“The fuck is a kelpie doing here?” Katsuro bellows, pointing a cwed tip finger at Apollo. I sigh and scratch the back of my head and then glide my cws through my hair, combing out the tangles. “Is no one else armed?”

  “I think it’s cute,” Chloe chimes, rising to her feet. “We should keep it.”

  “Do you know what a kelpie is? It’ll eat ya.”

  “Okay, everyone,” Megan says, cpping her hands together. “This is Apollo. We met him yesterday when Roharu and I went exploring around the floor. He’s pretty harmless.”

  The kelpie snorts.

  “... Okay, he’s retively harmless, but that doesn’t mean you should push his buttons.”

  “So, I can pet him?” Chloe beams and rushes towards the kelpie, who rears back on its hind legs and kicks out at her. It lets out a sound so terrible that my eardrums pop. “Oh.” Chloe’s shoulders slump and her mood deftes. “I guess it’s simir to a wild horse, then.”

  “Apollo,” Megan corrects. “He has a name.”

  “Sorry, Apollo.”

  “Am I the only sane one here?” Katsuro throws his hands up. “Fox, do something about this.”

  “If I could, it would have been done yesterday.” I shrug one shoulder and work to pack up the camp. We will need to come across more beasts so we can create more bags to carry our items. “The kelpie—” I falter under Megan’s gre. “Apollo cannot die. At least he cannot on this floor. I do not know what the next level will bring or if he can even travel with us.” I direct the st part to Megan. She is too kind-hearted and far too attached to this beast. “More importantly, we came across a room with a door that should lead to the next level or out of this dungeon.”

  “What’s the catch?” Katsuro scratches his ear. “Ya would have gotten us yesterday if there wasn’t one.”

  I quirk a brow. Amazing. He is not as dumb as I thought. “There is a puzzle of sorts to it. On the wall are a variety of cogs with different shapes and colors, but on the floor are only three buttons. There are no other clues in the room, though I will take you to the room, so we are all on the same page. There must be other clues around this level that will open the door.”

  “Maybe there are some items?” Megan says, petting Apollo’s head. I cluck my tongue. The kelpie leans into her touch, and I do not care for the attention that beast is receiving. “Since the trick to opening the door requires buttons. Maybe it isn’t so much of an order of buttons to press as it is gathering items that match what’s on the wall?”

  “I’on like it,” Katsuro grumbles.

  “You’re just pissy because you didn’t come up with it,” Chloe says, rolling her eyes. “I’m all for it. Let’s go see what this room looks like and then maybe split up to find clues?”

  Megan shakes her head. “Let’s stick together for now. Roharu and I didn’t go far yesterday. No telling what else is on this floor. We should stick together.”

  I haul the bag over my shoulder. “Let us go. We will do as Megan says.”

  “You’re only saying that because you two are fucking,” Katsuro grumbles, too low for human ears to hear. I curl my lip back and fsh my fangs. “I still don’t trust the kelpie. By nature, they try to get your trust and then they kill you.”

  “Some could argue that is what every other creature does. Like cats.” Why am I taking up for a beast? My stomach churns. Katsuro’s concerns are valid, and yet I am annoyed that he is not trusting Megan’s judgment. Said judgment that nearly got her killed by that cupcake. I pinch the bridge of my nose and motion for Megan to come next to my side. I lead us back to the room with the door. Katsuro growls and grumbles under his breath as he runs his hands over the cogs on the wall.

  “I agree with your initial assumption,” Chloe says. “These buttons look like something heavy needs to sit on it... maybe?”

  “As long as it matches the cogs on the wall, I think the weight shouldn’t matter. We should keep our minds open. It could be something as small as a pebble.” Megan blows out a breath. “Man, I hope it’s nothing that small. That would suck so bad.”

  “We will check the next room. It may have something of value. If weight is an issue, then we have two demons, including me, in this party, and Apollo should be able to pull a decent amount.” The kelpie in question lets out a low squeal, which I take as confirmation that it will be of assistance to us. Katsuro scoffs and strolls out of the room with his hands behind his head. His tail flicks every so often. Chloe jogs after him and throws a gnce over her shoulder. “Are you sure you do not want to ditch them?”

  “We are not ditching them,” Megan says, exasperated. “You just don’t like Katsuro because he’s a cat.”

  “No. It is because he is a dumbass.”

  “I heard that!”

  “One would hope so, lest your ears are full of fleas,” I deadpan as we walk into the much rger room. There is a chest off to the side. I grab Megan’s wrist before she can run towards it. “Vixen, I will disarm it.”

  “How do you know it’s a trap.... oh boy.”

  The human, Chloe, has the chest opened, and it snaps its fangs at her. Katsuro rips the top off and tosses it to the ground.

  “Chloe! What the fuck,” Katsuro excims. “You don’t go after every chest you see.”

  “It wasn’t every chest, though. That was the first one I have seen,” she points out. Chloe crosses her arms and kicks at the chest. “I thought it would have a clue in it.”

  “I’mma need you to get a clue.”

  Chloe gasps and tugs on Katsuro’s ears, bringing him down to her level. “You take that back.”

  “Oi, let go.”

  “No.”

  “Can we leave them behind?” I ask Megan. She shakes her head and walks over to the chest.

  “There’s something sticking out of its tongue,” Megan says, pointing to the lifeless tongue. I walk over and squat next to her. There is something there. I set the bag down and pull out a dagger. “What is it?”

  I hold up the blue and green cog. “A clue. Looks like the human—Chloe—was correct.” I wrinkle my nose. Smells strangely of oil.

  “See!” Chloe excims. “I knew it had something in there.”

  “Ya almost got your face bit off.”

  “I’m going to bite your face off if you don’t knock it off.”

  Megan leans over and looks at the small cog in my hand. “So, there should be two more somewhere else, then. Hopefully.”

  “We are splitting up,” I state. Megan squints at me. I quirk a brow. If I stay in Katsuro’s or Chloe’s presence any longer, I will feed them to the kelpie. “We are looking for smaller cogs that match those on the walls. We will take the other half of this level, and you two can scope out the rest.”

  “And then what? We meet back in the room?”

  “Let us meet back by the water and go from there.” I pocket the cog and pick up the bag. Katsuro jerks his head and heads out with Chloe. My ears twitch. Those two never stop arguing.

  “They like each other,” Megan says after a moment. It does not take us long to reach the other side of the level. Still, I do not scent any beasts other than the kelpie. Perhaps they are all in the water?

  “Those two are more likely to strangle one another than to end up together.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” she says. “If Chloe didn’t care, she’d ignore him like she ignores you.”

  I stop and tilt my head. “There is no reason for her and me to speak to one another.” We continue to search the rooms, but come up empty. How frustrating.

  “Anyone ever tell you that you’re kind of a dick?”

  “Ah, but you love my cocks,” I remark, running a hand over the stone wall. A lot of these rooms are bare, and nothing stands out. My stomach tightens as unease coils around me. The only thing of value so far has been the room with the cogs, the room with the treasure chest beast, and... the water. I side-eye the kelpie. “What do you know, Apollo?”

  The kelpie sps its hooves on the floor and shakes its whole body. It then tilts its head towards the door.

  “You think it’s in the water?” Megan asks.

  “Yes, unless the cat and his human have found the other two cogs, then there is no other pce to search. This floor is uneventful except for what lurks beneath.”

  “Apollo and I will go then.”

  “Absolutely not. My trust in the kelpie is hanging on by a thread and you want to go down into the water’s depths with a beast that is known to drown its victims?”

  “... Apollo doesn’t like that.”

  “He can fall over dead for all I care. Your safety is more important to me than his fragile feelings. You are not going under the water. We know not of what else lurks in those waters.” I huff and lead us back to the water where Katsuro and Chloe are waiting. “Did you find anything?”

  “Only one more cog,” Katsuro remarks. “You?”

  I shake my head. “No, we suspect we will have to search the water.” I side-eye the kelpie. “I will go with Apollo. I can hold my breath longer than you,” I tell Megan as I drop the bag and toss off my shirt and gloves.

  “You aren’t seriously getting naked right now.”

  “I am not walking around with wet clothing. This should not take long.” I strip off the rest of my attire and grab a dagger. “We will search for the next cog.” I do not trust Apollo to tell the truth if he does find it, and there is the possibility that he may not be able to grab it, since he only has hooves.

  “Oi! Fox,” Katsuro calls, wrapping an arm around Chloe and pulling her close to him. She turns her head and presses it to his chest. “Don’t die.”

  I snort. “Do not pn to. Let us go.” Apollo bends for me to grab a hold of its mane. I run my tongue over the tips of my fangs. This is the dumbest idea I have had since I was a kit. I grab a hold of the kelpie’s mane and grip the dagger in my other hand. The kelpie jumps into the water and swims so fast my head spins. We are covering a lot of ground.... that is a small town.

  Apollo clucks its tongue and swims faster. The pressure is a bit much, but it is nothing I cannot handle. We come across a group of kelpies who swarm. I grip the dagger tighter. One kelpie is bad enough, but five of them are a pain. I knew it. This beast is nothing more than just that.

  Apollo lets out a shriek that sends ripples and the other kelpies let out low whines.

  Huh? They are not making any moves to attack. Apollo makes another sound and must get the answer he wants because he takes a sharp left. He pauses in front of a building where a topless woman emerges. Her dark hair covers her breasts and goes down to her naval. Her tail is made of shiny scales and at the end is... I make a sound in the back of my throat. Apollo swims closer to the woman.

  A cog on the end of her fin. I grit my fangs and crack my neck. So, the st clue is a beast. The woman opens her mouth and for a moment; I am dazed. The sound of her voice reminds me of spring when the flowers bloom. She opens her arms and beckons me closer. I let Apollo go, who tries to nip at me. Perhaps to stop me. Or perhaps he is upset about his meal being taken away.

  Megan’s face fshes across my mind. I keep my face bnk as I swim closer until I am a hair’s width away. Up close, the woman’s eyes are as dark as her hair. She opens her mouth, splitting her face in half. Blood spurts forth and she chokes. My eyes never leave hers as my fingers tighten around the dagger, now plunged into her chest. I pull it free.

  “You resisted. How?” She coughs and pces a hand over her chest where the dagger pieced her. My lungs scream at me. I am running out of oxygen. I jerk my head and Apollo swims and bucks his head into the woman’s face. She screams while I work to cut the cog from her fin. “You damn beast!” She swims away right as I cut the cog free.

  Thank fuck.

  My throat constricts. Shit. I need to get back up to the surface. Apollo stares at me for a beat and then urges me onto his back. My lungs scream at me, and my mind goes bck for a moment. We are traveling faster than how we came down and the pressure on my body is nearly too much.

  Shit.

  There is no way Megan would have been able to handle this. I am barely managing to stay conscious. When we break the surface, he shakes me off and I nd on the hard stone, wheezing for air.

  “Roharu!” Megan cups my face and gives my body a once-over.

  “Got it.” I hold the cog up and cough.

  “We saw a hint of blood,” Katsuro says.

  “Mermaid. Siren.” I squeeze my eyes shut. “Can I get my clothes?”

  Megan ughs and then kisses me. “You ever do that again, I’ll kill you.”

  I open my mouth to tell her I love her too, but the words get stuck in my throat. “Got it.” I sit up and run a hand over my face. “Let’s get out of here.”

  AutumnBanks

  Thanks for reading!