around to keep it safe. I was in the garden. It has a shallow pond I like. Middle of the summer, middle of the night. There was a full moon. I could hear the tide coming in.…” He trailed off, smiling at the memory.
“Go on.”
Ryker shook his head. “It was more interesting to Trade to my other form. That’s all.”
Thalia sighed. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how.”
“Remember, your danger is not the only danger. Until you control your Trades, the manticores you attract will endanger Nell too.” Ryker lifted his hand, as if to pat her shoulder again, but stopped himself. “Keep trying. I’ll be upstairs, waiting for the lawyers.” He let himself out the double doors and closed them firmly after.
Thalia was alone again. She told herself she was glad. She paced around the pool trying what others had tried. There was nothing amusing in her situation. Although Thalia suspected it would be possible to be bored with pacing eventually, she would never be bored into Trading.
From one end of the chamber to the other, around and around the pool, Thalia paced. As she paced, her temper rose. What kind of nonsense was this?
On what might have been her fiftieth circuit of the pool, Thalia decided to change direction. As she turned, Ryker’s jacket fell from her shoulders. She stepped back to try to catch it but failed. Then she stumbled as her foot caught in the crumpled fabric.
Too close to the edge, Thalia thought. She twisted to regain her balance. For a moment she was sure she could. She was wrong.
Thalia fell into the pool.
The water was cold. It was far deeper than it looked from above. Thalia discovered that even as she flailed her arms she could not reach the side.
Thalia could not swim.
As she sank, Thalia saw the bubbles from the air her clothing held float up around her, at first so many they blocked her vision, then fewer, then none. As Thalia sank, the light above her seemed to dim.
Thalia fought the water but it was too deep. Once she bobbed to the surface, but her clothes pulled her back down and she sank before she could get a deep breath. Gasps and half breaths were all she could manage.
Thalia was possessed by anger at her own stupidity. Yet even as she redoubled her effort, she discovered she could not fight her way back up. The struggle lasted too long. Defeated, she exhaled. She knew it was only a matter of time. She could not keep from inhaling long. Then water was everything.
Thalia knew she was dying. She could feel her hands go numb. She tingled everywhere, but the strange sensation could not distract her from the underlying pain.
Thalia went cold to the bone. She flailed again, still enraged, still determined to go out fighting. She would not end like this.
Thalia’s vision came back. The wicked cold had gone. The water had released her. She could breathe freely. All the pain was gone. She was on the surface of the pool, but in no danger of drowning. She rode the dwindling ripples with ease.
The water moved up and down beneath Thalia in a way she found pleasant until she remembered these were the ripples she’d made when she was drowning.
Behind her, the double doors opened.
Thalia looked around without moving her body. It was no trouble to turn her head farther than she ever had before.
Ryker was standing on the threshold. The gaslight reflected on his spectacles, which made it hard to see his eyes, but she could tell he was smiling.
Beside him stood the two policemen, Inspector Ottokar and Officer Kelly. They were not smiling. Their eyes were wide. Their mouths were open.
Thalia turned to face them, spread her wings wide, and hissed at them with every iota of anger and aggression she could muster. It felt wonderful.
“As you see,” Ryker told the policemen, “we were telling you the truth. Miss Cutler is a Trader.”
“You Traders.” Inspector Ottokar glared at Ryker. “Think you’re funny, don’t you? Where have you hidden the girl?”
Thalia hissed at them all again, and Ottokar in particular.
“I assure you, this is Miss Cutler.” Ryker’s sincerity was clear.
Inspector Ottokar choked, “She’s turned into a goose!”
“Oh, no. Take a closer look.” Ryker’s smile was wide. “In fact, Miss Cutler is a swan.”
* * *
Being a swan, even after Ryker had urged the policemen to stop gaping and leave with him, suited Thalia to perfection. She wasn’t cold. She wasn’t