by Linsey Hall
“Shhh,” I hissed back. Aidan had gone up to talk to the pilot, but I was still nervous about him overhearing. “We’re not hooking up. He hired me for a job.”
“Yeah, well, I could cut the tension with a knife,” she said. “There’s definitely something between you.”
“Yeah, like the scroll we’re after,” I whispered. “You remember that, right? Kinda dangerous to our health?”
Her gaze sobered. “Yeah. Yeah, I do. Things have just been so good lately. We’ve had five good years with the shop. I guess I just thought we could hide forever.”
“Me too,” I said. “And we’re going to. We’ll handle this. Things will go back to normal.”
Which reminded me that I needed to talk to them about what would happen once we found it. I glanced at the door. Still shut. I undid my seatbelt and went to kneel in front of their seats.
“What’s up?” Nix whispered.
They both leaned toward me.
“How long will it take you to replicate the scroll?” I asked Nix.
She blew out a breath. “Depends. If I have to take out information about us, then I’d at least need to skim it to find the info I’ve got to omit.”
“Damn. That’ll take a while,” I said. “We can’t distract Aidan for that long.”
“We have to destroy it,” said Del. “We’ll make it look like an accident.”
I nodded. I hated to demolish a piece of history like that, but it was a no-brainer considering our lives were at risk. “Yeah. Okay. When we get the scroll, whoever is closest to it destroys it. The other two try to distract Aidan.”
My chest ached at the idea of him finding out we’d destroyed the scroll. That would be hard to explain. We’d just have to be smart about it.
“It’s a plan. We’ll just—”
The cockpit door opened and Aidan stepped out. Nix shut her mouth abruptly. I stiffened, hoping we didn’t look too suspicious, then turned to face Aidan.
He gave me a look that clearly asked why I was crouched on the ground instead of comfortably in my seat. I just shrugged.
Fortunately, he only said, “We’ll arrive in Scotland in ten hours. I have a contact there who can have a boat ready in case we need it.”
Ten hours. That’d put us there midmorning, their time.
Aidan took the seat next to mine, and I realized that Nix and Del had consciously left it open. I glared at them. They shrugged.
I should have been used to how good Aidan smelled by then, but I wasn’t. I wasn’t used to anything about him. I’d never been like this over a guy, and it was starting to drive me nuts.
As it turned out, we needed the boat that Aidan had arranged. The flight had been uneventful and the drive through the mountains equally so. By the time we landed, we were close enough to our prey that I finally felt the invisible string around my waist. We followed it to the coast.
My dragon sense led us to a jagged piece of land that jutted out into the sea.
“Here,” I said.
Aidan pulled over. I climbed out of the car and gazed out at the choppy gray waves. Nix and Del came to stand at my side.
“Excellent,” I muttered. “Another boat ride.”
“Can you tell if he’s on an island or a boat?”
“I don’t feel the target moving,” I said. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t. My senses weren’t quite that good normally. “So it’s probably an island. Could be wrong though.”
Aidan looked up from the map on his phone. “There’s a port about fifteen minutes from here, and the boat that I arranged isn’t far from that. I’ll have them meet us.”
“Nice,” Del said. “I could really get used to traveling with this guy.”
I glanced at Aidan. He’d changed into a midnight blue sweater, and the wind whipped at his dark hair. His wealth did make things more convenient. I wished I liked him because of it. If I only liked his money, I could just ditch him and go find another rich guy who wasn’t powerful enough to sense that I was different.
But no. I liked him for a lot of other weird reasons. And every one of them didn’t matter because I’d definitely have to stay away from him when this was over. Aidan would eventually figure out what I was. I could feel it.
“Let’s go,” I said.
We climbed back into the car. The drive to the port took about fifteen minutes. It was a tiny one, just a fishing village on the coast with a few houses scattered on the hill above. Half a dozen brightly painted boats bobbed on their moorings. A large white yacht was motoring toward the small dock as we climbed out of the car.
“Is that it?” I asked Aidan.
“Yeah. A friend’s boat.”
“You have fancy friends.”
“Some. At least this one loaned me his boat.”
“You loan him your plane?” I asked.
“I would, but he has his own.”
I shook my head. I might have a trove of treasure stashed away in my secret closet, but that was just because I scrimped and saved everything we made from the shop. It wasn’t a tiny amount of money because treasure hunting paid well. But it wasn’t like my wealth improved my life. It just fed a compulsion that was almost as annoying as it was pleasurable.
We walked onto the dock as the cold sea air cut through my jacket. Aidan carried the brown paper package. A thank you present for the boat’s owner? How did he manage to be so polite while we were on a job? I guess I had to give him credit.
The boat didn’t even tie off to the dock. It just pulled up and we hopped on. There was a rowboat hanging from davits at the back and a pilothouse on the second level in the front. The deckhand who led us to the pilothouse was some kind of low-level water witch from the smell of his magic. Vaguely fishy. Higher-level supernaturals normally smelled better. It was an unfair part of magical life.
The pilothouse looked like it ran a spaceship. The captain was a big guy, a shifter of some sort. I couldn’t tell from the smell of him because it was harder for me to ID shifters, but I hoped he was some kind of shark or whale or something.
“Welcome aboard, Aidan,” the captain said. His Scottish brogue was thick. “Mr. Carridy sends his respects.”
So the owner wasn’t on board.
“Captain Alden. Thank you for taking us,” Aidan said. “Cass? Can you point us in the right direction?”
I focused on the feel of the string around my waist and turned to face the direction from which it pulled.
“That way,” I said, pointing to the left. Port, I thought it was called. “I don’t know how far. A few miles?”
“Are ye certain?” Captain Alden asked. “I’ve run these waters for twenty years. There’s nothing that way. Not until the North Pole.”
“Of course there isn’t,” I muttered. “Just my luck. Ghost island.”
“I suppose it’s possible,” Captain Alden said. “Wouldn’t be the first time magic has been used to hide an island.”
I closed my eyes and focused on the thread about my middle that pulled me northwest. The connection was strong. “It’s that way. I can’t feel precisely where it is, but well before the North Pole.”
“All right then, we’ll head that way. You can tell me when it’s close? I don’t want to run aground.”
“Yes. It still feels miles off.”
We stared silently out at the sea as the motor rumbled and waves slapped against the hull. Fog was starting to roll across the water, concealing the gray waves. The effect was eerie and added to the tension inside the pilothouse. I tried to keep from bouncing on my feet. No one needed to know how anxious I was. We could handle this. We’d survived a decade on the run. This was just one little hurdle. Get the scroll, destroy it. Risk averted.
But how could I destroy the scroll without Aidan realizing I’d done it on purpose? That would open me up to a lot of uncomfortable questions.
That was the one thing I hadn’t figured out yet, and it scared the crap out of me.
“I’m going to head outside.” I needed a
minute to myself. “Can I just wave at you from the bow if I feel us getting closer?”
“Aye, that’ll be fine,” Captain Alden said. “Just be sure to stand at the very front where I can see you.”
“All right.” I hightailed it out of the pilothouse and down the stairs, taking them two at a time. I shook my arms, hoping to banish my nerves.
I crossed the rolling deck to the bow and found a spot beneath an overhang where I was pretty sure no one could see me. The captain was right above me. If I felt us nearing the island, I’d run a few feet to where he could see me and alert him. The biting wind cut through my jacket as I stared out at the water. The smell of the sea was strong, but not enough to block out Aidan’s evergreen scent when he leaned against the wall next to me.
“Hey,” he said.
“What’s up?” I asked.
He handed me the paper package he’d been carrying earlier.
“What’s this?”
“For you.”
A gift? I tore open the paper and found a plain white box. When I opened it, two gleaming obsidian daggers rested inside.
My throat tightened. “What are these?”
“A replacement for your old pair. They’re enchanted to return to you.”
“How’d you get them? They’re really rare.”
“I’m also really wealthy.”
“Yeah.” I didn’t know what else to say besides, “Thanks.”
“I figured I owed you. You’re helping me find the scroll. You shouldn’t lose your favorite daggers as well.”
“How’d you even find time?”
“I admit I didn’t go out and get them myself. I—”
“Made a call.”
“Yeah.” He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, almost as if he felt awkward. About his wealth?
“Have you always been like this? You know—private planes, people to do your bidding, that sort of thing?”
“No.” He leaned against the wall next to me. “The Origin name may be famous, but that doesn’t mean wealthy. I grew up poor. My dad died when I was young. He was the Origin before me. My mom raised me on her salary from two waitressing jobs. She did the best she could.”
“Where is she now?”
“Died when I was eighteen. I was a mercenary for a few years. Then I got sick of having a boss. So I started Origin Enterprises.”
“And what, just turned it into a multimillion-dollar organization?”
“It took a few years.”
“Well, you clearly don’t suck at it.”
“You don’t suck at what you do either.” He shifted to stand in front of me. He blocked the wind as he loomed over me. Damn, he looked good. His voice was husky as he said, “We make a good team.”
“Um…we’re not a team.” I didn’t want to say it, but he was leaning down toward me and I panicked. His dark eyes devoured me, and his scent made my mouth water.
“We could be,” he murmured.
My gaze was riveted to his lips. This was such a bad idea, but I wanted it. In a few hours, I’d walk away from him forever. What could one kiss hurt?
When he lowered his mouth to mine, I stood up on my toes and met him halfway. His lips were firm and warm. Heavenly. Kissing Aidan drowned out everything else. All I could smell and feel was him—his big arm wrapped around my waist, the heat and strength of his chest.
My head buzzed as his lips moved expertly on mine. I let him press me back against the wall and reached up to sink my free hand into his hair. It was so soft, a delicious contrast to his hard muscles. Desire heated my skin and coiled within me. I could let this go on forever.
He made a soft groan. The noise made me shiver, and I pressed closer to him, wanting to touch as much of him as I could.
My dragon sense tugged at me, stronger than ever. We were nearing the island. I didn’t want to, but I pulled away from Aidan and slipped under his arm. My skin was still hot where he’d touched me and my lips tingled, but I tried to ignore it as I ran to the bow and waved my arms at the pilothouse.
Captain Alden caught sight of me immediately and nodded. The boat began to turn. I returned to Aidan.
“Time to go,” I said.
“We’ll finish this later.” His dark gaze was determined, his jaw set.
There wouldn’t be a later, but I couldn’t say that. Instead, I hurried to the pilothouse.
“You still don’t see anything?” I asked as I stepped in.
Everyone leaned towards the windows, peering out. I could feel Aidan close behind, but I tried to ignore what his nearness did to me.
“Nothing,” Captain Alden said. “And it feels bloody strange here. Like we ought to turn around. You sure it’s out there, lassie?”
“I know it is.” The invisible string around my waist pulled hard. Unmistakable. But I was also getting that sense that we should turn around or divert our course. Anything to keep from going forward.
A spell, no doubt. Intended to hide the island from mariners by making them steer around. The fog made it feel like we were a ghost ship sailing through the mist.
“I’m not liking this one bit, lassie,” Captain Alden said. Concern thickened his brogue. “We’re going to have to turn the ship around.”
The spell was getting stronger. My skin crawled with unease.
“It’s a spell,” I said. “Hiding the island.”
“Even so, this fog is too thick to see land.” Captain Alden waved his hand at the gray mist ahead of us. “We could run aground if we continue on.”
Frustration welled in me.
“That’s not an option,” Aidan said. “We need to go forward.”
“I can’t risk the boat, lad.”
“Can we have the rowboat?” I asked. “The one hanging off the back of the ship.”
“And row alone into the mist?” Nix asked.
It didn’t sound good when she put it like that. “We don’t have a lot of choices.”
She sighed. “No, we don’t, do we?”
“Aye, you can have the rowboat,” Captain Alden said. “We’ll give you a radio in case you run into trouble. Though I can’t guarantee we can get to you quickly. Not until this fog lifts.”
“Del, do you think you’ll be able to transport soon?” I asked. “And bring us along in case we get into trouble?”
“I should be. I feel almost at full power.”
“That solves it, then,” Captain Alden said. “O’Connel, get them set up with the rowboat. If you’re not back in eight hours, I’ll assume the lassie took you home. Good luck to you all.”
I followed O’Connel, the deckhand, down the stairs. Aidan stayed behind, thanking the captain, and then joined us at the stern a minute later. The deckhand lowered the rowboat using pulleys as I removed Aidan’s daggers from their box and slipped them into the sheaths at my thighs. They fit, though not perfectly. It’d have to do. I put my old ones into the box.
Once the rowboat was lowered to the water, I handed the box to the deckhand and asked, “Is there any chance you could ship this to Ancient Magic in Magic’s Bend, Oregon? I’ll pay you if you send your return address with it.”
He nodded. “Not a problem.” He took the box and nodded to the boat. “You can board. Good luck.”
“Thanks.” I climbed in after Nix and Del. The boat wobbled under my feet. It wasn’t more than ten feet long—just a tiny thing meant for shore landings in shallow harbors.
Aidan climbed in last and took up the oars. Nix and Del sat in the back, leaning against each other. I huddled in the bow as the deckhand gave us a push that sent us drifting off into the mist.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Aidan’s strokes cut powerfully through the water, the slap of the oars against the surface the only sounds.
“This is creepy,” Nix muttered.
“Seconded,” Del said.
Man, were they right. I could see nothing through the thick white fog, and the temperature felt like it was dropping. Not the natural kind of drop either—th
e kind that accompanied ghosts. But it was the sickening feeling in my stomach and the prickle that crawled across my skin that was the worst.
“Do you guys feel that?” I asked.
“The sense of extreme foreboding and that we should turn around immediately?” Aidan asked. “Yes.”
“That’s the one. But we’re going the right way,” I said, squinting into the fog. “I feel it.”
I ignored the instincts that told me to turn around and stared into the mist. It was just magic. Aidan rowed as the rest of us huddled in the boat. My breathing cut through the silence.
“We’re getting closer.” I rubbed my arms, trying to keep the warmth in. “I can feel it.”
“Sure can’t see it, though,” Nix said.
“We’ve got to be—”
The boat crashed into something, crunching against rock and spraying water into the air. I flew forward, but Aidan grabbed me before I went face-first into stone.
“We’re taking on water!” Nix yelled.
Waves rocked the boat, heaving it against the rocks. Fog shrouded the boulders and stone ledges that rose up in front of us.
“This is it!” I called. “Get on land.”
We scrambled out of the boat as it lurched against the rocks. Icy water splashed me and sharp stones dug into my hands as I scrambled onto solid ground. I turned to face the sea. Aidan and Nix stood next to me. Del leapt off the boat, which was going down fast.
“Not the easy beach landing I’d been hoping for,” Aidan said.
“No.” I watched the last of the boat sink under the waves and turned away from the misty sea. Jagged rocks rose up in front of me. “And this looks a hell of a lot like the creepy island in King Kong.”
“Seconded again,” Del said.
“Let’s make our way inland,” Aidan said.
The rocks ahead tumbled over each other like giant stairs. I began to climb, using my hands to help me keep my footing. By the time we reached flat ground, much of the fog had dissipated. It still rolled over the ground like something out of a horror movie, but it stayed low enough that we could see ahead.