Chapter 45 Avoid the Rooster #2
“Well, it does mean I can’t hide it when he’s in a particularly foul mood. Bit inconvenient when trying to maintain an air of mystery.” She was deflecting with humor now, and we both knew it.
I opened my mouth to press further—because “tied to his magic” raised about a dozen new questions—but Nyx chose that moment to land on the deck with a thud that shook the entire ship.
She’d been circling above us for the past hour, hunting seabirds.
Judging by the feathers stuck to her snout, she’d been successful.
She burped a small cloud of smoke that smelled distinctly of roasted pelican.
Vex wrinkled her nose. “I’m glad Nyx is with us. It’ll make getting out of trouble really simple—she can simply roast anyone who stands in our way.”
Before I could respond, Captain Brecca called out again. “Best ready yourselves, ladies. We’ll be making anchor in that cove there—nice and hidden-like.”
The sun was painting the sky in shades of amber and rose by the time we made it ashore. Our landing party consisted of me, Vex, and a dozen shadow warriors that Kaz had bound to my command. They flickered in and out of visibility, perfect for stealth work.
“First target?” I asked.
Vex consulted the list Sebastian had helped compile. “Lady Elena Clearwater. Minor noble, age nineteen. Lives in the village of Coral Bay with her mother, stepfather—Lord and Lady Coralven—and younger half-siblings.”
“Any defenses?”
“Two family guards and a very aggressive rooster, according to our intelligence.”
I stared at her. “A rooster?”
“Apparently, it’s won several local fighting competitions against a barnacle-encrusted sea sprite. The notes are very specific about avoiding the rooster.”
“Sebastian?”
“Sebastian.”
We made our way through the tropical forest that bordered the beach.
Everything here was so different from Solandris—bright birds instead of crows, fruit trees instead of oaks, the constant sound of waves instead of mountain wind.
Even the magic felt different, lighter somehow, like champagne bubbles instead of wine.
Coral Bay turned out to be exactly what you’d expect from a fishing village that happened to have a minor noble family in residence.
Neat little houses with thatched roofs, nets drying in the evening air, and the Coralven manor sitting slightly apart on a small hill.
If you could call it a manor. It was more like a large house with delusions of grandeur.
“That’s it?” Vex sounded almost offended. “My closet is bigger than that.”
“Not everyone can live in a floating death fortress,” I reminded her. “Besides, it’s quaint.”
“It’s tragic. Look, they’ve painted shutters on the house instead of having actual shutters.”
We crept closer, shadow warriors fanning out to surround the property. Through a window, I could see the family gathered for dinner—Lord and Lady Coralven, Elena, and three younger children ranging from maybe ten to fourteen.
My stomach twisted. These weren’t soldiers or mages. They were just a family having dinner.
Auremar won’t be kind, I reminded myself. He’ll drain them dry and leave nothing but husks.
“Second thoughts?” Vex murmured.
“No.” I squared my shoulders. “But we’re taking them all.”
“All?”
“You think Auremar will stop at just Elena? If he can’t find her, he’ll take the siblings just to check if they have a trace of the bloodline too.” I made my decision. “We take the whole family. Kaz won’t mind.”
Vex’s smile was full of glee—I’d never seen such a look on her. “Now you’re thinking like a Dark Lady.”
I knocked politely on the front door.
“Good evening,” I said pleasantly when Lord Coralven answered himself. “I’m terribly sorry to disturb you, but I need your family to come with me immediately.”
He blinked, taking in my dark traveling clothes and the pair of shadow warriors visible behind me. “Excuse me?”
“Your stepdaughter Elena has heroic bloodline. King Auremar plans to use her in a ritual that will, to use technical terminology, be very bad for everyone involved.” I kept my tone conversational, as if discussing the weather. “So we’re relocating your family to somewhere safe.”
Lord Coralven puffed up like an angry fish. “You can’t just—”
Another shadow warrior materialized directly behind him.
“Actually,” I said, “I can. I’m Lady Arabella Blackrose, by the way. You might have heard of my husband?”
His face went from red to white so fast I worried he might faint. “The Dark Lord’s wife?”
“The very same. Now, would you prefer to pack a few things, or shall we just—”
A blur of feathers and fury exploded from somewhere behind the house.
The rooster—and it was definitely The Rooster, deserving of capital letters—came at us like a feathered missile.
It was massive, with spurs that looked capable of taking out an eye and an attitude that suggested it had never lost a fight in its life.
It went straight for the nearest shadow warrior, which was a mistake. Being made of shadow, they are notably difficult to peck. The Rooster passed right through, squawking in outrage.
Then it spotted me.
“Oh, fuck—”
I dove sideways as The Rooster launched itself at my face. Vex shrieked. Lord Coralven shouted something about Ferdinand. Shadow warriors milled about in confusion, unsure how to handle a poultry-based threat.
The Rooster came at me again, wings spread wide and spurs aimed at my throat. This time, I was ready. A quick burst of shadow magic created a cage around the demonic bird, trapping it mid-leap.
It did not take this well.
“brAWWWK!” The Rooster slammed against the shadow bars, feathers flying. “brAWWWWWK!”
“Ferdinand!” A young boy—one of the Coralven children—came running out. “Don’t hurt Ferdinand!”
“I’m not hurting him,” I said, watching The Rooster attempt to murder the shadow cage. “I’m saving everyone else from him.”
“He’s just protective,” the boy insisted. “He doesn’t like strangers.”
“I noticed.”
By now, the entire family had crowded into the doorway, staring at the scene in their front garden—shadow warriors, a caged rooster, and two women in dark clothes trying to look official.
“Perhaps,” Lady Coralven said faintly, “we should discuss this inside?”
Twenty minutes later, we’d explained the situation, weathered Lord Coralven’s blustering, comforted crying children, and negotiated a temporary truce with Ferdinand. The family would come with us, but they needed an hour to pack essentials.
“Ferdinand comes too,” the youngest boy insisted, clutching The Rooster’s new cage.
I looked at the bird. It looked back. Hatred burned in its beady eyes.
I sighed. “Only if he stays caged.”
“This is ridiculous,” Vex muttered as we supervised the packing. “We’re supposed to be villains kidnapping people in the night, not helping them decide which toys to bring.”
“Would you rather traumatize the children?”
“No, but there’s got to be a middle ground between trauma and whatever this is.” She gestured at the controlled chaos of a family packing for unexpected relocation. “That one’s trying to bring a potted plant.”
“Let her. It’ll make her feel better.”
“You’re too soft.”
“I’m practical. Willing hostages are easier to manage than unwilling ones. I should know.”
By the time we got the family settled on the Sky Serpent—with Ferdinand in a reinforced cage that Nyx kept eyeing speculatively—full dark had fallen.
“One down,” Vex said, checking our list. “Seven more to go on this island alone.”
I was already calculating logistics. The Sky Serpent was big, but not that big. “We might need to make multiple trips.”
“Or,” Vex suggested, “we could try being actual villains and just take the ones we need.”
I thought about Auremar, about what he’d done to those he deemed useful. About my mother, murdered for trying to protect me. About all the families who’d be torn apart if we only took some members.
“No,” I decided. “We take them all. Every last one.”
Vex studied me for a long moment. “You know what? You are an excellent Dark Lady. Different from Kaz, but excellent nonetheless.”
“Different how?”
“He rules through fear. You’re going to rule through aggressive compassion.” She grinned. “It’s somehow more terrifying.”
I pulled out the scrying crystal Kaz had given me, turning it over in my palm. I could contact him. Tell him about Ferdinand the Rooster and the families who’d organized their own kidnapping. Maybe hear his dry commentary about my “aggressive compassion.”
Instead, I tucked it back into my pocket. He was in the middle of his own operation in Valmont. The last thing he needed was a distraction.
Besides, I wasn’t ready to hear his voice yet.
Not with Vex’s story still echoing in my head—a year of breaking, the demon wearing different faces, making him think he’d escaped.
My throat tightened. If I saw him now, I’d want to ask questions he’d never answer.
Questions I wasn’t sure I had any right to ask.
Or if he’d ever trust me enough to answer them even if I did earn that right.