Page 29

CHAPTER 29

brIAR

L ooking out over the tropical waters surrounding us on three sides, I try to see any hint of a hidden part of the city. I can’t find anything. There’s no strange shimmering, odd disruption of the almost hypnotic waves, or a single thing out of place.

I turn around to stare at the sprawling city full of cream-colored stone buildings, domed roofs, and a mashup of surprisingly modern architecture with buildings dating back to the Romans. It’s a gorgeous city, and I would love to have time to explore it.

A cruise ship’s horn from the nearby bustling port startles me from my thoughts. Unlike the cruise passengers, we aren’t here to enjoy the white-sand beaches or stunning architecture. We’re here to find the Knights and hopefully take them out.

“Any idea where we go from here?” I ask my mates as I spin back to face the ocean.

Malachi points out a tiny boathouse at the end of the pier. Unlike the nearby port, this stretch of sand and rock is practically deserted, with only a few dilapidated boats bobbing sadly in the water.

No one else offers any suggestions, so I take off in the direction of the boathouse. My sneakers sink into the soft sand as I walk, and I kick sand up into my shoes with every step. I’m going to be bringing home a mini beach with me at this rate.

With his long strides, Malachi catches up to me in no time. He walks in front of me as usual, and Xander and Saint flank me. Bastian walks a few steps behind. When I turn around to glance at him, I see his head on constant swivel as he marvels at the natural beauty around us.

We don’t speak as the squat white-plaster building comes into focus. Its flat gray roof has holes in several spots, and most of the windows are boarded up with rotted-out planks. The building looks like it’s been vacant for a while, so I don’t know how much it’ll help us.

I’m proven wrong when an old man shuffles out, a scowl twisting his weathered face. From his earthy scent, I’m pretty sure he’s a shifter of some sort. At the very least, he doesn’t smell like a human, so hopefully he knows about the hidden city.

His sharp brown eyes lock on the five of us, and his frown deepens. Brushing some of his thin white hair out of his face, he barks something in what I’m pretty sure is Arabic. Out of the many languages Malachi knows, he’s only familiar with the basics of Arabic, which isn’t enough to speak it.

When he sees the confused looks on our faces, the man huffs. He makes a shooing motion with the hand not holding his cane. “Private property.”

I reach into my jeans pocket to pull out the map. “We were hoping you might be able to help us find this.”

The man bares his teeth at me and refuses to even look at the paper I’m holding out to him. “What do you not understand, girl? Private. Property. Now leave.”

My stomach sinks at his vehemence. Sure, we have the map to the hidden portion of the city, but we have no idea how to access it or what we’ll find once we get there. Someone like the shifter guy, who apparently hates our guts, would be super useful to help us navigate it.

I blow out a breath and try again. “Could we rent one of your boats?” Maybe offering to pay him will make him like us better.

Apparently, I said the wrong thing because the man seems even more offended. His eyes start to glow an eerie purple color, and his muscles start to bulge under his plain linen tunic. Staring me down, the man snarls, “I cannot be swayed by money nor anything you have to offer, girl. Now leave before I make you.”

Growls sound around me, my mates not liking the threat any more than I do. But I can’t focus on that because Dido seizes control of my body. I seem to stand taller as the legendary queen booms, “Descendant of Zorus, your commitment to your mission is commendable, but you are needed for a new, extremely important task. I require access to the part of the city that is obscured by magic. Will you show us the way?”

The man’s eyes go comically wide and lose their purple color. “My queen?” he asks, his voice high-pitched with surprise. He looks like he’s about to pass out, his tanned skin turning a sickly green color.

Dido dips her head regally, her grace when she controls my body continually surprising me. “Yes. I am Dido, the first queen of Carthage. Will you help me?”

Who’s Zorus? And who is this guy? I ask.

Dido gets a faraway look in her eyes in my mind, like she’s longing for a time long since gone. “Zorus was the gatekeeper of Carthage. He kept the city secure and protected our inhabitants from invaders. One of the traits of his unique magic was that his eyes glowed Tyrian purple when he was upset or threatened. It makes sense that one of his progeny is guarding the secret part of the city.”

Why do we need him to show us the way? Wasn’t this here when you ruled?

“This part of the city must have existed while I was alive and was the location of our castle. However, before my death, it was not obscured by magic or separated from the rest of the city. It makes sense that things expanded and changed after I no longer ruled because Carthage was fairly young at the time of my death.”

“Of-f-f course,” he stammers as he drops into a low bow. “I am at your service, my queen.”

At his willingness to help us, Dido fades away. The old man still doesn’t move from his uncomfortable-looking bow. “Um, you can get up now if you want.” He straightens and looks at me expectantly. “And you can just call me, Briar. I’m one of Dido’s many times great-granddaughters, but she’s reincarnated into me. What’s your name?”

“I am Jad. Why do you want to see the cloaked portion of the city? It was once beautiful, but it is now overrun with Knights of Aeneas soldiers.” His mouth pulls down at the corners at the thought of the Knights. I don’t blame him, because the Knights suck.

I glance at my mates, wondering if I should trust this guy. Dido seems to, but I don’t know if it’s wise to reveal our plans to a stranger. Malachi stares at the man critically for a moment before giving me a subtle nod. None of my other mates object, so I tell him. “We’re trying to find the source of the curse that keeps female wolves from shifting and break it.”

Jad gasps in surprise. “What makes you think the source of the curse is in there? That part of the city has been abandoned for at least a thousand years.”

Handing him the map, I let him look over it for a moment. His brow furrows as he hands the weathered paper back to me. “According to letters we found in my family vault, Dido’s final resting place is the source of the curse. Another letter helped us find that she’s buried in a hidden part of the city, which I guess wasn’t cloaked in her time?”

He shakes his head. “No. The veil went up before the Romans sacked the city in the third Punic War. This was to protect the most historically important parts of our city. Some Carthaginians continued living here until a thousand or so years ago, and my family never stopped guarding this entrance, even though we were unable to stop the Knights from moving in through the back. All this time we have been searching for her tomb, a closely guarded secret. How did the map maker find it?”

I shrug. “I’m honestly not sure. My grandma Livy didn’t leave us all that much information, other than instructions to find the curse and destroy it.”

Jad’s face falls from learning that I don’t have any more information on how Livy found the burial site. If she were still alive, I’d ask her because I bet it was a pretty wild story. Anything involving the curse is.

Rubbing his unruly white beard, Jad nods to himself. “I will help you access the concealed part of the city.” I grin and start walking toward one of the boats. His sharp voice stops me. “Not here. We need to approach it from the back. The front entrance is heavily guarded by Knights. They’ll pick us off before we even get to the city proper.”

I try not to let the disappointment show on my face that we can’t just get this over with. “Oh. So we can’t leave from here?”

“We have to leave from a different dock, and we should not cross the veil until night falls. That will keep the Knights from noticing us as easily.” Jad limps back to the boathouse, his cane clomping against any rocks it hits. He disappears inside.

I exchange confused glances with my mates, but none of us make a move to follow him. If he wanted us to come into the boathouse, he would’ve said so. I, for one, don’t want to piss off our only way to Dido’s tomb, so I stay where I am.

After several minutes, he emerges from the small plaster structure, clutching a scrap of paper in one hand. He shuffles over to us and thrusts the page at me. I take it and see a neatly written set of coordinates scrawled on it.

When I look up at him questioningly, Jad says, “Meet me at that location at seven this evening. Do not be late. The waters around the veil get rougher and more dangerous the deeper into the night you try to sail them.”

“We can do that.” I give him a small smile that he tentatively returns. His face then turns serious once again as he heads off to inspect one of his boats.

While we portaled here at seven in the morning our time, it’s already four in the afternoon in Tunisia. We have a few hours to kill before we meet back up with Jad. I guess we do have some time to explore the city after all. With a grin, I practically skip down the sandy peninsula and toward the incredibly interesting architecture.

* * *

“I kinda expected him to be here early with his insistence on us being on time,” Bastian remarks from where he sits on the dock. His legs are dangling over the crystal clear waters as we watch the last rays of light fade from the sky.

Xander pushes a hand through his hair as he kicks a rock around with the toe of his boot. “He said be here at seven, not before. There’s a difference.” His voice is dripping with exasperation, probably having conversations about being punctual a million times with Bastian. While I love Bastian, his carefree personality doesn’t really lend itself to being prompt, unlike Xander who is always exactly on time.

Saint pulls out his phone to check the clock. “We still have ten minutes before he’s supposed to be here, anyway.”

We’ve been here for half an hour or so. The guys, mostly Malachi and Saint, weren’t thrilled that I wanted to wander around an unfamiliar city close to a place we know is crawling with Knights. Since I had the four of them with me, they eventually relented. I got to see the Medina of Tunis, the ruins of Carthage, and a bunch of old architecture. I thoroughly enjoyed it. My mates, less so, but they were happy I was happy.

My thoughts are interrupted by a soft humming that grows steadily louder. Squinting, I can just make out the faint shape of a boat gliding over the waves. As the boat rapidly grows closer, I see Jad at the helm and let out a breath of relief. That’d be awkward if we were camping out on some rando’s dock.

Water sprays up behind Jad as he gets within ten feet of the dock. He cuts the motor and rides the choppy waves the rest of the way to where we are. Bastian jumps up to avoid being squished by the vessel. When he reaches us, Jad climbs out of the boat and ties it off before waving us toward him. “Come on. We do not have time to waste.”

None of us say anything as we hop on. Bastian’s the first to jump into the run-down vessel with peeling white paint on the sides. I eye it cautiously, hoping it won’t sink on our trip. I really don’t want to be stuck in the ocean at night with sharks and other random sea creatures that would probably love a midnight snack of a tasty, tasty Briar and mates.

Bastian holds out his hand to help me in. I take it and carefully step into the boat that’s gently swaying side to side. Xander, Malachi, and Saint board after me. Jad unties the boat and gets in. The small vessel is cramped with three giant shifters, a very large mage, an old guy, and me. There’s not even enough room for all six of us to sit down.

None of my mates take a seat, wanting me to get first choice. I appreciate the thought, but since I’m the smallest, it makes sense for me to get any room remaining. “I’ll just sit on someone’s lap.”

Malachi nods and reaches out to grab me around the waist. Before he can, Saint snatches me for himself. I let out an embarrassing squeak as I’m unexpectedly yanked backward and crash into Saint. He lets out a deep chuckle at my surprise as he sits down and arranges me on his lap.

I turn around to see Saint flashing a smug smirk at Malachi who lets out a huff but doesn’t argue. I guess finders keepers applies to me when it comes to my mates.

Once we’re all seated, the boat roars to life underneath us. Jad expertly turns it around and sets off back the way he came. Whereas the vessel looked like it was gently floating over the waves, it’s actually aggressively bouncing over each ocean swell. My stomach turns at the way we’re thrown around, but I try to ignore it because we have bigger problems to focus on.

“How do we cross the veil?” I shout to be heard over the noise of the motor and the boat slapping into the waves.

“You have to let the veil sense your magic,” Jad explains without taking his eyes off where we’re heading. “That is how it kept the Romans out when it was created and how it keeps humans out today. It is a mystery how the Knights managed to cross it.”

Huh. That’s actually pretty cool that it can sense magic. Unfortunately, the Knights, as usual, found a way around everything we do to keep them out.

I run a weary hand over my face. “They have mages working with them. Superpowerful council ones. Who created the veil anyway?”

At the news the Knights have council mages working for them, Jad shouts something in Arabic that sounds like swearing. “I never liked mages,” he hisses in disgust. His eyes go wide when he remembers that Saint is one. “Other than your mate, of course. And my family was responsible for creating the veil. We have magic that is not entirely from this world. That is why I guard it.”

Saint grins at the old man. “I hate most mages, too, so you won’t offend me.”

“What do you mean ‘magic not from this world’?” I ask in mild horror. All I can picture is incredibly powerful magic-powered aliens invading the world and enslaving all of us.

Jesus fucking Christ on a bike . That’s a terrifying thought I really don’t need to worry about with everything else on my plate.

Briefly looking at my probably horrified face, Jad cracks a smile before shaking his head. “We are not the only realm in existence, nor are we the most powerful. However, most of the other realms have never heard of us, so their magic rarely trickles into our world.”

That’s… a comfort, I guess. I’d rather just forget I learned that there are other realms filled with magic-wielding aliens who would definitely fuck us up if they knew we existed. If that’s not a horror movie already, it definitely should be.

Moving on.

“Do you know what defensive measures the Knights have?” I ask.

“No. I rarely venture through the veil. The Knights have occupied the city for the entirety of my life. It is not safe to get too close or to spend much time there, like it once was.” Jad stares wistfully into the distance for a long moment. “It is one of my greatest wishes to see the city restored to its former glory before I pass on to the next life.”

My chest aches at the longing in his voice. I don’t want to promise too much, but I find myself needing to comfort him. “I don’t know about restoring, but to break the curse, we also need to evict all the Knights. There’s a chance you’ll at least get to see the city free of them.”

That, of course, is if everything goes according to plan, which it rarely does. But I have to believe we’ll find a way regardless.

Jad dips his chin in acknowledgement. “If anyone can accomplish it, it is you, my queen.”

We lapse into contemplative silence for the remainder of the hour-long boat ride.

Breaking the quiet of the night, which has only been interrupted only by the hum of the motor and the crashing of the waves, Jad says, “The veil is straight ahead. You will feel a tugging sensation. It will not harm you. That is the veil’s way of tasting your magic.”

Nodding, I brace myself for the feeling of someone rooting around in my chest. While I expect at least a mildly uncomfortable sensation, I instead feel like I’m wrapped up in a warm, soothing hug. I snap my eyes open to see if anyone else feels the same thing, but everyone aside from Jad has their faces twisted in a grimace.

Jad has the same blissful smile that’s probably on my face, and I wonder why the veil doesn’t seem to bother me. I don’t have time to dwell on it because the city quickly comes into view.

“Oh fuck,” I breathe when I see the state of the city.