Page 32 of Cathmoir’s Sons (Bad Boys of Bevington #5)

Chapter 32

The Tritones

CAILEáN

A lthough my Element is Air, I feel a deep kinship with the creatures of this strange corner of the mortal world. The “monsters” who make their home here rage against the encroachments of man. They defend what they’ve claimed as theirs and are reviled for it. Slaughtered for it. Just as I was. Just as my consorts were.

I settle the bag containing the gifts I’ve assembled for the tritones more firmly on my shoulder and grip Rhodes’ hand. I know I shouldn’t become overly dependent on him during this expedition. I’m dragging him away from Bevington during what might be his final month of school, which is unfair and unkind. I wouldn’t blame him if he resents me for it later. I also don’t want to divert him from the hunt for his cousin’s killer. But having a Water mage is so convenient for this hunt and Arch would never agree to have a Water mage on our team.

That’s right. The reason we only have Fire, Air, and Earth magi on our team is because a Water-power would threaten our team leader.

I glance at Arch, who is talking with Gabe.

“Ready?” I ask Arch.

He nods. He refused the depressurization incantation that Luca found for me and Teddy’s enchanted shell. I’ve never understood his antipathy toward Teddy, but he’s always avoided her. Bizarrely, he accepted not one but two bundles of sea glass from Jou, even after I made Jou explain the soul-hour price in detail.

Maybe it’s not bizarre. Jou’s an incubus, a Fire demon. Arch only trusts his own Element. It only seems bizarre to me because I know who I’d trust out of a selection of me, Teddy, and a demon lord—and it wouldn’t be the demon lord.

I look over at Jou, who is huddled with Danny over our tech-mage’s impressive pile of equipment. Danny’s got a half-assembled holographic map of the Straits up. Jou’s turning it to examine the anticline that’s intrigued all of us.

The anticline’s the site for our planned dive this afternoon. But on this grey morning, with a bitter north wind biting our fingers, we’re headed to a deep blue triangle on Danny’s map, which he’s helpfully labeled “Tritones’ Trench.”

I squeeze Rhodes’ hand, and we head into the surf. With Rhodes’ power coursing through me, the transition to breathing underwater is smoother and doesn’t leave me feeling like someone’s stomped on my lungs. Although I first learned to swim over a thousand years ago, I’ve never thought of myself as a particularly powerful swimmer. Holding onto the golden cord Rhodes spins out for us, flush with his power, I get a taste of what it feels like to cut through the water the way he does. There’s huge force behind each kick, each plow of my arms through the water. There’s no resistance from the Water: it flows with each motion, buoys his muscles and cools them so they never burn or grow leaden. He could swim forever. Water accepts him in a way Air has never accepted me. Air is mine to shape, to wield, but I’m always conscious of exercising my will over it. Rhodes’ control of Water is unconscious, a muscle memory buried so deep it’s as autonomic as his heart beating.

Rhodes leads us west, away from the mound. The mats of sea grass are thicker here, protecting the smaller fish that swirl in hypnotic spirals around the fronds. The grass reaches up to tickle our wetsuits like soft fingers.

We must be half-way through Viv’s spell, which is only on me and Arch this time to give us as much time as possible, before I spot a flash of pearly scales. I tug on the cord connecting me to my consort. Rhodes backpedals and turns to follow my pointing finger. He kicks off to follow the tritones, diving down through the waving columns of sea grass, pushing them aside with his free hand.

Three sharp, silvery prongs, arrowing toward Rhodes’ throat, stop our forward momentum. Rhodes jerks back and the undulating grass hides the trident again.

Then a clawed, webbed hand parts the grass. Huge, luminous eyes in a face almost as feline as a Cait’s flick from Rhodes to me to Arch. Gill covers flare under the tritones’ jaw for moment; its nearly flat nose flaps. Is it scenting us through the water?

I wait a respectful moment for the tritones to evaluate us, then pull a string of beads out of my bag. I have several gifts in the bag, mostly Teddy’s enchanted stones. I thought about offering one that would allow the tritones to breathe above water. But that struck me as showing my Air bias. Why would creatures of the deep want to venture onto land? Instead, I offer a set of stones that will allow the tritones to project its thoughts into my mind for a few minutes at a time. I just hope its thoughts are close enough to fae that they don’t give me psychosis.

The tritones holds out its trident but doesn’t jab it at me. I loop the beads carefully around one of the prongs.

The trident, clawed hand, and huge eyes wink back into the greenery.

Arch and Gabe swim up beside me. Arch points to where the tritones has disappeared. I shake my head, hold up my free hand and make a fist, which is our team’s recognized gesture for “stop.” I know Arch is impatient. I am, too. But chasing after the trident-wielding merperson is a way to get prongs through the heart.

That’s wise .

The thought is soft, a gentle current running alongside my own thoughts.

I focus on our intention in coming to the Straits.

You are not the first to seek the Devourer. She has eaten all who have come before you .

I contemplate how much I’d like to avoid being eaten. The current shifts to amused eddies.

You are not welcome in our Accetus . I get the sense of a settlement, maybe even a city. But I will bring our leaders to meet you here .

I project acceptance and welcome but also urgency since we don’t have much time before we have to return to the surface.

The wave-kin whose scent you wear can help you stay longer .

Rhodes, I surmise, and feed the tritones our names. Then I let my thoughts touch on Arch’s aversion to letting others do magic on him.

Untrusting but fair. Return to the surface. I will bring the leaders to meet you when you dive the Breast at high tide .

I confirm and tug on Rhodes’ cord before giving the thumbs up to return to the beach.

Once we’re all ashore, Arch opens his wetsuit and drags it down to his waist even though it’s freezing. Freaking fire mage. He stalks over to me. “What happened?”

“The tritones said we weren’t welcome in their settlement, but he’d bring his leaders to meet us when we dive the mount.”

I’m not sure why I identify the tritones as male. I didn’t see enough of his body to make any determination. But his thoughts felt male. Or maybe I only have male thoughts for reference.

Arch scowls. “Why should we trust them?”

“Why shouldn’t we?” Rhodes counters.

“You don’t understand how we work,” Arch grumbles at Rhodes. “We don’t make friends with the locals, and we don’t tell anyone what we’re doing.”

Arch doesn’t make friends with the locals. I prefer to. They often have invaluable knowledge.

“The tritones is aware of the target,” I say. “He called it the Devourer. He warned me that it has eaten everyone who has come before us.”

Arch grumbles. “They could beat us to the target. We should go back out now.”

I glance at Rhodes. He doesn’t seem tired. But I don’t want to overtax him, or Gabe, and I could certainly use a break. Now that we’re back on land and no longer connected, my shoulders and thighs are aching.

Law pads out of Danny’s tech-tent and wraps a towel around my shoulders. “I think you should rest before attempting a second dive,” he says, gently squeezing water out of my hair.

“I agree,” Rhodes says. “Neither of you are used to swimming like this. The currents are strong and even with Gabe and me towing you, you’re expending a lot of energy. I think you should rest.”

Arch crosses his arms over his chest. “I’ll take Val with me if you two need a break but I’m going back out there now. I’m not letting them snatch our prize.”

“There’s no reason to think they’ll try,” I point out. “They consider it a death trap.”

Arch looks away from me, out into the Straits. “We’ve been lucky so far. We can’t count on our luck holding. We need to be out there.”

“You could try to ward the mount,” Danny offers as he joins us. “Keep them away.”

Gabe begins to protest.

“Sure, that wouldn’t antagonize the tritones or anything,” Rhodes says. “Look, I might not know how you operate, but I know plenty about underwater ecosystems and if you start throwing Fire or Air wards around down there, you’re not just going to fuck up the local ecosystem, you’re going to attract the attention of anything with a drop of magic in its blood. Whatever’s there has been there a long time. It’s going to be well-guarded. You don’t lose anything by waiting.”

Arch shakes his head and glares at the horizon.

“I agree with Rhodes—” I begin.

Arch scoffs. “Of course you do.”

Law’s growl rumbles over the sounds of the surf and seabirds.

“Be reasonable,” I say. “Let’s stick to the plan. We take a three-hour break and then we dive the mount this afternoon. If you’re concerned about the tritones after we meet the leaders, Rhodes and Gabe can try to ward the mount in some way that doesn’t damage the local ecology. Agreed?”

I can tell Arch doesn’t agree by the way he refuses to meet my eyes. I watch him for another moment, unsure if I should continue to argue or leave him alone. This isn’t the first time we’ve disagreed about how to run a hunt, but I’m usually the one to cave. It’s Arch’s team; he’s our leader.

For the first time, I don’t feel any impetus to give in. Yes, it’s Arch’s team, but I don’t really need them. I know just a thing or two about running a hunt. Between my boys and Teddy’s, I’m not worried about tackling anything we might find. I wouldn’t ever cut the team out of one of my finds, but if Arch throws a tantrum and storms off, and the rest of the team follows him, it won’t end the hunt.

Maybe I don’t have much of a poker face and Arch reads all of that in my expression. Or maybe he realizes he’s surrounded by Water, Air, and Fire mages, none of whom owe him any loyalty.

He grunts and trudges off toward Danny’s tent.

“Point, Kellan,” Gabe says quietly.

“I don’t like arguing with him like that,” I murmur back. “He’s usually an excellent team leader with a firm grasp on how to best use everyone’s talents. And I’ve never known him not to put the team’s safety first.”

“He’s out of his element, quite literally,” Gabe observes.

I nod. None of our other Fire mages want to get in the water. I should recognize that Arch is pushing himself and give him a break.

I take a step to follow Arch when Rhodes wraps his arm around me and tugs me back to cuddle me against his chest. “Let him stew for a minute or two. Won’t do him any harm.” His other hand drops to cup my belly. I don’t know why the boys keep doing that – there’s nothing to feel yet – but Law slept that way last night. “How’s our little Mare?”

“Mare?” I ask. Did they discuss names while I was sleeping?

“She’s a sea-baby.”

“Because I went diving while she was in utero?” I ask. “I don’t think so. Also, is she definitely a she?”

“Mmm, no, I can’t tell, but I’d like a girl.”

At least he’s interested in my pregnancy. “Luca seems a little hesitant about us having a baby.”

Rhodes shrugs, his chest rising and falling against my back. “I wouldn’t have asked you to get pregnant so soon, but I’m not hesitant. I’m all in. And I’m gonna convince you about Mare. Mare Azzurra Hale.”

That’s really pretty, actually. “I’ll be calling her Zura.”

“Call her anything you want. I can’t wait to meet our little mermaid.”

He’s just as broody as Law. “How many kids do you see us having?”

He shrugs again. “Dozens. I got lots of names. Nerea. Ondine. Sirena. Pearla?—”

I swat him.

Five of us swim out to the anticline: Rhodes in the lead, me following, Gabe leading Arch and Val. Three tritones are waiting for us near the sea cave on the anticline. I don’t know why I expected them to look alike. Humans are highly individuated.

So are tritones, it turns out.

One, the pearly shark, is cut along what I consider to be classic “merperson” lines: a long, fishy tail, smooth-skinned chest, human head, shoulders, and arms. The pearly shark is covered with scales that reflect the colors of the ocean: blues from powder to ultramarine that shade into emerald and deepest indigo with flashes of white, pink, and vibrant orange. Some of the scales are etched with runes I don’t recognize. I stare at them, perhaps too intently, trying to memorize them so I can draw them for Luca. The tritones’ head is smooth with a black crest that flares as we approach.

The tritones beside the pearly shark looks like a lionfish, with fluttering fins in brown and muted gold that obscure anything but a vague oval shape with huge eyes peering out between the waving fins.

The third tritones is as sleek as its companion is frilly, but instead of a tail, this tritones’ lower body splits into eight tentacles that shade from dark orange near its torso to bright pink, the tips gently curling in the current.

The pearly shark extends its trident toward me. Fronds of yellow-green seaweed are impaled on the trident’s sharp tips.

The pearly shark mimes taking a piece of seaweed and eating it.

With a faint roll of my stomach, I tug a piece of seaweed off the trident and stuff it in my mouth, getting an unavoidable mouthful of seawater as well, which I try to siphon out through my teeth as I chew the seaweed.

The seaweed has a licorice taste that isn’t terrible, but I’m happy when I finally swallow it down. I’m happier when it stays down. Val visibly regurgitates it and has to chew and swallow a second time. Arch glowers and glares but eats the seaweed. I guess he didn’t like being excluded from the conversation last time.

The tritones’ thoughts slip into my mind as gently as the last time.

Agati and Despina, Elders of our Accetus, welcome you and your friends .

I focus on my appreciation that the tritones have greeted us with acceptance rather than hostility.

We have no quarrel with the Children of Maia except when they disturb our Accetus. Father Ocean welcomes all. Agati and Despina bid you abandon your search for the Devourer’s secrets. You and your friends will find nothing but death delving into her Breast .

I push my thanks for the warning to the front of my thoughts and follow it with the knot of my feelings for Carrie and her instruction that I should go after Ulune’s Daughter.

The pearly shark bows his head over his trident.

You must honor your mentor-mother’s wishes as best you can. We will not stop you, only wish you success where all before you have failed .

Well, that’s not chilling or anything. I glance at Rhodes who swims closer to me and bumps my shoulder in silent support. I assume he’s hearing the pearly shark in his head, too, but I can’t tell from his expression.

I wonder if there’s anything the tritones can tell us about what we might face diving the anticline.

There are three guardians who guard the entrance to the Devourer’s throat: the Shadow Sisters. They will require something you don’t wish to give. Only one of our kind has returned from meeting them and he killed himself not long after, broken in heart and mind. Whether others have passed them or have been killed by them, we cannot say .

I let my thanks flow to the tritones in a steady current.

The tentacled tritones, Despina, moves toward me, her tentacles tap-tapping over my wetsuit. One wraps around my wrist and her thoughts pulse through my mind with a gentle thrumming, like a heartbeat or the lap of waves.

Whatever you seek from the Devourer, it is not worth your life or the lives of your consorts, Queen of Crows .

I project my thanks for her warning and when her thoughts ruffle through my memories of finding the Magi of the Mists, I feel her surprise.

You are a teacher. We are also the teachers of our people. Teachers are precious. Do not waste what you have to give by throwing your life down the Devourer’s maw .

I push Teddy and Gabe and Charlie to the front of my thoughts to show Despina that there are several teachers among us. I follow that with a reassurance that I have no intention of wasting my life. I have more to teach, and much, much more love to give my consorts and our growing family, before I return to the Mother’s bosom.

We are driven by love of our families, too. You are unlike others who have come to plunder the Devourer’s secrets, Queen of Crows. I hope you return from the Devourer’s Breast .

I focus on my thanks and hope that we can learn from each other. The tritones’ luminous eyes track to Gabe; she nods her crested head at him.

If you return, bring your teachers to us here and we will trade knowledge. Father Ocean protect you .

I picture the Mother’s welcoming embrace and tug on the line connecting me to Rhodes. He tears his gaze away from the tritones. With his free hand, he makes a thumbs-up toward the surface.

I’m not sure why he wants to cut the dive short, but this is his Element. He’s the expert here and I’m always willing to follow an expert’s advice.