“I think this is your best shot,” Michael said confidently. “And in case things go south . . . I’m coming with you to help.”
“Oh, I don’t think so, son,” Donnie said.
“I’m going too,” Arabeth offered.
“That’s a double no,” Donnie said, looking between his children. “You kids aren’t going to another dimension, end of story.”
“Dad, I’m thirty,” Arabeth said. “And Michael is twenty-one. If a bunch of teenagers can do this, we can too.”
Donnie stood and squared off with his daughter. “Your mother and I already have one child who is in danger. We’re not risking two more.”
Now Michael stood. The rest of us watched the heated exchange with bated breath, not sure who would win out.
“Dad,” Michael said. “These guys need the Midnight Law flame to find Crisa. Finding Crisa is the only way to find Mary Roberts. Arabeth and I aren’t going on a suicide mission. We’re going to ensure they don’t die so they can bring our sister home.”
“Promise that you will come straight home after you finish with Humilde,” Ashlyn said suddenly.
Donnie gazed at his wife. “Ash—”
She held up her hand and stared at her two children. “I want you to give me your word, kids. You make sure our young friends get their Midnight Law flame then you turn around and come back to Bermuda through the very next black hole that opens. The ones in Mer always lead to Bermuda, so you shouldn’t have long to wait. Those are my terms. You help the kids complete this part of their quest, but not the ones that follow.”
Michael and Arabeth glanced at each other before answering their mom in unison. “We promise.”
Ashlyn nodded and took her husband’s hand. “Donnie, stubbornness runs in my family, and so does fighting for what you want. My mother gave up a world for my father. I did the same for you. If our children want to risk their lives for their sister, we need to support them. We have to willingly let them go. Otherwise, they’ll just do what they want anyway and resent you for trying to hold them back.”
“Dad,” Tina Louise said carefully. “It’s a big a gamble, but Arabeth and Michael have the smarts and the powers to protect themselves. And I want Mary Roberts to come home. If my powers were helpful in this situation, I’d insist on going too.”
Donnie was outnumbered. He stared at his family before begrudgingly nodding and sitting back down.
I lifted my latest whiteboard message, which I’d been working on as they’d been talking. “How are Arabeth and Michael going to help?”
“Oh, right.” Arabeth smiled slyly. “You don’t know what our powers are.”
“Holy cow, I’m so glad to see you!”
I’d been having some messed up dream about pancakes with angry faces chasing me while a bulldog was slipping off a cliff; then all of sudden that was wiped away and I landed in a white void, looking at my best friend. This time Crisa wasn’t running or shouting to me. She didn’t look scared or desperate. It was just her, standing there in the same purple and blue dress as the last time I’d seen her.
“Hey, Blue,” she said with a sad smile.
I walked toward her carefully. These dreams were temperamental. Every time I met with Crisa in this subconscious place, I only had a brief time before the connection shattered.
Crisa closed her eyes and moved her palms in an upward motion. When she did, furniture from our bedroom at Lady Agnue’s popped up in the void. Three canopy beds materialized. Scraps of wooden floorboards covered the ground between us. A carpet and a couple of desks appeared in the scene.
“How the . . .” I glanced around.
“The stronger my magic becomes, the more control I have over my dreamscape,” Crisa explained. “Now I know how Merlin was able to do it. I just didn’t realize how much power I’d need to unleash to get to this point.” She gazed off into the void.
“Crisa . . .” I said softly. “Merlin has had dreams about what Arian is putting you through. He showed them to us using a potion SJ invented. If you have more control of your dreams, does that mean . . .”
She nodded. “It takes crazy amounts of power to overcome the painful anti-magic effect Earth has on otherworldly abilities. Mix that with the large amount of power it takes to perform resurrection in general, and every day you get an increasingly powerful version of me.”
“In dreams,” I clarified. “You seem fine here. But out there, on Earth—” I cut myself off.
Crisa sat on the edge of a bed and looked at me with a serious expression. “I’m not doing well, Blue. I honestly have no idea how Arian’s plan for me is going to end. The more power I use, the more I can feel the Shadow inside of me getting stronger. It’s like my soul dies a little bit every time I die, and the Shadow’s power becomes a crutch to lean on as a result. The evil thoughts I have when I’m awake are . . . substantial. I’m worried about how much longer I can resist. I’m also worried that my actual body won’t be able to keep taking the stress. Maybe the next time Arian kills me, I just won’t have the power to resurrect anymore. With or without Mary Roberts’s help.” Crisa paused. “You remember Ashlyn’s daughter from Bermuda? She has healing powers. The antagonists brought her here too. Did Merlin envision that? They call her their MRI—apparently that’s some kind of medical scanning machine on Earth, so they adopted the nickname.”
“Yeah, we know about Mary Roberts,” I said. “We’re actually in Bermuda right now. Chance and Daniel enacted an old magic spell called Midnight Law that’s helping us track you. We only have twenty-four Book hours to find you. Otherwise the boys turn to stone.”
Crisa rose from the bed. “I’m aware. You’re not the first of our friends I’ve contacted like this recently. I still can’t believe you let them take on that risk.”
“Crisa, since when does a friend in our group need anyone to ‘let them’ do anything? We’re all a bunch of self-destructive idiots who would do anything for each other. Friendship at its finest.”
Crisa’s expression lightened slightly. “So you’re not still mad at me for taking the Shadow to save you?”
I sighed and crossed my arms. “No. I get it.”
“Are you still mad at yourself?”
“What?”
One of the beds vanished abruptly. The wooden floor panels started disappearing too.
“You’re waking up,” Crisa said, stepping closer to me. “Dream connections are difficult for others to sustain no matter how powerful I become. I didn’t have more than a minute with Girtha. I talked to her before you and we barely had time to say anything to each other.”
“Wait, why talk to her first?”
“Because I had a vision of what you guys are about to face under the sea, and Girtha is the key. She’s the hero amongst you with the strongest sense of self. I wanted to tell her and you that so you’d trust her when it matters.”
I had so many questions and so little time. The remaining furniture started to disintegrate. I put aside the Girtha issue for more important matters. “Do you have any idea what part of Earth you’re in?” I pleaded. “Any clues at all that could help us when we eventually get there?”
She shook her head. “The only thing I overheard from the guards is something about a big bear nearby. I tried to tell you that in our last dream connection, but it was not as clear as this one. I wish I could help more.”
The last of the décor vanished. Then Crisa started to fade too.
“Wait, I’m not ready,” I said. “I may not be able to see you again before—”
Crisa closed the distance between us and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back with strength and sadness and regret.
Then I woke with my chest pounding and stared at the darkness of the Inero’s living room ceiling. I sat up. It was half past one in the morning. The windows were closed but the tiniest rays of moonlight came through the cracks. I wiped my moist forehead with the back of my hand. My clothes were soaked in sweat too. Without warning, silver sparks started dancin
g around me to dry me off. They looked surreal in the darkness. I cringed in pain as my wrist burned from the SRB’s reaction. Thankfully the effect only lasted a couple more seconds.
I threw off my blanket, letting out a long exhale. Inevitably I pulled on my boots and got up. I slid my hunting knife into its sheath—I didn’t like to go anywhere without it if I could help it—and swung my backpack over my shoulders. Creeping through the shadows, I made my way to the front door of the house and outside. The front porch creaked under my shoes. The moon hung low in the cloudless sky and cast a streak of spectral light on the ocean. The sound of the waves was hypnotic and calming. I wondered where Lonna was. I realized I had no idea how mermaids slept. Did they just float in the water?
I turned quickly at a rustling to my right, but couldn’t see anything past the tree line. It must’ve been the wind.
I gazed off at the distant dock—that place where I’d pushed for Crisa to trust me. The place where our connection evolved in the face of our first quest and real test of friendship. I wandered toward the spot for a bit, but the walk to the end of the pier seemed much longer than I remembered. I stopped midway and stared off at it. Suddenly I didn’t feel like I could make it that far. The Seabeagle was docked a few steps away, gently bobbing and looking inviting. With a sigh, I turned away from the seemingly endless ocean and climbed aboard. Maybe if I got back to sleep, I could communicate with Crisa again.
The waves sloshed against the boat. I took off my backpack and set it on the floor before I lay down on the rounded, cushioned deck seat. To the peaceful sound of the waters, I found my way to sleep as hoped, but did not reunite with Crisa. My dreams were filled with empty classrooms, brightly colored snakes, mountain-sized piles of waffles, and Girtha. My memory started to filter through flashes of our Dreamland quest.
“No, don’t!” Crisa yelled as she, Chance, Daniel, Alex, and I raced down the stairs of the Nightmare castle. It was too late. Girtha lifted the purple, melon-sized jewel from the podium, activating the Shadow trap. The entire palace trembled. My subconscious squirmed in this moment until a creaking sound stirred me from slumber. I cracked my tired eyes open. It was still dark out, but I could see a pair of big shoes directly in front of me.
Girtha?
I blinked and looked up. My mind took a second too long to process and the masked man dressed in black rushed in. He put his hand over my mouth to keep me from shouting. I couldn’t talk anyway so that didn’t matter, but the force of his hand pressed me down on the bench and kept me from sitting up. Three other masked guys appeared behind him and hastened forward.
Okay, that’s enough.
I punched the first guy in the throat and gave him a hard shove backward, throwing him off me. I jumped to my feet, ducked a hook punch, and leapt away from another strike. Too busy blocking and parrying all directions, I didn’t have time to reach for my knife. These guys’ dark clothes made them hard to see and there was limited room on this deck.
A punch came toward my face and I redirected it, nailing the guy in the sternum. Another attacker landed a blow to my side. I grimaced and whirled on my heel in time to block a different strike, only to get smacked in the face. I stumbled back to the cushioned deck seat I’d been sleeping on.
The men surrounded me menacingly. One of the attackers lunged forward and I hopped onto the seat out of the way. A second guy leapt up in my pursuit. We exchanged moves and countermoves on that elevation before one of the men grabbed me by the belt and yanked me off the seat, throwing me to the floor.
I crashed forearms first, but anger and aggression made up for the hurt. I flipped onto my back and kicked the closest attacker as he bent down for me, then spun to my feet and shoved away the second man. Using momentum, I charged in and hammered the third guy with a brutal punch to his stomach before whirling around to hit the fourth man with a solid backfist.
But I missed.
The fourth man ducked low before rushing in and slamming me against the metal railing of the boat. The impact stunned my lower spine. As I swung out weakly, the attacker caught my right arm at two different points with both his hands. Then he forced those areas of my arm in opposite directions. I screamed in silence at the audible snap of my arm breaking.
Pain echoed through every part of my body. The four men loomed over me. For the first time in a while, I felt the real threat of my doom. I was so strong and so skilled that sometimes I forgot dying was an option. Looking at these men now and feeling the pain pulsing through me, I was reminded death wasn’t just an option; it was a calling. And no one, even the strongest of us, knew when it would call for us.
I gulped, trying to stay on my feet. One man reeled his fist to take another shot—I braced myself—but then before the blow reached me, he was somehow yanked backward along with the man next to him. It was like magic. No, not magic. This was Girtha. She began pummeling the men, keeping three of the four busy. Sadly, the last guy came straight at me. I didn’t have time to move. He swung his entire arm at my chest and knocked me back over the railing. I fell off the boat and into the cold water, sinking beneath the waves.
My body in pain and shock, I couldn’t seem to force my limbs to swim upward for air. A second later a figure plunged into the water beside me; my attacker had followed me. The next thing I knew, his hands encircled my throat. On instinct, I opened my mouth to breath as I was choked. Water poured into my lungs and everything became a blur of bubbles and darkness. I reached my good arm across my body, scrabbling along my belt to find my hunting knife. My vision was tunneling. I managed to pull the blade from its sheath, but my fingers were like rubber and it slipped from my grasp.
No! No . . . My body went limp and my eyes began to close. Suddenly, a flash of bright blue light lit my peripherals and a split second later a rush of water pummeled into me and my attacker. We fumbled through the water, causing him to release my throat. That’s when I saw Lonna—glowing with blue energy, holding my hunting knife.
What is she—
Lonna grabbed her long blonde hair and sliced it off with my knife. The knife shone with unspeakable brilliance. Then Lonna darted toward my attacker before he could reorient himself and stabbed him through the heart.
My lungs were about to burst. I kicked toward the surface. Lonna swam beside me when I was halfway there, put my good arm over her shoulders, and shot me up the rest of the way.
GASP!
The air was sweet relief, but my broken arm and battered body shouted with pain. Lonna kept me above water. Girtha appeared at the railing of The Seabeagle overhead. She was panting heavily but gave a thumbs up. I assumed that meant she’d defeated the other attackers.
“Blue’s really hurt,” Lonna called up. “Hang tight. I’m taking her to shore.”
My aquatic friend got me to land seconds later, as close as she could go. I hauled myself onto the beach the remaining steps with difficulty. When I was out of the tide’s reach, I collapsed onto the sand. I hacked up seawater and rolled onto my back in agony. A swirl of silver sparks innocently dried me off like there was nothing better to do, adding injury to injury.
Seriously? Come on!
I ripped off the bracelet and irately threw it to the side. Girtha bolted the last few steps from the dock and started toward me, but Lonna shouted to her from the water.
“Girtha! Go get Ashlyn!”
Ashlyn and Donnie found me lying on the sand like a beached whale.
“What happened?” Donnie called to Lonna as they rushed over to me.
“Blue, stay still,” Ashlyn said, examining me. Her eyes and form pulsed with aqua light. She placed one hand on my arm and the other on my chest. Her magic energy flowed into me immediately. I cringed, prepared for pain, but the energy made me feel lighter than air. All sensations of injury were drawn away from me until they were completely gone. When Ashlyn was done, she sat back, wiping at a nosebleed. Noticing the regret on my face, she waved me off. “It’s fine. Now if you’d been dying, I may have torn a muscle
or something healing you. This wasn’t so hard.”
“Mom!” Arabeth ran out on the porch with Girtha. Everyone else followed and our full party assembled on the sand seconds later.
“What happened?” Michael asked, looking to Lonna.
“Could you all come closer so I don’t have to shout?” she replied.
Jason offered me a hand up, his face full of worry. I was totally healed though, so there was no need for either. I got up on my own, but once standing I put my hand on his arm and looked him in the eye so he’d know that I was okay.
We headed for the dock. When we were halfway to The Seabeagle Girtha moved in front of us and turned to face the group, making her arms in an X and shaking her head to signal we shouldn’t go any farther.
“Why?” Tina Louise asked.
Girtha held up three fingers, mimed slicing her throat, then pointed her thumb in the direction of the The Seabeagle.
“Three guys dead on the boat,” Lonna translated from below. “We can just talk here.”
We settled on the edge of the dock, a few of us with our legs dangling over the edge while the others stood behind us. That’s when the others noticed our mermaid friend’s sacrifice.
“Lonna, you cut your hair!” Tina Louise gasped.
Lonna nodded solemnly. Her formerly flowing blonde locks only went to her shoulders now. “With this.” Lonna held up my hunting knife.
“But hair is such a big deal to your kind,” Michael protested.
“It is,” Lonna said sadly. “It’s a huge deal and mine will never grow back. But I made a choice. Ashlyn told you guys how cutting mermaid hair would enchant the blade used to cut it. If that blade is then used to kill one person, the same blade can resurrect another. A bunch of guys attacked Blue on the boat. When she fell into the water and one of them came after her and tried to drown her, I made a call. I saved her and used the knife to cut my hair and kill him. Now we don’t need Crisa to resurrect Humilde’s mother. We can do it ourselves with the power I imbued into Blue’s knife. This is how we convince Humilde to trade with us. Her mom for the flame. We are way more likely to convince Humilde to bargain if we offer to resurrect her mother right now, versus an unofficial day in the future with Crisa.”
Midnight Law Page 34