Chrysalis Ch17: Blood in the Market (pt2) (Patreon)

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          Cadogan is joined by a school of goons, each circling the two women in the centre. Astraea has collapsed to a knee, the warm glow of her hair dimming. The explosion has left her expended, and she struggles to keep focus. With laboured breaths, she holds Neith to steady herself.
          Cadogan whistles at the carnage of bent rebar and rubble around him, patting the wreckage with admiration. He reaches down and wraps his fingers around one of the detached clock hands, lying in a bed of broken glass. As he weighs the bludgeon in his hand, he spits the blood that’s amassed around his snout to speak.
          "Ye know, up North they say a lass shouldn't be given a gun unless she knows how ta fire it." His eyes go dry, white with fury. "Otherwise she's as likely ta get others hurt as herself."
          He tests the makeshift cudgel with a couple swings, listening to it whir in the air. Satisfied, Cadogan slings it over his shoulder and begins to advance on his targets, two compatriots close behind.
          "Seems ye hurt plenty of the fair folk,” he flashes a vicious smirk. “Mayhaps it's aboot time for the other bit ah that equation."
          Neith’s eyes narrow at his jostling. “Stay behind me," she murmurs urgently, straightening up and stepping in front of the dryad. Her hand slides into her sleeve, fingertips edging against the jacket.
          Neith looks to the shark and calls out carelessly. "You've got a lot of friends, Swedish Fish, but do you really think they’ll help? Word of advice: don't pick fights with dryads." She waves an arm around, exhibiting the rubble.
          "They're so bloody messy."
          Astraea wipes tears from her arm, and begins to whisper something frightfully in Neith’s ear. The exhaustion in her movements is clear, but she’s quickly cut off by another loud slash of Cadogan’s weapon.
          The merrow comes to a halt ten paces off. His smile is warm, even paternal. "Issat so? Perfect.” He squeezes the clock hand, the metal creaking under his grip, growing brittle. “Sharks love a bloody good scrap. Hope I get a nice scar for this one. Have fun, lads, an’ leave the fockin’ poplar fer me."
          At his nod, the men break rank from his shoulder, charging and howling like hyenas.
          "My thanks, salt-water taffy," Neith bares her teeth in a vicious grin. Her hand quickly drops from her sleeve, revealing an ink-black twist of licorice in her palm. She pops it into her mouth and bites down. Hard.
          Her pupils expand, her eyes swelling into solid blacks. The first merrow grabs  her jacket just as her fist crashes into his gut. He rolls across the ground, his companion leaping over him to tackle the vampire. With a sidestep, Neith dodges him, her movements so quick that she blurs. Her hand rockets into the elbow of her assailant, ensnaring it in a steel grip. When Neith next speaks, her voice echoes and redoubles as if a crowd has joined her.
          "You’ve just raised my fees."
          She twists, something cracks, and the merrow's arm is bent in a sharp angle. Neith kicks him away and holds her arms out wide, turning in a semicircle towards the school, waiting to parry.
          “Right,” she smiles, teeth extending into needle-sharp fangs. "Who's feeling brave, then?"
          As if on cue, the circling sharks all descend on the Leannán Sídhe…
          And none of them get near her. Neith slips past them like smoke, laughing as she sends men twice her size staggering to the ground with quick steps on their ankles or kicks to their knees. A cavalcade of sound fills the square as the sharks tumble one by one. She's moving faster than they can prepare, hitting too hard for them to shrug off the blows.
          "This is pathetic," she gloats, catching a fist swinging and squeezing it until she hears howls. Neith shoves the assailant back, pivots to crack an elbow across another's nose. As they crawl away in fear, she pounces into the air like a lioness, grin sharpening.
          "But-" She plunges her fangs into the nearest foe. The merrow shrieks as she pulls back, slamming her fist into another shark. Rows of teeth bounce across the cobble. She takes a moment to lick her lips.
          "... You know what, luv? I think I really needed this. Not my usual-" she sneers the few boys brave or stupid enough to stand their ground. “-but refreshing. What’re you all eating to get blood like-”  
          Five feet of copper slam into Neith’s temple. The momentum sends her careening through the air, tumbling against shattered bricks and cobblestones until she finally collides into a broken block of concrete.
          As their leader reemerges, the standing sharks retreat fluidly behind him. Cadogan steps forward, tossing his now-dented weapon into the street with a hollow ring. He slams his fists together, cracks his neck with a snap and drawing a wide stance.
          "Well, warm up’s done. Whit say we put away the toys and do this properly, hey? One blood drenched boogeyman ta another."
          Neith's up on her feet in an instant, but the darkness in her eyes flickers and fades like a dying light bulb. Black liquid trickles from her ear as she gives her head a sharp shake.
          "Oh, now you've done it," she spits bile, snatching a lump of concrete. It breaks away with a mangled pole of fibre rebar. Neith tosses her improvised bludgeon in the air and catches it by its ‘handle,’ smirking all the while. “How’d you prefer I serve you? With chips, or mushy peas?”
          She springs at Cadogan, swinging overhand, aiming for his head.
          Cadogan ducks down and charges forward, arms wide. Neith’s mallet slams into his shoulder with a dull squelch… but it doesn’t slow him down. Cadogan seizes her waist with a crushing grip, charging directly into a plaster wall, tearing through a store filled with screaming shoppers. Cadogan doesn’t relent his surge. Golden trinket and the dust of plaster shower around them as he pierces through a second wall, a third.
          Cadogan only releases Neith when they return to the street, launching her with a heavy kick. Rubble rolls off him with nary a scratch.
          Neith gasps for air, more black liquid spurting from her mouth. With a furious, animal snarl, she hoists herself back upright. She's swaying on her feet, her reactions slow, the colour in her eyes dwindling further. She grips the ‘hammer’ with both hands, its concrete head wobbling. Cadogan smirks as she steadies herself, walking forward-
          -directly into her feint.
          Neith launches a quick jac at his face, before blurring to his side. Focused and energetic, she swings her club with all her strength.
          But Cadogan grasps it firmly in one hand, in her arm in the other. He roars with laughter as the clash of two momentums pulls Neith off her feet. He playfully swings her in the air.
          "Yer a fun wee blood sucker. Ever think ah cuttin’ that contract and joining a proper crew?" With a final grunt, the shark releases her. Neith hurtles back through the hole her body created moments before, rogue limbs and sides snagging painfully against the plaster. Neith can feel her head crack as she spirals through the debris, her descent ending in the middle of the store. It’s empty; the customers wasted no time in bolting.
          Trinkets crunch under the weight of Cadogan’s boots as he lurches forward. "You didn’t have ta die today," he flashes another grin as he towers over her. “We coulda made this simple.”
          ”Piss off,” Neith lifts her head. Dark liquid is still leaking into a writhing puddle around her face, but there’s less with each second. Neith’s eyes have finally dimmed, her reserves spent. She gives a weak chuckle, propping herself up with one hand. “Want me to join your ‘proper crew?’ Heh, pack of guppies would have to be proper first.”
          Neith lashes out at Cadogan with her other hand. A shard of glass glistens in her palm.
          The pinprick punctures Cadogan’s leg. He hisses with pain, retreats a step. Snorting, he slams Neith back into the air with his boot. She goes rolling across the cobbles, limbs flailing loosely around her. When she can finally see without vertigo, she’s staring at the wreckage of the broken clock face.
          And the two little figures crouched behind it.
          Neith squints. "What-”
          Cadogan lunges forward, shiny grey fingers wrapped around her neck.
          "Well, that was fun, innit?" He lifts her off the ground, tightening his grip with each passing moment. He stretches his free arm until the shoulder cracks. "I was really looking forward to that scar, but no shame. Bruises will have ta do.”
          Cadogan joins his hands around Neith’s throat. Squeezing. Waiting for the sounds of a broken windpipe.
          Astraea launches forward in a trail of pattering steps towards the shark. "L-let her go!” she pleads. “She wasn't the one who-"
          Cadogan releases only long enough to backhand her. Astraea spirals back, crumpling into the cobbles.
          "Not YET, lassie! Yer time will come." Blood and spittle pour from his hiss, before Cadogan returns to his prey. "Gotta finish yer dog first."
"Glrk." Neith croaks, grabbing at Cadogan's hands, desperate to pry his fingers away. Her feet kick at the air, far too meek and distant for any chance at a proper blow.
          "Yr -grk- you're mad,” she gasps, clawing at his hands. "Court will -kch- fillet you."
          L crouches back behind the rubble, her breath quickening. Her antennae drink in the blood and fear saturating the air, firing little jolts of adrenaline through her nerves. She glances at Ian, pitching her voice as quietly as she can.
          "Th-that’s Neith. H-he’s not gonna…?"
          Ian’s eyes widen as the name reaches his ears. He turns back to L in bewilderment. "’At’s fuckin’ Neith? Than the shark fuckin’ better. One less problem for us."
          Cadogan’s voice silences their whispers. "Court will fillet me? Why? Fer the poplar?" He gestures to Astraea, who’s desperately trying to make lights sparkle in her hand. All she gets are flickers as the other sharks surround her.
          "You daft fuck.” Through the squeezing, Neith flashes a grin. “She’s a Dryad!”
          "She's a black sheep is what she is,” Cadogan shouts. “A royal bugger up. A little unholy atrocity, at least in their eyes. They’ll pay lip service, wag their fists, and crawl back to their groves like focking gophers. Can ye guess why?"
          Neith is still writhing in his arms, struggling to breathe, Astraea sobbing behind her.
          Cadogan smiles. "Cuz even for revenge, no fockin’ Dryad would be crazy enough to leave their thrones an’ play in this shithole. An’ they don’t want revenge. They don’t want her."
          "It’s not better," L mumbles, her eyes wide. “It’s not.” She can't tear away from the scene unfolding around her. Fresh memories of the Unseelie Quarter rocket through her mind. The scents, the faces, the misery. Suffering no one deserves.
No...

Ǹ̴̊o̴͗͆..

          A flicker of motion draws her attention, and L lets out a relieved breath. A little orange cat is perched primly on an overturned wooden bench, feigning disinterest as they watch the display. The King seemed quite peeved over murder on her streets before. She wouldn’t let another slip from her claws. L starts to ease back -
          - until the cat stretches and yawns, kneading at its seat for a moment before sinking into a little circle. L's stomach lurches, and her breath falls short.
          Cadogan snorts as he tosses Neith to the side. She’s dogpiled by his merrows immediately, arms and legs pinned to the ground, chest exposed. Someone puts a boot on her head, shifting her sight back to Astraea.
          Forcing her to watch.
          Cadogan slowly -dramatically- approaches the Dryad. Perspiration lines Astraea’s brow, and her many attempts to lift herself always end with her face slamming into concrete. The shark crouches down near her, his eyes blazing red. A widening smile reveals rows of sharp needles.
          "Before I murder ye." Cadogan growls, his voice thick with hunger. "Do ye even know how come? Can ye even think of why?"
          "I..." Confusion is plain on her face. The words seem stuck to her throat. "I d-don’t-"
          Cadogan stiffens, and his eyes narrow. He digs a hand into his pocket and thrashes out a photo. It floats onto the ground like leaves in autumn, resting near Astraea’s nose.

          It depicts a large shark in a business suit - this shark, but smiling with limitless warmth. Tucked into his side, shoulder in his hand, is a girl wrapped in a sealskin. They both hold drinks, as if about to toast.
          "Her name was Selkie. Selkie. Ever heard it? She was a friend ah mine. Look. Look at that face. Did ye even see it before you wiped her from the world!?"
          Astraea's eyes try to focus. She reaches forward, hand trembling over the laminate. Her lips twist and her tongue curls, but no words escape her throat.
          Cadogan huffs, bitterness in his eyes. "Rich fockers like ye, all the same. Never even notice when yer steppin’ on wee folk." He snatches the picture away.
          Astraea speaks in short bursts, matching her breath. "I. Didn't. Mean-"
          "I don’t give a bleedin’ fock what yer intentions were!" he screams back. “Look at that focking clock tower! Proud ah that!? You did that to mah fockin’ friend! Ye took someone special ta me, and turned her to fockin’ DUST! Ye didn’t even know her face!”
          Cadogan pauses for a moment, raw emotion and unhealed pain leaking from his voice. He collects himself with a few deep breaths. “Here’s yer fockin’ chance. Have a go ta remember that face now. Hold it in yer wee fockin’ heart as I fockin’ kill ye.”
          The merrow grips Astraea’s shoulders and forces her to sit upright. He leans forward, jaws unhinging until they are far too wide. As her body stiffens, he savours her fear. Savours the scent of her sweat, the thrum of her pulse, the blood coursing through her veins, all of it waiting to burst between the serrated teeth overshadowing her…
          "He's-" L clutches at her sides. The world is turning grey. She can hear Neith choking out curses as Cadogan looms over the fallen Dryad.
          Ian is right. Why does L care? Why is her heart beating through her chest, why is her stomach rending itself to pieces? If she never had to see her again...
- never s̶̛͋ë̶́̄ẻ̷̈́ ̶̂͠h̴͂̃e̷̝͝r̷̓̔ again -
          "I can't, I'm sorry, I can't just-" L blinks.
          She's not behind the rubble any more. She's standing on top of it.
          When did that happen?
          Cadogan’s mouth hangs open. L's wings flare, her lips move, her breath hitches, her throat vibrates, none of it by choice-
"Wait!"
          It echoes like a bell caught in a windstorm. L clamps a hand over her mouth.
          Cadogan stops, drool from his gaping maw sprinkling over the woman. Then he pulls back, clenches his jaw, sits up. Holding Astraea in a tight grip as he turns to the tiny nymph standing above him.
          "L?" he asks, baffled.
          Astraea's hair, which had wilted to a sickly black, surges into auburn, like embers from a dying flame. She turns, tears streaming down her face. "... L???"
          Everyone holds their breath. Waiting for the nymph.
          L squeaks, hand still covering her mouth, all too aware of her vision fading on the margins. She glances around. There are still a lot of merrows standing.
          "Um. H-hello," one of L’s antennae waggles. She gulps, fluttering down from the rubble, craning her neck to look up at Cadogan. L scans the square a few more times. Nobody is… killing anybody at the moment.
          That feels like a good start.
          "... Something going on?"
          Cadogan pushes Astraea’s face to the dirt and pins her with his knee. He promptly turns to L.
          “As ye might tell, Moth, we're sorta in the middle ah somethin'. Business, ye know?” He flashes a playful, almost embarassed grin. “So, how aboot ye run along and not let a worry reach that bonny head ah yers, aye? Understood?"
          Neith snarls and squirms to rip her arm free, but she's held so tight she can barely move. L shrinks back, her mind racing. Cadogan didn’t really know her, did he? What was she to him? A one-time waitress? Another pretty face who laughed at his jokes?
          Was that enough to make him care? He seemed to care about her, could she… use that? Does that work on crime bosses?
What on Earth was she doing?
          "Business?" she asks, pitching her voice a touch higher. "But all these are ruined. That doesn’t seem like good business to me. And… golly, you’re hurting her-”

T̸̓̑a̵͋̊k̴̆̂é̴̛ ̶̏̆h̴̝̅i̶͌̿s̵̄͜ ̸̀̔ȅ̴͊ŷ̴͘e̴̿́s̷͊̔!̷̔́

          One of her hands twitches in a spasm. L forces it back down, a terrified smile erupting from her lips. "That can’t be right, can it? You’re Big C. You would never hurt a girl."
          Cadogan looks as though L has shot him straight through the heart.
"L-Lassie, look. This ain’t… ye ain’t involved, awright?”
          L lets her lip tremble. “But-”
          “Run along now!” Cadogan grits his teeth as he tries to keep his smile warm. “I'll see ye tonight. Go on, shoo."
          L lifts her brow to make her eyes wider, a little sniffle running through her nose.
          "Aw fockin’ bleedin’ Christ fock!" He curses, swinging at the air. He scowls, pointing a clawed hand at her. "Ah know that face, ah know exactly what yer doing, an’ it ain’t gonna work! Ye know exactly what’s going on!"
          "I… I have no idea," L offers, her voice quavering. Her eyes couldn’t be wider.
          Cadogan abruptly places a hand over his eyes. “Nope! Not gonna work on me! Not. At. All!” They stood in silence for several seconds. L can see flecks of red in the shark’s cheeks. “ARGH! Fock it! Get over here! Let’s freshen up yer fockin’ memory!”
          L skips over to him, remaining as cute as possible even whilst a knot tied around her stomach. Cadogan knew about Selkie, and knew L was involved. She didn’t have a direct hand, but would he care? Those jaws seemed big enough for two…
          As soon as L bounded into his reach, Cadogan moved his hand to cover her face, shielding himself for her wily charms. “So, we’ll start with the cutthroat there. Ye remember her? Maybe ye gotta dig a little. After all, she only kidnapped ye and dragged ye ta the Unseelie Quarter. A week ago. I could see how someone could forget that.”
          L blinks. “Well, if you’re bringing it up… she’s not my favourite person, no.” She hunches in on herself.
          Through the makeshift visor, L can see the merrow grin. “Great! Glad we just needed to warm that up! Then ye probably also remember the poplar who hired her. Who hired her ta abduct ye, I’ll say again. An’, since yer a changeling, not a nymph, which, again, mighta forgotten… it’s safe to say she did some things to ye, aye? Sorry ta bring it up, but ye were so insistent ye had no idea.”
          L gives a quick, shy nod. “Wow, Big C, you’ve, uh… got a big network,” she offers a frightened smile with her fake enthusiasm. “You solved the mystery so quickly!”
          Cadogan chuckles, and pulls away the visor. “Aw, it’s nothin’ lassie. Let’s just say… A little raven happened upon me windowsill and happened to spill some gossip.” Cadogan places his hand on her shoulder, smiling sidelong. The hand is heavy…
          But L knows it could be a lot heavier.
          "Nothin’ ye did wrong, L, yer just wee folk being stepped on. A lot like that girl the Dryad here blasted to dust when ye tried to run. The one whose job ye had ta take cuz yer the one haudin’ the poke, as we call it up North. Ain’t that funny? Poplar tries ta kidnap ye, but because she’s royalty, she ain’t facing shite fer her murder, an’ ye get ta be the King’s slave in her place. Excellent joke by Her Majesty."
          “L…” Astraea whimpers. She’s blinking at the nymph with exhausted eyes. “You’re… a white jacket? But you said-”
          She was promptly dipped back into the mud and dust by Cadogan’s boot. “One lass at a time, poplar. This is complicated enough.” He shrugs to L. “Did ah miss anything? Ah think ah covered it all.”
          It takes the nymph a few seconds to break away from the dryad. Her wistful face. Her glowing skin, her hair dimming. But, eventually, she takes a deep breath, swallows, and looks up at the shark.
          "Not at all, Cadogan,” she says forwardly, neutrally. “That’s exactly it.”
          Cadogan breathes out a long, soothing breath. "Good. So ye’ve got the same stake ah do. These people uproot ye, hurt ye, and we both know there’s no justice in those big, shiny Spectral Suites. Ye can run along now. Big C can't undo the pain, but he likes ta take care ah things. Fer people like Selkie an’ yerself. Keep everything right.”
          L’s hand twitches again.
          This isn’t really her business, and Cadogan isn’t really wrong. But she can’t get the image of Astraea’s fearful, sobbing face out of her mind. Can’t get the feelings of horror to escape from her heart or gut.
          Is that because Lyra put them there?
No, L decides, if only because it comforts her to know she’s still in control. She can still make this choice. She could choose what Lyra wouldn’t: peace and mercy. It might not be deserved, it might not help her blackout problem. In all likelihood, helping Astraea would only make that problem worse.
          But even though Astraea had taken her body…
          L’s conscience had remained unchanged.
          L huddles up a little closer, pulling her wings around her. “Do you really think Selkie would want you to murder for her? That I would want that? How would I get that out of my head?"
          Cadogan sits back on his haunches, hands falling to his sides. His leg finally lifts off Astraea, and his eyes go soft. “The way poplar and her fanged friend do? If ah was in yer shoes, ah’d want these two hurt. Ah’d want them to suffer. Ah’d want them in the ground. Can ye honestly say ye don’t? That Selkie wouldn’t?”
          L shrugs. "I never knew Selkie. But what I do know is that you are not me. Would Selkie be different?”
          Cadogan looks away and breathes out a heavy huff. "... No. She wouldn’t. Yer a bit more like her than ah’d care ta admit. Ye win, lassie. Ah’ll let them go. But… that win comes at a price.”
          "What's that?" L asks, her body turning rigid as it guards up.
          Cadogan smirks, rows of teeth shining in the neon, and taps his cheek.
          L blinks, a little taken aback. Nervousness flickers through her eyes.
          But she smiles shyly. With fluttering wings, she floats up and plants a quick, gentle kiss on the grey skin of Cadogan’s cheek.
          "That's my lassie,” Cadogan beams, lifting his arms and gesturing to his crew. The merrows drop Neith and immediately duck for cover. "Ye needin’ an escort back ta the Glade?"
          "I think we can manage," L rubs at her arm, shaking her head as she looks around. In all the commotion, she had nearly forgotten her song. She couldn’t afford to leave empty-handed.
          Cadogan's business card flashes through her mind, and for a brief moment, L considers asking a favour. But Cadogan is too risky: a literal loan shark, with close ties to the Glade and, importantly, Hedrick. And he loved talking.
          On cue with her thoughts, Cadogan winks, still dusting himself off as he departs with his entourage.


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Thanks for reading!

This chapter ended up being so big we're breaking it up into 3 parts.   So you can expect the fianl part to drop Friday August 26th!

See you then!