Free Immortal Moon by June Stevens Page B

ruin this lovely night on the
river with Jarrett. I pushed them out of my head and looked out at
the dark water and the lights of the city beyond.
    As we neared the edge of the city, Jarrett
touched the scry-crystal on the dash next to the wheel and gave his
name, rank, and a series of numbers. “The Minnow requesting
departure.”
    A male face appeared on the small screen and
said, “You have clearance to depart through the East river
gate.”
    Jarrett powered down the crystal, then
seeing my look of confusion, explained. “Even though the river
gates rarely get closed anymore, the guard towers still monitor
traffic in and out of the city. Smaller fishing and trade vessels
that don’t carry scry-crystals have to stop at the check-in
station.” He pointed to a long, floating pier with a small wooden
guard shack built on the end. “There’s another on the other side
for incoming traffic.”
    “Wow, I’ve lived in this city over a decade
now and that is the first time I’ve ever been in this area. I had
no idea that was how the gates worked,” I said, awe in my
voice.
    “Only a decade? Where did you live before?”
he asked, curiosity creasing his forehead.
    “More than a decade, probably closer to
fifteen years now. And as for before, I think that’s a story for
another time,” I said, feeling a twinge of guilt for not sharing
with him after he’d told me about The Minnow. But I didn’t want my
past to cast a shadow on our lovely evening.
    “No problem,” he said nonchalantly. “Look
over there, there are some kids night fishing on the rocks by the
gate. It’s technically illegal because it’s dangerous, but the
patrols usually ignore them. The fish gather around the rocks and
wall, making for really good fishing.”
    I looked where he was pointing and could
just see three small figures on the rocks below the glowing crystal
lights that marked the wall. “That is actually something I knew.
Fiona used to go fishing by the western gate. I stayed home with
River. I had no desire to touch stinky, slimy fish.”
    His laugh was rich and velvety. “Note to
self, don’t take Anya fishing.”
    My own laughter joined his.
    We sailed on for several minutes before he
pulled closer to the shoreline, slowed, and then turned off the
crystal-engine.
    “What are you doing?” I asked.
    “Weighing anchor,” he said, moving to the
other end of the boat and doing things I couldn’t see in the dark,
though I heard a splash.
    “Oh. Why?”
    “My intention had been to bring you out so
you could see the sunrise; it’s beautiful as it shines across the
river. But I didn’t anticipate you getting off work early. We still
have a few hours until then.”
    “Is it safe to stay here?”
    “Yes. We are well out of the way of any
other boats that might be navigating the river.”
    I looked towards the dark shoreline only a
few yards away, then back towards the city where the glow of the
night lights was barely visible beyond the trees and the wall. He
must have seen the doubt on my face because he added, “I also have
some pretty strong shield and alarm spells. They’ll alert us if
anyone gets within two feet of the boat, as well as give the
intruders a pretty nasty shock.”
    I knew the types of spells he was talking
about. We had the same thing at the pub. The shield on the front
door was only active during closing hours, but the back door and
all the windows, as well as a perimeter around the rooftop where my
sister grew her gardens, had permanent shield spells powered by
crystals that were charged regularly. They were tuned to the energy
of those of us living in the building. We could pass through safely
at any time, but if someone else tried to come through, they’d get
shocked and thrown back several yards. A second attempt would knock
them unconscious.
    Everything I knew about Jarrett told me that
his shields were even more powerful than ours. I had no doubt we
would be completely safe here, even without the