Sister of the Sea

by Lena Mae Hill

  “What just happened?” Fox asked, his fingers gripping hers.

  “Wind witches,” she guessed.

  A moment later, lightning blazed across the sky again, lighting up the night with an eerie, blue glow. Below, she could see a boat and a figure.

  Only one figure.

  Her heart squeezed with terror. She’d hoped it would be Gale and Shaneesha. But there was only one person left. She’d killed someone. Not just a random person, but one of her own sisters. And since the wind was still nonexistent around them, she knew Gale had to be the one in the boat. Her stupidity and lack of planning had killed lively, lovely Shaneesha.

  Too shocked to feel the full weight of sadness yet, she watched by the light of the occasional, faint flashes of lightning as the figure made it to the rock.

  “Come on,” she said, steeling herself for what lay ahead. Together, she and Fox scrambled back down the rock in silence. The wind whipped the waves into huge, violent surges as high as a wall, deafening as they smashed against the jagged stones.

  When they were as far as they dared go, she turned to look down behind her. A boat came hurtling out of the blackness, straight towards her head.

  Sagely screamed and ducked, though she knew it was pointless. She squeezed her eyes closed, and with every bit of strength she had left, she screamed inside her head for Quill. At least he’d know she died thinking about him.

  fifteen

  Sagely

  Instead of being crushed by the boat, strong hands seized Sagely and dragged her backwards, off the rock. She landed hard in the bottom of the boat. Still stunned, she was trying to collect herself and sit up when the figure loomed over her. Grabbing her shoulders, it hauled her up and shook her, hard. Strong, wet wings beat against her face. “Where’s my sister?” screamed a deep, angry voice.

  Crap. It wasn’t Gale. It was Guthrie.

  “I don’t know,” she yelled back. “Get Fox.”

  “I don’t give a damn about your fox,” he said, shaking her again. “What did you do with my sister?”

  “He’s on the rock,” she yelled back. “He’s going to die if you don’t get him to safety.”

  With a roar of frustration, Guthrie turned towards the rock. Sagely turned back to see a wall of water hurtling towards them, and she screamed instinctually. The wave lifted the boat and flung it towards the rock. She squeezed her eyes closed and covered her head. But again, it stopped short of being smashed on the rock, turning at the last moment. As it careened by the wet rocks, just inches from being smashed to bits, Guthrie reached out and grabbed Fox, hurling him onto the floor beside Sagely.

  “I thought I’d lost you,” Fox cried, grabbing Sagely into his arms. But a second later, she was wrenched free.

  Guthrie dragged her up and held her so close their noses were almost touching. His breath was quick and warm against her face, and the smell of him cut through the smell of the sea, like the freshest air on a spring day. “Where did you last see her?” he growled.

  She fought the urge to make a smartass comment.

  Have you checked, I don’t know, the whole ocean?

  “Want to get your hands off my lady?” Fox growled behind her.

  Guthrie’s lip curled in disgust and he pushed Sagely away, turning back to the storm as his owl bulleted through the wind to join them.

  Fox put a protective arm around Sagely, but she couldn’t stop seeing Guthrie’s tortured, furious face. She thought of how Quill would feel if she’d lost Willow. Guthrie wasn’t angry at her, he just wanted Gale back safely.

  “That way,” she yelled over the wind, gesturing towards the rock she’d tipped. Why hadn’t she thought of how far it would go, that it wouldn’t just rock like an earthquake but would shoot out of the water? Why hadn’t she realized her magic could literally move mountains?

  Okay, so it wasn’t a mountain. It was just a huge rock formation. But still. Once again, she’d overused her magic, and it had hurt someone. And this time, it wasn’t a dark warlock who was attacking her. It was her friends. If she could call Gale that. She had a feeling Gale was going to be banned from ever speaking to her again after this…if she lived.

  The boat slapped over the waves, turning sideways and zipping along vertical walls of water like a surfboard, popping over the crest of each one just before it crashed onto the rocks with devastating force. At last, they made it past the rock to the east, out further into the water.

  Sagely felt a tug of familiar magic and almost sobbed in relief. “There,” she screamed, pointing back towards the eastern side of the stone.

  “I see it,” Guthrie snapped.

  Sagely strained to see by the flickering lightning, but she couldn’t see anything. She could feel it, though—Shaneesha’s familiar magic, hot and quick like fire. A moment later, a massive wave carried them back towards the rock, and a flash of lightning lit up the whole ocean. Two figures clung to the side of the rock, but instead of being pounded by waves or drenched in spray as Sagely and Fox had been, they’d made themselves a tidy little shield. It looked like a shimmering bubble, and it contained both of them. The waves crashed against it and flowed to either side, just as they would a part of the rock.

  Sagely fought the urge to slap her own forehead. Why hadn’t she thought of that?

  Guthrie expertly guided the boat towards the rock, then used his control of the air to hold it from smashing them all to death. Shaneesha and Gale hopped into the boat and sat in the bottom, and Guthrie aimed it back towards shore. Gale’s familiar looked wet and unhappy, its feathers soaked through even as she held it in the crook of her arm.

  Without thinking, Sagely threw her arms around Shaneesha’s neck and sobbed like a baby.

  “Chill, girl, I’m fine,” Shaneesha said. “I can take care of myself, and trust me, so can that little lady. Her brother may be protective, but she’s a perfectly capable witch.”

  “This is wild!” Gale yelled, pointing out to sea. “There’s a ship out there. I think it’s the pirates.”

  Sagely wanted to laugh with them and shake them at the same time. Here she’d been beside herself with guilt, and they were treating it like a grand adventure.

  “The pirates can fend for themselves,” Guthrie shouted back. The wind shrieked and moaned, and the roar of the waves was deafening. The boat zipped along the walls of water, its occupants screaming in terror and excitement as it crested one wave and another, defying gravity and about a dozen other laws of nature. It skimmed and skipped over waves, sliced through sheer walls of salty water, and sailed through the air from one wave to the next. It was like the world’s craziest water park.

  The boat finally crested a wave and rushed at the shore at breakneck speed. Sagely squeezed her eyes closed, her nails digging into Fox’s arms as the boat shot off the crest of the wave and hurtled through the air. Both bird familiars took off into the sky with cries of protest. The boat dropped to the sand and skimmed along it before coming to a stop that was a little less than gentle. Everyone tumbled from the front of the boat and landed in a heap in the sand.

  Guthrie jumped up, pulling Gale from the pile as the rest clambered to their feet. Sagely sagged into Fox’s arms in relief, but before she could celebrate, Guthrie turned on them, magic sizzling up his arms like lightning.

  “What the hell were you thinking, going out to visit the siren by your own free will?”

  “Raina’s out there,” Sagely said, hoping that would persuade him they’d made the right decision. “We were trying to rescue her from the siren.”

  “I don’t care if the god damn queen of England is out there, you don’t offer yourself up to the siren,” he yelled. His usually-wild hair was plastered to his head, water running in rivulets down his furious face.

  “I’m sorry, okay?” Sagely yelled back. She was half-frozen and miserable, soaked through from her hair to her toes, which were numb inside her sopping wet cowboy boots. And she knew exactly how bad she’d screwed up. She didn’t need him rubbing i
t in.

  Guthrie’s hands balled into fists, and his eyes burned with fury. “You don’t take my sister on your suicide missions,” he said slowly, each word forced from between this clenched teeth with more hatred than the last. “Not if the love of your life is being devoured right in front of you. Not if your familiar is screaming for mercy from torture. Not if your heart is being cut out while you are still breathing. You never, ever, ever mess with my sister.”

  “It’s not her fault,” Gale said, grabbing her brother’s bulging bicep. “I offered to take them. It was my idea.”

  “And they should have known better than to go along with it,” he growled.

  “I’m not a child anymore, Guthrie,” she said. “You don’t have to protect me.”

  “Obviously I do,” he exploded, throwing his hands up. A blast of air hit them, and they all went flying. Sagely was slammed down into the sand, the pistol digging painfully into her lower back.

  Fox was up in half a second, springing for Guthrie.

  “Fox, no!” Sagely yelled, leaping after him. She caught him around the middle and tackled him, and they both went tumbling into the wet sand again, this time on their faces.

  “Leave my sister out of your schemes,” Guthrie commanded. He turned and marched off towards the lighthouse, Gale running behind.

  “I don’t know about you, but my hair is not liking this at all,” Shaneesha said, standing and hauling up her long braids as if they weighed a ton. Sand was plastered all over her wet skin.

  “Let’s just go back to the tent,” Sagely yelled over a long rumble of thunder. She was exhausted and frozen to the bone, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up in a dry tent and sob.

  The waves roared and pounded the shore as they made their way towards the light, which flashed out at the churning ocean. The wind beat at them so hard they could barely stay upright. Scrambling up the dunes, they passed the lighthouse and at last came to their campsite.

  One of the tents was flattened and covered in water. The other was nowhere to be seen.

  sixteen

  Raina

  Raina lay back on the rock and let the cold water wash over her. The storm was deafening, and though they were the highest thing in the ocean, she wasn’t afraid of the lightning. It flashed as quickly as a strobe light, bolt after bolt sizzling across the waves below. Rain pelted down over them, and the wind howled in her ears like a siren.

  Not the kind of siren who sat beside her. As soon as the witches had gone, Yvonne and she swam back to the rock and climbed up. Yvonne was furious that they’d destroyed her favorite perch, and she vowed revenge. But then she’d seen a ship being tossed on the sea, trying desperately to make it to shore before the storm broke. It had failed.

  Now Yvonne was singing, and Raina was lying curled on the rocks with Seeley cradled in the nook of her body. She didn’t care if it was cold, if her hair was full of seaweed and sand. She didn’t care if the lightning was so bright it burned out her retinas, or fried her to a crisp. Right then, she was the happiest she’d ever been.

  Yvonne’s singing swooped and danced with the rain, rolled over the thunder and skipped along the waves like lightning. It was the most beautiful sound Raina had ever heard, and it was coming from her friend, her savior, the girl she loved. Soon, she would be a mermaid, and she could sing beside her true love.

  Her seal nuzzled into her arms, shivering in fear, and she rubbed the top of his head the way he liked, cuddling him closer. Despite the raging storm around her, her sense of knowing made her peaceful and calm. She was certain. She was where she belonged.

  Suddenly, Yvonne’s singing cut short in the middle of a note. A loud cracking sound ripped through the steady thunder of waves. Raina sat up and gasped. Yvonne had done this. Sung a ship all the way in from out at sea. Now it had run aground on the rocks under the surface of the churning waves.

  Yvonne whooped with glee and grabbed Raina in a tight, wet embrace. “Come on,” she said, her eyes glimmering like the ocean below. “Let’s see what they brought us.”

  As they slipped down the rocks, Raina marveled at the power of the mer. Even over the thunder and deafening surf, the ship had heard Yvonne’s sweet singing. It had come to her, as if she had willed it, as if it was her familiar. That sweet singing was not just a lovely song that put Raina’s mind at ease, it was magic. Powerful magic.

  “Hurry,” Yvonne said, grabbing Raina and diving beneath the water. It churned, threatening to send Raina crashing back against the rocks. Quickly she gathered the water to work for her instead of against her. She clung to Seeley, terrified his slippery body would squeeze out of her arms and he’d be dashed to bits.

  She provided the power, and Yvonne steered them through the churning waves. Working together, they reached the ship. Raina felt a surge of power roll through her. She felt unstoppable, invincible. The hull curved up over them, and as the ship rocked and swayed, pushed by the powerful waves. But she had no fear of being pulled under it. Her power combined with Yvonne’s was too great for such petty concerns.

  Yvonne let out a few more lines of song, and a rope ladder appeared from above. With a grin, she grabbed hold. “Climb up and see what’s there,” she said. “Then come down and tell me.”

  “What?”

  “I can’t go up,” Yvonne said impatiently. “How can I climb a ladder without legs? And besides, I have a freaking tail! Don’t you think they’ll notice that?”

  “How do you even know who’s on board?”

  “Obviously, I don’t,” Yvonne snapped. “That’s why you go up. You look like a commoner. If they’re ordinary humans, what are they going to say when they see a mermaid? We live on the sea floor for a reason.”

  Raina nodded mutely. Of course. Like most supernatural creatures, merfolk would hide from humans. Faeries, elves, goblins, and trolls made their home in her valley for good reason. Humans liked to hunt things that looked different. If a human saw a mermaid, it would be splashed all over the newspaper. They’d hunt them, put them in cages, marvel at their beauty as they did exotic beasts in zoos.

  Creatures who could pass as human—witches, weres, and shifters—enjoyed certain privileges that they never could.

  “I’m sorry,” Raina said, leaning in to give Yvonne a kiss. But Yvonne leaned away and gestured at the ladder.

  Cursing herself for being so blinded by her own privilege that she forgot Yvonne’s disadvantage, Raina gave Seeley’s head a quick kiss, grabbed the rope, and began to climb. Seeley gave a short honk, and she pressed calm through their magical bond, letting him know she was okay. He would be fine in the water, and so would Yvonne. Despite her ability to pass as human, she was the only one with a clunky, unwieldly human body that might be crushed against the rocks.

  Raina climbed over the railing and onto a rain-soaked deck where a group of men in rain coveralls stood around dripping and looking overboard with dead, glassy eyes.

  Weird.

  Raina shuddered, remembering the eyes of the coven when Viziri had taken control of their magic. The men didn’t even look at her, and for that, she was glad. She didn’t want to deal with a bunch of horny sailors, even if they were clearly not pirates. From what she could see, this was the furthest thing from a pirate ship. It looked more like a submarine that floated on the water—all ugly, utilitarian lines and metal plating. There was no wooden hull, no mermaid figurehead cutting into the wind at the front. No sails, for that matter. It was just a boxy, rectangular thing that smelled like rancid oil and tar.

  She stuck her head back over the side, clutching the railing so she wouldn’t be thrown into the sea. “There’s a bunch of men,” she whisper-shouted down. To her surprise, she found Yvonne only a few rungs down the ladder from the top. “I thought you couldn’t climb.”

  “Upper body strength,” Yvonne said with a grin. “But I can’t go onboard. Is there anything worth taking back to the queen?”

  “I don’t know,” Raina said. “Does she like barrels of oil,
or dirty men in yellow rain slickers?”

  Yvonne glowered. “Is there anyone supernatural on board?”

  “I don’t know,” Raina hissed. “Want me to ask?”

  “Can’t you feel out their magic?” Yvonne said. “I need to bring something back to the queen if I want to keep you down there as a guest. There must be something.”

  “Okay, I’ll look around,” Raina said. “But I don’t feel any magic. What do you need a supernatural being for?”

  “They could be casting an illusion,” Yvonne said in a tired voice, as if Raina was testing her patience to the limits. “Disguising their stuff to look boring and plain. Go feel them out.”

  Raina glanced doubtfully at the sailors, who still stood at the prow, their eyes glued to something faraway, dreamy expressions on their faces. She crept up behind them, trying to walk as silently as possible on the bucking deck. Just as she almost reached them, the ship lurched, and she fell to the deck, hard. Every bone in her body seemed to clunk against the hard surface. Steeling herself, she opened her eyes slowly, expecting to see a circle of men standing over her. But not a single one had turned to see what had caused the racket.

  She scraped herself up and crawled forward so she wouldn’t fall again. Reaching out her magic, she felt for what she knew best—witch magic. When she found nothing, she opened her senses further, feeling for anything foreign. All supernaturals had a certain magic, though each was different. She couldn’t use that kind of magic, but she could sense another supernatural if she tried.

  Nothing.

  She stood and staggered back to the railing, lurching each time a wave hit the ship.

  “They’re just commoners,” she told Yvonne, who was still clinging to the ladder.