by Linsey Hall
We weren’t going to give ourselves the permanent power of gold production like Aunt had requested—we were going to give ourselves the power of lightning.
A weapon.
Together, we poured out every bit of magic we had, letting it mingle with the black and white liquid. I envisioned lightning—how it would sound, feel, smell. I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing the vision to become reality.
I began to sway, my head going fuzzy from weakness. Losing all of my magic and my blood made nausea roll inside me. My breathing slowed and my muscles turned weak. I couldn’t even raise my arm.
My eyes popped open, and I met Mari’s gaze.
She was paler than she’d ever been before, her cheeks hollowed and her eyes stark.
We’re dying.
Panic gripped me tight, iron bands around my lungs.
What are we doing? This was insane. What if it didn’t work? We would die.
“Keep going,” she whispered. “We can’t stop.”
But she was right. If we stopped now, we really would die. Forever die. We were too far gone and needed this process to finish. To revive us.
Please work.
We kept going, reaching within our souls to pour the last of our magic out of our bodies, joining it with our blood. It was a gruesome ritual, a confusing one that was part learned and part instinct. The last of my consciousness began to fade, my energy entirely gone.
Death was near.
Or maybe I’m already dead?
I was so woozy it was hard to tell. I had no more energy left. No more strength. I was nothing.
But something happened. The magic changed. Our magic changed.
It crackled with energy, bright and fierce, and flowed back into us. Stronger than ever, it flooded my veins, creating new blood, new strength. New magic.
I gasped, agony shooting through every inch of me, lighting me up like a live wire. Death was gone, and I was power. Strength.
Lightning cracked in the distance. Again and again.
We were in Grimrealm, underground. There should be no lightning. Not natural lightning, at least.
It came from me.
From me and Mari.
I dragged my eyes open and met her gaze again. The power of lightning crackled through me—mine now, to use forever. Mari had it too.
My aunt screeched in rage.
She’d realized what we’d done.
Oh shit. We were in trouble.
A blaring siren tore me from sleep. I jerked upright, panting. For a moment, I was blind. My heart spiked into my throat.
Gasping, I scrambled out of bed, my boots still on.
Boots still on?
The floor underneath me lurched, sending me careening into the wall that was only a couple feet away.
The boat.
Right. I was on the ferry.
And something was going wrong. Like, mega wrong. The siren was the shrieking, frantic kind that made me think it was saying, “We’re sinking! Hope you can swim!”
And the waves…
Holy fates, the waves were enormous. I crashed back into the bunk, only to be thrown up against the wall a moment later.
My door slammed open, light flooding the tiny room.
An enormous figure stood in the open space, backlit so I couldn't make out the details of his features. But from the sheer size of him, and the breadth of his shoulders, I knew it was the number one pain in my ass—Declan O’Shea.
“Hey, sexy sorceress, you okay?”
“Fine.” I managed to get myself upright and cling onto a lighting fixture.
“Problem up above. Come on.” He disappeared, leaving my door swinging open.
“Problem up above?” I muttered. “Duh.”
I sprinted from the room and down the hall, crashing into the walls every few steps like a freaking pinball. The waves rocked the boat like we were a rubber ducky in the bath of one seriously pissed-off toddler. Thank fates I slept in my boots on missions like these. They were my faves, and I’d hate to lose them if we sank.
The deck was chaos. Water sloshed over the wooden planks, and a red light flashed brightly at the front of the boat. Declan’s shadowy figure was leaning into the bridge. I stumbled toward him, clinging to the railing as waves smashed into me, threatening to take me down with them.
“She in there?” I shouted against the rain.
“Of course I am!” shrieked the captain.
I caught a quick look at her through the space at Declan’s side. She was wild-eyed, with her captain’s hat on the floor and her red curls a crazy halo around her head. She pointed to the far side of the boat. “Go stop that squid!”
Squid?
Declan turned to me, his dark eyes serious. He didn’t even speak, just turned and sprinted for the bow, racing around the pilot house.
My muscles kicked into action. I ran after him, my mind repeating the word squid over and over.
When I careened around the front of the bridge and finally caught sight of the ocean on the left side of the boat, I nearly stumbled.
An enormous squid rose out of the water, four of its huge tentacles slapping the surface to create giant waves. The thing had to be the size of a ten-story building, with huge horns protruding off its pointed head. Massive fangs hung out of its mouth, and its eyes bulged, shining a brilliant green.
“Octopus!” Declan’s wings flared from his back, and his magic surged on the air, bringing with it the scent of a rainstorm and the taste of aged rum.
“Nope, giant squid.” I really liked aquariums, and that was no octopus. “See how pointy its head is? Definitely genus Architeuthis.” With a bit of dark magic thrown in, because damn, that thing reeked of it.
Declan turned to me, his expression equal parts impressed and incredulous. “Now is the time you’re focused on scientific accuracy?”
As if to punctuate his point, the squid slapped a tentacle down right in front of the boat, sending a massive wave crashing over me.
I gripped the railing tight, but it was just too much water, even for my strength. I lost my grip, tearing away from the railing and riding the wave along the deck.
A strong arm grabbed me around the waist, pulling me in toward a warm body that was hard as iron.
My heart leapt into my throat. I blinked water out of my eyes, looking up into Declan’s face. “It’s always a good time for scientific accuracy. Especially with the mega fauna of the ocean’s depths.”
He cracked a smile, then laughed.
I pulled away, lunging around him to grab the railing and look at the squid. Beneath the moonlight, it gleamed silvery green.
And it was closer. Close enough to grab the boat.
“Hold it off!” the captain shouted.
This job called for a sword.
I drew the weapon from the ether, its weight comforting in my hand.
One of the enormous tentacles reached out and wrapped around the front of the boat. I leapt for it, swinging my sword in a downward arc. I gave it my all, imbuing it with every ounce of power I had. My dragon blood gave me extra speed and strength.
The steel sliced right through the tentacle. A poof of black magic burst upward, then black blood went flying. I dived low, skidding on the wet deck. The severed tentacle still hung heavily over the front of the boat. The vessel couldn’t bear that much weight and was already dipping downward.
I leapt up and scrambled to the far side of the boat, where the tentacle hung down into the water. I raised my sword and slammed it down, severing the limb so the extreme end splashed into the sea.
Black magic poofed from the wound again, an indicator that this creature wasn’t technically living. He was some kind of horrible dark spell that had been cast on the ocean, guarding something or haunting something.
I had no idea which.
At some point, Declan had launched himself into the air. His wings beat powerfully, making the air vibrate, as he swooped low over the squid.
The monster was about to wrap
another tentacle around the back of the boat, but Declan hit it with a massive golden lightning bolt. It wasn’t white like all the other lightning bolts I’d ever seen.
Nope, that’d be too normal for the fallen angel.
“We’re nearly there!” the captain shouted. “Hold him off just a bit longer!”
I turned to look at her through the bridge window. Her eyes were wild as she pointed to the riotous sea ahead. About two hundred yards away, two enormous pillars of stone jutted out of the ocean.
“We just have to make it through there!” she shouted. “It can’t follow.”
“On it.” I turned to face the squid.
Declan was fast, swooping gracefully through the air as he hurled lightning at the monster.
There were no other passengers on board, so it was up to me and him to take out the beast.
Unfortunately for us, it had more than eight tentacles. I’d severed one and Declan had incapacitated at least five. But somehow, there were still another five waving above the surface, slamming into the water and reaching for the boat.
One of them crept behind Declan, rising high above the deck.
We needed to get to the head. That’s where we’d take it down.
The tentacle was about to smash us when I got an idea. Quickly, I sliced my finger with my blade.
As the tentacle lowered toward the deck, I took a running leap and jumped onto it, clinging like a monkey.
The tentacle jerked upward, as if the squid were shocked. I still had the sword gripped in my right hand, so I used it to make a tiny cut on the back of the squid’s long appendage. Then I pressed my bleeding finger to it, letting our blood mingle together.
Mixing our bloods made the suggestive spell stronger, and there was no way Declan had seen me do this little bit of dragon blood magic.
“Eat me,” I said. “You want to eat me.”
Like the forgetfulness that I’d compelled Snakerton to feel, I used my blood sorcery and the power of suggestion to get the squid to retract its limb, carrying me toward its mouth.
I flew through the air, the sea disappearing below me as the squid lifted me higher and higher.
“Eat me.”
I tightened my grip on the squid as it dangled me over its mouth, looking for the perfect opportunity to jump. In the distance, I could see the angel hurtling toward me, powerful wings carrying him through the air.
Damn it, I didn’t want him getting in the way.
Fortunately, my moment came. The squid dangled me right over its eye, and I dropped, my blade pointed downward.
The steel pierced the green eye, and a poof of black magic rose upward. The creature shrieked, pulling back as my blade slipped free. I stashed my sword in the ether, then pushed off of the squid’s head with my feet, wanting to plunge into the water away from its body.
My superior strength helped me push off hard, sending me flying gracefully through the air. It was rare I got to fight at sea, but it was one of my all-time faves. I had the perfect swan dive planned when something yanked on me, jerking me to a stop.
The angel.
He’d caught me in midair, gripping me to his strong chest.
For fate’s sake.
He’d ruined my perfect aerial descent.
I glared at him as we hovered in the sky. “Damn it, why’d you do that?”
He glared right back at me. “I’m saving you.”
“Saving me?” I nearly shrieked the words, pointing back at the squid who was now thrashing in the water, no longer a threat. “Does it look like I need saving? I just took out that squid.”
He shrugged, as if conceding my point. “The sea is cold and rough.”
I laughed, then elbowed him so hard that he dropped me.
“Hey!” he shouted.
Triumph surged through me as I spun in the air, twisting for the perfect landing. It was the best feeling in the world, soaring through the cold air with the sea beckoning. I wasn’t any kind of water creature—I just freaking loved the ocean.
I hit the water as a perfect column, diving deep and then arcing up toward the surface. The ocean welcomed me, warmer than the icy air at the surface, and I kicked for the boat, cutting through the ocean with strong strokes.
The ship was still about fifty yards away, nearly to the pillars of rock, so I picked up the pace, grateful for my strength. It’d be real embarrassing if I’d insisted on saving myself then couldn’t manage it.
I nearly laughed at the hilarious idea.
As if I couldn't save myself.
I reached the boat and climbed the hull like a bilge rat, an agile creature that was really too maligned. I couldn’t help the smile that stretched across my face as I leapt onto the deck.
“You’re nuts!” shouted the captain.
Declan landed a half second later, looking at me like I was crazy. “You like swimming in that water?”
“Love it.” I propped my hands on my hips and grinned back at him, but it was more of a baring of teeth.
In fairness, I normally wouldn’t turn down being rescued. I had too good a sense of self-preservation, and I knew my limits. Mostly. But he’d annoyed the hell out of me by trying to swoop in and get the necromancer demon, and I really did like plunging into the sea after using a giant squid’s head as a diving board.
Anyway, it was over. The squid had sunk beneath the waves, and the captain was piloting us through the great pillars of rock, out of its territory.
Declan gave me an appraising look. “You’re stronger than a normal woman.”
“Blood Sorceress, remember?”
“Blood sorcery doesn’t normally come with greater strength and speed.”
He had a point there. That came from my dragon blood, not from my sorcery. But I had a good answer for that too. “There’s no limit to the spells I can create.”
Cockiness echoed in my voice, and he grinned, seeming to like it. “Now that, I believe.”
His words warmed me, which of course immediately made me freak out. He was supposed to be repelled by my confidence. A lot of dudes were.
Not this one, apparently.
I didn't want to like him, damn it. I glared at him, knowing I was being rude and prickly and not caring. “Don’t get in my way.”
The words rolled off his back like water off a duck’s. He just grinned. “We can be a team. We’d make a good one.”
He had lightning and wings and speed and strength. Probably a few more things as well. He’d be a good ally.
But I didn’t want to work with him. Too risky. I needed to kill this demon before he nabbed him. If Declan didn't play fair and I helped him get to the demon, he could grab him and transport out before I even had a chance to put steel to skin.
“Nah.” I shook my head. “I work alone.”
He opened his mouth, but I turned away. Honestly, I didn’t want to hang around him long enough to change his mind. Not that I’d do that, but I actually might do that.
I kinda liked him, and I definitely wanted him.
I’d also never been any good with self-control. It was overrated, as far as I was concerned. Which meant that I had to walk away. Now.
The thing was, I could feel his gaze on me as I left. And I liked it.
6
Fortunately for me, the captain had a magical drying station on board. “So many storms,” she said. “And I hate rain jackets.”
Whatever her reasons, the thing was saving my butt. It was basically a giant blow dryer, and it got me warm and dry. I could do this job while freezing, but I didn’t want to.
When I was done, Declan took my place. The waves had soaked all three of us, but thank fates, they were gone. As he walked into the drying station, I eyed him, unable to keep my gaze off him.
Why had he fallen?
What exactly did he mean by not pure enough?
I shouldn’t be interested. Nope, no way.
We were approaching Supernalito, which was like a supernatural cousin to Sausalito on the Calif
ornia coast, so I turned my attention toward that. The humans had no idea it was there, of course. The little bay was carved into the mountains on the Pacific side, protected from the sea by the narrow harbor entrance and the great pillars of stone.
The harbor itself was stuffed full of tiny docks that formed a maze, connecting hundreds of houseboats. It was a city built on water, with mountains surrounding it. Golden lights gleamed on the hillside, evidence of buildings climbing their way up to the peaks. There were big patches of black—natural area, I had to assume—and I searched them, wondering where the demon had gone.
“There won’t be another ferry back until mid-afternoon,” the captain said.
“Thanks.” I walked to the railing, making sure to keep far away from Declan, and inspected the town as we neared.
The houseboats were all different colors and shapes. Some looked like cottages, others like boats. Some were even done up in the shapes of animals or shoes.
The damned demon could be anywhere.
I tried to be sneaky as I peeked at Declan, who’d joined me on the deck. Did he know where the demon had gone?
He was probably tracking him like me, through Snakerton. Which meant no—he just knew that he was somewhere in Supernalito.
So he probably didn't have a lead on me.
His wings unfurled from his back, and he launched himself into the air, shouting a quick thank you back to the captain.
Damn it!
We were still a good two hundred yards from the nearest dock, and he was going to freaking fly it.
So much for him not having a lead. I crossed my arms and glared at him as he flew off.
Bastard.
I turned to the captain, going to stand in the open door to the bridge as she steered us toward the docks.
“There was a demon on the last boat,” I said. “Are there any places in Supernalito where demons are known to congregate?”
It wasn’t a given that he’d go find his own kind, but it was a thread I could pull on, at least.
“Not really.” The captain shook her head, red curls bouncing. “But since you’re looking for one in particular, I’d speak to Florence. She sees everything.”
“Who is Florence?”
“Little old woman who has a house on the main dock leading from our slip. She knits and watches. Gossip is her trade.”
