48. Vessel
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
VESSEL
Saya Claymore
Coven City lies beneath Sancliff, in a system of caves, far from sunlight. As we make our way down the hill and towards the beach, Olivia becomes more animated, strangely excited to be seeing the city she died in. I suppose I cannot judge. I want to return to Cherry Bloom.
When we arrive at the beach, Serun grunts, noting that all the boats have holes and damage.
“There are more inside the city,” Olivia says when Serun lowers the final boat he was inspecting into the water, only for it to tip and sink. “I know where they are. No one really uses them out of fear of the monster living in the sea, you know?”
I look out over the sea, wondering if the experiment we saw on the train is close by.
“Do you think the dog is okay?” I ask them, my mind going back to the animal that protected me.
“Sure!” Olivia says.
“Perhaps,” Serun says, not sugarcoating it. “Let’s find this boat, Saya’s servant.”
We move further away from the shore, my boots sinking into the dry sand there, and I find it hard to walk. It’s like there’s some sort of imbalance, and with each step, I sink and slip, my teeth gritting.
Serun and Olivia, however, seem to walk normally. I’m the only one struggling, clutching at my baldric for some semblance of balance while I lean further and further forward, almost on all fours.
“Shall I carry you?” Serun says, a few feet ahead of me. “I do not mind the honour of being your carriage.”
You know what…
I shake my head, straighten up, and say, “I’m fine, nightwalker.”
Olivia waits for us by the entrance, while Serun slows his pace and offers me his arm. I take hold, and he uses most of his weight to keep me from slipping on the dune, reaching the flat surface that leads down to Coven City.
Olivia’s ears pull back and her eyes narrow. “It’s so dark. I don’t remember it being this dark down here,” she murmurs. “And usually, nightwalkers guard this entrance, making it hard for humans to leave.”
Serun’s eyes narrow into half-slits, and the arm I hold onto moves lower, grabbing my hand and pulling me close to him. “I cannot sense a heartbeat.”
“No humans?” I ask.
“None,” Olivia says, her ears pricked. “Can we check it out?”
“We need to source a boat from the city to get to Pyra, do we not?” Serun says curtly, pulling me closer until our shoulders touch.
My throat tightens, and my heart splutters in my chest at what has gotten them both so worried. Serun’s hand tightens on mine, and his shadows become more agitated.
We make our way down the stairs, swallowed by darkness. I raise my arm and grip the hilt of my sword in case I need to defend myself.
“Have you heard anything?” Olivia asks Serun.
“Nothing. So, whatever happened here was recent enough not to alert the Undercity.”
“Right…” Olivia’s excitement to visit her home finally burns out, turning into defeat.
My fingers twitch, and I reach out to comfort her, but hesitate. Memories melt against my chest, and the hand that tried to reach for her grabs the locket instead. I grip it as tightly as I should have held Emily’s hand.
I look ahead, narrowing my vision, hoping to see something, but it’s pitch black. Nothing stands out, only black on top of black until it suffocates me.
“What do you see, Serun?” I ask, too afraid to speak above a whisper.
“A boathouse, and a shopping district further down the ramp and deeper into the city. We are on the outskirts where most would go to hire boats or other items for the beach.”
Other items? I’ve never been to a beach before. We had sand on our paths, but there was far less of it.
My hand goes to my chest, wondering if I should bring out my light. Serun squeezes my hand tighter, drawing me closer to him and moving his arm around my waist, his shadows tenderly covering my pale skin until I’m hidden inside them.
“There’s one!” Olivia’s footsteps quicken, crunching in the sand. Hers is the only other I can hear. Serun, as always, is silent. “Looks in good condition too.”
“Good.”
There is a creaking sound, like groaning wood, and the whir of magik being pulled. Metal rattles, and I remember the chains on the cage that held me.
Has it only been a little more than a week since then? I’ve pushed it down and now share a bed with the man who forced me to become his consort.
Things are different, though. So much has changed.
“I’ve untied it. You can lift it all the way up now, Lord Serun.”
“With ease.”
I can’t see shit—especially with Serun’s shadows encasing me—only hear something being moved.
“Pir avacen,” whispers around me, and my ears bend back, searching for the sound.
My hand balls into a fist, fingernails digging into flesh as grains of sand slip when I turn, creating a louder noise than what Serun and Olivia are doing. Then, a deep inhale comes from above, and wetness slips down my cheek.
Sucking in a breath, I rest my hand over my heart, bow and say, “Fink hon.” A pulse of warm light bursts from my chest. Serun puts himself between me and the echo launching down from the cavern wall. He flicks his sword to the side, and a wash of blood splatters across the sand.
Nearby, Olivia has the chain looped around her arm, frantically dragging it up the ramp.
Behind her, as my light slivers across in tendrils, illuminating cavern walls, sand-covered buildings, and the city below the boathouse, my eyes widen.
A mass of glowing yellow eyes and shadowed bodies move in the night.
Hundreds of them climb over one another, frenzied, with hunger slipping from slick wet mouths.
Serun lifts me with one arm, saying, “Come, darling. No time to sightsee.”
“Joking at a time like this, surrounded by creatures that could kill us?” I grip his shoulders tightly.
“Only Olivia should be worried.”
“What?!” Olivia barks.
Serun chuckles his response, seemingly not caring about the hoard of echoes scrambling for us, drawing closer. Serun’s shadows slip away from his shoulders, but before I can see him, my light fades. Gargled cries and the squelch of meaty flesh rise from behind us.
“Shit,” Serun mutters.
“Wha—” My stomach flips when Serun tosses me up and out of his embrace. Another pulse of light bursts from me, and as I soar, Serun is below, fighting off echoes while Olivia drags the boat up the ramp.
Penumbra appears just in time, scooping me up in their arms, and we touch down on the boat. Olivia gives a final grunt as we emerge outside and into the moonlight.
I jump out, grab the side of the boat, and push it with Penumbra’s help. My light fades, plunging Serun into the darkness behind me. My teeth grit, and my heart pounds at leaving him behind, but I know I will just get in his way.
Olivia tosses the chains into the boat when we hit the wet sand. I find it easier to push it now, but with every step, my boots sink. When the boat finally hits the water, my tight muscles relax.
“Get in,” Olivia demands.
“Serun…”
“Now,” she snaps. This is a side of her I haven’t seen before.
Getting back into the boat as Olivia pushes it further out, I position myself to face the shore. Serun is outside now, floating high above the beach, wisps of smoke and shadow falling from him. He aims his sword downward, his neon red eyes the only light coming from him.
Olivia grunts as she hops into the boat. She tosses the paddle at me and says, “Move it!”
Grabbing the paddle, my heart stutters at the creatures ignoring Serun and jumping into the water to reach us. I swear under my breath, lean to one side of the boat, and start paddling. But it’s not working. The fucking boat rotates, spinning in a circle.
“Lady Consort, do you know how to fucking paddle?” Olivia says incredulously.
“No!” I snap at her. “Why would I know that?”
“By the Mother of Light, we are going to die!”
Gritting my teeth, I stand, and when an echo reaches the boat, I slam the flat side of the paddle against the eye on one shoulder.
The creature falls back with a howl, long claws reaching out in a desperate attempt to hold on when something draws it under.
Obsidian scales shimmer, and the boat rocks as this creature swims away with the echo in its mouth.
The first experiment is helping us?
Another echo reaches for the boat before my mind can process what is happening.
I raise the paddle again, only to remember I have a damn sword.
Dropping the paddles and reaching for my hilt, the darkness that is Serun plummets to the ground.
A gust of wind and sand bursts from the shore.
Waves push into the ocean, and the boat floats further out and towards the river.
Fuck! I slip on the wet deck, fall forward, and grab the edge of the boat. Pushing myself up, I look back towards the shore. Black spikes now jut out from the ground, bodies of creatures hanging from them. Dozens more spear up, spraying black blood into the already deathly night.
“We should go before it draws more attention.” I jump at the sound, spinning around to face Serun.
He grabs the abandoned paddle and drives it into the water, alternating sides, pushing us into where the ocean meets the river.
Shadows slip back around his body, covering him.
Looking back the way we came, the moonlight highlights countless torn bodies, while streaks of black blood cover the entire beach.
“They must have come from the feeding ground…”
“No…” Serun sighs. “I don’t think they came from Darkovish. I think the nightwalkers…turned.”
My eyes widen a fraction. “What do you mean by turned?”
“There is a rumour that an echo can infect a nightwalker. Not any echo, but there is one different from the others.”
The nightwalker who stabbed Cole. I clench my teeth together, and my nostrils flare.
“But how did it get there?” I ask. “The Hellsgate was so far from here…”
“Shouldn’t we kill them all before they infect Naylen?” Olivia says.
“I’m talking to Maeve now,” Serun says. “The Death Spirit and Lucifer are on their way and will burn the city down.”
I close the gap between us, wobbling on my feet until I fall to the seat beside him. “We are here. Should we not get rid of them before they go somewhere else?”
“One problem at a time, kamai,” he says, eyes ahead on the narrow river path to Rive Bay.
“I culled the majority, and Penumbra is still there and will wall them off until my family arrives to cleanse the area. Right now, we need to prioritise finding Cole, Reyes, and Avianna.” His hand reaches out, resting on my thigh.
“If we see any on the way, I will take care of them. I just find it odd for this echo to be biting nightwalkers. They aren’t the type to think like that.
They kill humans and ignore the undead unless provoked. ”
“The ones in the feeding ground…”
“I know. That is my worry.”
Olivia heaves a sigh. “That was close, though. It really boosted my appetite.”
“There is slayer blood in the bag. It tastes revolting, but it is all we have until we reach the shore.” Serun kicks the pack towards her. “You should eat too, kamai. Your stomach has been stirring this entire time.”
As Olivia rummages in the bag, she says, “Lady Consort is always hungry. It makes me wonder if I ate this much when I was human. I can’t seem to remember.”
Before this, I ate on a strict schedule. I was always hungry, given the limited food provided—but now, I have never felt hungrier. Even when I eat, my stomach grumbles, as though the food is air.
She hands me a fruit stick, and I peel the wrapping off and take a bite. My throat closes, and it’s not until it’s chewed into mush that I can swallow it down. The black raspberry flavour is denser, but it still tastes better than the powdered soups I’ve been eating.
“How long will it take us to get there?” I ask Serun, my hand resting over his.
“A little under an hour,” he replies, lifting the paddle out of the water as the current is taking us down the narrow stream with little effort now.
“And when we get there?”
Serun removes his hand from my thigh, rests it on his knees, and slumps forward.
“We are past our border now, which means there will be more settlements and compounds…and slayers. Best to stay away from any cities and towns until we reach the city of Mire.” Dark red eyes dart in my direction, then away. “Keep that mask on now more than ever.”
I touch my mask, surprised it is still in place. “If any of the slayers who were at Darkovish see me, they will know.”
Olivia looks between us. She is no fool. She knows we’re keeping things hidden from her. Still, she doesn’t question. Instead, she drinks some blood and cringes. “Slayer blood is repulsive.”
“These bloodsuckers can blanch on my blood.” The memory of Jax’s words surfaces. At the time, I thought this was just about his hatred of nightwalkers. But it seems slayer blood is literally distasteful.
“Should I change my hair colour?” I ask Serun.
“Train your glamour a little more. There might be a time when you will have to use it.” His focus lowers to the bag, then away. “I will hunt for better options than slayer blood. I’d like to wash it out of my system.”
“You can have mine,” I say, trying to sound casual.
Olivia snorts, a little blood shooting out of her nose. She turns away to fix herself, while I face Serun. Shadows drench him, rippling like waves on a disturbed seabed.
“We can share,” he replies.
Olivia grabs the edge of the boat, searching for an escape. “I feel like a child trapped in the presence of my flirting parents.”
With a slight smile, I cup my hands together, and static stirs against my fingertips.
White light sparks—enough to know it’s there—but without the words, my magik seems hopeless.
Still, I will practice in silence until we reach Pyra.
I am determined to learn to hold my glamour for over thirty minutes.