by Lucia Ashta
“You’re not going to let her kill Quinn, are you?” I asked Irving while Mulunu faced off with the goblins, giving them instructions on how to dispatch our pursuers.
“Of course I’m not going to let her kill him, lass,” Irving said right away, his stare pinned on the wily sea witch’s back. “I haven’t kept him alive all these years to let her sweep in here and kill ‘im now. It’s not gonna happen. I won’t let it.”
“What about Selene?” Brogan asked, surprising me that he should be the one to ask the question I’d wanted to, but didn’t, too afraid of Irving’s answer. “Surely you’re not going to let the witch kill her?”
For a few beats, Irving didn’t respond, and every muscle in my body tensed as I waited.
“You can’t be serious,” Liana hissed. “You’re going to let Mulunu kill Selene because of who her parents are?”
Finally, Irving huffed and rubbed a hand over his tired face. “No, I won’t let ‘er do that either, I suppose.”
“You suppose? This is my best friend’s life you’re so casually talking about.” Liana tugged me closer to her side.
Irving snapped his head to glare at the two of us. “I’m not casually talking about anything. This is a mess, a huge, ugly mess, and I wish I weren’t in the damn middle of it.”
“It’s not like I want to be in the middle of this either,” I snapped back, my patience at an end as my strength was gradually returning. “None of this is fair.”
“Yeah, well, in my experience, lass, life is rarely fair, and when it is, it doesn’t seem to last.” Irving suddenly sounded centuries old, weary from every long year he’d lived.
A flash of bright light drew our attention up the hill to Mulunu, who was circling her staff around her, directing the beam from her crystal into every one of the goblins. The former mermaid Trina skittered out of the way.
I sucked in a sharp breath. “What, is she killing them? After she just promised them their freedom?”
No one answered me. I didn’t think Irving or any of the rest of us understood what she was doing. Besides, there was nothing we could do to intervene even if she was killing them. There wasn’t time, and I couldn’t summon the energy to blow out a candle, let alone confront one of the most powerful witches in the world.
Trina squeaked in alarm before any of the rest of us noticed the threat. Bouncing in her crouch, she pinned her jittery stare on the sides of the raging inferno, which continued to burn so intensely that a thick, dark plume of smoke clouded the sky. Streaming down the hill, appearing around either side of the billowing smoke and flames, were dozens of men and women with murderous twists to their features.
“We have to move. Right now,” Irving barked, somewhat unnecessarily. Liana and I were already pushing to stand, moving to Quinn’s side to try to help.
“Defend us!” Mulunu roared to the goblins. “By any means necessary. And you will earn your freedom.”
With a mixture of grim determination and excited vehemence, the goblins rose and faced our new enemy.
Those in the fore of the band running down the hill raised their hands, light sparked to life in their outstretched palms, and beams of their magic exploded in front of our group. Ping, crash, boom—the earth burst and shattered around us; grass and dirt shot in every direction.
By instinct, I ducked my head and wrapped my arms around my face to protect it. We were sitting ducks.
A roared battle cry ripped through the crackling of the fire. Those descending the hill toward us—members of the rebel faction the Voice, presumably—echoed the cry. My pulse thumped in my head while I attempted to process what was happening and what I needed to do, when my brain was still sluggish from the previous attack.
Twin grunts had me spinning in Quinn’s direction as Irving and Brogan struggled to raise his dead weight from the ground. Irving staggered, until Brogan, with a mighty grunt, transferred Quinn’s body entirely to his shoulder.
Irving nodded. “Now quickly, let’s get out of here.”
All we could do now was save ourselves. As Mulunu roared her own sense of righteousness, she zapped at those descending the hill like rats, scampering toward us. But there were too many of them, and they were too fast.
The goblins flung their own magic at the attackers, and the hill, darkened by a thick veil of smoke, lit up like a hundred shooting stars.
“Where do we go?” I asked urgently, though there was nowhere that we could get fast enough to hide.
“We go to the ocean,” I said, realizing time was running out quickly. We couldn’t leave Mulunu and the goblins to fight our battle alone, but Quinn was unconscious. We needed to protect him and provide an avenue for Mulunu’s retreat. Even the crazy sea witch wouldn’t be able to hold them off indefinitely. We were too greatly outnumbered.
“Trina,” I yelled to be heard over the raging fire, the grunted shouts of those fighting, and the zing of exploding magic. “Come with us,” I told her.
Without hesitation, she hurried over to us.
“You all need to be touching me when I take us,” I said, casting a meaningful look at Mulunu while working hard to ignore the fact that my magic was highly unreliable. Still, it seemed like we were out of options. Mulunu was fighting like a one-witch army, but how long could she hold up before one of our attackers got in a lucky shot? Those of us capable of helping her were in no shape to do so.
A goblin screamed as a red shot of magic hit its mark. The gray, gnarled creature slumped to the ground, clutching at its chest, where a hole the size of my fist pierced his hairless flesh.
I turned Liana toward me, squeezing her arms. “I can transport us all down to the bottom of the cliff next to the ocean. At least there we can call on the power of the water, and our enemies won’t immediately realize where we are.”
Liana opened her mouth to ask questions but I shook my head, barreling on. “I’m still learning how to do it, and I’m not great at it yet. Also, I’ve never tried it with so many people before.”
When her eyes widened warily, I rushed to say, “I’m sure I can do it. We’ll all be fine.” And damn, did I hope I was right. “I’ll have to close my eyes and focus, but everyone has to be touching me when I take us. When I signal to you, I need you to get Mulunu to touch me and fast. Got it?”
She hesitated only a fraction of a second before nodding. “I’ve got this. Tell me when, and I’ll get Mulunu here.”
“Good. Trina,” I said, spinning to take her in. “Did you understand? You have to touch me so I can get us out of here and down to the water.”
Wordlessly, she scooted over to me and wrapped her hands around my calf.
“Perfect. Make sure you don’t let go, no matter what, okay?”
She nodded as the ground exploded right next to us. We all squealed and jumped.
One final look told me our attackers were winning. Several goblins lay unmoving on the ground. I had no idea how long Mulunu could sustain her defense. Her staff was lit up like a spotlight, her eyes bright as moons, her movements fierce, urgent, choppy, and desperate.
The sooner I accomplished this teleport, as Brogan had called it, the more of us would survive. Surely, once our attackers realized we were gone, they’d leave the goblins alone and some of them would escape.
“Brogan, Quinn can’t touch me directly. I think it will be enough for you to do it while he’s in your hold.”
He nodded quickly, eyes flicking between our attackers and me.
“Hold on tight,” I said over a ferocious grimace, and with intense determination I shut my eyes.
12
Despite the myriad distractions and my fear of losing Quinn, I was somehow able to tune out the explosions and lethal magical attacks. Trusting Liana that she’d ensure everyone was doing what they needed to be included in my magic, I focused all the energy that remained to me into picturing the rocky outcropping beneath the cliff, several thousand feet behind us.
I envisioned Quinn, Liana, Irving, Brogan, Trina, and
Mulunu down there with me, the mist coating every surface of my body, whisking my wings away and returning my tail with a squelching pop. Mulunu and Liana’s tails would emerge too, and I even envisioned Trina with a tail as well, hoping some of her mermaid magic remained even though Lizbeth had drained her powers.
Liana cried out in alarm next to me, dirt spraying my bare legs. And as my mind wanted to return to the right-here-and-now to protect myself and those I cared for, I couldn’t. If I did, we’d all be captured, dead, or worse. I forced myself to trust in Liana and crystallized my focus with every speck of determination left in my mind and body.
The crashing waves, throwing mist in every direction. The cold, wet, slippery rocks beneath us. The steep cliff beside us, concealing the remains of Lizbeth’s burning castle and all those who perished within it. The power of the sea, gifting us safety.
I cycled through the imagery until I was certain it had managed to overcome our present circumstances, and then I refused to entertain any doubt as to whether I contained the power to succeed. I was doing this, end of story.
Focusing so hard that a slight tremble spread through my limbs, I whispered to Liana, “Now,” then pressed my lips together tightly, again shoving away the screams and pained cries that threatened to pull me from the images in my mind.
Hands clamped around my body, and shouts and explosions popped far too near.
Now!
The ocean at the bottom of the cliff, the ocean at the bottom of the cliff...
The telltale tug on my stomach signaled that it was working. Vertigo wrapped around me as I struggled both to hold on to our destination and all my passengers.
Eyelids clamped shut, I channeled every bit of my merged magic into doing this. I pushed and streamed and blasted my combined siren and angel magic into depositing us all at the rocky outcropping.
Shaking from the effort of it, a seed of dread bloomed inside me as I realized it was taking too long. It should have worked by now! We should be there already.
It had to be how many people I was transporting with me.
Sweat beaded along my forehead and dripped down the curve of my back. I’d believed I’d already been giving it my all, but I had to give more. If not, we were all dead. Surely, with the delay our attackers would be closing in on us. Whatever they wanted from us, they’d get it if I didn’t manage to get us out of here right this second.
Roaring like I was giving birth and the baby was crowning, I discovered more magic, which I’d apparently hidden away in self-preservation, gleaned every last bit of it and forced it toward my picture of all of us at the bottom of the cliff, hidden from sight.
That was what it took—every single bit of power I had.
Finally, the invisible cord of my magic yanked on my center, eliciting a gasp from me as my sense of up and down tumbled in a jumbled mess until I worried I’d throw up, lose hold of the image of where I was taking us, or even kill us all—certainly myself.
My power was waning. I sensed it seeping out of me, leaving me drifting and desperate to survive.
Despite my wishes, I could no longer hold on to the sense of the place I wanted to take us. I was too weak, and I’d let everyone down. How had things gone so wrong? All Quinn and I had wanted was to love each other. How had that one happy desire led us here?
My memories flashed to the place where we’d made love for those brief moments before the power of the elements within us had clashed and nearly destroyed Quinn. Before then, all we’d had to worry about was others trying to kidnap us to steal our power. We hadn’t yet become a danger to each other.
A vicious tug yanked at my center, swinging me in another direction. It was all I could do to hold on to the others. Gritting my teeth, I told myself it wouldn’t be that much longer, then I could let go.
The effort was not only leaving me weaker than ever before, but also becoming painful. My breathing was erratic and wild like that of an angry bull. I swallowed repeatedly to keep myself from becoming physically sick.
Just as tears began to leak from my closed eyes, I slammed into the ground with enough force to jar loose any attempt to deliver us anywhere. Whatever hands still held on to me, released, and when I groaned, long and prolonged, I realized I wasn’t the only one.
“Well,” Brogan wheezed, “that was a hell of a crash landing.”
With desperation, I needed to know if everyone had made it with me, but when I lifted my head to look, the entire world spun and I urgently flattened myself to the ground and wove my fingers into the earth.
The grass was thick and lush, and the sun shone brightly overhead. There was no ocean mist here...
We aren’t where we’re supposed to be.
Oh. Hell.
Please don’t let me have taken us to that other place that wasn’t on the Earth. If I’d done it before without meaning to, I surely could have done it now.
“By Neptune,” Liana grumbled, “that was awful.”
Grunted assents sounded around me.
“Did everyone make it?” I asked, my voice a cracking mess.
After a brief pause, to count us off, presumably, Liana said, “Yes, we’re all here.”
“And Quinn?” I grunted.
“Still out, but breathing steadily,” Irving answered.
Every muscle in my body melted. I decided right then and there that I was never doing that again if I had any say in the matter. Careful not to lift my head from the ground, I spread out like a starfish, waiting for some semblance of normalcy to return. My stomach sloshed like a stormy ocean. My head swirled like an undercurrent was tumbling me without mercy.
“Are we safe here?” Brogan asked before I thought to do the same.
“For now,” Mulunu grumbled. “We’re nowhere near where we were before, so that’s good, but the way they’re throwing off energy like a damn lighthouse beacon, the mages will be able to track Quinn and Selene wherever they are.”
Maybe I should have taken us to that other plane after all. Though of course I had no real idea how to accomplish it—at least I could have tried.
But then, I’d barely succeeded in transporting us here, wherever here was.
“Can you shield them?” Irving asked while the world spun around me.
“I hope so,” Mulunu ground out. “Because if I can’t, there’s only one choice.”
“I’m not letting you kill them,” Irving growled, sounding almost as strong as his former self. I suspected some of it must be bravado. Despite his advanced shifter healing, he’d been in really bad shape when we rescued him.
“Then help me figure out a way to shield the crazy energy they’re putting off.”
“How?”
“Let me draw on your power,” Mulunu said. “After the battle, I don’t have enough of my own left until my magic replenishes. For that to happen, I need to return to the ocean. You too, Liana, if I can access your power outside of the water, and maybe even Brogan’s as well, depending on how things go.”
“What about me or Trina? Or Quinn even?” I croaked.
“Trina no longer has any magic,” Mulunu said, the admission laden with sorrow. “And I won’t touch what you and Quinn have under any circumstances. I’ve told you, girl, again and again, your power, separate and combined, is the damn problem here. It’s destructive. Think of yourselves as bombs about to go off.”
“How do you know about bombs?”
Irving’s stormy eyes narrowed with suspicion.
“Just because I live underwater doesn’t mean I’m a damn fool, old man,” Mulunu hissed. “I keep abreast of developments on land as much as I can. Too much danger brews here.”
“Fair enough,” Irving grumbled. “You won’t take more from Brogan and Liana than they can afford to lose?”
“Of course I won’t,” Mulunu snapped. “I won’t kill them to protect the others who look like they might have to die anyway. Besides, I don’t just kill for fun, you should know that. What do you take me for?”
Irving d
idn’t answer, saying volumes through his silence.
Mulunu growled menacingly, and Irving finally asked, “Do you need me to shift to draw on my power?”
“Yes, you and Brogan. Liana, with you in my clan, I’m hoping I’ll be able to access your power out of the water, when you’re in human form. If I can’t, there’ll be nothing to do about it.”
“Are you up for it, Brogie?” Irving asked.
“Only if you don’t call me that ever again,” Brogan said right away, making Irving laugh, and making me wonder how Irving could find humor in our situation.
Not wanting to miss the sight of the two of them shifting into polar bears, I forced myself to open my eyes and lifted my head slowly. When I was certain the world had stopped spinning, I pushed up onto my elbows and blinked repeatedly at the familiar view.
What the hell?
“Uh, I think I know where we are … or maybe not. But it looks awfully familiar.”
All attention was on me. Even Trina peered at me in anticipation.
“I think we’re close to Naomi Nettles’ house. Quinn and I ran from there to here in a couple of hours or less. I think…” Life was unreasonably fuzzy since Mulunu had deposited me on Irving’s doorstep. Though that had been only like two-and-a-half months ago, it felt like a small eternity. I wondered what Egan, Fianna, and Nessa were thinking about my kidnapping. What would Sir Lancelot do after Naomi had plucked me from the middle of their tight security at the Magical Creatures Academy?
“What were you doing at Naomi’s house?” Irving asked, interrupting my new source of concern.
“Being kidnapped. Again,” I deadpanned. Life had become too traumatic to process every instance lately.
“She kidnapped you and Quinn?”
I nodded, only to regret moving my head.
“I’m going to kill her,” Irving ground out, fists clenched at his side as white fur rippled across his bare forearms.