Perilous Waters

by Diana Paz

  “I hardly think she cares. Look at her.”

  Anne screamed so loudly, Kaitlyn almost yelled at her to shut up.

  “Geez,” Julia said, covering her ears. “Is that normal?”

  “I imagine so,” Angie said.

  Something wasn’t right about this. Anne Bonny was used to fighting and being hurt, but her eyes were glassy and becoming more and more sightless as she stared at the ceiling. “What about that?” Kaitlyn asked, pulling back the sheet to reveal a pool of glistening blood. “Is that normal, too?”

  The sound of Anne’s labored breathing sharpened.

  “No,” Angie whispered. “I don’t think that’s normal at all.”

  Anne no longer writhed around. She looked like she might have fainted. Kaitlyn frowned, thinking about what she knew about Anne Bonny. “She’s going to be okay. I mean, I researched about her. She has a baby in Cuba. She abandons it here to some family named Cunningham, and goes on to be a pirate again with Calico Jack.”

  Julia bit her lip. “Do you think that she turns out okay because… because we came along?”

  The servant girl returned, her arms full of white cloths. She set them on a chair and hurried to the bed. “Dios mío,” she said, touching Anne’s forehead and then her throat. “Doña Teresa! Something has happened,” she yelled, running to the doorway.

  “Wait,” Kaitlyn commanded in Spanish. “How can we help her? What can we do?”

  “Nothing,” the woman said, her breath hushed as she made the sign of the cross. “Nothing can be done when a woman bleeds in childbirth like this. The Lady Anne will die.”

  ~ Chapter 23 ~

  Angie

  “I’m getting the Mistress,” the girl said. “The Lady Anne is dying and we need a priest.”

  Angie watched her go. Her fingers tapped against each other, fingertips moving in a steady rhythm as she calculated everything happening. Wasn’t Anne supposed to survive? Her eyes shifted to where she lay on the bed, still as death. Could she survive the loss of so much blood and a childbirth complication?

  Kaitlyn’s hand slid from her arm and Angie blinked rapidly. One look at her glimmering, narrowed eyes and Angie knew she had been listening to her thoughts.

  “She can survive,” Kaitlyn said in a low, determined voice. “But only with our help.”

  “It can’t be the way,” Angie said.

  Kaitlyn swept to the bed and raised her hands. White light formed and began streaming from her palms even before the word left her lips. “Restore.”

  Angie pressed her fingers to her temples. She shook her head several times. “We can’t interfere. We aren’t here to save people—”

  “That’s exactly why we’re here. To save people,” Kaitlyn said. “To save the world.”

  Julia gave Angie a long, wide-eyed look. “Maybe this is the way.”

  Blood pounded in Angie’s ears. She watched Julia move toward the bed. A moment of surprise flashed in Kaitlyn’s face before she returned her attention to Anne Bonny.

  “I won’t help in this,” Angie said. “Nothing good can come of us interfering with the world timeline.”

  Julia pressed her lips together and held her hands back.

  “Please,” Kaitlyn said. Her lashes lifted and she stared directly at Angie. “This time I think you’re wrong.”

  Angie’s heart seized. Kaitlyn had never asked her for anything before. She didn’t know whether to help her or not. She didn’t know what the Fates wanted her to do.

  In that moment of hesitation, Julia’s gaze locked with Kaitlyn’s. She lifted her hands and whispered, “Restore.”

  Angie’s fingers curled and uncurled against her skirt. Her heart thundered within her ribcage. Helping Anne Bonny directly like this was wrong.

  But her eyes closed. Magic sped from the mark on her arm to fill her palms.

  As soon as their magic touched Anne Bonny, her eyelashes fluttered.

  The door burst open. Kaitlyn and Julia quickly lowered their hands. Angie put hers behind her back.

  A man wearing long dark robes rushed into the room. He carried a bible and was followed by the woman who had shown them the tavern, as well as a girl carrying more linens and another with a basin of water.

  “What the blimey?” Anne yelled. “What be a preacher doin’ in this room?”

  Angie looked over at Anne Bonny’s moving form as she sat up, her eyes clear and her cheeks blossoming with healthy color. The red-haired girl took one look at the priest and said, “You’ll na be readin’ me last rites today, father. Take that bloomin’ book back with ye and find some other poor soul to save.”

  The priest said something in Spanish to the brothel mistress, who lowered her head reverently.

  “What are they saying?” Julia asked.

  “The woman is thanking him for his prayers,” Kaitlyn said.

  “I said get out,” Anne yelled, tossing a pillow at the priest. The man took out a small metal flask and sprinkled holy water across the bed, his prayers becoming louder. “If ye bring that bible any nearer, I’ll smash ye across the head with it!”

  The priest stumbled back at the curses that followed, crossing himself as he left the room. Anne gripped her stomach and leaned forward. Kaitlyn’s gaze shot from Anne to the maid who had brought in the linens. The girl wasn’t very much older than they were. She briskly set to work, pulling back the sheets and setting down a clean cloth at the foot of the bed.

  “I think the baby is coming,” Julia said.

  “Wow,” Kaitlyn murmured. “Did you cast a Powers of Perception spell to figure that out?”

  “Oh, shut—”

  “La dama Anne está a punto de dar a luz,” the girl said, laying out a cloth at the foot of the bed and taking out scissors. Her small hands moved quickly as she took out her supplies. “She is about to give birth. You can help by bringing more hot water.”

  “No more helping,” Angie whispered. “We’ve done enough as it is.”

  “Fine by me,” Kaitlyn said. “Watching a live birth isn’t one of my life goals.”

  “But, she had been so close to death,” Julia said. “Shouldn’t we stay until the baby is born to make sure she’s okay?”

  “There’s nothing more for us to help her with,” Angie said, moving into the hallway. “From the looks of things, we prevented her death already.”

  “But—”

  “But nothing,” Kaitlyn said. “She’s going to have a son. She’s going to leave the kid in Cuba to be raised by an English family. And then she’s going to go on pirating until she’s captured and no one ever knows what happens to her after that. Let’s get on with our own mission and go back home already.”

  Angie tapped along her gown, wondering at the Fates. Some sources casted doubt on the health of the baby and whether it lived, others maintained the child was raised by a family named Cunningham, but either way there was no disputing that Anne survived the birth.

  That meant, their interference shouldn’t have been necessary. And yet… she had been about to die.

  “Well, I want to stay,” Julia said. “I mean, the live birth part is gross, but… aren’t you curious?”

  Anne Bonny let out a deep, guttural growl. One of the maids held out a blanket.

  “Ugh. It’s happening already,” Kaitlyn muttered, turning from the scene.

  Anne shone with sweat and her face was as red as her hair. Her eyes focused on nothing, staring into some unseen void as her fists balled into the sheets and her entire body trembled. Another growl burst from her chest, rising in volume until it became a shriek.

  “Jesus Christ, how are those maids so calm with all of that yelling?” Kaitlyn spat. “You guys have fun in this house of horrors. I’m out.”

  Angie made no move to stop Kaitlyn from leaving the room, but before she had the chance to exit, Anne fell back on the bed with a grunt. The maids, who hadn’t been moving up until this point, bursted into action as a tiny, wailing cry filled the room.

  “Hol
y crap,” Julia whispered. “It’s over already?”

  “Thank God,” Kaitlyn said, holding the door open for them. Something shifted on her face, her dark brows slanting down. “Wait. Something’s…”

  “¿Que le pasa al bebe?” One of the maids brought her hands to her mouth in apparent horror. “The baby. It’s glowing.”

  Angie’s gaze flew to the red-faced, crying child held in the maid’s arms. Magic pulsed from the baby’s body. Every inch of the child’s skin swirled with bright white marks of magic. They glowed more brightly by the moment, as though all of the magic within the baby consolidated into a single spot. Just as suddenly, the magic faded, first to gold-tones, then to nothing.

  “What’s wrong with the babe?” Anne cried.

  The maids exchanged a dark glance, and Angie’s heart leapt in her throat. Anne could be accused of witchcraft. This child could be labeled demonic. There was no telling what people of the 18th century would do, especially out in the colonies, far from the slightly more civilized judicial systems in place in Europe.

  She would have to cast a spell of dark magic, one that controlled the mind, warping memories until what once was real changed to become whatever Angie desired. Her hand reached out, but instead of white light in her palms, a sphere of dense purple formed.

  The sight made Angie’s heart sink.

  “Disremember,” she whispered, the spell leaving her lips like a haunted secret.

  The light faded from the baby’s small, writing body. “Disremember,” she repeated, swirling her hands in circular motion as she delved into the minds of the maids and stole their memories. Once more she cast the spell, this time searching through Anne’s thoughts, making sure that no trace of their magical healing remained in her subconscious.

  ~ Chapter 24 ~

  Kaitlyn

  “Well now, ye wee thing,” Anne soothed, oblivious to the strange happenings from a moment before. “Ye have Jack’s eyes. And a strong, fierce set o’ lungs.”

  She crooned over the baby as Angie backed out of the room. Julia turned to leave as well, but Kaitlyn hung back, watching Anne Bonny. Her flushed, puffy face didn’t look like the picture of glowing motherhood Hollywood made women out to be after childbirth. But she did look happy.

  Anne didn’t realize that she had just been in a room swirling with magic. And not just any magic. Kaitlyn’s eyes narrowed on Angie, who motioned for her to follow.

  That spell Angie had used still clung to the air. Kaitlyn could feel its heavy presence in her lungs. Dark magic battled against light, and it always came out winning.

  Kaitlyn didn’t quell the deep anger simmering inside her. Angie had known all along that they could use dark magic, the strongest type of magic, and refused to teach them how. Whether Angie admitted it or not, she was hoarding secrets and giving herself an advantage of power.

  Kaitlyn took a step toward the other girls, but was held back by a light pressure. “Wait,” Anne Bonny whispered, barely hanging onto her sleeve with one hand.

  Kaitlyn swallowed, unsure of what to make of the woman. She would disappear from history around her twentieth birthday, in a year or so, when Jack Rackham would be hung for piracy. But what had become of Anne Bonny? How would she mysteriously escape? Could it be because of something… something Kaitlyn told her?

  “I know you lasses helped me,” Anne Bonny said, breaking into Kaitlyn’s runaway thoughts. “Death had his cold fingers on my soul, yet here I am, hale and whole, as is my babe.” She swallowed, her eyes searching Kaitlyn’s.

  “Maybe we did,” Kaitlyn finally said.

  “What are you doing?” Julia said.

  “Lasses, I will na leave this debt unpaid,” Anne said. “There is a treasure.”

  Angie and Julia stilled. Kaitlyn’s gaze remained fixed on Anne Bonny.

  “’Tis why Jack left me in Cuba while I waited for the babe,” Anne continued. “Should anything become of him, I could get to the cave and raise his child using the gold within. From port head east along the shore. As the beach curves there’ll be a cove.”

  She proceeded to tell them how to find the tiny, uninhabited islet by boat, but Kaitlyn knew they wouldn’t need anything besides Julia’s Journeying power to reach it.

  Kaitlyn leaned toward Anne, her eyes vivid. “There’s something I want to tell you. More ways I can help you.”

  Angie sent her a warning glance, but Kaitlyn forged ahead. “I have the Sight,” she said.

  “Don’t,” Angie demanded.

  Kaitlyn’ felt a twinge of satisfaction at the girl’s discomfort. Besides, maybe the other girls were wrong. Up until now, she had been little more than a tool they used whenever they needed her magic, but maybe she had a purpose of her own. Maybe Daughter of Future was supposed to change the world timeline, making her the most powerful Daughter of all.

  In a rush she continued, “After you rejoin Jack, you will return to pirating, but you will both be captured. He will be hung, there’s no helping that, but you are saved somehow. Ransomed by your father maybe—”

  “That is enough,” Angie said, her voice seething. “We return to the mission. Now.”

  Kaitlyn clenched her jaw. For a second she thought of telling the tiny, pale girl to go to hell. Angie did whatever she wanted with the magic, why shouldn’t Kaitlyn? But she didn’t know what Angie would do to her if she went any farther with this. The girl was powerful, and when it came to obeying the Fates she would do anything, it seemed. Even use dark magic.

  Kaitlyn stormed ahead as Julia followed.

  “You’re not going to lecture me about how to use my powers,” Kaitlyn spat. “All I ever hear from you is how wrong it is to dive into people’s minds and not to abuse our magic, but you do it whenever you feel like it. You even used dark magic in there. How is that okay?”

  Angie’s face remained still. She was being careful. Kaitlyn had begun to recognize the mask that fell into place when Angie wanted to keep her feelings to herself.

  “Her baby was glowing,” she said. “It was the only option.”

  “What makes you the judge of that?”

  Angie pressed her lips together. Her normally serene blue gaze churned like twin whirlpools. Finally she turned, speeding down the hallway without answering.

  Julia hurried after her. “Lay off her,” she said, glaring back at Kaitlyn. “You’re always looking for a way to cause a problem.”

  “Didn’t you see what she did?” Kaitlyn declared, her eyes narrowing to slits. “She used dark magic. Anne Bonny, the maids—she changed their understanding of what happened in that room. Do you understand? Do you realize the power that gives us?”

  “Angie only does what’s right,” Julia snapped.

  “I don’t care about ‘right’. I care about the magic.”

  Julia stopped in her tracks and faced Kaitlyn. “Haven’t you had enough of dark magic?” she cried, holding up her scarred hand so close to Kaitlyn’s face, she flinched and pulled back. “Or did you forget what happened last time?”

  ~ Chapter 25 ~

  Julia

  Other than the rapid rise and fall of her chest, Kaitlyn seemed unaffected by the statement, but Julia had the feeling her silence said more about her feelings than anger would have.

  Julia bit her lip. Kaitlyn’s scar was a sensitive subject.

  “Sorry.”

  “Shut up.”

  Julia lowered her eyes and turned. “We need to find Angie. Come on.”

  Kaitlyn followed her down the narrow corridor. A dark-haired lady in nothing but a corset and stockings watched them lazily from a doorway. Heat crept up Julia’s cheeks at the way the way the woman stared at her.

  Julia let out a grateful breath when she spotted Angie sitting at the top of the stairs.

  “Angie—”

  Her head remained bowed against her drawn-up knees. “We should find the cave,” she said without lifting her head. “There must be a reason why Anne Bonny told us about it.”

  “It could be
where one of the jewels is hidden. Treasure, after all.”

  Angie nodded, standing at last. “Come into the stairway. No one can see us here.”

  Julia linked up with the others. Magic surged in her veins and they dissipated again in a soft shimmer of light. She didn’t know where she was sending their wispy essences. She collected an image in her mind… the cave that Anne Bonny had described. Almost immediately a patch of land rose against her consciousness, lush and tropical in the midst of the dazzling ocean.

  The ocean spread out before them. She sensed Kaitlyn’s panic snaking through her mind, but just as quickly, she felt the reassurance of Angie’s calming power.

  Their formless bodies sped to the location she held in her mind. She lowered their mist-like bodies to the sandy shoreline, not allowing them to solidify completely until her outstretched foot touched the ground.

  They landed. No rolling, no tripping, no residual momentum propelling them forward. Just a light touch of feet to sand. She glanced at the other two, her breath pent up in her chest as a realization dawned on her. “Didn’t you see a vision of our deaths at a beach, Kaitlyn?”

  Kaitlyn glanced up and down the deserted beach. “We won’t die. Not with our powers. Besides, no one’s here. In the vision there were pirates on the beach, and we were separated. I had gotten to you guys too late.”

  Angie’s brow puckered as she knelt beside Julia. “How soon before you think you can Journey us back again? I don’t want to put us in danger until we know we have a way out.”

  Julia bit her lip. “I’m not sure. I used a lot of power earlier on the minotaur.”

  Angie settled beside her. “We’ll rest for a bit to be sure. As long as we stay together, it will be okay.” She glanced up at Kaitlyn. “You can make us invisible if we see any pirates. Armed with the knowledge of what you saw in the vision, we’ll know that they’re coming. You’ll know not to separate from us.”

  Kaitlyn nodded, taking a spot in the shade next to Julia. Angie stretched her legs out and leaned back on her elbows, staring at the lapping waves.

  Julia relaxed, running her fingers through sand that felt silkier than cornstarch. The tide was so mild its soft rush didn’t even move the crabs making their slow way across the sand. Her eyes drifted shut, and without meaning to, she searched for Ethan once more.