“Maybe it’s faerie paranoia, but am I the only one sensing a trap?” Fox asked. “I’m thinking the siren would probably like three witches better than one. Who’s to say she’s not out there holding Raina hostage for this very reason?”
“Then I guess we’re just that predictable,” Shaneesha said. “But I’m going after her. We have to at least try, if there’s a chance we could get her back.”
“She’d do it for us,” Sagely admitted. “We’ll just have to fight our way out.”
“Didn’t you promise Quill you wouldn’t do this?” Fox said, stepping forward and sliding a protective arm around her waist. “As much as I’d rather not, I have to agree with him here.”
“I promised him I wouldn’t fight Viziri,” Sagely pointed out. “I never said anything about a siren.”
“It’s dangerous,” Fox said, frowning.
“He’s right,” Gale said. “She’ll hypnotize all of you the second you get within earshot.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to plug our ears,” Sagely said. “We can’t leave a witch behind.”
“And what if she attacks us when we’re out there?” Fox asked.
“I thought you were born ready,” she said, smiling into his face.
“Oh, I’m ready all right,” he said. “I’ve probably got more experience than any of you. And I don’t just mean when it comes to fighting.”
Sagely growled playfully at him. “That’s a lot of fight for such a little dog.”
“Make no mistake, there’s nothing little about this dog,” he said with a wink.
A thrill went through Sagely, and she tore her eyes from Fox’s to find the two other witches watching with amusement.
“Oh, that’s right,” Gale said. “You have a faery in your collective. That’s different.”
“Sagely’s different,” Fox said. “One of a kind. Like her boots.”
Gale grinned. “Obviously. So. How do you propose getting out to the siren without being smashed to a thousand pieces on the rocks?” Her eyes glimmered with excitement, like she wasn’t talking about literal death.
“You don’t get out much, do you?” Sagely asked.
“What do you mean?” Gale asked.
“I mean, have you ever actually been in a fight? How old are you, anyway?”
“Of course I’ve been in a fight,” Gale said. “I fought with you just the other day. And I’m eighteen. It’s just, my brother’s majorly protective. Do you think he’d let me go with you?”
Shaneesha snorted. “He’s overprotective, but you think he’s going to let you go out on a boat with a bunch of strangers to a dangerous place where a dark creature is waiting to consume our magic?”
Gale’s shoulders slumped. “No,” she said glumly.
“Then how are we getting out there?” Fox asked. “I can jump a long ways, but not that far.”
“I’m sure as hell not swimming all the way out there,” Shaneesha said. “You know what that would do to my hair?”
“I can get my brother’s boat,” Gale said brightly.
Shaneesha frowned. “I thought you couldn’t go.”
“I’m an adult,” Gale said. “I don’t see why I can’t go if I want to. I know the area better than anyone here. Plus, I know at least a little about sirens, and I can power the boat with wind magic if we have to make a quick getaway.”
Sagely looked at her companions. “She is an adult…”
“Let’s roll,” Shaneesha said. “Bring on the fish lady.”
twelve
Raina
“Tell me about this brother of yours,” Yvonne said as she swam with Raina out to sea. Seeley bobbed and dove happily beside her as Raina told the story. She told Yvonne about things she’d never told the witches in the Winslow Coven. About growing up in the mountains of the landlocked Canadian Rockies. She told her about the sea faery who had come by, as alluring as a siren, with promises of the sea. And how she’d gone back to tell their parents where they were going, but in the process, she’d been left behind.
“And no one stopped the faery?” Yvonne asked. “Who protects you?”
“From faeries?” Raina asked. “I guess we protect ourselves.”
Yvonne was quiet a moment. “I guess the Sea Queen does keep us safe,” she admitted grudgingly. “But I’d rather be able to protect myself, like you.”
Raina tried to imagine a life with a leader, a protector. A queen who ruled and guarded from harm. It didn’t sound too bad.
“Do you think my brother is out here somewhere?” Raina asked after a time. She could no longer see the shore, but she wasn’t worried. Yvonne and Seeley could swim forever, and Raina had plenty of magic to make currents that carried her along. “I’m sure he is,” she answered herself. “He has to be.”
“Don’t worry,” Yvonne said. “If he’s a mer, the Sea Queen will know. And if he’s still a witch, and he’s by the seashore, we can find out.”
“Will you help me find him?” Raina asked. Usually, she would have worried about sounding pathetic and desperate. But she felt like she’d known Yvonne all her life, like she was part of her. The home she’d never had, the place to belong she’d never found.
“Of course,” Yvonne said. “Now, let’s get you down. I’ll have to go under a minute, but I’ll be right back.”
Without waiting for a reply, Yvonne disappeared beneath the surface. Seeley ducked under as well, then bobbed up, slurping down a fish. Raina laughed through her stiff, cold lips. Seeley darted into her arms, letting her hold him and warm herself a bit in the frigid water. How long would Yvonne be gone?
Looking around her, all Raina could see was water and more water. Not a bird or boat in sight. Just open sea below and sky above. Suddenly, she remembered hearing that sharks were major predators of seals. Hugging Seeley tighter, she kicked her legs to stay afloat. How long would she be able to swim before her strength gave out and she simply sank to the bottom of the sea?
You’ll have to run out of magic first, she reminded herself. She was a strong witch. She had nothing to worry about.
Just when she’d started to wonder, though, Yvonne surfaced beside her. She sucked in a breath of air and grinned. “I brought you a pressure suit,” she said. “It’ll warm you up, too. And I’ve got a diving charm that we use for guests. They’re pretty rare, actually. I’ve never brought a real live person below-deck.”
“You live in a ship?”
“Yeah,” Yvonne said, a shy smile on her luscious lips. “A sunken ship.”
“What about…breathing?”
“We have gills,” she said, slapping the water with her tail. “And you’ll have the charm. It is like…a bubble around your head.”
“And Seeley?”
“Oh,” Yvonne said, her smile faltering. “I hadn’t thought of him. I guess you could try to share it if it’s too deep for him. When we get below-deck, he’ll be fine. There’s air down there.”
Raina slipped into the suit, which roughly resembled a wetsuit made of something that was suspiciously similar to sealskin. She clutched Seeley to her chest as Yvonne gripped a strap that hung off the suit’s shoulder and pulled her under so she wouldn’t get lost in the blackness of the sea.
Raina called on her magic, using the water to push her along so Yvonne wouldn’t have to pull her weight. At first, she held her breath instinctually. But soon, her lungs began to ache, and she scolded herself for the silly reaction. As Yvonne had promised, the charm put a bubble around her head that made her feel like she was in a space suit.
Seeley bellowed in her ear, squirming in her arms, obviously not enjoying the ride.
“Shhh,” she muttered, trying to pet him and soothe his fears. But his big black eyes pooled with panic. For the first time in her life, she wondered if it would be possible for a familiar to turn on his witch, to attack her. She’d obviously pushed her familiar beyond the boundaries of what was fair and expected of him. He was well past reasoning and loyalty. As they sank below the o
cean, it became darker and darker, colder and colder.
She tried to speak to Yvonne, but she got no reply. It was so dark she could no longer see the mermaid, not even the hand gripping her shoulder strap. All she could see was her own ring when she called on her magic to create a current to move them faster. She only knew Yvonne was still there because they continued to plummet deeper and deeper. Her ears popped, and she felt the pressure on her body, but it didn’t hurt. Whatever they had made the suit of, it was designed as protection, and it did its job well.
At last, murky yellow light began to filter through the water around them. Moments later, they surfaced, and Seeley let out a thunderous bellow that echoed through the large chamber around them, where he began to cry piteously. The bubble around Raina’s head popped, and she stroked Seeley’s velvet nose, trying to calm him as he wriggled and fought her. At last, helpless to calm him, she released her hold. He dove through the water and clambered up on a ledge at the edge of the pool where they’d surfaced.
Around them and above them, she could make out wooden stays like a whale’s ribs. But when her eyes adjusted, she realized they were in a capsized ship. The ship’s airtight sides kept the air from escaping, forming a chamber. Around the pool was a wooden floor which must have been the bottom side of the deck.
When her eyes settled on the walls, Raina gasped. Strings of pearls, emeralds, coral, rubies, and other jewels hung from pegs all over the wall. The walls were crusted with more jewels, and a wooden chest that looked like a pirates’ chest overflowed with gold pieces and more strands of jewels. Warm light emanated from starfish randomly stuck to the walls around the room. Though they looked real enough, Raina guessed they must be hollowed out and made into some kind of candle. She shivered a little.
“What is this place?” she asked, staring at Yvonne. “Do you live here?”
“Oh, no,” Yvonne said. “This is where the queen takes her audiences. You have to meet her before she deems you worthy of visiting the mer community.”
“And if she doesn’t?” Raina asked.
But before she could answer, a head appeared beside them in the water, and a mermaid slipped easily from the water and perched on a low, seaweed draped seat at the edge of the platform. Her tail hung in the water, the scales glimmering with an iridescent glow. Above her tail, water ran in rivulets down her bare skin. Dark blonde hair hung over her shoulders in thick, wet ropes. She didn’t look any queenlier than Yvonne. She did, however, look familiar.
“So you’re the visitor,” she said with a haughty smile. “Comb my hair.”
“W—what?” Raina stuttered. Suddenly, she was eight years old again, on a mountain, looking up into this smug face.
Yvonne widened her eyes at Raina, then nodded to the queen. When Raina didn’t respond, Yvonne slipped from the water and picked up an ivory comb without a handle and began to carefully ease it through the queen’s wet hair. She cast Raina a panicked look. At last, Raina snapped out of her reverie and swam to the platform, where she pushed herself up and clambered out.
“Make that animal shut up, please,” the queen said. “I appreciate that you brought dinner, but it’s making such a terrible racket.”
With a gasp, Raina ran to Seeley and scooped him up. “Shhh,” she said, her heart twisting at the betrayed look he cast her. He obviously hated it down here, but she didn’t know what else to do. When he continued crying, she swept her hands down over his eyes and whispered a sleep spell. “This isn’t dinner, Your Majesty,” she said, sinking to one knee before the Queen. “It’s my familiar. He’s part of my magic.”
“Oh, yes, I’ve heard of that. What an unfortunate limitation for a witch.”
Raina opened her mouth to tell her it wasn’t unfortunate or a limitation. Seeley was her best friend, her pet, her baby, as much a part of her magic as her internal flame. But she didn’t know how to make a non-witch understand what he meant to her. So she only nodded, feeling that she’d somehow betrayed Seeley. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Queen Thalassa,” the mermaid said, holding out one lovely hand that draped like silk. She dropped a comb at Raina’s feet. After a pause, Raina set down her familiar between her feet, stood, and began to comb the queen’s hair. She felt more like she’d been asked to kiss her feet than comb her hair. Though she knew nothing of mer culture, she could tell this was a groveling gesture.
As Raina combed, she tried to think of something to say, but she was too worried about pulling the wet hair and angering the queen. Who was she? If she was a mer, how could she have been the faerie in the sleigh that took her brother away? And why had she wanted him? Did this mean was close to finding him, or at least finding out where he was?
At last, the queen spoke. “Yvonne tells me you’d like to visit her at home.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Hmm,” Queen Thalassa said, examining her fingernails, which had the iridescence of an abalone shell. “Why?”
“I—I’d like to be a mer,” Raina said. “To live here with you. I mean, with the other mer. I’d like to see what life is like down here.”
A bellow of laughter burst from the queen, startling both Yvonne and Raina enough that they stopped combing, afraid to pull out Queen Thalassa’s hair. She threw her head back and howled with laughter, then slapped her tail with glee, leaning over and clutching her stomach. Raina cast a worried glance at Yvonne, who shrugged helplessly. At last, the queen ceased her laughter and wiped her eyes.
“You have legs,” she pointed out. “You can’t breathe underwater without an enchantment and a dive suit. And you can’t communicate underwater, either.”
“My brother is a mer,” Raina said. “I saw him.”
“What’s his name?”
“River.”
“What a preposterous name for a merman,” Queen Thalassa said.
Raina swallowed hard, then plunged ahead. “When we were kids, you came and got him from our home in the mountains. You said you were taking him to the sea.”
A faraway look came into the queen’s eyes. “Those were troubled times,” she murmured.
Raina waited, wanting to seize the queen’s shoulders and shake her until the memory spilled out like so many pearls.
“So where is he?” she asked at last, desperation edging her words.
“I have no idea,” the queen said, straightening and snapping her fingers. “Comb.”
Raina and Yvonne began combing her hair again.
“He isn’t a mer?” Raina asked carefully. She didn’t want to call the queen a liar, but she’d seen him with her own eyes.
“He’s not a mer, but you have made me laugh, and for that, I grant you permission to stay down here and look,” Queen Thalassa said. “For seven days.”
Raina didn’t answer. But now she knew the truth. She couldn’t trust the queen. She was on her own. Yvonne smiled at her over the queen’s head, but Raina didn’t want to risk talking here, in the queen’s presence. Gathering her determination, she hardened herself to the task ahead. Seven days to find a brother whom the queen wished to keep hidden.
At least she had one ally. She smiled back at Yvonne.
Thirteen
Sagely
Sagely and the group spent the day planning for that evening, when the siren would come out again. “What if Raina doesn’t want to come back with us?” she asked Shaneesha.
“Of course she won’t want to come back. She’s hypnotized.”
“And you’re prepared to fight her?”
“Luckily, I have a lot of practice fighting her,” Shaneesha said. “We’ve been training partners for years. I know her weaknesses.”
“Care to share?”
Shaneesha laughed. “As if.”
“That’s if we can even find her,” Sagely said, glancing out at the rough grey water. Low, dark clouds had rolled in around midday, and she couldn’t help but wonder if they’d have to fight not only a siren but a storm.
Around dusk, Gale came bounding down to
their camp from the hill above where the Coastline Coven lived. “I brought food,” she said, holding up a cast iron Dutch oven by the handle.
“Did your brother cook again?” Shaneesha asked.
“Yep,” Gale said, setting the pan down. “I may have forgotten to tell him Raina was missing. I think he’s still trying to impress her into coming back to visit.”
“Maybe he should stop sending the food down here, then,” Sagely said, peering into the pot. A beautiful lobster sat at the bottom, swimming in butter. While they ate, Gale went down to the seashore with her bird to get the boat ready. When they’d eaten, they headed down to join her. The boat was not one of the nice rigs Sagely had admired earlier. It was a simple, flat-bottomed thing about twice the size of a canoe, with a tiny motor in the back.
“Does this thing come with life vests?” Fox asked, fishing around in the compartment in the back.
“Of course,” Gale said as the boat rocked and bumped against the dock.
“That doesn’t really go with my outfit,” Shaneesha said, wrinkling her nose at the faded, neon orange vest. She wore beaded sandals, a hot pink miniskirt and a teal tank top. But she sighed and accepted the vest when Gale explained that the Coast Guard could fine them and even confiscate the boat if it saw them without life vests.
“Plus, you could get knocked out if we capsized, and what use is your magic then?” Gale asked, buckling her own life vest. She wore shabby clothes that looked like they’d been handed down from the seventies, and Sagely realized that all witches weren’t well-off. Only earth elementals could turn rocks into gold and diamonds to get money.
“You think we might capsize?” Fox asked, watching the waves with a wary expression.
“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Gale said. “I’ve driven the boat with my brother before.”
Sister of the Sea: A Reverse Harem Witch Series (Winslow Witch Chronicles Book 2) Page 6
