Chapter Twenty
Walker
M arie Laveau and her elderly cohorts were creepy as hell, but damn, they could cook.
I sat beside Cady eating the spiciest heaping of eggs, shrimp, and an assortment of vegetables I was too busy devouring to identify. My sister and Ryder dug into their meals with my shared ferocity, though Freya—paler than usual and with lavender circles under her eyes—forced the food down with jerky movements. I wanted to ask if she was okay, but she wouldn’t appreciate my concern in front of Marie and her coven.
Marie sat at the head of the dining table, wearing a colorful dress and a fresh painting of make-up. With her hair wrapped in a silk scarf and golden jewelry adorning her neck, she was as regal as a queen. The rest of her ancient coven was scattered throughout the room on the various couches, but the two younger witches joined us at the table.
Freya shoved away her mostly empty plate. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
“Of course,” Marie said and continued to sip from her steaming mug.
Freya shifted in her seat. “If there’s any knowledge about the chimera you could offer, however, that would be—”
Marie chuckled. “I was wondering how long it would take you to ask.”
Freya said nothing but held the witch’s gaze.
“This younger generation knows nothing of patience,” called one of the ancient witches from the couch. Marie nodded her agreement.
I guess some things are universal, I thought and barely contained a laugh. Old people love complaining about our generation.
“We’re working under a bit of a time limit,” Cady said. “So yeah, breakfast was great, but we’ve gotta get moving.”
I tensed and prepared to protect my sister, but Marie smiled.
“Fair enough,” Marie relented. She looked at Freya. “The chimera is aboard a ship with its guardians. They left the harbor yesterday at eight o’clock, just before your arrival here.”
“The ocean,” I remembered. “The tracking spell showed us the ocean.”
“If we left earlier,” Ryder grumbled, “we wouldn’t have to journey across a giant body of water.”
“What’s wrong, wolf?” I taunted. “Can’t get your fur wet?”
He growled, but I grinned, and the witches chuckled.
“We also would’ve faced Madame LaLaurie with even lesser reserves,” Freya sniped. The other witches hissed.
“Don’t say that name here,” Marie warned.
Time for a subject change.
“So,” I said. “Any tips on how to catch the chimera?”
Marie considered my question and took a sip from her piping hot cup of tea.
“It does not yet know the full extent of its power,” she finally offered. “I would suggest catching it before it learns.”
I gritted my teeth in frustration. “Is it some kind of witch-code to be purposely vague?”
Marie’s magic flared, but Ryder grumbled his agreement. My own magic heated my veins in response.
“Does it have a human form?” Freya asked.
Marie’s lips twitched. “You saw it.”
She did?
“I think it’s what led me to that goddessdamned mansion,” Freya grumbled.
I barely contained my shock. She had mentioned no such thing to any of us, though I hadn’t thought to ask her why she’d left us. Her injuries and her nakedness had thoroughly distracted me.
“It’s a clever thing,” Marie said, “and a beautiful one. My advice—don’t let it make a fool of you twice.”
Freya gritted her teeth and nodded.
“Which direction was it heading?” Cady asked.
“They were going south,” Marie answered and sipped her tea, “and they spoke of visiting the wilds of Africa.”
“What kind of ship?” Ryder asked.
“A luxurious one,” Marie explained. “A yacht imbued with the best of technology and magic alike.”
“Could you provide us passage to the yacht?” I asked.
The SUV was not going to cut it, and we couldn’t all fit on Arion. Marie rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Must I feed and clothe and wash you too?” She glanced at Freya. “Oh wait, I already did.”
Freya stood with flames swirling in her eyes. Only she could successfully appear indignant wearing the slightly too big clothes borrowed from others. She had tucked the blue, collared shirt into cuffed jeans that stretched up to her waist.
“We appreciate your help most dearly,” she spat, “but we must be going. Thank you.”
Cady and Ryder rose from their chairs, and Arion hurried to Freya’s side. As Ryder snagged one last piece of bacon, I couldn’t shake the feeling I had forgotten something. I checked the Sol Sword, but it was strapped to my side. Freya looked at me questioningly, and I followed my friends back into the dank, smelly sewer.
It was not until we had traveled across the sprawling city to the port that I remembered what question had plagued me.
What the hell is an Anchor?
???
“Twenty minutes,” Cady grumbled, “twenty minutes you all have stood here, arguing about what to do. Every minute, the chimera gets farther away.”
Freya, Ryder, and I paused our bickering. We stood on the wooden docks of the port. Birds squawked, and waves lapped hungrily at the docks. This early in the morning, only fisherman passed us by. Some of them eyeballed our eclectic group, but most of them were too engrossed in their work to notice us.
“Cady’s right,” I said.
“Yep,” Ryder agreed, “so let me and Freya get to work.”
As Ryder’s wolf rose to the surface, his amber eyes glowed. My own magic heated my veins and rumbled in my ears.
“Why don’t you two go measure your dicks?” Freya bit out. “It would draw less attention.”
I took a deep breath and forced myself to release my anger. We all worked toward the same goal, even if we disagreed on the means of achieving it.
“Regardless of the ethical impurities of it,” Freya continued, “we’ll never be able to make up for lost time and catch up to the chimera by stealing a boat.”
“But not all of us will fit on Arion’s back,” Cady said. Again.
My sister did not want to be left behind, and neither did I.
“I won’t stay here,” Ryder said and shook his tense shoulders. His eyes still glowed. “I can…I can sense its nearness. I have to get closer.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of the desperation in his voice. I doubted it was simply because he didn’t want me alone with Freya. No, he and the witch had actually figured out this friendship thing, unlike Freya and me.
Memories of Freya’s creamy skin, soft curves and taut muscles flashed back to me.
Friends don’t admire other friends’ naked bodies.
“I won’t leave anyone behind in this goddessdamned city,” Freya said and shuddered.
Her response sobered me. She still hadn’t spoken in detail about what happened at Madame LaLaurie’s mansion. I brushed my hand against hers in silent comfort, but she pulled away.
“If only we all had an Arion,” Cady mused.
“No thanks,” I muttered.
The demon-cat scratched my leg, and I hissed. When I looked at Freya to tell her to reprimand her pest, her gaze was fixed on the waters behind me. When she finally met my stare and grinned, I knew we were in trouble.
“You still got your cowboy skills?” she asked.
I squared my shoulders. “It’s like riding a bike.”
“Good,” she said, “you’re going to need them to wrangle a kelpie.”
“A what?” I repeated.
“You’re crazy,” Ryder argued.
“It’s a magical horse of the sea,” Cady explained. She chewed on her bottom lip. “But they’re dangerous. Like, man-eating, soul-stealing kind of dangerous.”
“They are,” Freya agreed, “but they’re almost as fast as Arion.”
“And how does one go about catching them?” I asked.
“We’ll need a bridle and reins.” Freya searched the dock, as if a fisherman would have one handy. She spotted something past my shoulder and stalked toward it. “Cover me.”
Freya crouched beside a heap of chain left next to an empty spot on the dock. “Ryder, go find me some strong rope.”
“So bossy,” Ryder muttered but did as she asked.
As Freya whispered a spell, I faced the ocean as if I were admiring it and blocked her from the fisherman’s line of sight. Fire flickered to life in Freya’s palms, and she melted a piece of the thick chain into a snaffle bit. Beside me, Cadence gasped.
“Damn,” I whispered in awe.
The snaffle bit glowed with heat, so Freya hung over the dock and dunked it into the water. It sizzled, but when she raised it out of the water, I admired her handiwork. Ryder returned to us with a handful of thick, white rope.
Soon enough, Freya had finagled a bridle and reins out of rope and chain. It certainly wasn’t the prettiest tack I had ever seen, but it would hold.
I hoped.
As Freya handed it to me, she frowned.
“I wish I could be the one to do this,” she said. I interrupted and brushed a hand against her cheek.
“No one else can keep Arion in check in his fastest form,” I said. I couldn’t hold back my cocky smirk. “And no one else can breathe underwater.”
“He’s developed one skill,” Cady muttered, “and he is sure as heck never going to let us forget about it.”
We chuckled, but the tension quickly returned to the moment. We stood on the precipice of capturing our ticket to salvation, and all that stood between us was my ability to ride an underwater horse. Though I had told Freya my cowboy skills were ones I would never forget, I remembered the fear in Jesse’s eyes when my magic had gotten out of control and wondered if I had spoken the truth.
There’s only one way to find out.
I crossed my arms. “Tell me what to do.”
“There will be kelpies near the docks,” Freya explained. “They’re drawn to hubs of potent magic, but you’ll need to swim pretty deep.”
“What if I find a shark instead?” I asked.
Freya rolled her eyes. “Then attack it with your Sol sword and keep searching for the kelpies.”
“You have lightning in your veins,” Cady implored and hugged me. I hugged her back fiercely. “Don’t forget it.”
“Exactly,” Freya agreed. “When you find the kelpies, bridle one of them, and it’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
“Just be specific,” Cady warned, “say you want it to take you to the chimera, not to meet up with us, because the bridle will only hold for one journey.”
“How does that work?” I couldn’t help but wonder.
“Must we stop and explain everything to you?” Ryder complained.
“They’re cursed beings,” Freya said and ignored the werewolf. “Being forced to adhere to the commands of those brave enough to bridle them is part of their curse.”
“Be careful,” Cady said quietly.
I hugged her again and kissed the top of her head.
“They’re fast,” Freya warned, “but you’re smart. You can do this, cowboy.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Ryder said. “Walker will be fine. Even when he dies, he doesn’t stay dead. Let’s get moving.”
“Thanks,” I shot back, but Ryder clasped my shoulder.
“Don’t get eaten,” he said and walked to the edge of the dock.
“We’ll wait for you,” Freya promised.
I studied her lovely, freckle-painted face, squeezed my sister and walked to the edge of the dock with the least amount of vessels tethered to it. The last thing I needed was to get hit by a boat. Taking a huge breath, I dove into the frigid ocean.