They all settled themselves around the bottom of the boat, and Gale turned on the motor. Her gull stood watch on the front of the boat like a masthead. The boat bounced over the choppy waves at first, trying to get out past the breakers. A huge wave crested, and the boat rose up and up, almost vertical. They all screamed and grabbed onto the edge of the boat, leaning forward until it crested the wave and slapped down on the far side. Laughing and hooting, Gale leaned in to give Sagely a high-five. She couldn’t help smiling at the younger girl, who was having so much fun out from under her brother’s control at last.
Soon, the waves evened out, and they only had to travel over the large swells as they headed for the rocks in the distance. They all packed their ears with cotton balls they’d brought along, and took up the chorus of an Otis Redding song to block out any outside noise. As the boat approached the jagged rocks that loomed ever closer, Sagely shivered. Their deep blackness reminded her too much of Viziri.
The water became rough again, and the boat scraped against something beneath the water. Gale broke off singing and swore.
“What’s happening?” Shaneesha asked, just as a wave smacked the boat broadside.
“We hit something under the water,” Gale shouted over the roar of the waves smashing against the rocks and the howl of wind in the channel between the two highest ones.
Suddenly, a clear, sweet note cut through the chaos of noise around them. Shaneesha’s head snapped up, and Gale’s eyes glazed.
Crap. They were being taken over! The earplugs weren’t strong enough once they’d stopped singing.
“What do we do?” Sagely yelled to Fox, who seemed not to hear the singing.
But before he could answer, a sense of calm descended over Sagely. She could feel it pulling her in, just as Viziri’s magic had done. But instead of filling her with terror, the music lulled her towards a feeling of safety and belonging and pure joy. She wanted to go to the place where it came from. She knew that was where she belonged, where she’d always belonged, even without knowing it. All her life, she’d been looking for this place, for a family and a home and people who loved her. And now she’d found it.
The boat suddenly stopped rocking, though it continued forward. When she glanced at the water around them, it was as flat as a mirror, as if it had been frozen into an iceberg that was sliding through the water at a steady, smooth pace.
“Sagely!” Fox’s voice cut through her muddled thoughts, and she turned to find him right beside her. He took her face in his hands. “Look at me,” he commanded. “You’re not a witch or a commoner. You’re fae, just like me. It doesn’t affect you.”
“But it does,” she said, her voice sounding dreamy. The siren’s call was like an itch, irresistible and unrelenting. And yet, something inside her knew she should not scratch it.
The boat bumped up against the rocks gently, as if bobbing in a featureless sea. Around them, the waves thundered and crashed, but the boat barely rocked. Sagely wasn’t sure if Gale’s magic or the siren’s was keeping them safe.
As one, Shaneesha and Gale stood and scrambled out of the boat onto the rough, wet stones. Screaming and flapping, the gull rose above them. A wave crashed over them, soaking them both in one second flat. But they didn’t seem to notice anything around them. They were searching for handholds, their feet sliding against the wet stone as they pulled themselves up.
“Look at me,” Fox said to Sagely, holding her face between his hands. He slipped his hands back, clamping them over her ears. His eyes were pools of melted chocolate, deep and sweet and rich and full of longing. She sank into them with relief, feeling the pull of the siren even then, when she couldn’t hear her any longer. But soon, the siren was forgotten, and the pull of her faerie blood took over. She’d never dared gaze into Fox’s eyes so long. It wasn’t the same as the siren’s call—it didn’t mess with her mind. But it sure took hold of her body.
Suddenly, all she wanted to do was rip her clothes off right there in the boat and devour Fox. She leaned forward, closing her eyes. But even then, without his hungry eyes on her, she still wanted him near. The warmth of his body next to hers in the boat, with the cold wind tearing at their clothes, made her want to nestle closer. She gripped his body, grateful that the life vests put enough distance between them that she wouldn’t lose her mind completely. But she leaned in, caressing Fox’s soft lips with her own.
When she opened her eyes, she was stunned by the depth of longing in Fox’s eyes. He held her back, only allowing their lips to brush over each other.
Forget that. Sagely was going to marry this guy. She wanted more than a chaste kiss. She dug her hands into his soft hair and crushed her lips to his. A jolt of electricity passed through her, almost painful. Gasping against his lips, she wrenched him even closer. His sharp teeth grazed her lower lip, and she shivered with the pleasure of it, knowing that one wrong move could cause his teeth to tear through the skin. At last, Fox relented, moaning into her mouth and tightening his arms around her, crushing his body to hers. He knelt in the bottom of the boat, his thigh pressing between hers.
She arched against him, suddenly hating the life vests between them. She wanted nothing between them, not even clothes. Fox wrenched her head back, his lips pulling at the skin on her throat until she was gasping and squirming against him. At last, his lips found her ear, and his sharp teeth closed over her earlobe, just hard enough to send a needle of pain into her.
“Hum,” he commanded.
“What?” she asked, bewildered.
“Start humming, and don’t stop, no matter what, until I tell you to.”
She understood then what he meant. That he’d uncovered her ear only to give her a message. Closing her lips, she began to hum.
“I’m taking you back to shore,” Fox said. “You can’t be out here. I guess faeries are immune to this, but you aren’t. You don’t have enough fae blood, and we’ve already lost the others.”
“No,” Sagely cried, ceasing her humming. “I can’t leave them.”
“I don’t give a damn about them,” Fox growled, grabbing her face and kissing her hard. “I’m here to protect you. All I ever wanted was you, from the moment I saw you. Why can’t you see that?”
“If you care about me, you care about what I want. And I want my friends to be safe.” The siren song cut through the waves, and her head turned up towards the rocks above them.
“Hum,” Fox commanded, his eyes flashing with anger, pulling her face around towards his again. His eyes fastened on hers, and she grabbed onto their bond as if her life depended on it. Maybe it did. She was part fae. She had to hold onto that, to open herself to her fae side, the one she’d pushed away since finding out she was immune to certain things because of her faerie blood—but also susceptible to what the fae were.
“I’ll go get your friends,” Fox said. “Stay here, and don’t stop humming.”
“Yeah, not gonna happen,” she said, standing when he did. The boat rocked dangerously, but Fox seemed to know just how to lean to steady it. Probably all his nimble branch-running back in the Three Valleys.
“Stay,” Fox commanded.
“I’m not a dog, and I’m not the kind of woman who obeys her husband’s every command,” Sagely said. “I’m coming, too. Besides, it’ll make it easier to bring back the others in one trip.”
“You’re a royal pain in the ass,” Fox growled.
“Don’t you mean I’m a pain in your royal ass, King Fox Glove?”
“That, too,” he said, a grudging smile on his lips. “But if you’re coming with me, I’m giving you some venom first, Sagely Stubborn-Mule.”
Sagely blew out a breath. She remembered all too well her reaction to that.
Spontaneous orgasm, anyone?
But she also remembered the strength it had given her, so she nodded. Fox sat and pulled her towards him. This time, she wasn’t fighting him, thinking he meant to kill her. She might as well enjoy it. So she straddled his lap, smiling at the look
of surprise that flashed across his face. “What?” she asked. “Can’t a lady enjoy a venom injection from her betrothed?”
“I hope you will,” Fox said, leaning in to her neck. She threw her head back, and he gripped her hair and clamped his teeth on her ear. “Hum,” he reminded her, and then his teeth broke the skin. She gripped his hips, letting the boat rock her against him as the venom coursed through her.
Power and pleasure buzzed through her, almost choking off the humming coming from her throat. She could feel Fox’s hard body against hers, his hand fisting her hair, his lips and tongue caressing her earlobe. She cried out, a jolt rocking through her whole body, flashes of light exploding at the corners of her vision, but her voice was lost in the howling wind.
Fox’s hands nudged her off his lap, but she resisted another moment, letting her heartrate return to normal. When she finally stood, Fox lifted his eyebrows and gave her a smirk that made her blush. “Shut up,” she said, throwing an elbow at him.
“Nothing to be ashamed of,” he said. “I enjoy pleasing my lady.”
Sagely shook her head, but she turned to the rocks, remembering to sing quietly even as she leapt up the rock in three bounds, Fox close beside her. Okay, so being part fae was kind of awesome, she had to admit.
Just when they made it to the top, her foot slipped on the slick rock, and she tumbled back toward the boat. But instead of smashing to the rocks and sea below, she found herself dangling in midair. Fox lifted her back and set her on her feet with another smirk. “Careful there,” he said. “Don’t get carried away. You’re strong, not invincible.”
She glared, unable to reply without stopping her humming. When she turned, she saw four figures on the top of the highest rock. Relief flooded through her when she recognized her companions. Sea spray splashed over her, and she stumbled against Fox, clutching him. Together, they pushed forward through the spray of the crashing waves and the whipping wind, which seemed determined to toss them from the rocks. By the time they leapt onto the next rock, they had to cling on with hands and feet just to make it to the top. Across a sloshing channel of waves, on the tallest rock, sat the other group.
With their faerie strength, Sagely and Fox could easily leap across the space between the jutting rocks to join them. But she hesitated, caught by surprise at the siren’s beauty. For a second, she had to stop and stare at the creature. Her dark hair trailed out in the wind, and her tail glimmered with bioluminescence against the dark of the night around them. Sitting before her, motionless except for their sodden hair whipping around them, were Shaneesha and Gale.
“Leave me alone,” a familiar voice screamed. Sagely tore her eyes away from the siren to Raina, who was waving her arms, motioning for them to leave. Seeley was huddled at her feet.
The siren said something and held up a hand, silencing Raina. An unnatural smile instantly washed over Raina’s face, as if she’d forgotten her anger with the snap of the siren’s fingers.
As soon as the siren guessed that she and Fox were immune to her charms, she’d go on the attack. They had to strike first.
Sagely still had Fox’s gun, but she was afraid she’d hit one of the others, and she didn’t even know if it could kill a siren. Leaving the gun in her waistband, she tried to summon a fireball, but the wind was too strong and there was too much sea spray. Most of her training was in earth magic, since that was her coven’s element. So she summoned the magic that Quill had given her, gathering it into herself.
With all her strength, she gathered it tighter and tighter inside her, feeling her witch side awaken. It sizzled with her faerie strength, sparking along the vibration of her humming. She circled it around the tall rock jutting out of the water. She’d give it just a little shake, like an earth quake, enough to make the siren slip off on her fishy tail. If her friends fell, she’d jump down and pull them up.
Sagely tightened her hold on the rock and flung her arms upwards. With one heave, the rock thrust into the air like a rocket taking off.
Sagely screamed and dove forward, as if she could recall her magic, stop the rock from plummeting from twenty feet into the air, straight back into the water. Before she could throw herself off their perch, Fox tackled her. As the rocketing stone plunged back into the sea, water surged from beneath it. It sent a tidal wave of water crashing up onto the stone where Sagely and Fox knelt, knocking them flat and tumbling them towards the sea. Fox’s strong arm girded Sagely’s waist like a belt, holding her as water drenched her, choking her and burning up her nose. When the wave had passed, she struggled to her feet.
“We have to go get them,” she said. “They’ll be crushed by the waves.”
“Let’s get the boat,” Fox said. “We can pull them on board.”
“Hurry,” Sagely said, beginning to climb down the rough stone. Thunder rumbled somewhere far away, and the waves seemed to churn more roughly in answer. They slid and scrambled down, clinging to the ledges and handholds until they reached the waves, which were smashing against the rock.
Sagely’s heart sank as she and Fox’s eyes met. The boat was gone.
fourteen
Sagely
“What do we do?” Sagely screamed, staring at Fox as if he could make a boat materialize out of thin air.
“We’ll have to climb back up and wait out the storm,” he said, looking at the sea doubtfully.
“My friends are out there,” she screamed.
“I’m sorry,” Fox said, and for once, he looked sincere. The pity in his eyes crushed her heart. He’d stopped making snarky comments, but it only drove home the fact that he knew the truth. She’d just killed three people.
She swayed on her feet, sure she was going to be sick. How could she have been so careless, not realizing how much her faerie strength would amplify her magic? And now they were gone, all three of them. Sweet little Gale, who had been so thrilled to do something brave. Fiery Shaneesha, with her unwavering loyalty to Raina. And Raina, who may have been a stubborn bitch, but she always did the right thing.
“There’s a ledge near the top,” Fox said, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Let’s get out of the wind.”
Sagely didn’t have a better suggestion. There was no way they could make it to shore with the waves only growing bigger by the second. But she also didn’t know if they’d make it on the rock. It looked like a good place for lightning to strike.
She cursed herself for not thinking this through. She had made so many mistakes she didn’t know where to start—she didn’t even know if the tides were going in or out, if they covered the rocks when the tide was high, or if the storm would wash them off the ledge. And then there was the little matter of not tying up the boat, not that they’d brought along rope to do it even if they had thought of it.
“Got any better ideas?” Fox asked, sounding all too hopeful.
Sagely shook her head miserably, and they climbed back up the rock to a small ledge, where they wedged themselves in together. At least she wouldn’t die of hypothermia—yet. She was drenched, though, and now that they’d stopped moving, shivers set in. Fox’s arms circled her, and she clung to him for warmth, though he was shivering, too. He was on the side towards the wind and the rain that had begun to fall in sharp, angry lines, protecting her as well as he could.
“Do you think the siren took the others?” she asked. “Maybe they’re okay.”
“For sure,” Fox said through chattering teeth.
“I don’t suppose you know any sea fae you could call right about now?” Sagely asked, joking but not without a sliver of hope.
“Sea fae are sworn enemies of land fae,” Fox said. “Generally, we don’t enter their territory, and they don’t enter ours. If they knew I was here, they’d probably come find us—but not to rescue us.”
“Every day, I better understand the decision to isolate ourselves in the First Valley.”
“What, you don’t like endless persecution, attacks by other supernaturals, and attempts to steal your power?”
>
“I’m going to have to say no on that,” Sagely said. A sheet of rain swept over Fox and onto Sagely, wracking her body with shivers. Finally, she voiced the thought they’d been avoiding saying aloud. “Do you think we’re going to make it?”
“I know we will,” Fox said, squeezing her to him. “But in case we don’t…”
“Are you seriously thinking about sex right now?”
“No,” he said, his scowl illuminated by a flash of lightning. “I was just going to ask if I could kiss you properly once more before I die.”
“Then hell yes.”
As his lips claimed hers, she realized she’d forgotten to hum for a long time. The siren had stopped singing when the rock toppled. From their ledge on the other rock, Sagely couldn’t hear anything but the thundering waves. Except…she thought she heard voices far away. Not singing, but shouting.
She pulled away.
“What is it?” Fox asked, his finger brushing over her cheek, his breath warm against her mouth.
“Did you hear that?”
Fox sat up, leaning into the wind and rain. She could just make out his sharp profile in the night, until a bolt of lightning sizzled across the water, lighting up the waves and their black, slippery perch. And a boat.
“Here,” she screamed, waving wildly. But the lightning had only lit up the sea for a moment, and the boat wouldn’t be able to see her.
“Shield me,” she cried, and Fox did his best to block the wind, using his body and both hands to cup hers. Her magic had been spent on sending the huge stone crashing into the sea, but she had recharged a bit. Summoning her energy, she made a tiny ball of magic between her palms, the way Majori Ory had taught her…before Fox killed him.
Pushing the thought away, she reeled back and threw the magic skyward. It spiraled up like a flair, beaten this way and that by the wind.
“You think it’ll be enough?” she asked, gripping Fox as the wind wrenched at her. Just as she spoke, the wind fell completely still around them. Her red hair, which had been slapping against her face, fell in wet, limp strands. They could still hear the wind shrieking through the crevices and around the sharp points in the rock, but not a hair moved on Sagely’s head as they sat there.
Sister of the Sea Page 7