“Besides,” I said, drawing his questioning look away from Jodi’s face, “if you’re here on the beach and not in a panic in the water, you’ll have more control over your powers and can help us better. What if Jodi and I can’t call the angels to our side? You’ll know when something is beyond our control, and you can call the angels for us.” I watched his face as he thought about what I said, and I realized he was measuring our words for a lie or at least trying to see if we were just trying to mollify him to make him feel better. Finally, he gave one reluctant nod of his head.
“Fine,” he whispered, and even I felt the knot in his chest loosen when he accepted that he wouldn’t be going back out into the dark abyss. But more than that, he seemed to accept that just because he was staying behind, didn’t mean we thought him weak, as a man or as an equal. We each hugged him tightly before we turned back to the water, black and glistening. Were it not for the sour smell that had settled like a bad aftertaste in the back of my throat, it would have been inviting.
“Just don’t doubt what you know you can do,” I said to Steven before releasing his hand and stepping into the water, the chill zinging through my legs and up into my body. The only physical weapons we’d brought with us were our silver athames, which we had strapped to our calves in hard plastic sheaths. I had to trust that their freshly sharpened edges, along with the residual magic they contained, would be enough of a physical threat against those terrifying claws and razor teeth.
Soon, the waves were closing in around us and it was getting a little too difficult to continue walking, so we gave ourselves over to swimming, even though that meant we would be that much easier to attack from the side or behind. I could feel Jodi’s fear tightening around my midsection like a lifeline; it was almost peppery in my mouth, but it said a lot about her that, even though she was this scared, she came out with me, even more so that she helped me keep Steven on land.
We were in the middle of the sets now, with waves crashing behind us and new ones rearing up in front of us. I had considered paddling out on surfboards, giving us a floatation device in case we were pulled under the water that would also work as an anchor and tell us which way was up and to the surface. But Jodi had never paddled a surfboard in her life and a crash course in paddling a board through waves was just not something we needed to deal with tonight. I just prayed that wasn’t a damning mistake as we pushed up and over yet another wave. They seemed to be coming harder and faster than what was typical for this time of night.
They know we’re here, I thought at Jodi, who was more than four feet away from me. Suddenly it became very important to have her much closer to me, and I dove under the surface of the water, kicked hard, surging forward in her direction. Her pale skin was easy to see, even through the murky water, as her feet kicked and her hands plunged under the water as she swam. I broke the surface just in front of her, causing her to start and yelp, water filling her mouth at she did. She spit it out quickly, almost gagging as she did so.
I put a hand over her mouth just as she was about to speak, no doubt to ask me just what the hell I was doing. Yeah, that’s pretty much the gist of it, her sarcastic thoughts lanced through my mind, but I just put a finger up to my mouth to motion her to be quiet as we waded in the water. We had made it past the set waves and were floating in the rolling water now, tiny white peaks bursting around us as the water pitched.
We’re drifting, Jodi thought at me just before the start of a wave picked us up and pushed us back about five feet, setting us down inside the first row of waves again, and I mentally cursed at my carelessness. We both turned in the water to swim back out and reclaim those lost few feet when I felt a swirling in the water around me. I knew we were too far out now to be caught by a natural riptide, but just as I watched Jodi get sucked under, I was reminded we weren’t dealing with anything natural now, no matter what Deb and her coven thought.
I heard her mental cry and prayed that she had the sense to keep her mouth shut when she was pulled under and swam as hard and fast as I ever had in my life. I remembered when I was young, about six or seven, and my dad had brought me out to the water to teach me how to body surf for the first time and one of the first things he did was teach me how to get out of a rip tide. There is always a momentary panic that leaves you helpless and makes you do the exact wrong thing, no matter how many times you’ve told yourself you’re not going to do that. Right now, Jodi was swimming frantically, her arms working so hard I could feel the weariness building in her muscles; unfortunately, she was trying to swim against the current.
Stop it! I mentally screamed at her, the best I could do; if she’d been in this kind of a panic on land, I would have had to slap her. The emotion in my command rocked her, and for a moment she went still, letting the current whisk her even farther away from me. Focus, goddamnit, Fae! Focus! I screamed in her mind. She shook herself and started working her arms again, but this time she was swimming towards me and not the beach. It took some effort, more than I thought she had left at that point, but after what felt like hours, I felt the seeking rush of water release her and she barreled right for me, crashing into me as I swam towards her.
“Easy,” I said, rolling her over onto her back to float most of her weight while I pulled her shoulders up onto my chest and kept an arm around her, under her arms, giving her the chance to rest. She was gasping for breath as if we had just run a mile in P.E. class. Her heart was pounding against her ribs like a caged bird, but she was okay, and for that I could breathe easier.
“I’ve never,” Jodi started to say, but she still didn’t have her breath yet to speak clearly, so I shushed her gently. Why the nymphs were giving us the luxury of collecting ourselves, I didn’t know, but I wasn’t foolish enough to think we had all the time in the world. I pushed some of my energy into Jodi to give her the chance to recover faster. I felt her chest calm under my arm and felt her lift most of her weight off of my body, so I slipped my arm free and floated back, letting her roll over in the water to face me.
“How we doing?” I asked, feeling every bone in my body tense, ready just in case she was snatched away again.
“Better,” she said, her voice no longer breathy. “I’m sorry I panicked,” she said, but I waved her apologies away, drops of water flinging from my hand as I did.
“Don’t apologize, everyone panics at first,” I said. “We’ve got to focus now though. I don’t know why they’re letting us stew out here.”
“Maybe they’re trying to lull us into a false sense of security,” Jodi said, turning in the water like I was, trying to watch all the different directions at once. “Maybe trying to drag me away was just a distraction.”
“Maybe, or maybe they’re still far off and they were trying to separate us,” I said, becoming more and more aware of my surroundings. I dunked my head under the water and came up with my face turned up to the sky to plaster my hair back and away from my face. I opened my eyes as I lifted my hands to smooth it all back and noticed billowy gray clouds forming in the sky, already starting to block out the moonlight. A small wind began to race over the water, biting at our cool, wet cheeks.
“Shay?” Jodi asked tentatively when I didn’t look away from the sky. She turned her face up to see what I was looking at and gasped. “What the hell?” she asked out loud, but not necessarily for me to answer. In those short moments, the clouds had doubled and were rolling through the sky, bleeding into each other and spreading out far and wide, turning the black sky into a gray canvas. The wind was growing stronger as well, and I was suddenly more than grateful for my fleece rashguard as chills ran up my exposed forearms.
“What the hell?” I asked, and my last word was swallowed by a loud crack of thunder that sounded like it erupted right over our heads. We both instinctively ducked our heads, but there was no accompanying lightning to flee from.
Steven? I directed my thoughts to the beach.
Yeah, it’s me, he thought back. I was praying and this started. I think I
invoked the angelic magic.
“Why aren’t the nymphs attacking?” Jodi asked, and I was proud to hear her keep her fear in check when she spoke.
“I’m not sure,” I said honestly, having to raise my voice over the echo of thunder and the wail of the growing wind. “I thought they would’ve made a move for us by now.”
Come closer to me, I thought at her, deciding it had gotten too difficult to speak now. I reached out a hand for her and she drifted closer to me and took my hand in hers and we floated together, anticipation prickling in the air between us. The gusting wind was pushing against the current in the water, making us drift farther out to sea, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. Although we weren’t being pushed back into the set waves again, I couldn’t help but feel small and insignificant so far out in the vast ocean.
Jodi turned her head suddenly, drawing my attention with her as she looked off to the distance, her blonde brows drawing together and wrinkling her forehead. What is it? I thought at her.
I thought I heard something? Her mind voice was a whisper, as if thinking too loudly would make her miss whatever it was that she heard.
Like what? I found myself whispering as well.
A wail, she said, and we both strained to try and hear it again. Jodi jumped suddenly, letting out a yelp and knocking into me. She nearly yanked her hand free of mine, but I clutched her fingers tightly, keeping hold of her.
What? What is it? I asked, almost in a panic.
Something just touched my leg! I squinted instinctively against the bright yellow of her thoughts.
Like seaweed?
No, definitely not sea- oh my god! she screamed both in mind and in voice as she was yanked suddenly under the water, dragging me under with her as I clung to her hand, grabbing her wrist with my free hand as we plummeted down. Jodi’s finely manicured nails were digging into the back of my hand, cutting half-moons into the skin and letting small streams of blood eke out into the water around us. I flipped in the water, pointing my head to the surface and holding onto Jodi’s arm with both hands as I tried to kick against the pull that was dragging us further down into the sea.
Jodi was panicking with pain that I realized was centered around her calf muscle, and I knew if we got out of this, all three of us would have matching scars as mementos from this battle. Her panic was intoxicating, threatening to overwhelm me, making my attempts to pull us to the surface muddled. Jodi screamed again, and I realized I was hearing her scream, not in my mind, but in the water, and that snapped me out of the haze of her panic, realizing she was still able to use her ability to breathe underwater. Without her performing the charm on me again, however, I soon would be out of breath and would risk passing out if I didn’t let her go to get to the surface.
I redoubled my efforts to pull her free and kicked frantically, trying not to hit Jodi in my attempts, and concentrated on blocking out her fear. I gained some distance back and took heart in that, continuing to kick as my lungs burned with the desire to breathe, a stitch forming in my side, searing and sharp. Another foot and I could see the distorted surface of the water again just a few feet away. I yanked on Jodi’s arm, focusing on the biting pain of her nails in my skin to anchor my concentration and block out her screaming.
I don’t know when I became aware of the heat surrounding us, but suddenly the water around us was rising in temperature and tiny bubbles were racing to the surface. I knew that magic; it was a familiar taste in my mouth like roasted peppers and campfire smoke; Steven was sending us his magic to help us free Jodi. The heat became concentrated in a thin line like a missile and Jodi’s hand jerked in mine as it burned her leg, and she bit her lip against the desire to swim away from it.
It couldn’t have been more than a minute, and just when I thought that she couldn’t take it much longer, I looked into her blue eyes as they flew wide and she was suddenly kicking frantically. I pulled on her arm and she came away easily and we were rushing for the surface. We burst through the surface of the water, me gulping in ragged breaths of air that burned my lungs and Jodi letting out a fresh scream. I didn’t have the luxury of getting my heart back under control, so I grabbed Jodi and locked minds with her to stop her screaming.
“Help me breathe and I’ll heal you,” I said, letting my magic weigh down my words to hold her attention. I made us sink under the water again, despite the tension in Jodi’s body. She covered her mouth with her hand and took in a breath before she took my face between her hands, covered my mouth with hers, and blew in the crisp, clean air. When we broke apart, I pushed her up to the surface of the water, gathered myself, drew up the energy and magic from the Earth below me, and directed the healing warmth into my hands. I reached for Jodi’s leg that was hanging almost lifeless in the water and saw that the claws had pierced clean through her calf muscle and had torn it open, letting blood ooze out of the wound. All I could be grateful for was that it was her left leg and not her right, leaving her athame and holster intact, the silver twinkling in the water and the blue sapphire stones winking at me.
I wrapped my hands around her calf and ignored her jolt of fresh pain as I pressed the muscle and the skin back together. I opened myself up to the swirling energy of the healing power I had drawn into myself and let it flood out of my body, through my hands, and into Jodi’s leg. Her skin rose in angry red welts over the ragged claw marks, and I knew no matter how much I healed her, in the morning she would have five angry scars. I did my best to make them as small as I could. I felt the pain receding out of her body and pulled it into my hands, causing sharp arrows of heat to race up my arms, but I wanted to hold onto this pain and pay it back, so I stored it away in the skin of my hands before I let her go.
Are you okay? I thought at Jodi when she sunk back down. Her eyes were a little wider than they should have been and she had even less color to her cheeks that she normally had, but she didn’t look any worse than that.
I think so, she said, and her voice was steady. I had to wonder if she was in shock, but I just couldn’t do this alone, so either we swam to shore, if the nymphs would let us, or we went forward with our plan. I’m fine, Jodi said, and I knew she had heard my thoughts without me trying to project them to her. I can do this; we have to do this.
I don’t want to push you, I said, making sure she felt the sincerity of my words.
I can do this, she said again. I could feel the swirling energy in the water around us and I knew the creatures were close, even if I couldn’t tell how many of them had come for us. I opened the channels between the three of us as wide as I could with just a thought, feeling Steven’s energy join us again, as close as Jodi’s energy just feet away from me.
I nodded at her and reached for the hilt of my knife, pulling it free of the sheath, and gripped it in my hand. The cold hard metal was a reassuring weight because I knew now there was going to be no reasoning with these creatures. They meant to kill us. The residual magic in my blade came to life, warming my hands and chasing away the pain from Jodi’s wound. I knew it was still there, ready to be used, but it no longer seared through my hands. Jodi pulled her own athame free of her sheath and concentrated on awakening the residual magic within it as well. Every nerve in my body was singing with anticipation and magic, and as we turned as one to sink farther into the water, I couldn’t help but think, Better them than us.
Chapter Sixteen
The water felt like it was charged with electricity; currents were zipping up and over our bodies, setting our skin afire. I had an image of Jodi’s body alive and consumed by electric currents and wondered if this odd sensation was as unnerving for her as it was for me. There was a strange disconnect swimming through the cold water while my skin stung with the bite of the nymphs’ combined power.
We were swimming more outwards, rather than down, so I angled my body, expecting Jodi to follow me, and gave one great kick to plunge down, leaving the fading light of the night sky far behind us. I was never more grateful for Jodi’s Air abiliti
es than I was right then; it hadn’t even occurred to me to try for a breath and it was almost exhilarating to swim so long and so far without the animalistic instinct to rush for the surface.
The energy around us hadn’t increased as we swam on, but it hadn’t lessened either, and I began to wonder how long they would let us go before they attacked. I had accepted the thought that I was just going to have to hope and pray that I could get Dale and Mark’s souls back, but if my only choice was to kill these things and give up their souls, then so be it. The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.
What are they doing? Jodi’s frustrated thoughts drifted into my mind, as if carried through the water.
I don’t know. I can feel them, I know they’re out there, I thought back at her, letting my own frustration show. We stopped swimming and let ourselves drift easily in the water, facing each other. Her short blond hair floated around her face like a halo and her blue eyes were dark and menacing in the water, like some drowning angel staring at me. I shook the image from my mind and reached out for Steven, making sure we hadn’t gone out of our range. The water around us warmed almost immediately in response to my seeking thoughts.
Well that’s something at least, Jodi thought at me with a mental sigh. I spun in the water to get our bearings, but there was nothing around us, just the deeper darkness of the water. I couldn’t even be sure how far below the sand floor was unless I concentrated on reaching out for the Earth below me.
I think we should wait here, I thought at Jodi, trying to see her for her and not some terrible angel of death. Make them come to us. If we keep going, we may be swimming into a trap.
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