Zenith chucked. “Your eyes give it away.”
He kicked at the ground. “Everyone says that.”
“Everyone would,” Zenith said. “There’re remarkable.” She paused. “You going to eat with us?”
“Only two fish,” he said.
Sam patted the mattress beside her. “But enough is plenty in times like these,” she said. “Best you come on. Zenith’s a far sight more stubborn than I am, and that’s saying something.”
He studied his toes, but he didn’t cross over the threshold. “I’m sorry I ran away,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have.”
Zenith didn’t know what to say in response to the boy’s admission. Instead of saying anything, she pulled a piece of flakey white goodness from the pan and shoved it in her mouth. “Mmm,” she said. “You like fish?”
The boy lifted his chin, and his eyes widened. He licked his lips.
“Come in, then. We can discuss particulars later.”
An hour later, a knock at the door startled them all. “Zenith Calhoun? Are you in there? This is the Unseen Street Peace Force. Come out with your hands up.” A bullhorn amplified the voice, but Zenith frowned. She didn’t recognize who it could have been. Could it have been Paden, determined to get his revenge? There wasn’t any way to know.
The two inhabitants froze and then glared at the boy. Who could know she lived there unless he’d brought them directly to their door.
“Did you do this?” Sam snarled at him.
“I had no idea they planned to follow me,” the boy said.
Zenith’s shoulders drooped. “We have no choice, then.”
“What do you mean?” Sam asks.
Zenith jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “We have to go out the back way,” she whispered. Then she turned toward the door and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Just a minute,” she yelled.
Sam cringed. “You think they’ll fall for that?”
Zenith shrugged. “Worth a shot.”
“Zenith Calhoun, come out with your hands up,” bullhorn voice repeated. “You have ten seconds or we’re coming in.”
The boy raised his eyebrows, and Zenith put a finger to her lips. Sam nodded once and then crouched down, grasping the edge of the painted floor covering. Quietly, they lifted the large piece of cardboard from the floor and placed it on top of the homemade mattress. A square had been cut into the floor with a handhold cut into the wooden planking.
Zenith pointed. “It’s a trapdoor. You ready?”
A smile split the boy’s face.
Sam opened the hatch, and the three climbed down through the floor to a platform suspended beneath the wharf and about a yard above the water. A small dinghy waited on the surface of the water below.
Zenith was the last through and pulled the large piece of cardboard down from the bed, so it was closer to the hatch. “Escape route,” Zenith whispered to the boy. “But it won’t fool them for long.”
Sam stood on the hidden platform. In one move, she closed the trapdoor and pulled the cardboard over the hatch.
“Time’s up,” the voice announced. A dozen footsteps sounded overhead. It didn’t take them long. “Search again,” somebody bellowed. “They have to be here.”
“The water is deep here,” Zenith whispered. “Don’t fall out unless you can swim.”
He clasped his hands in front of himself, his eyes wide.
While the authorities searched the shack above, the trio lowered themselves into the small boat. Using the dock above them as camouflage, they rowed toward the rock barrier that separated the outer bay from the inner swimming area and slipped behind it, effectively escaping from the authorities of Unseen Street.
Captured
When they reached the shallows of the empty beach, the dragon-shifter boy was the first to bail off the boat. He splashed through the shallows, hopped over the low wall, and darted away toward the edge of Unseen Street. A unicorn appeared a moment later, pawing at the ground and throwing sparks into the air. The boy leapt onto the back of the equine, and they galloped away.
Zenith pitched the oars up onto the imported white sands of the artificial beach. The mayor had the bay built to make it easier for Mer and other aquatic beasts—like whale shifters—to come and go from Unseen Street. It was the same beach she’d washed up on.
Zenith grimaced and ducked down in the boat. “Did that seem right to you?” She tipped her head to the side, listening. Nothing seemed out of place. Her stomach twisted. Except the fleeing dragon shifter.
Sam stared after the boy and stifled a yawn. “Not particularly.”
“I’ve never heard of unicorns as a getaway vehicle before either, but that seemed planned.” Zenith scanned the surroundings.
“Maybe the two of them had a special connection. It wouldn’t be the first time weird stuff happened here. We’re a melting pot for the paranormal.”
Zenith shook her head. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. A dark flash at the edge of the clearing caught her attention. It could be a stray beastie or a bird, flying from tree to tree.
“Didn’t the crow stop over here?” Sam asked.
Zenith frowned. “I didn’t notice.” A scream echoed in the distance.
“Was that a woman?” Sam whispered.
“Maybe one of those big bird shifters.”
“Peacocks?”
Zenith nodded.
Sam peered into the shadows. “Do you think it’s safe to get out?”
“Not any more dangerous than staying here.”
The duo climbed from the boat, careful to remain hidden behind the stone barrier. Once the small boat had been secured, they climbed the side of the levy and peered at their home. Fae peacekeepers searched the area. Though, in the growing dark, Zenith couldn’t make out any of the faces.
Two officers sat on the platform beneath the elevated wharf house. The one with a feather in his helmet stared into the distance, but away from the beach. The others milled about without searching anything.
Zenith scowled. None of them searched. It didn’t make any sense.
“Do you think that’s Paden?” Sam asked.
“Could be.” Zenith tapped her chin. “Does the whole thing seem too easy to you?”
“What do you mean?”
“If they’d
