Perilous Waters

by Diana Paz

  “It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that the creatures were there,” Angie said after a while.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Kaitlyn said. “It’s almost like they knew. Like… they were waiting for us.”

  Julia shivered at Kaitlyn’s tone. She opened her eyes, giving up on the frustration of not finding Ethan’s essence. “What do you mean?”

  Angie drew up her legs and rested her chin against them. “The Sorceress and Indira must know where we’re going to be. Indira was able to manipulate the winds of time and see visions,” Angie said softly, her voice nearly lost in the calm rush of the ocean. “She could have seen where we were going to go. That means we’ll have to be extra careful. We don’t have Ethan to tell us when creatures are nearby.”

  Ethan… Brian. The jewels. Julia sat up. “I wasn’t able to form the connection with Ethan.”

  Angie stood, offering Julia her hand. “Something might be wrong. Let’s start looking for the jewels.”

  The white sand and shimmering ocean reflected the sun as they rounded the rocks. At the end of a path along the coast, a cove lay before them. The tide was stronger here. Waves crashed against the dark rocks, filling the sandy patch of land with water that quickly receded. Within the formation of crags and rocks, a dark opening yawned in grim welcome.

  “The cave,” Julia murmured.

  They headed down the bluff, splashing as they maneuvered the rocks.

  Julia expected the cave would end in a wall, but as they continued through the black cavern, she felt a growing sense of unease. It wasn’t like a cave in movies. Long passages twisted and disappeared into darkness, making it seem like the blackness beyond might lead to the center of the Earth. “H-h-how far do you think it goes?”

  “Hard to say,” Angie said. “Illuminate.”

  A bright orb of white light appeared above her. Kaitlyn and Julia echoed the spell. The forbidding passages sprung to life with pale glowing lights that followed them like eerie pets. The whole place glistened, and they sloshed through watery muck as often as solid ground.

  “It smells like old fish and rotten seaweed in here,” she said, her softly spoken words echoing loudly through the cavern.

  “Do you have to be so gross? We can all smell it.”

  Julia tried breathing through her mouth, but nothing worked to rid herself of the nastified smell. “De-stinkify,” she called out. “Aroma! Freshness!”

  “What are you doing?” Kaitlyn’s annoyed voice echoed back at them from the depths of the cavern.

  “Trying to discover a spell that will make it smell less horrible in here.”

  “You’re the weirdest person I’ve ever met,” Kaitlyn whispered.

  Julia gave her a sideways hug. “I love you, too.”

  Kaitlyn shrugged her off with a disgusted sound. Julia stifled a laugh, but the teasing she planned to continue came to an abrupt halt as they rounded a corner. The cave opened up to a whole new network of twisting passages.

  “Do you sense that?” Angie asked.

  Julia didn’t need to ask what she meant. She felt a deep longing to follow the second passage to the left. She would have already been running through it if not for the fact that the ground was covered in a slick, slippery substance. The only way to the passage was along a very narrow strip of rock with a sheer drop into darkness below.

  “Careful,” Angie said. “Look at how the cave floor opens up to that deep pit of ocean. There’s no way up if you fall in… the sides of the cave don’t angle at all.”

  Kaitlyn curled in on herself a little. Julia held out her hand. The dark-haired girl didn’t hesitate, holding her fingers tight as they moved forward. The moment they touched, the scar on Julia’s hand prickled with strange warmth. Kaitlyn touched her own scar with her free hand, her eyes shifting back and forth as she blinked back confusion.

  I feel you, sometimes. Kaitlyn’s words were barely a whisper through Julia’s mind. The cursed blade…

  I know. Julia squeezed her hand tight. I feel you, too.

  They hugged the wall for the entire length around, until they finally reached where the passages split off into deeper parts of the cave. The pulsing need to follow the corridor took on a life of its own, filling Julia with a sense of rightness. She had the feeling she knew exactly what would be at the other end of the passage when she reached it.

  “The jewel,” Kaitlyn said, and Julia could hear the smile in her voice.

  “Yes, but there’s something else. Don’t you sense it?” Angie’s voice dropped. “The darkness. This cave is overflowing with it.”

  Julia frowned, her head tilting as she tried to get an idea of what Angie was talking about. “How do you feel anything besides the crazy intense power of the jewel?”

  “Wait,” Kaitlyn said. “I feel it too, but barely. The jewel is… masking it.”

  “Not exactly masking it,” Angie said. “I don’t think it’s intentional.”

  Julia’s lips turned down further. Why couldn’t she feel it? They continued along, the passage narrowing for several feet before abruptly widening. She tried harder, doing everything she could to ignore the jewel’s call, but all she knew was that the jewel was in here, and it lured her more strongly than she remembered.

  “If you tune the jewel out, you can really feel it now,” Kaitlyn said.

  “The portal,” Angie said, her words rushing out. “Forget the jewels—”

  Except that wasn’t going to happen. Around the next curve, glimmering against the magical light of their three wispy spheres, lay an enormous mountain of gold and jewels.

  “Wow,” Julia breathed. She had forgotten that she and Kaitlyn had been holding hands in the dark cave. As it was, their magic hummed along each other’s consciousness, and within it, Julia felt the pulse of Kaitlyn’s desire for the jewels. It was such a physical thing, she was surprised it didn’t have a color of its own.

  The three of them looked through the great pile of jewels and gold. So much treasure, she thought, and for a crazy minute she wanted to roll around in it, but stronger than the lure of riches was the force of the jewels. Something deep and powerful compelled her as she dug through the cold, damp metal. Her knuckles scraped against sharp edges as she became more frenzied. It almost felt like she wasn’t controlling her own body. The need for the jewels became an animal inside her that needed to be fed.

  So close. Almost… almost…

  Her hands wrapped around something round as a jolt of power soared through her body. She sat back on the pile of gold and looked, her orb of light floating down close.

  The jewels!

  Not just one, but all three interlaced in a crown.

  Her breath caught at the delicacy of it. Fragile gold wires entwined with sparkling leaves and tiny flowers, each of the vine-like strands looping in and around themselves to reach the centerpiece. A gem so perfectly blue, it looked like the ocean. Another as green as the side of the hills on the way to San Francisco. But it was the center gem that mesmerized her, crimson and faintly heart-shaped. Her blood grew warm. The longer she stared at the deep red gem, the more she felt as though it wanted her to use it… to connect with her somehow.

  The deep red gem sparkled in the darkness as if from its own inner light. Slowly she lifted the crown, sensing its longing to be worn. Sensing its hunger.

  “You found it,” Kaitlyn said, moistening her lips as her eyes locked on the crown.

  “Oh my,” Angie exhaled.

  Julia had to force herself not to hold it away from the other two girls, who reached out to stroke the curving, golden lines of the crown.

  “All three jewels,” Kaitlyn said.

  “Together,” Angie added.

  “If one of us wears it, it will be safe,” Kaitlyn said in a voice heavy with longing. “No one can ever take it off.”

  Her eyes found Julia’s. The hunger there was so strong. Julia held the crown tighter, afraid Kaitlyn would tear it from her hands.

  “No,” Angie
said. “All three jewels will be too powerful. The magic would control us, not the other way around.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe, one of us is strong enough to master it,” Kaitlyn said.

  Julia’s grip intensified. “I-I think Angie is right.”

  “We have the jewels. As soon as we seal the portal we can go back and help Brian.”

  Kaitlyn pressed her lips together as her dark lashes swept downward. She returned her attention to the treasure, but Julia didn’t loosen her grip on the crown. “We may as well take some gold, too,” Kaitlyn continued, lifting a string of pearls above her chest before dropping it neatly into her cleavage.

  “This gold isn’t ours,” Angie began.

  “Oh give me a break. These pirates stole it in the first place, and Anne Bonny told us to take some.” She placed a gold chain around her neck, and soon her wrists were laden with bracelets and her fingers covered in rings.

  “Let’s just leave,” Angie said. “The pirates might be coming back for their treasure soon.”

  “Aye,” a rough voice echoed. “That we will, lass.”

  The three of them screamed at the sound of the pirate’s gravelly voice. The noise bounced against the curving stone walls as a wave crashed from somewhere deep within the cave.

  A blade slid against her throat, and before Julia could use the crown, it was wrenched from her hands. “Oh no!”

  “Damn it to hell,” Kaitlyn cursed harshly. “I told you one of us should have put it on! You guys are both idiots.”

  A stab of despair pierced her heart as a pirate took hold of her. She was too far from the others to form their connection and freeze time. Angie blasted one of the pirates, but another raced up to her.

  “Sorcery,” one called out.

  “They’re the devil’s brides. They’ll curse our gold, or take it for themselves with their magic.”

  “Kill them quick.”

  “Witches must be burnt alive,” another yelled. “Maim ‘em so they can’t escape. We’ll set fires on the shore.”

  This sentiment was met with a cheer of agreement.

  “Wait,” Angie called out. “We were sent here by Anne Bonny. She told us where to find this, in payment for helping her birth her child.”

  “Well then,” a gravelly voice said in the darkness. “It will be doubly pleasurable killin’ ye. Anne Bonny and Jack Rackham killed a good a portion of me men when they sacked me ship a few months back. We just ran into one of their lily-livered crew, and it didn’t take much for him to tell us where to find this great store of treasure.”

  Kaitlyn freed her hands and blasted one of the pirates. Julia elbowed the man who held her.

  He spun her around and slapped her for the effort. Her head whipped to the side as pain exploded across her jaw. She saw Angie, small and bright, ducking away and blasting. When she wasn’t blasting, she was punching or kicking. Julia tried to be as fierce, punching and scratching, but the man backhanded her, leaving her spinning and falling face-first into the rocky cave floor. She tasted blood and her head hurt like someone had taken a hammer to it. Before she could form a single thought, a rope tightened against her wrists.

  “No,” she cried. Her eyes fell shut. Magic formed in her tied hands, but there was no way to aim the blast at her attacker. Ethan, she called. Her heart thundered against her ribcage. Ethan, answer me. Please.

  She envisioned him, silver eyes flashing beneath a shag of black hair. His intense gaze made her feel as though the world shifted beneath her feet. His arms around her gave her a sense of protection and safety she had never known. Ethan. I need your help, she cried as the pirate’s grip bit into her flesh. I need you.

  But his answer never came. She struggled against the pirate’s hold, her heart becoming a block of ice in her chest. Something was definitely wrong. Ethan hadn’t connected with her through any of their battles against the minotaurs. He wouldn’t ignore her. Not now when they were in trouble.

  Except… Ethan has ignored you in the past, Indira whispered through her mind.

  The icy voice chilled her blood.

  Daughter. Summon me, instead.

  She cried out as the pirate flung her to the ground. Meanwhile, more pirates cornered Angie. Kaitlyn was nowhere to be seen. How long could she last against men twice her size?

  The pirate who had captured her dragged her along the rocks.

  “It’s the blazes for you, witch.”

  “Ethan,” she screamed.

  The man holding her slumped to his side with a horrible gurgling sound. Julia felt a hot rush of fluid spill across her chest. His body grew slack, and his weight caused sharp stones to dig into her back

  Kaitlyn appeared in the grim darkness, a massive bloodied knife in her hand. “You were just going to cry and let him drag you away?” Her voice overflowed with disgust. She rolled the man off her, cutting Julia free of the ropes and helping her stand, but more men rushed into the dark space.

  “He was too strong,” Julia gasped. “I couldn’t stop him.”

  “So you fight until he ties you up,” Kaitlyn said, her voice rising, “and you fight the ropes until your wrists bleed. You keep fighting until you break free, or until you’re unconscious or dead, but you don’t give up. Not ever.”

  Kaitlyn handed her a knife with enough force to make Julia take a half-step back. Her eyes were grim in the pirates’ torch-lit cave. Harsh slashes of shadow fell across her face in condemning lines. Without another word she blasted at the oncoming pirates. Angie still worked against the pirates closing in on her. Julia swallowed hard. The deafening noise, the sight of this gang of pirates, the sheer number of them with guns and swords and knives, all of it made Julia want to run and hide. She ducked and covered her ears against the high-pitched scree of bullets smashing into rocks. “Oh-my-gosh-oh-my-gosh-ohmygoshohmygosh.”

  “Freaking out won’t help us,” Kaitlyn said, shoving Julia in front of her and forcing her to walk. “We need to reach Angie and freeze time.”

  Julia thrust out her hands and blasted at the pirates. Where was Ethan? Why hadn’t he answered? She kept slamming through the mob of pirates with her magic, stunning them with bolts of power and causing several more to fall back.

  “My turn,” Kaitlyn said, going in front of her. “We can’t risk you using up all of your magic when we need you to freeze time for us, but this time stay close. And be ready with the dagger, if it comes to it.”

  Julia gripped the knife Kaitlyn had given her, horrified at the prospect of using it.

  “We can’t do this without guns or—” Julia ducked again against the deafening echo of gunshots. She focused her energy inward, searching through time and space for Ethan.

  Gunpowder choked her. She could hear Angie and Kaitlyn coughing as the cave filled with sulfurous smoke. Ethan, where are you? What if Brian had turned full Scylla? What if Ethan were hurt, or worse?

  “They’re cornering me,” Angie cried.

  “Can you make it to the entrance?” Kaitlyn yelled.

  “No. I have no way out—” Gunfire blocked out her desperate words. Julia strained to hear as they became little more than ghostlike phrases in the darkness. “…jumping into the water… can’t escape... get out if you can.”

  Was she diving into the water? The water that might have no escape?

  Several splashes followed. Curses and cries of, “Don’t let her get away,” added to the noise in the smoky cave.

  “Angie,” Julia yelled.

  Kaitlyn bit off a string of curse words. “She jumped in the water.” Julia and Kaitlyn sent twin bolts of magic at the same pirate, leaving him unconscious. “And I can’t swim.”

  “We have to follow after her,” Julia said, looking down into the abyss.

  “Thar be no escape for that witch,” one of the pirates declared. “Dinna worry about her, lads. The cave goes far deep and has no outlet, save beneath the sea.”

  “But witches can’t drown,” another said.

  Julia’s heart fell to th
e floor at those ominous words. Witches definitely could drown. Angie was a good swimmer. She could hold out, treading water until Julia and Kaitlyn found her… but she couldn’t hold out forever.

  “We can do nothin’ about it. Find the others. Better burn them quick if the third one might get away.”

  Kaitlyn cursed and tried to form more magic in her palms, but Julia could tell that the feeble light wouldn’t do much to knock anyone unconscious. “Let’s go. This path curves around.” She took Julia’s arm, hurrying her away from the pirate’s torches and toward the blind darkness of the cave’s furthest depths.

  Julia shivered uncontrollably, tripping on the slimy floor. “They’re going to follow us,” she said through chattering teeth, her stomach so knotted she worried she would throw up at any moment. “Wait. This doesn’t lead to a way out.”

  “I know,” Kaitlyn said. “We have to jump. Like Angie did.”

  Julia’s heart slammed against her ribcage at the thought of falling into that black abyss.

  “Just please,” Kaitlyn added, her voice sounding small. “Don’t let me drown.”

  “We’re going to be okay,” she breathed, relief coursing through her as she remembered. “We have the seashell.”

  “Oh my God,” Kaitlyn said, her words choked with relief. “You still have it?”

  Julia took it out of its hiding place within her dress. “I do. Let’s jump in the water and find Angie.”

  “Together?” Kaitlyn said in the darkness, her hands interlacing with Julia’s.

  Always, Julia replied, holding tight to Kaitlyn’s hand and to the seashell. On three. Ready?

  She counted off, but as she jumped a hand shot out in the dark, grabbing her arm.

  “No,” she cried, feeling the moment in slow motion. The thrust of Kaitlyn’s jump carried the girl over the edge, even as the unseen man held Julia back by the arm. She tightened her grip on Kaitlyn’s slippery fingers.

  “Don’t let go!”