Wyrmrider Justice: An Underwater Magic Urban Fantasy (The Fomorian Wyrmriders Book 3) Read online

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  CHAPTER ONE

  I GRIPPED NAMMU'S reins as we charged through the water toward the surface.

  "Faster!" I shouted. "I want to go for the record!"

  I don't know if anyone is keeping records of wyrm jumps, La Sirene.

  "We're the only ones to do it, so our personal record, I figure, must be the world record, too!"

  Nammu chuckled. She was a good sport. Besides, with so many children, prepubescent wyrms, clamoring for her attention constantly, she needed to let loose every now and then as much as I did.

  Not to mention, it had been almost a year since the wyrms faced any real threat. It had also been as long since the last time I took a human form. I had my reasons. The last time I was a human, I was bitten by a vampire. Not because she was hungry. Mercy bit me to stop me because the caplatas were using my aspect, bound by a spell, to control a swarm of zombie sharks. Given the circumstances, I couldn't blame her for biting me. But so long as Fomorian merpower was flowing through my body, the vampiric nature was dormant.

  I'd have to figure it out eventually. It had been too long since I went to Missouri to visit Merlin, my son. It wasn't that I didn't want to see him. I missed him like crazy. But I didn't trust myself. Whenever I allowed myself, in human form, or vampire form, to return to the land, I'd be like any reckless vampire youngling.

  Nammu and I blasted through the surface.

  "Waaahhhooo!" I shouted as we flew over the surface. I spread out my arms, feeling the warm Caribbean air and the heat of the sun on my body before we dove back beneath the surface.

  "Our highest jump so far!" I exclaimed.

  Nammu laughed. Short of me sprouting wings, of course.

  "Right," I said. The wyrms were creatures of the void. So long as the elemental power of the sea—Fomorian magic—dominated, she and the rest of them remained as wyrms. But if they encountered more earthen, land-based, or air-based, magic they'd become dragons. Since they belonged, naturally, to a realm the predated material existence, their earthen forms were contingent on the source of magical energy they used to maintain their corporeal forms. So far as we knew, though, their shapeshifting capacity was totally binary—wyrms or dragons. That was it. Technically, I could take almost any form if the pattern of the form I desired was impressed adequately on my soul—like the dragon's essence I had—or on a spell sigil or something. Of course, I was half human, half Fomorian. Now, half vampire-human, half Fomorian, I supposed. Those forms were a part of my essence. I didn't need a sigil of any sort to assume those shapes. Usually, a little touch of magic was enough to catalyze the change.

  "Now, let's see how deep we can go!" I said, holding tight to Nammu's sea silk reigns.

  This kind of recreation wasn't as enjoyable before Tahlia had sea silk armor, complete with side saddles, completed for the wyrms. Now, rather than tucking my hands under her scales, I had reigns to hold onto. I had a saddle that prevented my body from sliding off, which was a regular occurrence without the benefit of legs to help hold myself in place.

  Nammu charged into the deep until the light that illuminated the waters closer to the surface disappeared.

  In mermaid form, I could handle some crazy water pressures. Some parts of the ocean, though, were so deep that I was naturally curious to explore. The seafloor was a wonderous place—more magical than most people realized. Some spots, miles deep, were populated by incredible species, creatures that humanity hadn't yet discovered.

  And this time, we struck gold.

  A whole school of bioluminescent half-fish, eel-like creatures illuminated the waters as we neared the bottom of the ocean. It was striking, fantastic, breathtaking.

  Pinks, greens, blues, and yellows. Much like the various kinds of hallucinogenic kelp the Fomorians often used to to party with, like a drug. These, though, were living beings. They were the kings and queens of their own deep-sea world. Going to the bottom of the ocean was almost like traveling to another planet—or at least what I imagined it would be like to discover a new species in a different world.

  "They're so beautiful," I said.

  They are, Nammu said, still communicating through our psychic connection.

  I reached out my hand as one of the eel-like creatures swam around my forearm.

  We should probably get back to Fomoria, Nammu said. Don't you have a gala planned?

  I nodded. "You're right. But Nammu, I could stay down here forever. It's so incredible."

  I'm not going to differ with your sentiment, La Sirene, but wouldn't you get bored with it eventually? Right now, this place is novel. After a while, it would become ordinary.

  I chuckled. "I suppose you're right. Come on, Nammu, I suppose I need a little time to get ready."

  Nammu nodded—sending my body up and down as I rode her. I held her reigns tightly as she took off back toward Fomoria.

  The gala was important to me. I was making an intentional effort to get to know the Fomorian merfolk. While I was their queen, I hadn't been raised in their world. I had a lot to learn. Not just about how the Fomorian people lived their lives, but I needed to understand their culture, their values, their passions, and desires.

  So far, I'd mostly done this by visiting merfolk at their homes, learning about their families and histories. But the gala was meant to be a celebration of Fomorian culture. We had a talent show planned—an opportunity for the merfolk to show off their various gifts and be celebrated by the community.

  Tahlia, our Fomorian priest, was also a non-indigenous citizen of the kingdom, like me. She was probably my best friend. We had a lot in common. In addition to being outsiders, she was also a hybrid of two species. She was half Fomorian, half selkie. She'd planned a dance for the talent show. Her beau, Titus, a general in the merlegion, was trying his hand at stand-up comedy. Not that he could stand up—he was a merman. I suppose you'd call it float-around comedy. I'd never thought of Titus as a particularly funny individual, but you know, it was his choice. If he bombed, he bombed. At least he'd know to invest his future energies pursuing other passions.

  Nammu dropped me off at Fomoria and took off for the wyrm fields. Both the kingdom and the fields were protected by magical firmaments, shells of Fomorian magic that kept most intruders out. It was more than a forcefield. It was also a cloak. Like the Starship Enterprise, we could go into stealth mode if any human vessels came too close.

  "Have a good ride?" Agwe asked as I swam into our chambers.


  "It was fun," I said.

  "Want to go for another ride?"

  I snorted. When Agwe and I were first married, we had almost zero intimacy. Things changed. Ever since we stopped the zombie sharks. Now he was practically insatiable. It went from feeling neglected, like I'd married the Pope or something, to feeling almost like all he wanted me for was my body, like he was some kind of James Bond, sans all the charisma and charm.

  "A ride?" I asked, feigning ignorance about what he was suggesting.

  "On my merpole," Agwe said.

  I snorted. "Your pick-up lines are lame. And, no, your mertoothpick doesn't appeal to me at the moment."

  "You want to pick your teeth with it?" Agwe asked. "We can do that."

  I rolled my eyes. "No. That's not what I was saying."

  "I want to make sure you know I desire you."

  "Message received," I said. "Can I give you a little advice?"

  "Sure! You want me to try dolphin style?"

  I shook my head. "Again, not what I meant. You can't straight up proposition me like that. If you want to satisfy me, you need to give me a little TLC."

  "Tail licking caress?"

  I chuckled. "No. Tender loving care. You need to romance me a little, compliment me sometimes. Not just my body. I mean, make me feel special."

  "My mermanhood doesn't make you feel special? Most humans would be honored to..."

  "No, they wouldn't. And no, it doesn't."

  "Because it's like a toothpick?"

  I sighed. "I don't care what you have between your scales, Agwe. I mean, size does matter. It isn't all about the motion of the ocean. But that's not the most important thing. I need to feel really desired, like you want me not only in your, you know, mermanhood, but with all of your being, in your heart and soul."

  Agwe grunted. "I'm a Loa. I'm not sure what I have is a soul, I mean, not in the traditional sense."

  "Don't be so damned literal, Agwe. At the core of who you are, I want to feel like I'm your whole world, like in the moment when you're wooing me that there's nothing else, no one else, you want more."

  "I see. I'm sorry. I'm trying, Joni."

  I nodded. "I know you are. You'll get there. For what it's worth, I appreciate that you're putting in an honest effort."

  "Like maybe singing you a song at the gala?" Agwe asked.

  "There you go! That would be so sweet! I'd like that."

  Agwe smiled wide. "Tahlia has taught me a few human songs. I'll see if she has any more. But I think I have the perfect one in mind."

  I kissed Agwe on the cheek. "I'll look forward to it."

  CHAPTER TWO

  I FELT A little bad for Agwe. He was trying. I wasn't lying when I said I appreciated his effort. But as a Loa, a demigod, human, or even Fomorian, romance was totally new to him. He was a Loa of the sea, not a Loa of love—that was Erzulie's domain. Oddly, though, Erzulie was one of his wives. Not in the same way that I was his wife. They didn't have much to do with each other. The Loa didn't marry for romance or for even procreation purposes but to forge alliances. I was jealous about it at first until I realized that despite his buffoonish approach to romance, Agwe really did love me. We just didn't have our love languages in sync.

  Once the wyrms were all equipped with sea silk armor, I managed to get a few lovely pieces commissioned by the Fomorian tailors. This was the first occasion I had to wear the dress they'd made for me. It was low cut in the front, the neck line in a v-shape that extended all the way down to my belly button. Like most sea silk garments, it was black and form-fitting around my butt. From there, it flowed nicely around my tail.

  I'm not usually one to boast about my appearance, but, damn! I looked good.

  Fomoria, due to the glow of the firmament above, generally had a blue hue cast over everything. Tahlia, who organized the gala, had secured long strands of luminescent red kelp that she spread across the whole area. It gave the venue, combined with the blue light from above, a lovely purple tint. It was delightful.

  Tahlia also prepared a large spread of shellfish. The Fomorian diet was more limited than a human diet. A part of me still craved a chicken fried steak and sweet potato pie. It had been too long. Of course, if I went back to the surface, I'd probably crave human blood now. Probably wasn't worth the risk just to enjoy some good southern cooking.

  Tahlia insisted I enjoy the evening. She'd take care of the details. I wasn't supposed to MC the event or worry about anything. This was a chance for me to mingle, to be one of the people. An opportunity to get to know them and for them to get to know me better. Sure, I'd been queen for more than a year now. But in their minds, since their last monarch had reigned for centuries, I was still new. Since I'd saved the city and the world twice now, I'd also earned an extended honeymoon period. Sure, the Fomorians honored me, they respected me, but they didn't know me. To them, I was La Sirene, your Highness, and my Liege. They still didn't know me—they didn't know Joni.

  I intentionally found a family I didn't know well. Sure, I'd seen them around. I'd visited about half the people in Fomoria at their homes. But I don't think I'd ever spoken to them.

  They were nice merpeople—the husband was, I believed, low ranking legionnaire. I wasn't sure what his wife did. Everyone in Fomoria had a responsibility. Not a job. They didn't get paid. Anyone who did their duty, though, and completed their tasks had access to whatever they needed, whatever goods or wares anyone else produced provided that they took only what they required. It took me a while to get used to how the economy worked. Hell, my parents were Republicans. They believed in the virtues of capitalism. This was like the exact opposite of that—a sort of communist utopia, I suppose, if one were to ascribe some kind of political philosophy to the system. Since Fomoria was a self-contained community and only interacted on rare occasions with other Fomorian outposts worldwide, it seemed to work.

  "How y'all doing?" I asked, joining the family at their table.

  "Your Highness!" the man of the family exclaimed. His wife stared at me wide-eyed in surprise.

  "Just Joni," I said. "Tonight, I don't want anyone to think of me as the queen. It's important to me that we get to know each other, you know, as people."

  The husband of the family cocked his head. "Are you sure?"

  "Absolutely," I said.

  "I think it's refreshing," the wife said. "We aren't used to monarchs who take such interest in our personal affairs."

  "Well," I said. "First thing's first, what are your names?"

  "I'm Eldoris," the husband said. "This is my wife, Cordelia, and our two children, Shelly and Finn."

  "We're not children!" the girl, who I presumed was Shelly said. "We're eighteen!"

  "Twins?" I asked.

  Eldoris nodded. "They're itching to leave home. But you know, in Fomoria, even when you leave the spire, you're never too far away."

  "Exactly dad," Shelly said. "Which is why there's no reason to keep delaying it. We can handle ourselves, and if we need your help, you're never more than a short swim away."

  Finn, the boy, hadn't said much. He was distracted. I followed his eyes. He was watching Evan, one of my more trusted merlegionnaires.

  "Do you know Evan?" I asked.

  Finn shook his head. "Not really."

  "He's obsessed with him," Shelly said. "Brother has a crush!"

  I smiled. "He's nice. You should go talk to him. So far as I know, he's single. You never know what might be possible."

  Finn fixed his eyes back on the table and popped a shrimp in his mouth. "Yeah, maybe."

  "My brother is shy," Shelly said.

  "Shelly!" Finn said.

  "What? You are! It's not like it's a secret."

  "It's embarrassing to have you tell the queen that I'm shy."

  "Nothing to be embarrassed about," I said. "A lot of people are shy. But once you take a few risks, put yourself out there, I think you'll find that there was nothing to be afraid of. You'll really come out of your shell."

  She
lly giggled. "Out of your shell."

  "Oh, sorry!" I said. "Your name."

  "They're used to it," Cordelia said. "I suppose we weren't thinking about all the potential puns that might result from giving our children such common names."

  "Speak for yourself," Eldoris said. "I told you that we should name them Starfish and Gil, but you put the nix on those ideas."

  I cocked my head. "You think they'd avoid the puns with those names?"

  Eldoris shrugged. "What kind of pun could you make of the name Gil?"

  I cocked my head. Seriously, he didn't see it? "I don't know," I said, keeping my thoughts to myself. "Still, I like Shelly and Finn. I think they are nice names."

  "Thank you," Shelly said. "I love my name."

  "Only because you aren't named after a body part," Finn said. "Might as well have named me Butt or Elbow."

  I smiled a little. "Well, for what it's worth, I think Finn is a much better name than Butt."

  "I suppose you're right. You could have named me for a fish, like my friend Sperm Whale."

  I snorted. "You have a friend named Sperm Whale?"

  "Yeah," Finn said. "The kids in school were ruthless about it."

  "I can imagine!"

  "Finn is a fine name," Cordelia said. "Finn is just in a mood. He gets that way sometimes."

  "Mom! I'm sitting right here."

  I smirked. When I was his age, during most of my teenage years, my mother was in a coma, and my father was working all the time. I never had the pleasure of experiencing public humiliation at the hands of my parents. Though, I knew plenty of people who did. It was entertaining to watch. Even if Finn didn't see it that way. Hell, he wasn't that much younger than I was, really.

  "You know, Finn, I could talk to Evan for you if you'd like."

  "Oh no!" Finn said. "Don't!"

  "I wasn't going to tell him you like him," I said. "But you're of the age when you're probably thinking about what your vocation will be in Fomoria. I could tell Evan you're interested in what he does. Did you know he monitors my map room?"