by Linsey Hall
“I’ll ask my contacts as well,” Declan said. “Because if we don’t find one, and we can’t get through the demon’s protective shell, we’re screwed.”
I shivered. He was right. If we failed to defeat him, he would deploy his last orb, and we’d be turned to stone since we’d be in the same vicinity.
“We’ll manage,” Mari said. She met my gaze again, and I nodded imperceptibly. We had a lot to talk about, and I didn’t want Declan to overhear. I looked at him. “Would you get me a sandwich from over by the fire? I’m famished.”
His eyes narrowed, as if he knew I was up to something.
Which I totally was, so points to him.
“Please,” I added.
Finally, he nodded, then strode off toward the fire.
I leaned close to Mari, whispering quickly, “If we can’t find a nullifier, I’ll create the magic. I’ll become one.”
“Creating just a little bit of nullifying magic probably won’t be enough,” she said. “One little swipe of your fingernail to your thumb won’t be enough blood. Not if he’s that powerful. Nullifying is huge magic. You’d need to go big. Maybe make it permanent.”
I shivered. With our dragon blood power to create magical skills, more blood equaled stronger magic. If we gave so much blood we nearly died, then the new magical skill would be ours permanently.
With all the downsides, like an increased magical signature that could eventually signal what we were.
“I know,” I said. “But I’ll do it if I have to.”
“No. You can’t create new magic—not on a big scale. It could change your magical signature. Make it so much stronger and put you at risk of discovery. People could know what you are.”
“It’s a risk I have to take.”
Her eyes flashed, and it was clear she was searching for ways to convince me this was a bad idea.
Hell, I agreed it was a bad idea. I also thought that it might be the only idea.
“Remember what happened to Cass?” she said. “That was awful.”
I nodded, my stomach pitching. Cass, who was now frozen in stone, had once taken a nullifier’s power. She hadn’t wanted to, but it had been the only way to save Mari’s life. To save the lives of many.
The consequences had been devastating.
A nullifier’s power not only nullified all other magic, it nullified your own as well, crushing all the other power that you had in your soul. Cass had once told me that it felt like her soul had been sucked from her body.
Cass had looked like a walking husk.
“I can’t let you do this,” Mari said. “I’ll do it.”
“No. You carried the burden when we were children, protecting me. You made more magic than I did.” The memory of it made me shudder.
“I don’t care,” Mari said.
“Well, I do. It’s my turn now.” I squeezed her hand. “And remember—this is a gradient thing. More blood equals more magic. I’ll try to make it so that I’m a weak nullifier with partial power. Perhaps it won’t crush the rest of my magic. I’ll be just strong enough to defeat the Oraxia demon.”
“You don’t know if that will work.”
“I don’t know what else will.”
Her eyes turned serious. “You’re forgetting the last bit.”
I swallowed hard, hoping she wouldn’t remember.
“Immortality.” Her expression turned grave.
“There’s no guarantee that will happen.” Immortality wasn’t the gift it sounded like. Not to me, at least. I didn’t want to live forever without Mari. Without my friends.
Mari’s eyes flashed to a spot behind me, and I turned. Declan approached. I looked back at Mari.
She squeezed my hand. “We’ll find one. I’ll talk to the Protectorate.”
“Thanks.”
Declan stopped next to me and handed me a sandwich.
I took it. “Thanks.”
Mari’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and pressed it to her ear, saying a few words. I ate while she talked. I really had been famished.
When she hung up, she looked at us, her face pale. “The Museum District is frozen. An overhead search confirms it.”
“Right at the six-hour mark.” Damn. That gave us twelve more hours before the last two districts were frozen and the whole town was permanently lost. “Had you gotten to that district yet for evacuation?”
“Only half of it.” Her voice was devastated.
I gripped her hand. “We can fix this. Don’t worry.”
“We have to.” She straightened her shoulders. “Now that it’s safe to head back in, I’m going to rally the troops. We need to keep working. Just in case…”
Just in case Declan and I failed.
If we couldn’t stop the Oraxia demon in time, the only people who would survive would be those who evacuated.
“Just in case.” I gave her a hug. “Safe hunting.”
“Safe hunting.” She returned to the crowd, who’d all stood, as if they’d seen her on the phone and sensed that now was the time.
I turned to Declan. “We need a boat to get through the Bermuda Triangle. Got one?”
“No. Not much of a sailor.”
“Me neither, as much as I love the ocean.” We had absolutely no time to research and find someone with a boat who was willing to take us to the most dangerous part of the ocean. So we needed someone with a stake in this. “What about that woman who captained the ferry? She’s probably from Magic’s Bend. She’ll want to save her town.”
“Her boat is in the Pacific, though.”
I shrugged. “We need a willing supernatural captain more than we need a boat. We can always steal one of those in Florida.”
He nodded, resigned. Clearly he didn’t like the idea of stealing a boat, but we had a town to save. “If we have to steal one, we can always pay them later.”
“Exactly. Now, let’s go. The marina is super close, and hopefully we’ll get lucky.”
We hurried back to the car, which we’d left here before we’d gone to Dark World, and I drove to the marina, my foot pressed hard to the gas. The road on the other side—the one going out of Magic’s Bend—was packed with a steady stream of evacuees. No one was going my direction.
“It’s eerie,” I said.
“Town will be even eerier.”
I shuddered to think of it. All of those people, turned to stone. Maybe forever.
No. We would succeed.
A few minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot at the marina. A lot of the boats were gone. People were getting the hell out of Dodge.
At the very end, the ferryboat rocked gently on the waves, tugging at its ropes. It was the same one as before—about one hundred feet long with two stories of cabins.
I breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s still here.”
“Hopefully she is, too.”
“I think she lives on board.” I climbed out of the car, my eyes glued on the boat. A small figure untied the rope at the bow and jumped on.
Shit.
“I think she’s taking off.” I sprinted toward her, racing down the dock. “Hey! Stop!”
The figure didn’t seem to hear me as she strode toward the captain’s wheelhouse. Or maybe she didn’t care.
I ran faster, lungs burning. “Stop!”
The ferry began to pull away from the dock. I gave it my all, sprinting like I was going for gold. The ferry was a few feet away from the dock when I reached it. I didn’t even slow, just leapt onto the boat and grabbed onto the railing to keep from falling into the harbor.
I nearly slipped and crashed into the water, but got a good grip at the last second. I clung to the railing, panting.
Declan joined me, leaping easily onto the boat.
“Hey!” The captain’s voice sounded, but she didn’t appear. She probably had to stay at the wheel while we were still close to the dock and other boats.
Quickly, I climbed over the railing and hurried to her.
She
was leaning out of the little room with the steering wheel, her red curls wild about her face. The goofy captain’s hat sat on her head. “What are you doing here?” She squinted. “Hey, didn’t I give you a ride to Supernalito?”
“You did. And now we need your help.”
She gave me a skeptical look. “With what? And may I remind you, you’re a stowaway.”
“We’ll pay,” Declan said. “But we need to get to the island of Eleuthera in the Bermuda Triangle.”
She laughed loudly, suddenly looking even younger. I’d peg her at about twenty-two. She was a good captain, despite her age, though. She’d gotten us through a pretty rough patch the last time we’d sailed with her.
Finally her laughter trailed off. “Why the hell would I go there? Do I look like I have a death wish?”
10
I gave the boat captain my most serious look, trying to impress upon her the dire nature of the situation. “The only way to save Magic’s Bend is if we go to Eleuthera. And we can only get there if a boat takes us. You’re the only captain we know.”
I explained the situation with the statues, the demon, the potion, and our time limit.
She frowned, irritation and worry glinting in her eyes. “I didn't want to get involved.”
“Dozens of people will die if we don’t do something,” Declan said. “Hundreds, maybe.”
She swallowed hard, shifting on her feet. Clearly, she was waffling.
“You’d be a hero,” I said.
“Don’t really care about that.” She pursed her lips. “But I am your best shot. I’m a damned good captain.”
I liked her confidence. “You are our only hope. We don’t know how to find another captain in time.”
She frowned, dropping her head as she leaned over the big wooden steering wheel. “Damn it. Another captain would need to be supernatural. Those are the only kinds who can get through the worst parts of the Bermuda Triangle. You need to know what’s coming. How to get out.”
“And you can do that. Think of all the people,” I begged. “Please.”
“Fine.” She scowled. “Fates, I hate this.” She met my gaze. “But we’re going to need to get a boat over in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. You got one?”
“Um…” I looked around for the right words. “We’ll get one.”
She groaned. “You’re going to steal one, aren’t you?”
I gave a helpless shrug. “We don’t really have time to buy one.”
“I can’t go to jail. I am not cut out for the slammer.”
“You look like you could hold your own,” I said.
“Well, duh. But I gotta run free. Like a stallion.”
If the situation hadn’t been so dire, I might have laughed.
“And I got a conscience, you know,” she said.
“We’ll try to take the boat of an asshole. Sound good?” I asked. “And we’ll leave them some money.”
“I don’t like it any more than you do,” Declan said. “But we have twelve hours to fix this. We have no time to spare with buying a boat or finding another captain. This is our only chance. You are our only chance.”
She scowled, as if she didn’t like being reminded of it. Then she brightened. “Hang on. I know just the boat.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Owned by a total asshole. A playboy mage who’s a real jerk. Owns three boats, all over the world. Rumored to be a drug lord.”
“Drug lord?” Oh, man.
“Yep. We’ll steal his boat in Miami. I know where he keeps it.”
“Hell yeah.” I could totally get behind this.
“Do you have a transport charm?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Good. Let me get this old girl back into port, then we can go.” She rubbed her hands together and looked at me. “Actually, I like a bit of adventure.”
I grinned. “I can promise you adventure.”
It didn’t take long to steer the boat back to its berth, and Declan and I helped tie it off, jumping onto the dock when she pulled into her spot.
The captain strode toward us, and I realized I didn’t know her name.
I stuck out my hand. “I’m Aerdeca, by the way.”
She shook. “I’m Syra.”
“Declan.” He leaned forward, hand outstretched.
She and Declan shook, then he pulled a transport charm out of his pocket. He handed it to her. “You do the honors, since you know where we’re going.”
“Come on,” she said. “I have shit aim. Let’s get off the dock.”
I looked down at the wooden slats upon which I stood. There was about a half inch of space between each piece of wood, and I could see the water beneath.
Yeah, getting onto solid ground was smart. We followed her toward the parking lot.
I leaned toward Declan. “How many more of those do you have?”
“One.”
“Same.” So we only had two more shots. There was always Wally, but his magic took a little while.
We reached the parking lot, and Syra stopped, turning to look at us. “Ready?”
We both nodded.
“Then let’s get this party started.” She hurled the stone to the ground. Gray sparkling smoke rose up, and we stepped into it. The ether sucked me in and spun me around, then spit me out in the middle of a huge marina. Declan and Syra appeared next to me.
The hot Florida sun beat down upon my head, and I shielded my eyes, looking around. It was probably the middle of the afternoon here, and the marina was largely empty. Lots of boats rocking on the turquoise water, but only a few people.
“Is it a weekday?” I’d totally lost track of time.
“Monday.” Syra grinned. “As good a time as any to steal a boat. Better than the weekend, actually. Come on.”
She started off toward the docks. There had to be a couple hundred boats floating on the brilliant blue water. They were all shapes and sizes, but when I realized that she was heading toward a big powerboat that looked like it could travel at light speed, I grinned. “That’s the boat.”
The smile on her face was so big it was nearly blinding. “Yep. Drug runners need fast boats.”
“I don’t think we should pay him for this thing,” I said. “Two birds with one stone—we get transportation to Eleuthera to save Magic’s Bend, and we deal a crippling blow to a drug lord.”
“I’m all right with that.” Declan looked at Syra. “If it’s widely known that this boat belongs to a drug lord, why doesn’t the Order of the Magica do something about it?”
“He pays them off.” She looked like she wanted to spit. “Weasel.”
Anger rose in my chest. “Bastards. They’re supposed to protect people.”
“They do protect people,” Syra said. “Themselves.”
“Well, this guy is about to be out of a boat.”
The powerful speedboat sat low to the water, with a sharply pointed bow and little windows in the hull. It was one of those that looked mostly flat all the way across the middle and front, but there was a cabin inside. The wheel was at the back, in a nice cockpit with benches and two chairs near the steering wheel. As much as I loved the ocean, I’d never learned much about boats.
I slowed my approach, spotting a shadow passing behind one of the small windows. A person. “There’s someone in there.”
Syra frowned. “I guess I’m not surprised. Probably one of his goons.”
Another shadow caught my eye. “Actually, there’s two.”
“We’ll take care of them,” Declan said. “Let’s get them by surprise. They’re still inside.”
We hurried toward the boat, striding along at just short of a run. This was a human and supernatural marina—we didn’t need to draw attention.
Syra led the way, leaping onto the back of the boat with ease. It was a spacious seating area with plush benches and two golden wood tables permanently affixed to the deck. The steering wheel was just in front, with two tall chairs bolted to the ground.
; “Hey!” A voice sounded from down below, in the cabin.
I rushed toward it, wanting the fight to go down inside the boat where no one could see.
A figure appeared in the door to the cabin. He was tall and skinny, with greasy dark hair and pale blue eyes. Small horns protruded from his head, barely visible. A demon who almost passed as human.
Good. Made it easier that way. I didn’t like killing humans, even evil ones.
I neared, getting a hit of his signature. His magic stank of rotten garbage and old socks. He raised a hand that glowed with flame.
“That guy is one of his main henchmen,” Syra said. “Donnie the Beater.”
Oh, I didn’t like that name. It was easy to guess what role he played in the drug business. I drew a dagger from the ether just as Donnie hurled his fireball at me. I ducked, feeling the heat singe the top of my hair. It whizzed overhead, and I heard a sizzling sound as it crashed into the water behind me.
Hopefully no one saw that.
I chucked my dagger, aiming straight for the neck. It plunged into the pale white column, spurting blood.
As soon as Donnie fell, Declan leapt over his body and collided with the man who’d stood behind him. He punched him in the nose, and the guy whirled backward, slamming into the table in the middle of the cabin.
I glanced at Syra. “Can you get this thing started and get us out of here? Declan’s got that guy taken care of, and I can undo the ropes.”
“On it.” She crouched at Donnie’s side, searching the dead guy’s pockets. His form was already disappearing. Because I’d killed him, he wouldn’t return to the underworld like a normal demon.
Donnie the Beater was dead. For good.
She pulled out a set of keys. “Jackpot!”
I jumped onto the dock and hurried to the front of the boat, untying the rope that bound it to the dock. As I moved the ropes on the side, I caught sight of a figure hurrying toward us, confusion on his face.
Crap.
“Hey!” The guy raised a hand over his head, waving. “Hey, you!”
Heart pounding, I sprinted toward the second rope. There were three total.
