“Did you ever come to bed?”
“Someone had to keep watch.”
“All night?”
“Jude took over a few hours ago. I crashed on deck.”
He lifted a small glass of orange juice to Orchid’s lips then wiped her mouth with a stiff, white, cloth napkin. The whole routine had an intimacy to it that I didn’t care for. Jealously bubbled up in my gut.
“Is that really necessary?”
“She can’t feed herself.”
“I can do it.”
“No.”
“Logan, come on.”
Moving between them, I reached for the spoon. He yanked it away, and a bit of the mushy oatmeal splattered on the glass table. We both looked at it.
“Fine. Whatever. Have fun.”
I crossed over to the granite island where a mug of steaming cappuccino was waiting. Magically waiting.
Giving Logan and his baby Orchid the cold shoulder, I headed toward the deck. The morning sun was drenching the cushions lining the benches. I plopped down on the warm cushion and was just about to take a sip of my drink when I noticed something in the foam.
A design.
It looked like a series of islands. I carried it, carefully, to where Jude was. “Do you see this?”
He glanced at me; he was carefully navigating the boat and focusing on the sea ahead of us. “Hopefully, a gift for your tired captain?”
“I’ll get you another one. This one has something in the foam. Look.”
He looked quickly.
“It looks like islands, right? I think we’re getting close. Where are we?”
“We passed through the Panama Canal about an hour ago. Now we’re heading north.”
The sun glimmered off the morning sea. With his right arm outstretched, tanning in the brilliant tropical sun, while his left easily held the wheel, Jude looked like he belonged on this yacht.
“So, how long until we reach Scotland?”
“Well, if we were simply regular travelers, it would take a week, but since we are magicians…I’d say…by tomorrow?”
I studied the shapes in the foam, and a tiny arrow emerged from the steamed milk, pointing to a specific place on a smaller island. This was a sign.
“Jude, look. This must be where the cure is.”
“Don’t drink the sign!” Jude teased.
“I’m taking a mental picture. You should too.” I held it in front of his nose.
Grabbing the mug, he guzzled down the coffee, then he ran the back of his hand across his mouth.
“You jerk!”
He shrugged, setting the empty mug on the dash, and grinned at me, a satisfied smirk on his treacherous lips.
LOGAN
After I fed Orchid, I brought her to the second bedroom and laid her on the bed. It was so distressing, seeing her like this, rocking, moaning, white-eyed.
She hadn’t ripped off the bones by herself. Why would she? Lily’s story didn’t hold up. As much as I hated to think it, I knew Lily was lying. I just had to find out why.
We carried on for most of the day. Jude and I took turns at the wheel, using my map to stay on course. Jude was doing all the right things: he was helpful and moderately polite. But the way he and Lily got along…While I was driving, they hung out together on deck, talking—sometimes quietly, sometimes laughing—I didn’t like how comfortable she was with him, like she’d known him forever. Like they were old friends. They weren’t old friends, and I had no idea what this new bond of theirs was about. Like the bones incident with Orchid; I wanted to find out. But at this point, I could only worry about getting us to the Isle of the Sisters. Lily wasn’t going to tell me anything on this boat that I didn’t know.
“Lily. Jude.” I called. “We need to strengthen our spell; I want the Sea Witch moving faster.”
The two of them held my hands. We closed our eyes and chanted:
Goddesses of wind, move us swiftly
Goddesses of wind, move us swiftly
Goddesses of wind, move us swiftly
The engine revved, and we let go of each other and held on as we sped north.
13. BLACK MAGIC
………………
LILY
I WATCHED AS WE SPED past one gorgeous island after another: St. Lucia, St. Croix, and the Virgin Islands.
“I wished we had time to stop and play.” I looked from Logan to Jude.
Logan’s expression tightened. “The vial of red liquid we must bring to the dead man’s lips before the seventh hour on the seventh day of magical death.”
Jude pushed the hair off his face before glancing at Logan. “We’ll get there in plenty of time if our spell holds tight. We’ll arrive at the Isle of the Seven Sisters.” He turned to me. “Let’s go inside. It’s way too windy out here.”
“In a minute,” I said. I moved closer to Logan, who was hunched over a table top near the steering wheel. He’d drawn the map he’d seen so he didn’t have to keep conjuring it up and was now studying it. “It was sweet how you were taking care of Orchid. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“That’s okay,” he said, not looking up.
“Are you sure? You seem mad. I really am sorry I slept through my shift on watch. That’s not like me to flake out on a responsibility like that.”
He shook his head, “You were tired. I’m not mad.”
“Okay.”
I stood there awkwardly as he continued to stare at the map like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.
Finally, I left. He wasn’t going to talk to me, and I couldn’t blame him. I wasn’t being honest, and he knew I wasn’t going to be.
When I found Jude, he was lounging by the back of the boat, waiting for me. Water splashed up as we zoomed across the waves.
“So let’s practice,” he said, standing, his voice suddenly sharp and focused. “I’m going to make you angry, and you are going to resist hurting me.”
“Okay.”
“No argument?”
“No. I need to learn. And if it doesn’t work at first, well, then you get a little hurt. That’s a win-win.”
Grinning, he held out his hands. “Hold my hands.”
“That’s not part of the deal.”
“You did it up on deck.”
“That was different. We were with Logan. It was…”
“Safe?”
“Shut up.”
“So why isn’t it safe now?”
“Because we’re alone.”
“And being alone with me isn’t safe.”
My blood heated. The flesh on my palms began to sizzle. “Jude. We’ve been through this already! I can’t…” I stopped. “Oh. I get it. You’re trying to piss me off.”
“Now calm yourself down. Think about something else. Something cool. Something light. A good memory.”
He reached out and pressed his thumb against the fleshy part of my hand, between my wrist and my thumb, and slowly began to rub circles. “Breathe,” he said quietly. I did. “Slowly. Slow deep breaths.”
I did.
He rubbed. “What do you see?”
“Logan finding us holding hands.”
“Logan’s steering the boat. He has his mind on one thing: saving his best friend’s life. We’re good.”
I wanted to argue but it was true. Logan wasn’t thinking about me right now. He was concentrating on the mission, which is what I should be doing too. But I had to learn how to control my dark magic and Jude could help.
“What do you see?” he repeated softly.
He was standing too close to me.
I saw his lips on my neck; I saw his hands in my hair. I saw my hands cupping his face as I brought those ridiculously full lips to mine.
I pulled my stinging hands away and stepped back. “I can’t do this.”
He took a step toward me. “Do you still want to hurt me?”
A beat.
A blink.
“No.”
A slow smile crossed his face. “Then it worked.”
………………
I felt guilty as hell during dinner. Jude was steering so only me, Logan and Orchid were at the table. I couldn’t eat. I just kept thinking: What was the lesson I had learned exactly? Sexy betrayal could stop my anger?
Not fluffy bunnies or pink ribbons or world peace? Great.
I watched Logan feed Orchid. He was being so protective. He would be a great father one day. Or a doctor.
I didn’t deserve him.
“You missed a spot,” I said softly, as I pointed at Orchid’s cheek. Orchid was so militant about eating her greens, a kale and spinach smoothie had appeared at dinner, and I’d known it was for her.
Wincing, I turned away from her white-eyed stare. “I’m going to see if Jude needs a break.”
“Okay,” Logan said, finally looking at me. “I’ll see you tonight then?”
“Sure,” I said. “I can steer until midnight or so, then maybe you can do the midnight till three and Jude can do three till dawn?”
“Sounds fine.”
“Okay, good.”
We were being polite.
Too polite.
It felt dishonest and not like us at all. I didn’t like it, but frankly, it was better than fighting or accusing or…
Picking up a newly filled mug of coffee, I headed out to relieve Jude.
Twilight on the sea was majestic. All pinks and oranges and blues. The air was cooler now. We were halfway there. I wrapped my sweater tightly across my shoulders and hugged my chest.
“Hi there,” Jude said with a grin. With both hands on the steering wheel, he looked comfortable and in command.
“Hi.”
“How was dinner?”
“I don’t know. Weird.”
“I’m not sorry you and Logan are having problems.”
“I know.”
“But I’m sorry that you’re upset over it.”
“Gee, thanks.” My face burned, and I inhaled a big gulp of salt air.
“Ready to take over command of the ship?”
“It’s a yacht.”
“Here you go then. I’m going to get some supper myself.”
When we switched places, his thumb lightly touched mine, lingering on the knuckle.
“Jude.”
“What?”
“Don’t.”
“You looked upset. I wanted to help calm you down. Don’t want to hit any icebergs now, do we?”
“You’re impossible. The second we get to the Isle of the Sisters, you are heading back to Melas on a one-way flight,” I grumbled, which only made his smile broaden.
“I’m hurt.” He pressed his hand to his heart. “Truly. After all I’ve done for you.”
In exasperation, I picked up the empty mug from this morning and threw it into the air. In midair, it changed from a mug into a seagull and pooped all over his back.
“What the—” Jude’s face was crimson with anger.
Now I was the one laughing. “Holy smokes, this dark magic is more fun than I thought.”
Pulling the soiled shirt over his head, he snapped his fingers in the air, and the bird fell from the sky onto the deck with a smack. Its neck was twisted. Broken.
“Jude!” Leaving the wheel, I ran to the bird. Its eyes were black and empty. How could he?
I pressed my hand to its chest and mumbled a chant until I no longer felt feathers beneath my fingers, but something sharp, cutting me.
When I opened my eyes, my hand was bleeding, and under my bleeding hand was a broken mug.
………………
It was cold on deck, and even though we were in the middle of the ocean, I kept watch that whole night. I wanted to do right by Logan; do right by myself too. I had to redeem myself before I faced the Seven Sisters.
As I shivered on deck in a thick faux-fur, hooded coat that I found in my room, I stared up at the billowy storm clouds of dawn, watching beams of silver-pink light shine against the rocky sea. I prayed to the goddesses.
Get us to the cure. Please let this work.
I was convinced that if we just saved Chance, everything else would be okay.
It was a silly thing to think, but I didn’t know that then.
I didn’t alert the others right away when I spotted a small chain of lush emerald and high-rock islands spread across a sparkling misty sea.
“We’re here,” I said quietly to myself.
And then louder. “Guys! We’re here!”
Logan and Jude joined me on deck hilariously fast, both wrapped in thick sweaters; Logan’s a dark blue, Jude’s a forest green. Both wore scarves and knit caps and looked like they were heading for a pub…or a photo shoot.
“You guys look good here,” I couldn’t help but comment. Smiling, I shivered in the cool, wet, northern air. Then I pointed out a rock formation sticking out of the sea. “No wonder the banished Spellspinners settled in Melas: the chilly fog, the water reminded them of their home.”
“That rock formation,” Logan said, “It’s a sea stack. This has to be the Island of Hoy—that standalone rock, the tall one—he’s called the Old Man of Hoy. I read about this in my research.”
“It’s incredible,” I said impressed by both Logan’s knowledge of the island and the iconic structure. Shooting out of the water was a lone, thin rock, as high as the cliffs behind it. “I’ve never seen cliffs that tall.”
“Or warning us,” Jude said in a tone I wasn’t used to hearing from him. “In Old Norse ‘hay’ means ‘High Island.’”
We looked on appreciatively, almost reverently, as we passed The Old Man. Logan said that the islands were just beyond the cliffs.
Finally, another chain of smaller green islands came into view. I told Logan about the arrow I’d seen in my cappuccino, so he steered until we were about a mile from what looked like the right destination. Leaving Orchid in the second bedroom, the three of us climbed into the dinghy and headed to shore.
The island was Kelly green, rocky, and with a series of cliffs. It looked empty: no towns, no buildings. I tugged on a pair of gray wool gloves, while Jude steered the boat with the rudder. Logan stared straight ahead, wild black hair tucked under the knit cap.
The magic in the air was intense. I wouldn’t have been surprised had a unicorn appeared on the cragged majestic cliffs, or, in the very least, a leprechaun. I told the boys this and they both laughed in the wind-drenched air. We’d found a way to get along, at least for the time being. We had to. Something bigger than the three of us was afoot. Finding the cure and saving Chance was much more important than our conflicts.
“I didn’t realize the islands were uninhabited,” Jude said, admiring the wild coastline.
“Only twenty of the Orkney Islands are inhabited,” Logan filled him in. “That leaves fifty or so others to explore. And seven of them are the Isles of the Sisters. Which one holds the cure has to be the sign from the arrow.”
………………
After a rocky time getting close to the rough shoreline, we docked the dinghy against some stones and climbed out, carrying our daypacks with us. We’d brought days’ worth of food and water, even though one of us would have to go back to Orchid soon, and packed the extra shirts and sweaters and dry socks that had appeared on our bed.
This morning, as I drank my coffee, I looked wearily on as the last of the black orchid blooms fell.
When we got back on board later, we’d have no protection from the Sea Witch.
“Check out these old ruins,” Logan said, pointing, as he climbed a dirt path toward some standing stones.
“Looks like caves over here,” Jude said, pointing in the other direction. “Something’s written inside this one. Come here, Lil.”
Logan disappeared over the top of the dirt path, so I followed; he was right, there were scrawling letter patterns on the interior wall of the ca
ve. “This is old Viking Norse,” he said, his finger gently running over some scratched lettering. “This says…I swear to you, I’m not kidding around…Thor was here.”
I burst out laughing. “Stop it.”
He looked at me and deadpanned. “I never kid about Thor.”
The cold wind was making his cheeks ruddy.
“This is cool,” I said.
“Very.” His marble eyes spun with excitement. “Thanks for letting me come along, Lil.” He reached out and touched my elbow gently. “I know it hasn’t been easy for you.” He glanced outside the cave. “Either of you.”
“Well, I couldn’t very well push you overboard after you saved my friend.”
“Still. You know what I’m saying.”
“I know.” I dodged his eyes, glancing at the mouth of the cave, hoping Logan would and wouldn’t enter and either save me or let me go. “You’re welcome,” I said with a relenting sigh.
Biting my lip, I tugged on the wrist sleeve of his thick wool sweater. That plus his wool cap, long pants and brown leather boots made him look like an entirely different guy than the hooded figure who I found lurking with Orchid on the shores of Melas. He looked so fresh and healthy and his light-hearted charms easily shone through the darkness. He looked like he belonged on these islands.
“Lily?” Logan’s voice called from outside. “Jude?”
I jerked away from him. “In here,” Jude called out.
LOGAN
We explored the island for most of the morning. When we got to the furthermost Northern tip, we stopped for lunch, sitting within a circle of stones.
“I can feel them…the ancients…can you?” I asked.
Lily and Jude both nodded. Lily’s long blonde hair whipped around in the cold breeze. She looked like she belonged here. So did Jude, actually. They were both so blonde and Nordic. One could imagine their ancestors battling storms on classic Viking ships to arrive on these islands. I could see people like them setting up houses, combing the dirt, writing on walls.
They both seemed so calm, too. And happy. None of the angst from the Sea Witch was apparent in either of them. Weird.
Lily handed us each a small orange before peeling her own. When I thanked her, I noticed her eyes. They weren’t red anymore. Instead, they were light purple.
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