I turned and switched straws so she’d have mine when I handed the drink back to her once she’d sat slowly and hesitantly onto my chair. I snapped my fingers and another chair popped next to hers with a slightly green crackle. She inhaled and settled back down where my body had been a few seconds before. Could she feel the warmth from me? Probably not. It was too hot.
I walked over to the chair and shifted, trying to adjust it so it was at the right angle, but nothing was quite right.
Instead, I stood up and headed for the water, leaving Penny and Zach alone together. Not entirely alone. I stopped up to my waist so I could still hear their voices if I used a bit of magic.
“Crazy mage. How did you like my jet?”
“It has the same logo you engraved into my hip. Do you consider me personal property of your family, or something?”
I smiled and cupped a handful of water while a fish nibbled my calf.
Zach laughed, slightly wild sounding. “Would that bother you? It shouldn’t. Stoneburrow only owns the best destructive equipment in the world.”
“I think it’s being classified as equipment that I object to. Also, it’s an ugly logo. Couldn’t it be something more decorative, and fancy?”
“We’ve had this conversation before. You wish I’d stamped it across your forehead. Where did you get that bikini?”
Penny sighed. “This one had the most coverage. It’s almost like they sell swimming suits with the express purpose of using as little fabric as possible. She must not like to spend money on them.”
Zach laughed. “On the contrary. You have to be rich to have such a small bikini. How do you like Drake’s dad?”
She paused. “He’s very nice. He kept referring to me as your girlfriend.”
“Nice? What’s nice about him?” There was a tinge of jealous possessiveness in Zach’s voice. Penny wouldn’t notice it. She never noticed anything. I turned around so I could see her in the chair, her pale pink skin spread beneath the sun like a piece of turkey about to get smoked.
I cupped my mouth. “Penny, did you put on sunscreen?”
She’d taken off the sunglasses, so I got to see her big eyes before she looked away from me. “He has a nice mustache and he gave me a nice lunch. He checked it for poison when I asked him and didn’t act like it was weird.”
“It was weird. Are you wearing sunscreen? I can put some on you, if you’d like.”
Zach put sunscreen on Penny? Never.
She shook her head and shot me a frown like she could hear my thoughts even though I was waist deep in the water. “I put on sunscreen in the room. A lot of it. Why are they here? It doesn’t seem like a business meeting. Does that come later?”
Zach gave me a malicious smile. “You haven’t heard the whole gory story? Drake’s mother killed herself. They have to renew the protection wards on Huntsman every year here, where she broke them.”
Penny didn’t say anything for a long time. I turned to stare out at the ocean; the distant line of sky and sea kissing should be my focus instead of the witch behind me, her long legs kissed by the sun.
Enough. I dove in, letting the cold green world swallow my thoughts. I swam until I couldn’t hold my breath and came up, gasping, twenty feet from shore. I dove back down, swimming hard, away from my father, Penny, everything else. I swam, only breaking the surface to breathe until the world grew dark.
Chapter 34
Witch
Drake in swim shorts. I could have spent the rest of my life happily lazing in the sun, watching the most beautiful mage in the world play in the water, sun shining on his red hair like fire, volcano, something alive and burning, like my heart burned when he looked at me.
Why did he look at me like that if he didn’t care?
I glanced at Zach who was much tanner than Drake, or maybe it was just a glamour. “Hey, Zach, can I really smell a mage’s desire, or was Drake just messing with me?”
He choked on his drink. “Are you kidding? There’s something wrong with you. You don’t just say that to someone. I can’t help that you’re wearing practically nothing.”
I blinked at him and sniffed. Freshly baked bread may have been coming from his direction, but it wasn’t like the black cherries from earlier. “So it’s a real thing? Hm.” I leaned over my knees and looked at the ocean, frowning until I saw Drake’s head come up. “So, he sort of likes me?”
He laughed. “He wouldn’t have gotten that close to marrying you if he didn’t. Don’t think about Drake. He’s boring. I’m much more interesting.”
I gave him a flat look. “So interesting. All right, your magic mech suit is pretty cool, but the way you spend your life drowning in video games is not.”
He rolled his blue eyes. “It’s how I think without thinking. A lot of mages do ballet for that, the not thinking, subliminal mind processing, but for me, it’s video games. Like I’m on the thirteenth level fighting the ultimate boss and suddenly I’ve figured out how to put together the reverse processor pick-up to optimize efficiency.”
I pushed his shoulder. Bare. Warm. I stared out at the ocean, waiting for a glimpse of Drake’s wet head. “You just made up those words. Where is he?”
He pushed my shoulder back, his fingers lingering on my skin. “Do you want to go rescue him? I can practically guarantee that you’ll end up getting sucked out by a riptide. You’ll probably lose your swimsuit.” He grinned widely. “Definitely he needs you to rescue him.”
I rolled my eyes and was about to say something but the light changed. I froze and inhaled deeply, trying to understand the prickling on my skin. “Zach, put your suit on. Now.”
He was moving before I finished talking. In twelve seconds, he had the straps secured across his chest and in another two seconds, the metal plates slid over his skin. “Are you being paranoid, or what?”
I was up, backing towards the house with my hands stretched out, like I could feel what was coming. The wind picked up, blowing tendrils of my hair around my face. That smell. Chalky old blood and death. “I think it’s Creagh. And something else.”
Zach swore a few times and took a position to my left, wearing a lot more than me, holding what looked like a magic wand. “I shouldn’t have come. I should have let Drake seduce you.”
I blinked at him. “He wasn’t going to seduce me.”
He rolled his eyes before he refocused on the sky above the ocean. “The wards are weak this time of year. I suppose if the sorcerer was taking over Drake’s family, he’d know about that. But, how did he know you’d be here?”
“Wait, the sorcerer messing with Drake wants me? He’s the one working with Creagh?”
“Penny, I know you aren’t really stupid, but sometimes it seems like there isn’t any other possibility.”
“Shut up. Seriously. I need to hear them.”
The sky grew darker and darker as the sun was eclipsed by an enormous zeppelin. What fueled it? The shimmering ship was like the moon, piercing through empty space into our world and bringing night with it. As the ship emerged from the hole it tore, I shivered. The beach wasn’t warm anymore, and the scent of winter and night were echoed by the witches who flew through that hole, swarming like insects through that space.
“Zach, give me a weapon.”
“Can you be more specific? Is that really a dirigible? Man, I want one of those.” He pulled out his phone at the same time he tossed me three knives. He threw them specifically so that they’d stab me if I hadn’t caught them. This was not the time to play. At least not with him. I held two knives in my right hand, one in my left and ached to be able to fly, to meet the force of darkness sweeping down on us.
“The two of you have so much confidence,” Drake’s father said as he stepped into line past Zach. His weapon was apparently a wine glass, half filled with something red. “Excellent mech suit, Stoneburrow. It’s a pity you don’t market those. You could make a killing.”
“Stoneburrow makes enough of a killing killing people. Some things are for
personal pleasure. Are you not worried, sir?”
Drake’s dad swirled his wine glass. “Call me Tract. They have three barriers still left to breach. I think I’ll be worried when we have one left. Where’s the heir?”
Zach nodded towards the water. “Swimming.”
Tract sighed. “Needed to cool off his hot head? I can’t imagine what the two of you were fighting about. Penny, excellent stance for an air strike. I can see you’ve been trained well. Good thinking, keeping to the low ground where you can more easily defend yourself. Most witches would fly to attack.”
I exchanged glances with Zach. He looked at me then turned to face Drake’s dad. “Sir, Tract, you should know that Penny’s more vulnerable than most witches. Her protection is something of an issue. She can’t fly or fight with magic.”
Tract raised his eyebrows but didn’t look particularly surprised even if his mustache twitched. “So this attack is all for her benefit? What a special girl you must be.” He smiled, teeth white and sharp beneath the auburn bush. His mustache was so interesting. It seemed to convey more emotion than all the rest of his features.
“That’s one word for it,” Zach muttered.
Tract raised his wine glass and took a sip as he studied the sky. “Oh, they’ve breached the next defense. What is that monstrosity made out of? It must have an incredible field of magic and tech. Looks like someone’s been funding those disreputable Darksider tech mages. It makes everything worthwhile. I put so much effort into those protection barriers. It’s nice to see that there was some purpose for it. What do you think, Stoneburrow. Can you take out that monstrosity?”
Zach was on his phone still, but his voice was low with whoever was on the other side. I stood there clutching my knives, the sky growing darker and darker on the beach with Drake’s dad. It felt so awkward. “So, thanks for lunch. I can see where Drake gets his excellent cooking skills.”
His mustache twitched. “Does Drake cook for you? I’d thought he left his culinary talents behind. That’s very gratifying to know. What did he make you?”
“Oh. His gingerbread was probably the most notable thing.”
His eyes changed, growing clearer and more focused as he stared at me. “He made you gingerbread?”
I swallowed and my grip on the knives got clammy. “Sure. He did the gingerbread house and frosted it with little gumdrops on top. I like candy. Sweets. Macaroons and bonbons and truffles.”
He scowled at Zach. “Stoneburrow, is that true?”
Zach glanced at him and nodded, lowering his phone for a minute. “Yes, sir. He was five minutes from marrying her.”
The mustache quivered but the mage turned away from both of us, glaring at the ocean like he could see Drake beneath the water. “When you say vulnerable, are you talking about a shortage of magic?”
“Absence. It’s not something she likes to talk about,” Zach said like I wasn’t right there with three daggers in my hands that were all aimed at his heart.
Senior Huntsman nodded. “That explains it.”
He didn’t have time to explain what it explained because the horrible, evil, terrifying Stoneburrow jet burst through the sky, shot a volley of explosives that hit the silvery zeppelin in brilliant blue bursts.
“Penny, do you have a hurter?” Zach asked me.
I looked at him and fingered my hair where I kept a few strands woven with tiny hurters. “Nothing very impressive.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Tract, can I lob things through this side of the barrier, or is it double-sided?”
“Defense only. The barrier does not go both ways.”
Zach held out his hand to me, eyes bright and intense. I hesitated, taking my time unweaving the hurter. “Zach, if you leave, you won’t be able to come back until the barrier falls. You’re probably bored and think it would be fun to fly up and blow stuff up, but…”
Drake’s dad walked over to Zach and pressed his thumb into his forehead. A flash of blue-green about blinded me before Tract stepped back and sipped some wine. “You’ll have no problem with the barriers. Have fun.”
Where were the adults in this situation? I unwove two hurters leaving me with a total of one for my own defense. Also, it wasn’t easy to unweave tiny balls of magical explosives out of your hair while holding three knives. I would have accidentally on purpose dropped one on Zach’s feet if they hadn’t been covered in metal plates.
After I’d handed them to him, I grabbed his wrist, the metal covering the thick scar. “Be careful. We still have to cherry up your ride.”
He grinned and nodded before he tucked the hurters into a slot against his chest that closed with a snick as soon as he removed his hand. His tech suit was awesome. He crouched and leapt, blue sparks surrounding him as he spun, like an arrow loosed into the sky.
Zach hit the first barrier. His body sort of waved then he hit the second barrier, and then he was in the middle of the fighting. He was almost immediately covered in a swarm of Creagh. An explosion of pink and green with the words, ‘Drake and Penny’ in lightning shot sent the Creagh back, giving Zach a clear shot at the Zeppelin. He sucked so bad. His throw went completely wide, barely hitting the end of the monstrous flying beast instead of hitting it dead center, or aiming at the base where it probably was manned. Such a waste of a perfectly nice hurter. That one was pink and silver with glittering heart shrapnel that smelled like black cherry. It took a while for the cloud to drift close enough for me to smell it, actually the scent reached me about the same time the dragon burst into the sky with a delicious roar that sent shivers of delightful horror through me. The dragon was going to eat everything. Drake was wearing green scale armor, green firesword in his hand as he rode Jello through the crowded sky.
“He’s beautiful,” I breathed.
Drake’s dad cleared his throat. “I’ve never seen hurters like that. Impressive…kick.”
I winced because the ‘Drake and Penny’ in the sky was a little bit noticeable. The words still hung in the air. I should have given him the other one, the one with our initials inside a giant heart. Because that would be better.
The zeppelin managed to break through the second barrier before the jet’s volleys and Drake’s dragon’s flame brought it down. It didn’t crash into the ocean but disappeared when it hit the last barrier, like it was dropped into a body of still water, disappearing from sight.
“Where did it go?” I asked Drake’s dad.
He shrugged and swirled the dregs of his wine. “Darkside. That’s two barriers they’ve broken through. It must have been specifically calibrated for this boundary. So, this sorcerer who seems to be targeting Huntsman, could you tell me about him?”
I inhaled shallowly as a wave of nausea swept through me. I should never have gotten on that jet. “They called him a deception sorcerer. He cursed the Creagh so they’re working with him.”
“Did he? That’s a very powerful curse. Deception sorcerers are so difficult. They can alter your memories so that you forget that they’re your enemy. Are you all right, my dear? You look a bit ill. Maybe you should lie down.” He gestured towards the sun chair.
I blinked at him, gripping my knives. “I can hold my own. I have a defense spell that takes care of magical attacks. The physical ones, I can handle.”
He smiled and it looked a bit gentle, a little bit mischievous. So much like Drake, it made my heart ache. “In that case, I hope that the barriers fall so that you can have some fun. It’s not fair for the boys to steal all the Creagh.”
I looked up at the small figures of what seemed like a million Creagh. “It’s terrible. So many of them will die because some Sorcerer wants a witch.” It also made my mouth water, wanting to hear their screams and rip them apart.
“The sorcerer wants something, the Creagh want something, everyone wants something. Thinking about the long range consequences of one’s desires as it affects others is quite sophisticated. What school do you attend?”
“It isn’t sophisticated, it’s
empathy.”
“Another one of your special skills?”
“More like a curse,” I said as I crouched. A group of Creagh were reaching the first barrier, their hands like lightning. They were going to breach the barrier, breaking a hole for their sisters to pass through.
They fell down, shooting towards us on the beach with their black eyes bleeding to the edge of their eyelids, pale skin waxy like the moon. It was still dark. What was beyond the barriers that we couldn’t see?
My limbs became loose as the first witch attacked. I was smoke and ash, as black as their hearts, as cruel and cold as the infinite expanse of space, like the space between each breath and movement of the creatures.
Three knives. Three hearts. Three bodies around me. Three more. The knives were slick with blood as I moved, a hurricane ripping apart every black covered figure. The wave of Creagh dissolved and I was left on the beach littered with Creagh, a wall of water curled above me, around the beach, hitting the stone cliff and washing down, towards the ocean but splitting around me.
I blinked the black out of my eyes to see Drake’s dad. He was holding two swords of gleaming light that reflected green in the shadows of the water. Was he doing that with the ocean? Was that supposed to be possible? It didn’t seem possible, even with magic.
He gestured at me. “Not the best battle clothing. I apologize for my sister. She was never prepared for anything.”
I looked down. Was there any piece of my body not cut and bruised? And this was before the empathy. I wrinkled my nose as I covered the gash on my thigh that was the deepest. “How do you make the water do that?”
He smoothed a hand over the blade of his sword, sending a pulse of bright silver electrical current that cleansed down the edge. “I don’t. That’s my son, or the dragon rather, fire and water. I think it makes him uncomfortable in his skin.”
Drake dropped through the water, landing on the beach on top of two Creagh. He lost his balance for a second, slipping on their loose clothing before he stalked towards me. His eyes were like his dad said, water and fire, a flame that swirled through his skin and every part of him.
Blooming Black: Rosewood Academy of Witches and Mages (Darkly Sweet Book 4) Page 32