Our group reunited with Uncle Rick’s team, and we walked another day. The gorgeous prairie that days ago enthralled me was now kinda, well, boring. But I would take boring any day over Weres or spiders, so I didn’t complain.
Nik’s puffed-up chest and swagger began to melt as we neared the lake that contained the portal. Jens was holding my hand and Nik’s. The Tomtens were vanishing us so we could get closer without being seen. Nik’s eyes were dull with thoughts of losing the life he’d made for himself, however veiled that life may be.
“You okay?” I asked of his cloudy demeanor.
Nik shrugged. “As okay as I can be. I fear I’ve lost your optimism in all this.” He pointed to the side of the lake, where we could see in the distance too many blue and white-haired soldiers flanking the water. “They’ve called in security. There didn’t used to be any guards here. I count three dozen now.” He paled, his mouth falling open at the overly muscled, tall Fossegrimen man in the center. “Is that… How did the Mouthpiece know? How did he follow us here? I thought he was going the opposite direction.”
Even though I was invisible, I shrank behind Jens. I’d never known the fear of being hunted, but the goose bumps all over my body told me it was not a thing one got used to.
I examined the structure sticking out from the center of the lake. It was a rock sculpture twice the size of Foss. I squinted and made out the shape of an enormous fish coming up out of the water on a plank, its tail swishing in triumph. It sort of looked like it was on a seesaw.
A salmon on a seesaw. Salmon Seesaw. I gasped at the secret family password brought to life before me. I ran my finger over Linus’s ashes, wishing he could be here to see it with me, holy crapping in unison as we usually did when something blew our minds.
“What do you need from us?” Jens cast around like an army general, looking for weak points and forming a plan of attack.
“The rake and some space, I guess. Jens, you shouldn’t come down with me. I know Alrik found you that weed, but as soon as I start tearing down the portal, they’re going to know I’m there. They’ll attack with their tritons, and you’ll get hit. Whether they can see us or not, they’ll know where to lunge.”
Jens nodded. “I know, but you’ll never get past their line if they can see you with the rake. I guess you’ll just have to be quick about destroying the portal once we get down there. Then swim us out as fast as you can.”
I really didn’t like this plan, but as I had nothing better, I kept out of it.
When we got a little closer, our party stopped behind a thick smattering of trees that kept us safely hidden. Jens kicked off his boots and shoved them in his red pack, turning me over to Jamie for vanishing. Britta kissed Nik’s cheek and her brother’s, and then it was handed to me to continue our little tradition. I stood up on my toes and kissed Nik, rubbing his cheek to mine. “Be safe, Nik. We’ll give you a real hero’s welcome when you come back.”
Nik brushed his lips to mine, and then whispered against my mouth, “Be brave, Queen Lucy. Thank you for our tawdry night together. You are a treasure, indeed.”
Jens took out the rake from his magic bag and handed it to Nik. My favorite Nøkken shook hands with the men, eyeing them as an equal, instead of someone pretending to be so.
Jens looked to me for his send off, but again I refused him. “You and I don’t say goodbye. Not until it’s true.”
Jens nodded, his expression resolute as he shifted to focusing on the task at hand. Uncle Rick handed him the weed, which he held off on choking down until just before dipping into the water.
Jens put his hand on the back of my neck, gripping me tight as he took control of the group. “Alright, here’s how it works. Everyone goes toward the docks. No one’s going to jump in and try to fight with us or for us. You’re all going to the docks. Nik and I’ll meet you there in one hour. If we’re not there in one hour, gank a boat and leave for Fossegrimen.”
My head jerked in his direction. “What? You’re not seriously suggesting we leave you behind.”
Jens gripped me harder, begging me without words to fall in line and respect his expertise. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Nik and I can row a boat as good as anyone and catch up to you at the first opportunity. Go to Foss’s house and we’ll all meet there.” He stuck his hand out to Jamie. “If I don’t make it, I’m trusting you to be Lucy’s Tom.”
My head whipped from Jamie to Jens as my fate was exchanged by way of a handshake. “What? Jens, don’t talk like that! Jamie’s not my Tom! It’s you or no one!”
Jamie pulled Jens in for a tight hug and a kiss on either cheek. “I’ll keep her safe until my very last breath, brother.” The hug could’ve ended there, but Jens held on a few seconds longer. I could tell in the tightness with which he gripped his best friend that he was anxious about this portal.
Jens released Jamie, delivered a brief kiss to the top of my head without looking me in the eye, and grabbed Nik’s shoulder, his machete drawn.
Jamie reached for my hand to vanish me, but I yanked away from his advance. “No! This is a terrible plan!”
Lucy, do you trust Jens?
I steamed at Jamie’s question. Of course! But this isn’t right. Don’t you feel it?
If you trust him, let him lead.
The look I gave Jamie was nothing to be trifled with, and he took the nonverbal admonition with grace. “Let’s go, liten syster.”
“Little sister?” I inquired.
Jamie nodded, holding onto Tor with his other hand while Foss clamped down on his shoulder. I scooped up Henry Mancini, who nuzzled my chin and licked my face. Britta vanished Uncle Rick and Charles, looking a perfect mix of scared and fierce.
We set off in our direction, and I tried not to grow anxious with every step we took away from Jens.
We were a quarter of the way to the meeting place when we heard it. I turned my head to see the scope of the commotion near the pool. My eyes were wide when I saw Nøkken diving into the water with their menacing tritons sharpened for a swift kill. We all turned to watch, helpless to do anything.
Uncle Rick was giving a command to Jamie, but I was so focused on the lake, I did not hear it. Suddenly Jamie was leading an invisible me, Foss and Tor in haste toward the docks while Britta ran Uncle Rick and Charles toward the water.
“What’s going on?” I demanded, not liking Charles so near the danger. Henry Mancini could sense my fear as I held him to my chest.
Jamie did not answer – a sign that he was engrossed in the new plan. He only plodded us all forward at his quickened pace.
Tor replied, “We’re outnumbered. Alrik and tha halfy’re gonna see if they can help get them out.”
I had a million questions as I trotted along with my head twisted so I could catch glimpses of the lake. I nearly jumped out of my skin a few seconds later when water shot straight up from the lake fifteen feet in the air. It was a wave that went nowhere, but remained tall like a wall until it went plunging straight below, turning itself inside out. Nøkken were thrown out of the lake by the fistful as the red light that signaled the portal was being broken shot up out of the water like an explosive.
The Mouthpiece was shouting orders, whipping his head around as he fumed. He stalked back and forth along the edge of the lake, his dogged search for me made me cling tight to Jamie.
I made several noises of worry and fear when I did not see signs of Nik or Jens. The water thrashed and crashed around the edges of the lake, giving the two plenty of time to finish the job. Uncle Rick and Charles had a firm grasp on their control of the water when they worked together.
When the red light ceased, we knew the portal was destroyed. The Nøkken were focused on the big eruptions of water, but I was zeroing in on the perimeter, waiting for small ripples to let me know that Jens and Nik were on their way back to us.
Tor and Foss were deliberating about the size of the aquatic upset. “There’s no way that’s Alrik. Elves can do a fair amount ta the water, but I’ve never seen nothing like that.”
“It’s that Mace. When he scrambled the rat’s brains, his spell was too powerful. This is him. First his Huldra abilities are too much, and now his Elfish ones, too? Where’d Alrik find this guy?”
Tor’s eyes were wide as he took in the water wall that was building at least two stories tall, and growing. “I don’t know, but I’m starting ta be grateful he’s on this trip. Had no idea halfies were so useful.”
We watched and waited on the path between the forest and the docks for far too long. “Something’s gone wrong. They should’ve been back by now,” Jamie ruled.
All of a sudden, three Nøkken guards broke through the water chaos, hefting a body onto the grass.
There was blood. Too much blood painted the body that I had held only a handful of nights ago. His body was splayed at an unnatural angle, arm twisted too far above his head to be attached properly. My mouth opened, but Foss’s hand cupped it. He didn’t need to. I had no voice to scream with.
White-blue hair now slicked red, Nik was rolled out and dragged by his ankles. The Mouthpiece bent down and checked his pulse. His commanding voice boomed out, “We got him! It’s Nik the Man of Valor! He’s dead. Find the rake! Bring me the rake and look for Queen Lucy! If we’ve got Nik, she can’t be far! Queen Lucy must be brought in for questioning. She’s been seen traveling with Nik.”
Foss’s hand was still clamped around my mouth, but he drew me back and pressed me against his firm torso, posturing to prove I was protected.
My heart sank as seconds passed without movement from the mangled mess that was Nik. I shook away from Foss’s stern grip on my face. “We have to do something!” I whispered, tears running down my face. Henry Mancini licked my cheeks, but it brought me no comfort.
“We do nothing now,” Foss ruled in his finite way.
“But he’s not dying as a hero! He’s going out as a criminal! There’s no redemption in this. He won’t get the respect he deserves.”
Foss covered my mouth again, only this time, it was not as forceful. “This is the way it is for true heroes. They go out for the job, not the glory.”
I willed with everything in me for Nik to move one muscle, to give me a sign that he was alive to some extent.
But Nik did not move. He did not breathe. There was no more happiness in his haughty eyes. There was no more grief in his heart for Kirk. As I looked out at Nik in the distance, I found there was no more of Nik at all. Pesta would not get his soul, but neither would we.