The cool water was refreshing, but the sounds of the water were calming. So much that it felt as if they were lulling me to sleep. I swam faster, jolted by the memory of the Mors, the assassin that had been sent to kill me after its hypnotic sounds had debilitated me. I hoped this wasn’t doing the same thing. Ignoring the mesmerizing sounds, I pushed against the gentle waves until I made it to land. Gareth waited for me at the edge of the water, his expression indecipherable. He had to be as disturbed as I was that we weren’t wet. We were as dry as we’d been before we’d swum over.
“Should we start freaking out now?” I asked, with a faint laugh. It was forced, an effort to calm my jitters. The dark, bleak island wasn’t anything like the island we’d left, which made it harder to determine if the sun was setting. It looked as if it already had. The only indication to the contrary came from looking at the other island and Gareth’s watch.
Stiffening, I examined the new island. Sand and trees were the only things that populated it. The fragrant smell of flowers inundated the air, lightly masking the smell of magic that I felt crawling up my arms.
“The magic here is stronger.” I pointed out the obvious, another nervous reaction. I didn’t like this place. It was too pretty and too serene. Conner had made me skeptical of beautiful and serene places. They could give a false sense of security and lure a person into letting down their defenses.
Gareth and I started to walk past trees, some palm and others that reminded me of weeping willows, long viney branches moving oddly with the gentle breeze. Too animated, as if they could possibly come alive; I wasn’t putting anything past this place.
“Watch out for the trees,” I warned and expected the look Gareth gave me. It sounded ridiculous.
His brows arched. “Of course,” he joked. “They look dangerous.” He pointed to one large one with limp branches that appeared to be struggling to live. “Especially that one. I bet it’s the most dangerous of them all.”um”O””””’;;;;l;;;;llllleeeeee
“Okay, when you get tree-slapped, don’t be upset that I have no sympathy for you. And I’m not above telling you ‘I told you so.’”
“I never thought you were above that. Not one time since I met you did I ever think that.” He stretched his arm out to stop my advance. “Do you hear that?”
I shook my head. He pulled out the knife sheathed at his leg and I followed suit, taking out the twins. We continued to slowly pad toward the center of the island until we came to an illuminated area surrounded by the willowing trees we’d seen before, but instead of the refreshing sweet redolence, the area gave off the powerful and odd scent of cinnamon and cloves. The willows’ long, limp branches spilled over into the large garden. They was only one type of flower, and based on Blu’s description it had to be the one we were after. Harmless-looking, with delicate, pale yellow petals that reminded me of night-blooming cereus—except for the hints of crimson in the middle.
I shrugged off my sheath and took out the bags I’d stored in my pockets. Before I could move any farther, there was a whipping sound. The vine-like branches from one of the trees wrapped around Gareth’s waist and tossed him back several feet. Another branch wrapped around my neck, tightening. I clawed at it. Yanking out the knife I had at my waist, I slashed at it until it released me. I darted out of the way when another branch snapped toward me. I crashed to the ground and landed on a lump. I cursed under my breath when whatever I had hit awoke. After seeing Dorian’s centaur-like form, and Conner’s creatures, I was prepared for anything.
It unsettled the dirt with its movements. I could have easily missed the creature since its skin matched the dark soil that it emerged from. It was another of the oddities on this island: Like Dorian, she was half human and half animal. Her reptilian form stopped at the waist. Nearly twenty feet of her body was visible, and there were still parts that weren’t unearthed. Her upper half was quite human. Spiraling sienna curls spilled over her chest and were the only thing covering the front of her body. Her gentle, welcoming smile was so innocuous it sent off alerts. She possessed a magnetism that reminded me of Vanessa’s, and I stepped back, instantly suspicious. Her attention skipped over me and landed on Gareth.
“Hello,” she greeted him in a light, melodious voice that matched her appearance. Despite the sharp lines of her jaw and cheeks, her face seemed gentle. Too gentle.
Cautiously, Gareth returned the greeting. Again, he garnered a great deal of her attention.
“Why are you standing so far away?” she asked.
I don’t know. Maybe because you are half naked woman, half super-long snake.
She reared back, using her reptilian body to give her extra height, and towered over us by several feet.
“I enjoy visitors, come closer,” she urged. Gareth and I maintained our distance. With a quick, sinuous movement she lowered herself, and a ripple in the earth moved, giving us some idea of the length of her remaining body. She controlled the length we could see with ease, which supported my belief that she was dangerous.
Her brown eyes dimmed and a dark cast spread over her face, sharpening her features like knives. “Now!” Her previously harmonious voice now cut through the air, and magic pulled at us—at me. Gareth stayed rooted in the same spot. Sai in hand, I dug my heels in, aimed one of my blades at her, and countered with similar magical force. She gasped at the retaliation and hissed. Her tongue, which had been human before, was now long and split at the end like an actual serpent’s.
She regained her composure, and her mood softened as she moved in a slow, rhythmic motion from side to side. I watched for a few minutes but taking a cue from Gareth directed my attention behind her. There was something entrancing and beguiling about her, making it difficult to ignore her even for a few seconds. Slinking back and forth, she shifted her body until she was just inches from my face.
“You’ve come to visit me,” she said in a low, sultry voice, seemingly uninterested in Gareth now that she realized her magic was ineffective on him.
“We came to the garden to get Culded.”
Making a whimpering sound as if she’d been personally hurt by my assertion, she said, “No one ever comes to visit me, but just to come take from my land. You can’t imagine how hurtful that is.” Again, she extended her hands to a small section near her. “Please, sit and visit me for a while. I really enjoy visitors.”
Squashing my apprehension, I moved toward the area with Gareth close beside me and took a seat, keeping hold of my sai.
“Oh, put those away, silly woman.” Her eyes flickered in the direction of a small wooded area, darker than the rest of the island, where a crowd of trees hid the bodies of innumerable glowing eyes. “If I had intentions of hurting you, surely I have the means to.” A snout peeked out from the darkness and then a mouth full of dagger-sharp fangs. “No harm will befall you while you are here with me.”
The specifics of her wording didn’t escape me. I was nice and safe as long as I was with her. I could only imagine what would happen to us when we were no longer in her sight.
“Will you be so kind as to tell me what it would be used for?” the woman asked.
I didn’t want to be so kind, but I was positive that being amenable to her request would ensure we got off the island without any further incidents. With the passing moments, her gaze drifted to Gareth—a wanting gaze.
You’re half snake, woman. What exactly do you plan to do with him?
“Are you here only to help her with her mission?” she asked, now just inches from Gareth. He handled it with more diplomacy than I would have.
Shifting his gaze at me, he smiled. “Yes, wherever she goes, so do I. I’d like to think she feels the same.”
“So if I can convince her to stay, will you?” she asked.
Go ahead. You’re just as likely to convince me to give up chocolate—and that’s never going to happen. But have at it, Ms. Snaky. Give it your best.
“Perhaps I can convince you.” A twirl of her fingers, and a lovely
small house appeared just a few feet away, and trees bearing tropical fruit sprouted from the ground. The scents of water, fruit, and fresh earth were quite welcoming. A less skeptical person might have been drawn to it. I looked at it with pure cynicism. Why was she on the island alone? Was she banished from the other one? Was there a reason people didn’t want her there? Was she the reason people came to the island and never returned?
“It’s beautiful and I’d love to stay, but I have a friend who needs the Culded to help her. She needs my help.”
Genuinely hurt by my rejection, she frowned and nodded slowly. “If it weren’t for that, would you stay?” she asked wistfully.
Sure. Why not? Me lying about it won’t hurt anything. I nodded and looked around the darkening island. “Of course, it’s beautiful.”
Gareth quickly jumped up, showing me his watch. What had seemed like minutes speaking with her was actually nearly two hours. How the hell did she do that?
“We have to go. May I?” he asked politely, pointing at the flowers. Shifting out of the way, she watched him with purpose as he plucked several of them from their stems and dug a few others out from the root.
Storing the Culded in a bag, he moved away from the garden and increased the distance between the host and us.
“I do hope you reconsider. Will you stay longer, perhaps until the morning? One night here and maybe you’ll reconsider.” Her genteel, pleading voice was hard to hear; we had no plans to stay and nothing she could do would change that.
“Sorry. We have to go; we can’t be here when the sun sets,” Gareth pointed out.
Scoffing, she rolled her eyes and waved a hand in dismissal. “Are they still telling those tales? Nothing will happen if you stay longer. Did they also say that you’d become part of the water? They do have fun with the guests with their obscene stories.” I listened to her but watched Gareth’s face. His eyes narrowed on her just a bit and his ears lifted ever so slightly to hear the changes in her speech pattern, heart rate, and respiration. There was a subtle change in his disposition. She was lying.
“I figured that, but our transportation will be here. We have to go.” Following Gareth’s lead, I backed away.
When we were out of earshot, he leaned into me. “Be careful. She’s lying through her teeth.” Scanning the area, he pulled out his knife, closed his eyes, and listened for few minutes. He shoved the bag with the flowers into another thicker one that he’d brought, and we headed toward the water. The snake-tress slithered around us, moving rhythmically to music that no one else heard.
“What is your friend’s name? I can send someone to help her and you two can stay longer,” she suggested, her voice a soothing, melancholy cadence.
Still trying to be polite, I smiled. “That is quite kind of you, but I would like to do it myself.”
“Please, I will help her. My gift to you. All you have to do is stay as you said you would. You said your friend’s safety is all that is of concern. I can give that to you in exchange for what you offered.”
“No, I have to do it myself, but thank you anyway.”
I felt bad as she whimpered, looking genuinely hurt and deflated by the rejection. Her mood turned sullen as her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Surely she’d been rejected before, but she behaved as if it were the first time she’d experienced it. Head bowed, she slithered away, her shoulders lowering like her mood.
Gareth looked as confused and shocked by her response as I was. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” he mouthed.
I couldn’t agree more. We quickly made our way to the edge of the island.
A few feet from the shore, the ground rumbled. A tail punched up, slinked around me, and pulled me into the sand. Sand spilled onto my face as I clawed my way up. The tail yanked again, and I was pulled deeper into the sand tunnel.
Gareth exerted the same force, tugging me toward him. She had snaked around my lower body and had a positional advantage. He leaned forward to keep hold of me and prevent her from pulling me away. He used his other hand to scoop away sand until he could grab the twins. He yanked one of the sai out of the sheath and moved from my sight. Within moments, the snake-tress was wailing, her hold loosening. Gareth returned and pulled me up. I yanked out the sai embedded in the sand and the snake-tress and started running at top speed toward the water. Wails of pain echoed throughout the island; we could still hear them as we swam. Dorian met us on the other side, glaring, a scowl firmly fixed on his face.
“What did you do to her?” he spat angrily. His brow furrowed, and although he was in mid-form, his nose flared as if he were a horse. He pawed at the ground, kicking up sand, his aggression apparent.
I pulled out my sai and pointed them at him. “She attacked us. It was unprovoked.”
“She asked you to stay?” he asked softly.
I nodded.
“And you denied her.” He was getting angrier with each word. I suspected he knew we would be asked but hadn’t been prepared for us to decline. I wondered if it was the first invitation, or the first to be declined. Sorrow moved along his features as he looked over at the island, the sounds of anguish filling the air. It was hard not to feel guilty for causing such mournful sounds. Quickly I reminded myself of all the things that were incredibly wrong with the island. It helped that the taste of sand still lingered on my palate, a reminder that she hadn’t taken no for an answer.
“Get off my island. You are never to come back, and if you do, you won’t be allowed to leave.” He’d barely gotten out his request before we were running toward the boat, nearly forty feet away now that the sun had set. Without breaking stride, we dove into the water and swam toward it. Increasingly harsh waves made it more difficult to stay the course toward our ride. A large wave smashed into us; Gareth went under and stayed under for several minutes. By the time I’d made it to him, he’d emerged. Treading water, I craned my head to look back. Joining Dorian were two other people—a man and a woman—and I was willing to bet they were responsible for the change in the ocean, responding to the sorrowful sounds of the snake-tress in the air. My arms were tiring from trying to swim against the turbulent current. One of the crew members tossed us a life buoy, which would help if we could get to it.
Weakened to the point that I was using everything I had to stay afloat, I was resting, treading water, then attempting to get to the boat. The tumultuous waves stopped when I no longer heard the snake-tress’s gentle cries. Unsure whether it was permanent or just a reprieve, I swam as fast as I could to the buoy. The crew helped us onto the deck, where we lay to catch our breath. Gareth was lying faceup next to me.
“That was a hell of a disinvite,” he panted out.
“Do all women interested in you react like that when you deny them? If so, we can’t see each other anymore.”
He barked out a laugh and then coughed up water. “Not usually, but she seemed to be equally interested in us. I guess we are quite the pair.”
After several moments we came to our feet. The wailing started again—gut-wrenching, a disconsolate cry. Sadness pulled at my heart, along with guilt. Turbulent winds followed and rough waves shifted the boat off course. Chaotic gales and volatile swells that almost flipped the large boat continued until we were nearly an hour away.
“Seems like you two made someone very angry,” the captain observed, coming down to the cabin area where we were in clean, dry clothes. Still shivering from the cold water, I inched closer to Gareth, taking in his warmth. He wrapped his arm around me, enveloping me in heat. Gareth ran hot; I supposed it was a shifter thing, although he assured me he was “just hot.” The innuendo train could never pass without him boarding it.
“I have no idea what happened,” I admitted.
The captain’s eyes showed a wealth of experience, and he still seemed shocked by the situation. “Was it a banshee?” he asked with childlike hopefulness.
“Do banshees exist?” I inquired and immediately wished I could recant. I was starting to accept Gareth’s belie
f that nothing was a tale and most things we thought were extinct weren’t.
“I sail for a living; sirens and banshees are all you hear of. The wailing women, the sirens that call to the captain and crew and lead to accidents and ships going missing.”
“No, it was just a misguided snake. Half woman, half snake,” I told him. I still couldn’t help but wonder if she made her docile offer frequently and if she didn’t, what about us had made her want to extend such a peculiar proposal.
“Blonde or brunette?” the captain inquired, becoming serious.
“Brunette,” we answered simultaneously. I moved out from under Gareth’s arm where I’d snuggled in.
“Hmmm. It appears you all are the first to survive an encounter with the supernatural they call the Naga.” The man tried to push a smile onto his face, but it wouldn’t relax from his rigid mask. “Then you all are luckier than I thought. And if folklore is even the faintest bit accurate, you would have been condemned to spend eternity with her. Of course, no tale is complete without someone assuming she’s a god of some sort.” Head tilted, he gave us an appraising look of disbelief, perhaps trying to see what was so enticing about the two of us that would warrant an offer from the Naga.
I suspected it was an ambiguous name given by the person who had first told the tale. She wasn’t a god, but had exceptional magical ability. After considering all the possibilities I concluded she was either a mage/shapeshifter or a witch/shifter hybrid, which would explain her magic and her ability to shift. Or maybe she had fae in her genealogy, since she seemed to have the ability to glamour, too.
“We need to get you back to your plane,” the captain said with a newfound urgency as he started to leave. There was something he hadn’t chosen to share behind his expressionless face.
“Do you think there’s more to the Naga?” I asked Gareth.
He shrugged and frowned, grabbing his phone. He searched and then read the information he found on the Naga. The description of her was nothing like what we’d experienced. The depths of the magical ability weren’t really explored. The Google version of the Naga made her out to be nothing more than a beautiful, hospitable deity. To prove his point about how limited Internet search was, he pulled up Legacy and there wasn’t any mention of Vertu. “What makes someone like Conner dangerous is that the world isn’t aware that he exists.”
Rogue Magic Page 13
