Page 31

CHAPTER 31

brIAR

I resist the urge to scream in surprise as I plunge into the surprisingly chilly water. I would’ve thought the Mediterranean Sea would be nice to swim in year-round, but I was apparently wrong.

When I break the surface, I gasp as the cold feels like it invades my bones. My muscles are sluggish to respond as I try to swim away from the boat, still in shock from the drop in temperature.

I grit my teeth and focus on kicking and slicing through the water with my arms. It’s slow going though, and I feel my frustration mounting.

“Call on your wolf, child.”

What? I ask, wondering what that has to do with anything.

Dido sighs, like I’m being purposely obtuse. “She has better temperature resistance than you do. Her fur would keep her warm on this type of swim.”

What if shifting causes the veil not to recognize me anymore?

“I am not suggesting you shift. Simply call on the magic that keeps her warm and wrap it around yourself. It will make the water significantly more comfortable. Trust me. I swam in these waters for most of my life all year long.” Dido’s chest puffs up in pride at the mention of all the swimming she used to do. I bet she was awesome at it, unlike me. I’ll take running any day of the week to slogging through cold salt water.

Pausing my forward momentum, I tread water for a second as I try to visualize my wolf. She’s sitting alert and ready right next to the flame of blue magic. It’s still a relief to see her here every time after she was missing at the Knights’ facility.

Not knowing exactly what to do, I say, Hey. Can I borrow your warmth for a hot sec?

I snort to myself at my unintentional pun, and I swear my wolf rolls her eyes. She chuffs before she glows a soft light blue, the same color as our eyes. When she doesn’t do anything else, I hesitantly peek open my eyes.

Instead of being on the verge of hypothermia, I feel almost pleasantly warm. A huge grin breaks out across my face, and I resist the urge to fist pump. It actually worked. I can’t believe it.

“Of course it worked, child,” Dido comments dryly.

I wince. Sorry. I didn’t mean to doubt you. I’m just not used to my magic responding to my commands yet.

Dido smiles at me in my mind. “It is okay. I was only giving you a hard time, as the kids say these days.”

I choke on my laugh at Dido trying to use the slang of “kids these days.” Shaking my head at her with a stupid smile still plastered on my face, I resume swimming toward the hidden city.

I’m swimming for about half an hour before I reach the shimmering brown magic dome. I hold my breath as I cautiously cross the boundary, waiting for an alarm to sound or Knights to start shouting.

Nothing happens. The Knights keep walking along the ramparts or loading one of their battle ships with something. They don’t seem to have a clue I’m here, which is a huge freaking relief.

Steeling myself to swim the remaining mile, I dive back under the crashing waves again. After roughly twenty-five minutes or so of more swimming, I pull up short. The boats are docked about two hundred yards offshore, if I had to guess. I’m another two to three hundred yards further out from them.

Even though the veil is supposed to camouflage me, it seems risky to swim up to their harbor and walk up the steps cut into the seawall to the city. I’ll be better off approaching from somewhere that isn’t as heavily guarded.

The further inland toward the main shoreline the wall goes, the fewer Knights are stationed on the ramparts. Deciding that’s going to be my best option, I swim parallel to the seawall until I’m far enough away from the battleships.

As I cautiously make my way closer to the seawall, the waves get rougher and rougher, with swells trying to sweep me up and crash over me. Being constantly tossed around is disorienting, and I go under more than once.

My panic rises as I keep trying to go closer to the rocky shore but am dragged back by the powerful waves.

“Close your eyes, child.”

I skeptically squint at her in my mind. I’m pretty sure I’ll be in worse shape if I can’t even see anything. Why?

“Because the waves are disorienting you. You will never make it to the shore at your current progression. Close your eyes and swim in the direction of the wall without stopping. Rely on your hearing to tell you when you have reached your destination.”

How am I supposed to hear a wall?

Dido rubs her temples like I’m giving her a headache. “You aren’t listening for the wall to make sound. You are listening for the sound the waves make as they strike the wall. As that grows closer, the roar of their crashing will grow louder. By the time it sounds like you are right upon the wall, you should be able to safely make it to shore.”

I’m skeptical that her method will work. But as another wave crashes over me, I decide I don’t really have much to lose. I’m going to drown if I keep doing what I’m doing, which would be a super unsatisfying way to die. I want to at least take Ryker out with me if I do get killed.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I dive under the water once more. Even when I turn my head to breathe, I keep my eyes firmly closed and rely on the sound of the waves to guide me. At first, I can’t really pick out any individual sounds in the roar of the waves. But as the seconds tick on, I can start to hear how the water batters the wall.

My mouth twists up into a grin as I keep swimming toward the sound of the waves against the fortifications. I don’t open my eyes until it sounds like I’m about to smack into the wall myself. I’m surprised to see the beach only ten feet away. I’m easily able to stand up, the water only coming up to my hips.

While it would probably be easier just to swim the rest of the way to shore, I’m still a little freaked out by the whole almost drowning thing. I trudge through the water until I reach the dry sand. The beach is an arm’s width wide before the towering seawall juts up.

Craning my neck backward, I feel like I’m looking up and up and up to finally find the end of the wall.

How in the fuck am I supposed to climb that monstrosity?

While I wasn’t asking Dido, she still answers. “With your fingers and toes.”

I huff a laugh. Thank you, Captain Obvious. I was planning to use my hands and feet to climb, but I have no idea how to make it to the top.

“I was the rank of General by the time I died, so that’s ‘General Obvious’ to you, child,” Dido informs me haughtily. She can’t help the grin peeking through.

Snorting, I just shake my head. Seriously, though. I appreciate you being here for me and helping me the whole way here .

“I am always here for you, Briar, and I was trying to say you need to take your shoes off to successfully climb the wall.”

I gape at her and look at the rough stone of the seawall in horror. You want me to do it barefoot?

If so, that’s going to hurt. My feet will be all scraped up after I scale all thirty feet of that stone monstrosity shoeless.

She nods. “Your toes will be better able to grip the holds you find in the wall that way. Doing a climb as sheer as this one, you need every advantage you can get. Otherwise, you’ll fall to your probable death.”

Great , I mutter to her.

No biggie. I, a girl who hasn’t climbed anything taller than a ladder in her life, has to climb a basically vertical wall. If I mess up, as beginners tend to do, I’ll die.

What could go wrong with this super awesome scenario?

“Do not fret, child. I climbed many a wall and cliff face in my time. I would take control of your body, but doing that for that long will sap your magic, leaving you defenseless if you do need to protect yourself. Instead, I will call out holds to you, and it will be fine. Now approach the wall six feet to your left. There is a stone protruding just above where your hand will reach. If you jump, you will catch it easily.”

Blowing out a hard breath because I don’t really have any other choice, I kneel to untie my shoes. Stuffing my socks inside, I knot their laces together and loop it around my neck with my phone.

I may be willing to do a lot of crazy things, but I draw the line at wandering around barefoot in an ancient city overrun with Knights. That sounds like a fantastic way to get athletes foot or some other gross Knights fungus.

Shuddering at the thought of touching any Knight’s toe jam, I approach the wall where Dido indicated a handhold should be. My feet sink into the squishy sand as I go.

It takes a few seconds of scanning before I notice the worn sandstone block jutting out just slightly farther than the rest of them. While higher up, the wall is a creamy color, down here, the white is dirtied by sea grime that I don’t particularly want to touch.

Oh well.

Stepping back as far as I can, I try to get a little bit of a running start before leaping at the wall. My fingers barely graze the jutted-out stone before I plummet back down to earth. I bite my cheek to keep in the scream of frustration that wants to escape, because that would definitely alert the Knights that someone is here.

Backing up, I make the jump again and fail. On the third try, I’m able to get a death grip on the sandstone, but I can’t dangle here from one arm forever.

Now what? I ask while praying my fingers are strong enough to hold me up. I look both down and up, giving Dido a chance to spot any possible holds.

“There is a foothold by your other knee. Step on that to relieve pressure on your hand,” Dido orders.

Feeling around with my knee, I find the indent in the wall pretty quickly. A stone must’ve tumbled out at some point. Tucking my leg into my chest, I’m able to get my foot in the void and push up so I’m balancing on that leg. My handhold helps keep me steady and anchored to the wall.

Dido continues telling me where to put my hands and feet the whole way up the wall. I make a point not to look down much, not wanting to psych myself out with just how far I can fall if I mess up.

Miraculously, I make it to the top of the wall without any near-death experiences, which is a level of coordination I never thought I would have.

Placing my hands on the top of the rampart, I push myself up and come face-to-face with a heavily armed Knights of Aeneas soldier.