Magic Sight

by Leia Stone

  The selkie stopped in mid-stride and snapped her head back, scanning every member in our group with those wild eyes. “Because in the underworld, selkies are forced to be slaves for highborn demons. If that gate stays open and they invade Earth, our little paradise here gets ruined and we’re back to being slaves. Servitude doesn’t suit my people.” Her nostrils flared as she bared her pointy teeth again.

  Damn, she was scary when she wanted to be. I gulped. I had no idea about the underworld’s hierarchy, and I didn’t even want to know what a highborn demon was, but it made sense in a way. Every single demon I’d ever met or heard about was power hungry. The stronger demons would attempt to control those beneath them.

  Brock simply nodded, accepting her answer, and we kept walking. With Brock in the lead and me on his heels, we followed her deeper into the dense woods for several minutes before I heard splashing.

  “I suggest you lower your weapons unless you want my girls to think you’re here to kill them.” She glared at our many swords and guns. “If you threaten them, they’ll tear you to shreds.” Her look suggested she’d do nothing to stop them. Heck, the crazy gleam in her eyes said she’d join them.

  Hesitation pulsed through our group, but we all eventually lowered our weapons. Haru and Reo were the most reluctant, sheathing their katanas but keeping twitchy fingers close to their hilts.

  When the selkie was satisfied we weren’t an overt threat, she led us into a cove where water flowed from the sea and into the forest, pooling in a small area. Eight seals with reddish eyes lay around the edge of the cove, and every set of eyes trained on us.

  I swallowed. Even in their seal forms there was something off about them. It was probably the mess-with-us-and-we’ll-kill-you-good look they all sported on their otherwise pleasant seal faces.

  “Ladies, these are our guests,” the selkie leader announced. “They’re here to repair a weapon so that the kitsune with them can close the gate to the underworld, and then they’ll be on their way.”

  At the word kitsune, the seals’ eyes widened and one of them started to morph. I didn’t think selkies were technically considered shifters. They could become human for short periods of time but could never really pass for humans because they always had to be in contact with their seal skins. If stolen, the selkie would wither and die. They were more like land-sea hybrids. Never fully human, never fully seal.

  The morphing seal stretched, becoming taller and thinner until her skin split right down the middle, exposing a human face first and then a human body. Molly, who wasn’t bothering to hide her amazement, gasped, mouth still hanging wide open.

  Once the newly transformed selkie was in her naked form, the wet seal skin draped around her shoulders. “Kitsune?” she purred while eyeing each one of us. Her stare eventually landed on me and stayed there.

  How did the selkies know I was the kitsune? It wasn’t like I was wearing a damn nametag or anything. Freaking mind readers.

  I swallowed hard and pulled out the broken pieces of my blade.

  The seven remaining seals either slithered out of the water or away from the edge of the cove, allowing me to walk toward it. The water was a bright, clear turquoise. I wouldn’t mind a dip if not, you know, for the crazed, murderous selkies that surrounded us. Crouching down next to the pool, I looked over at Haru and Reo. “Do I just dip the pieces in?”

  The selkie leader threw her head back, her long hair trailing behind her, and laughed a high-pitched cackle. “Oh, baby, are you new at this?”

  I cut her a glare, but her eyes glittered dangerously, as if she were unhinged. Probably better to engage her as little as possible.

  Haru stepped forward, bowing to the water before kneeling before me. “The water is alive. A living, healing consciousness. Tell her your wish to mend your blade and then dip it in the water.”

  Alive? The thought gave me the chills, but I nodded and thanked him. I also sent a cutting glare to the judgmental selkie behind me.

  Okay, let’s get this done and get the hell out of here, I told myself.

  I cleared my throat. “Uh, hello,” I said stupidly to the pool of crystalline water, but at my words, there was a stirring in its depths.

  Oh God. This was a whole next level kind of weird.

  “Please repair my broken katana. Thank you,” I told the water, wondering why no one was laughing at me. I was talking to water!

  All eyes were on me. Even the seals watched with eerie concentration. I leaned forward and slipped the two halves, and my hands, into the pool. It was warm, like bathwater warm.

  Almost immediately, a purple glow wrapped itself around my arms, sweeping down each hand and across the pieces of the blade, making the entire water glimmer with a lilac hue. Following some instinct that told me what to do, I merged the two broken pieces of my katana and held them together while the water appeared to be working to fuse them back into one whole. The water beneath me glowed so brightly it was difficult to look at.

  The selkie leader stepped closer to the water to look over my shoulder. “The water spirit is using your own healing energy to fix the blade.” For once, her voice was pleasant, filled with awe.

  Regardless, Brock, Haru, and Reo edged closer to me as well. Just because the selkie leader was playing nice didn’t mean we could trust her.

  My eyes were bugged out of my skull, pretty sure my life couldn’t get any crazier, when Tianna hissed. I went rigid and so did the alpha and warriors behind me.

  The smell of sulfur hit me just as the selkie growled, “Akuma!”

  Oh. Fuck. Was anything in my life ever going to be easy again?

  18 Holy Mother of Scary Demons

  With my hands elbow-deep in the glowing water, the scent of sulfur intensified, which meant the Akuma drew nearer. Which also meant we were in deep shit.

  “Don’t take your hands out until that blade is whole!” Haru barked as he and Reo pulled their katanas with a matching shliiing sound that I’d come to love.

  “Akuma, as in the demon overlords that kill kitsune?” Brock asked, pulling two handguns from holsters on either side of his hips. He was ready to throw down, and by the sound of Molly’s shotgun cocking, so was my apprentice.

  “The one and only,” Haru said as a fiery red ball zoomed through the woods and crashed onto the forest floor at the edge of the open cove. The ball of magic exploded and flames rushed from it, licking across the ground, igniting leaves and sticks that covered the earth as if they’d been doused in gasoline.

  The Akuma had arrived.

  Everything happened so fast I wasn’t sure where to look.

  Cass’ small wings flapped wildly as he cut a straight line across the edge of the water to land at my side. One hand crackled with his magic at the ready, another dipped into his favorite fanny pack, fingers twitching above an array of Gran’s vials. With Cass there, he, Brock, Haru, and Reo fanned out to cover my exposed back, since I was stuck to the spot until my sword was repaired.

  ‘I’ve got your back, Ev,’ Cass told me for good measure. I knew I could count on my bestie in times like these.

  More of the selkies transformed from seals to humanoids, crawling out of the water naked with seal skins on their backs and feral grins on their faces, sliding tongues across pointy teeth.

  At the same time, four human-looking demons emerged from the woods, where the fireball had originated. Except there was nothing truly human about them. Their eyes were entirely black, without whites, and their skin was translucent. Black veins pulsed along their faces, necks, collarbones, and the exposed muscles of their arms; it was as if they bled crude oil. Two of them were roughly female in appearance, with long, stringy hair, and the other two appeared male, with short-cropped hair.

  “Well, well,” one of the females said, gesturing to me. “It looks as if your powers manifested after all.”

  She grinned, and her teeth were gray, tinged with black. Clearly the Akuma weren’t believers in dental hygiene. Yuck.

  Withou
t waiting for a signal, Brock unloaded one of his weapons into the approaching demons … and then all hell truly broke loose. The Akuma moved faster than vampires, which should have been impossible. One second the four demons were at the edge of the forest, entering the clearing that contained the cove, the next they were dodging Brock’s bullets and moving toward us at a blur. Before I could blink or freak out, they were right in front of us. They’d covered thirty feet in half a second.

  Holy. Shit.

  One of the demons popped right up in my personal space, wedging himself between my protectors and me. I started and, already off balance with both arms in the water, I fell to the side, tumbling into the pool of water.

  Pivoting, I yanked the two halves of the katana to each side so they wouldn’t stab or slice me as I crashed into the warm, purple-glowing water. Popping up to the surface, I scanned the chaos, careful to keep both parts of the katana immersed as I did. Haru had warned me not to remove my sword before it was healed. At this rate, the water had better work its magic fast. The peaceful cove had transformed into a war zone.

  The selkies had gone into attack mode. Four of them were latched on to one of the Akuma … eating it alive. Its screams were inhuman shrieks … until they dissolved into little more than a death rattle. Not even its super speed had managed to spare the creature from the viciousness of the selkies’ attack.

  Note to self: Never cross a selkie. Like, never ever.

  Tianna and Cass faced off with one of the other Akuma demons, while Brock and Molly took on the third. Where was the fourth? The fire was spreading; the thickening smoke and flames made it hard to see. I spun around in the water. Haru and Reo were missing too … somewhere among the flames with the fourth demon.

  With a start, I remembered that none of us were going to be able to go anywhere until this sword was fixed. We were trapped here fighting the Akuma and couldn’t even retreat. With shaking hands, I brought the two broken pieces together again so the water could do its thing. The lilac glow surged around the severed edges of the sword again.

  Come on, come on.

  “They’re trying to burn our cove!” the selkie leader howled, prompting the last few seals to leave the safety of the water and fight with them.

  I felt so helpless, it was like the pool scene with the siren all over again. My hands were vibrating as the blade stitched itself together. Purple shafts of light bounced off the sharp edge as the metal fused. It was incredible, and in any other situation I would’ve enjoyed the marvel of the water’s magic. But not right now.

  Impatience flared through me while I desperately kicked my legs to keep myself floating. Cries, snarls, and gunshots circled the cove. The fire roared and crackled as if it too were alive, making my nerves twitch. It was hard to keep track of my friends, and beyond the one Akuma the selkies were working on devouring. Were the other three still on their feet? I spotted one, black veins bulging beneath its skin, its black eyes merciless, lit only by fury as it charged at Cass and Tianna, who held it back with flashes of their magic.

  Suddenly, Haru burst through the wall of fire with Reo right behind him. Black blood dripped all over them as they searched for me with desperate eyes. They looked like they’d been through hell.

  I brought the blade up toward the surface of the water, careful to keep it fully submerged, and inspected the seam that was melding to make it one again. It appeared almost fully stitched together. The purple glow was diminishing, fading along my arms too.

  The instant this thing was fixed, I was jumping out of the water and slaying some Akuma ass.

  “Kitsune!” the female Akuma Brock had been fighting hissed from in front of a wall of crackling fire. I whipped my head around. Brock wasn’t there anymore. Maybe she’d thrown him. Oh God. He’d better be okay. I couldn’t see him anywhere.

  Extending her left hand, the demon overlord pointed it toward me. A razor-sharp black talon tore through the flesh, extending from the middle of her palm in a deadly curve. Then she ran right for me.

  Fuck.

  “Molly, no!” Cass shouted, before I’d even registered the streak of purple hair.

  Molly leapt in front of me, across the edge of the pool, and blocked the female Akuma’s attack. The demon’s black talon stabbed Molly instead of me. It plunged into her gut, cutting all the way through to her back. The blade-like tip emerged at the back of Molly’s shirt in a spreading circle of crimson blood.

  No! I choked on a sob as rage filled my every pore. Molly was the most treasured person in our little group, young and eager to take on the supernatural world. As the only human among us, she alone couldn’t regenerate.

  I would fucking kill all of them.

  As the Akuma pulled out the talon, Molly collapsed to the ground. Before I realized what I was doing, I launched myself out of the water—my blade was whole again, shining purple, and ready to cut this bitch’s heart out.

  With a battle cry that was equal parts sorrow and rage, I jumped onto the bank and slashed into the black-veined bitch. I planned to carve her up like a fucking Thanksgiving turkey for what she did to Molly.

  Molly who was limp at my feet in a puddle of red blood.

  So much blood.

  The Akuma tried to stab me in the neck with her creepy palm talon, striking at my carotid with a fancy martial arts move, but I’d already positioned the tip of my sword over her heart. With a satisfying crack, the sharp tip of my katana sliced into her chest.

  The demon bitch gasped as my purple glowing magic lit up her face like the Fourth of July. Up close she was even more hideous. Her black veins bulged beneath her skin like worms trying to break free through her flesh. Her eyes were dead, even while life continued to thump through her.

  “You … can’t stop … it,” she mumbled, before going deadly silent. The air whooshed from her body and she sank to the ground. With a kick to her gut, I slid my sword from her body as she exploded into demon jelly.

  Ewwww. Shit had to stop blowing up all over me.

  I flicked demon gunk off of me as I spun to check on Molly.

  Oh no.

  A sob lodged in my throat. She was lifeless, drained of color, cradled in Brock’s arms.

  “No,” I croaked. Brock met my eyes with a look that said there was nothing we could do.

  Molly was dying.

  A quick scan revealed that the other Akuma were dead too, and the selkies were working to put out the fire by wetting their seal skins and draping them over certain spots. With how moist this area was, they should be able to put it out with all of them working together.

  My eyes fell to my newly fixed blade, thinking that getting it repaired definitely wasn’t worth Molly’s life, when an idea struck me. I fell to my knees beside her, placing my blade on the ground. “Molly!”

  “I … didn’t want her … to hurt you.” Blood bubbled on Molly’s lips as she forced words through stuttered breaths. “You’re … more important.”

  Tears flowed down my cheeks. I loved this chick more than I realized. She’d become like the little sister I never had.

  “Nonsense. You’re important too,” I told her, taking her from Brock’s arms and pulling her into my own. I ran a hand across Molly’s purple hair.

  A pink fuzzy hand plopped on my shoulder and I sniffled loudly.

  “Yeah, you’re our walking supernatural dictionary,” Cass said.

  Molly smiled weakly, her eyes glassy, and my gaze flicked up to meet Brock’s. “I need to get her in the water,” I told him.

  He nodded, but looked sad and defeated, as if he didn’t think the water would heal her. His hands and arms were covered in her blood.

  Fuck that negativity. There might be a lot of blood—okay, a shit-load—and she was growing cold in my arms, but I refused to believe we were going to lose Molly. I wouldn’t allow it.

  ‘You got this, Ev,’ Cass cheered me on in the way only I would hear.

  Without a word, each member of our team trailed to the edge of the pool. Brock h
elped me by carrying Molly’s legs. Blood dripped from beneath her in a steady flow, soaking into my shirt and jeans. It was so much damn blood.

  Even the fae-witch Tianna, who enjoyed making light of everything, was somber as fuck. But the night is darkest before the dawn, right? Yeah, I was holding on to that shit with everything I had.

  Even the selkies looked our way with expressions of regret as they put out the last of the fires.

  Brock and I lowered Molly into the warm water and I waded in with her in my arms as the selkie we’d first met crouched on the bank next to me. “I’ve never seen it heal a human before. Only supernaturals,” she said, her tone morose.

  Fuck.

  I didn’t want Molly to hear that. Hell, I didn’t want to hear that. I wasn’t sure if the selkie meant no one had ever tried to heal a human or if someone had attempted it and it hadn’t worked. Either option sucked, so I ignored her.

  “How you doing?” I looked down at the purple-haired girl in my arms, blinking away tears, and tried to plaster a semblance of a hopeful smile on my face.

  She gave me a drunken lopsided grin. “Never been stabbed by a demon claw before.”

  Oh, Molly … bless your supernaturally obsessed heart.

  The water clouded with diluted red around Molly’s abdomen. There was too much blood for her to last much longer. Already her ability to focus was waning and her gaze was growing vacant, the spark in those bright eyes fading.

  I crushed her against my chest as if the mere action might keep her with us longer. She didn’t even whimper as I squeezed her.

  “Hey … um, it’s me again,” I said to the water as if it were alive. I mean, clearly it was some kind of intelligent consciousness since it had just healed my fucking blade like it was no big deal. “I’d be ever so grateful if you would heal my friend Molly. Like you did my blade.” I put on my super sugary sweet voice. The one I used to use on Gran when I wanted something badly.

  The water began to stir, churning around where I stood with Molly in my arms. The water swirled around my shoulders, covering her. My crew leaned forward in anticipation along the bank. Brock allowed hope to light up his eyes. Anticipation fluttered through my body and I really had to blink back tears. A jerky sound somewhere between a cry and a sigh of relief slipped from my lips.