myself. Now you could have cost Dia’s life. How could you have been so stupid? How could you have gone for Bram’s bait so blindly?
What was more, I was certain that he and my father were sitting back now, laughing as they watched everything crumble that we, The Resistance, had fought so hard for.
“This isn’t your fault, Dulce,” Quill said softly as he patted me on the back. I turned to face him, but shook my head, unwilling to see the truth in his eyes. Knight wasn’t the only person who had warned me about Bram. Quill had many times too. And, yet, I’d insisted the vampire only wanted to help us. How completely stupid I was! All Bram had ever wanted from me was confidential information so he could feed it back to Melchior. Well, information and sex. At least, he hadn’t gotten the latter.
“I trusted him,” I responded, casting my eyes onto the ground, in absolute disgust of both Bram and myself. “Like a total idiot, I trusted him! Now, because of me, who knows how many of our soldiers are dead? And … maybe even Dia.”
“How much battery life do you have left on your radio? Over.” Knight continued talking to Christina, as if Quill and I were irrelevant.
“Maybe a few hours.”
He nodded and didn’t say anything for a while. Then he turned around and finally faced Quill and me. Well, it was more fitting to say he finally faced me. When he did, I was surprised not to see any anger or condemnation in his eyes. Instead, his gaze held no semblance of emotion.
“We’re going after Melchior,” he said with determined resolve. Although he was actually informing Christina, his eyes remained fastened on mine.
“What?” she blurted out on the other side.
“Whatever happens, I’ll try to check in with you in a little while, okay?” he continued. “Over.”
“Knight, do you think that’s a good idea?” she started. “He obviously already knows about our plans. Over.”
“We have no choice,” Knight said in a hollow tone. He shook his head as he diverted his attention from my face. “We’ve already made our bed.”
Christina sighed heavily and after a protracted silence, she took another deep breath. “Be careful,” she said at last. “I’ll look forward to your next call.”
“You too. Just follow the water downstream and you’ll eventually end up in a city somewhere. Stay under the cover of the trees whatever you do, and look out for smolls. Over.”
“I’ve got an Op 6 and a 7 so I’m good to go,” she responded. I wondered what in the hell smolls were but didn’t have the strength to ask. “Bye, Knight.”
“This isn’t good-bye,” he responded stonily. “We’ll be talking again soon.”
Turning off the radio, Kni
ght’s eyes bored right into mine. I couldn’t read anything in his expression and half wondered if he would yell at me or embrace me. “This isn’t your fault,” he said at last.
I gulped down my response because at this point, I knew it wouldn’t make any difference. Whether or not it was my fault didn’t help things. We had to focus on the tactics that would. Knight was right: it was too late now to turn back. We had to push forward and take my father out, even though it was now quite obvious he knew we were coming for him.
TWELVE
“So how much does Bram know?” Knight asked, turning to face me as we hid in the cover of the forest that bordered Willoughby House. I gazed out at the swamp from which we’d narrowly escaped death, and saw the monster bird flying through the air, squawking and screeching as if protesting that its lunch escaped into the forest. There was no sign of the swamp monster.
Facing Knight again, I had to gulp down the burning taste of acid that started up my throat when I thought how easily Bram stabbed me in the back and, worse, how I practically helped him do it. Knowing my anger could only deter me from achieving my goal of going after my father, I tried to answer Knight’s question as to what Bram did and did not know. “Obviously, he knows we’re gunning for my father, which is why he gave me his pocket watch,” I started. “So I predict it’s safe to assume he knows we’re coming after Melchior.”
“And that means it’s also safe to assume that Melchior now knows that as well,” Quill added while I nodded in agreement.
Knight didn’t say anything more as he pulled the walkie-talkie from his pocket and tried to reach Fagan again. As soon as Knight hung up with Christina earlier, he kept trying to reach Fagan through the radio, but the Drow never responded. This time was no closer to being a charm, as there was still no response from the other end. Knight shook his head in obvious disappointment and returned the radio to his back pocket, turning to me again. “When Bram gave you the portal ripper, he instructed you to go after the Netherworld Guard base at Squander Valley, right?”