by TJ Green
“And of course, if there’s more treasure, spriggans may be there, too,” Briar reminded them.
“This morning,” Reuben told his friends, “we walked through the possibilities, and think that when Coppinger tried to escape from what he realised was a trap, the spell extended to his ship.” He nodded towards the window and the darkness outside. “They could have run the ship aground on Gull Island.”
“Surely the wreckage and their bodies would have been found,” El said.
“Depends how big the storm was, and if no one went there for days… Well, the remains could have been swept out to sea.”
Briar was kneeling on the floor in front of the fire, and she said, “So any treasure that’s there now would have been there before the night they cast the curse?”
“Why not?” Reuben said. “Coppinger was clearly in the habit of stashing his treasure in out of the way places, as security.”
“But Gull Island? That seems crazy,” Dylan pointed out. “Your family or smugglers working with you could have found it.”
“I don’t know.” He rubbed his face, suddenly weary. “It seems deviously genius to me. You hide it right under your enemies’ noses. And it’s accessible for an easy getaway when you have your own ship—Black Prince.”
Avery grimaced. “I’ve got a headache, and I’m tired, but I feel we should be doing something!”
Ben asked, “Can’t you just do a spell now to end it all?”
Avery looked nervous. “It’s possible, but that would entail doing something big—like the curse, but not a curse—and I’m not sure it would work.”
“Why not?” Dylan asked.
Alex answered. “There are many components. The spirits, the spriggans, Mariah… And we still don’t really know how the curse works. A couple of lines isn’t enough to understand it.”
A knock at the door interrupted them, and El hurried to answer, quickly returning with Newton, who looked surprisingly cheerful.
“Good news?” Briar asked him, as he found a seat on the sofa.
“Very. Ethan is shifty as hell, and we’re following him.” He grinned broadly. “He’s just turned up at Mariah’s place in Looe. I think they’ll be on the move again soon.”
“What makes you say that?” Alex asked.
“Because in our interview today, I told him we suspected Jasmine and Miles were involved in stealing treasure and had accomplices, and I think he won’t wait. If there’s more to find, he’ll go after it tonight. Or try to hide what they have. My officers will call if they stir. In the meantime,” he sniffed, “can I smell curry?”
Avery paced the attic room, watching Alex attempt to see Mariah using his scrying bowl. He’d been trying for well over fifteen minutes, and he hadn’t moved a muscle.
She shivered inside Reuben’s borrowed sweatshirt. It was cool in the attic, the sound of the rain loud on the roof and through the windows that had no glass in them. She had sealed them with a protection spell, but it wasn’t really designed to insulate against weather.
At the other end of the attic, Dylan had set up his thermal imaging camera, focussing on Gull Island. He too was locked in his own world, and she was grateful for it. It was dark and quiet up here, and it gave her time to think. All the others were still downstairs, no doubt discussing their options. She eyed Caspian’s grimoire warily. The book lay open, the curse still circling above the page in its ghoulish green light, and again she tried to work out why.
They’d discussed many possibilities, so many that her head hurt. But the only one that really made sense, to her at least, was that the curse was still active, and although it didn’t seem tied to the treasure they had already found, she had a feeling it was still affecting Gull Island in some way. She was also convinced that Mariah had made the smugglers’ ghosts stronger, and that Helena had become aware of that and in her effort to intervene had been captured.
But what were they doing now?
She walked to the window and looked towards Gull Island in the distance. The mist had cleared a little, and the dark bulk of the island could just be seen through the drizzle. It looked so innocuous, and she hoped that whatever Dylan had seen before had gone. She glanced across to him, but he was transfixed with the image, a pair of headphones clamped to his ears, oblivious to her presence.
A groan drew her attention to Alex and she turned to him, seeing him flex his shoulders, finally looking up with a sigh. “Nothing.”
She headed to his side. “Nothing at all?”
He rubbed his forehead and leaned back in the chair, his expression hard to read in the subdued light. “Nope. I searched over Looe looking for magical signatures, but there’s nothing, and I was focussing on the area she lives, too. She has a veil of protection over her, much like us. Either that or they’ve already left, but I’m sure Newton would have been told.”
“Okay. So we don’t know what they might be planning, but I guess that shouldn’t stop us. Dylan is right. We have to go to Gull Island, tonight.”
“I agree. If Coppinger’s power is growing and he’s planning on attacking Reuben and Caspian again—and maybe the town—I’d rather stop it now.”
“Even if we find nothing, at least we’ll have ruled it out,” Avery reasoned.
“I’ll eat my shorts if you find nothing!” Dylan appeared next to her, as silent as a cat, and Avery jumped.
“Bloody hell! What are you, some kind of ninja?”
Dylan slid his hand around her arm and tugged her. “Come and see this. You too, Alex.” He led them back across the attic and showed them the screen attached to his camera. “Look at that! That’s even bigger than it was last night!”
Avery stared at the image, trying to understand what she was looking at. “What’s that thing that looks like a thundercloud?”
“A build-up of psychic energy, and it’s over the entire island.” He pointed at the screen. “Look. It doesn’t bleed over the sea, so I know it’s not to do with the weather. The sea itself is cold, that’s why it’s blue.”
“Crap,” Alex said. “You say it’s getting bigger?”
“Yep, and denser. But don’t ask me what that means. Nothing good, I’m sure.” He frowned. “If I was to hazard a guess, I’d say it meant the presence of many spirits, but I’ll check with Ben.”
Alarmed, Avery asked, “Alex, is there any way to banish these ghosts from here?”
“Nope. I have to be there.”
Avery looked at the curse spell again, pulsing at the far end of the room. “That thing is still going, and I think while it did its job well back then, I don’t think it’s helping us now. It’s keeping the spirits active, somehow.”
“Ably assisted by Mariah,” Alex said. “She’s obviously reached some kind of compromise with them.”
“Yeah, she’s promised them Reuben and Caspian,” Avery huffed.
“Oh, crap! Look,” Dylan said, pointing at the screen again. He directed their attention to a point on the right of the island where a shape was coming into view. “If I’m not mistaken, that looks like the bow of a ship.”
He was right. The image was blurry, but it did look like a ship, and within a few seconds, they could see a sail too, as the whole thing slid into view.
“Please tell me that’s a regular ship just cruising past,” Alex said, his voice strained.
Avery blinked as if to clear her vision, and looked from the camera out of the window and back again. “Er, I don’t think it is, Alex.”
His voice rose with alarm. “Are you saying that’s a ghost pirate ship?”
Dylan tried to sound horrified, but he wasn’t really. He could barely disguise his glee. “Yes, yes it really is!”
Caspian stood in the attic with everyone else, including Ash, and like the others, was watching the screen with a mixture of amazement and horror.
“Well, that settles it,” Briar said, determination radiating from her small frame. “We have to go there now.”
“And do what, exactly?” Newt
on asked.
“Get rid of them!”
“Armed with cutlasses and your own bloody pirate ship? This isn’t the Pirates of the bloody Caribbean!”
“Not even the Pirates of Penzance?” Dylan asked cheekily.
“No!” he shot back.
Briar glared at Newton. “I know that! I don’t mean I’m going to get on the phantasm ghost ship. I mean the island. We have the Empusa’s swords, one Nephilim, a witch who’s good at banishing spells, and the rest of us who wield elemental magic!” She rolled her shoulders and jutted her chin out. “We are more than a match for Mariah!”
“Actually,” Caspian said, hating to admit it, “I can’t fight with my wound. It’s much better than it was, thanks to you, but I’m not at full strength. I think I should tackle that thing.” He nodded to his grimoire.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Finding it nearly killed you!”
He smiled at her affectionately. He had started to think of Briar as a little sister, a much more pleasant version than his real one. “I’m good at curses, remember? I’ll be fine.”
“What are you planning to do?” Avery asked him, turning her back on the window.
“Like you said, it’s active, and still has something to do with what’s going on now. If I can break it, or reverse it, then it will help you banish them.” He directed this at Alex, and then looked at Ash and El. “I know you have the swords, but you can’t dispatch them all.”
Ash stirred, his hand on the Empusa’s hilt. “I’d ask my brothers to come, but Shadow, Gabe, Nahum, and Niel are in London. They left today. Barak and Eli are at the warehouse, and Zee is in the pub.”
“And that’s where I want him to stay,” Alex said, eyeing the ship across the bay. So far it seemed anchored in deep water, but they had wondered if it might attack White Haven. “Having a Nephilim in town might be useful.”
“We’ll obviously come with you,” Ben said, his tone brooking no argument. “You taught us simple banishing spells, and we have some of your other portable spells with us in the van.”
“You carry them with you?” Reuben asked.
“Of course. We never know when we might need them.”
“While I don’t want to leave you alone,” Reuben said to Caspian, “I’m not staying here! My shoulder is fine!” he said to Briar, before she could complain.
“Actually, Reuben,” Caspian said, “I think I’ll need you.”
His eyes flashed belligerently. “Why?”
“Because our ancestors fashioned this curse together. There’s a lot of elemental water in it, and you’re the water witch. I think if they cast it together, we need to break it together.”
Reuben fell silent, his mouth working, before he finally said, “But you’re the curse expert.”
It seemed to Caspian that Reuben looked suddenly uncertain, some of his natural confidence shaken and a wariness behind his eyes, but Caspian pressed on. “Yes, but I’m an air witch and one of my weakest elements is water. I need you.” He nodded at the others. “They need you. Here.”
Reuben glanced at El, and she nodded encouragingly. “I think he’s right. Besides, one bad fall on your dodgy shoulder could mean you’re vulnerable. And Caspian shouldn’t be alone here.”
Reuben swung his gaze back to Caspian, resentment oozing from him. “Okay. If I have to.”
Caspian thought they had achieved a new level of friendship today, but now he doubted that. However, this wasn’t the time to be second-guessing. “Thank you.” He addressed the others. “What will you do if Mariah and Ethan turn up? Potentially, there’s more treasure there that they have probably left until last because of the curse. Like you said, Newton, you’ve forced their hand. If they don’t get it now, they might lose out.”
Avery didn’t hesitate. “We’ll deal with them, too.”
Chapter 28
Avery stood in the large cave under Gull Island, currently illuminated by a dozen witch-lights, and wondered if they’d got it wrong.
She was there with El, Briar, Alex, Newton, Ash, and the three investigators, all armed to varying degrees. Newton and Ben held shotguns, El and Ash had the Empusa’s swords, and Dylan carried the bag of portable spells that she and the other witches had made. They had proceeded cautiously down the tunnel, Ash leading the way, all of them wary of meeting vengeful ghosts, but so far everything was quiet.
Too quiet.
“If we can’t find this mysterious passage that we think exists but have no proof of, then we’re stuck!” Newton said, annoyed.
They had already pulled a large portion of the old wooden boxes out of the way, and so far the ground underneath was solid earth.
Alex looked up from the area he’d been searching. “Can you save the frustration until we’ve finished, Newton?”
“We’re losing time! Ethan could be up to anything right now, and I’d never know because there’s no bloody coverage in this godforsaken pit!”
Newton’s team hadn’t seen any movement before they entered the tunnels, and everyone knew he was frustrated.
“Have you got any better leads?”
Newton scowled. “No.”
“So stop whining, and help us search!”
Avery suppressed a grin and also returned to moving the boxes out of the way, directing them over the heads of the searchers using a current of air and on to the area that they’d already searched. The magical energy was strong in here, building in pressure around them, so despite Newton’s complaints and Avery’s own doubts, they were in the right place…or thereabouts.
“Maybe we need to get on the beach,” El suggested, her hands on her back as she arched backwards to ease the kinks.
“Good idea,” Avery agreed. “We might be able to detect a kind of magical path to the centre of the energy.”
Alex straightened up, looking doubtful. “I’m not sure we should split up.”
“We’d save time,” Ben said.
Briar marched decisively to the middle of the cave, closed her eyes, and wiggled her bare feet into the ground. “I’m going to feel for changes in the earth, to see if I can detect another tunnel or something. Just ignore me while I work.”
“And I,” El said, ignoring Alex’s doubts, “am going to head to the beach.”
Avery nodded and headed to her side. “Great. I’ll come with you.”
“Wait,” Dylan called over. “I’ll come, too. We can use my thermal camera again. It’s picking up nothing significant here.”
Avery could hear Alex muttering under his breath about headstrong women as she left with El, and a few minutes later they were in the smaller cave where Reuben had been attacked. The sounds of the rain and the sea crashing on the beach were loud as they edged through the scrubby bushes that veiled the cave. As soon as they were in the open, the wind hit them, as did spray from the thundering surf and the heavy rain. They were drenched in seconds.
“Shit!” El exclaimed, raising her voice to be heard. She looked at Dylan. “It’s wild out here. Can you use that thing in the wet?”
“Not this bloody wet,” he said, rain dripping off the end of his nose. “I’ll head to the entrance, in the shelter.”
“Wait!” Avery pulled a current of air around them, using it like a shield, and combined it with a protection spell, remembering that Eve had used something similar when she was conjuring the storm. All of a sudden, they were in a protected bubble, while the elements raged around them.
Dylan looked around, startled. “Wow! That’s super cool!”
Avery smiled, feeling incredibly smug. “Yes, it is. I have actually never tried that before!”
“In that case, super brain,” El said, “Is there some kind of spell we can use that can show us magic in a thermal way like Dylan can do?”
“You’re the fire witch, you tell me!”
“Fair point,” she said, slicking her wet hair away from her face, and issuing a little warmth from her palm to take the worst of the water out of it. “Challenge accepted
. Just let me think a moment.”
Giving El a few minutes of silence, Avery moved to Dylan’s side. He was panning the camera over the rocks and beach to either side, and then he swept it up to the cliffs behind them.
“Bloody hell, you can see it more clearly from here,” he said, pointing up and to the right. “The epicentre appears to be over there.”
Avery nodded. “Further inland. Have you checked the sea for the ship?”
“Ooh, no.” He turned around, panning across the ocean, and within seconds they could see it. Avery’s heart faltered.
The ship had two long masts and was fully rigged with sails, and its long, spar-like bow protruded from the front of the ship. It sat steadily in the sea, unmoved by the strong winds and the high waves.
“Shit! That’s big!” Avery squeaked out.
“Very. I believe that’s a sloop.” He squinted at the image. “I wonder if that’s Black Prince.”
“I don’t care what it is, as long as it stays there.”
“You know, I think I can see figures on it.”
“Please don’t say that.” Avery squinted into the spray. “What do you think it might do?”
“I don’t know. But it’s a ghost ship. Surely it can’t do much!”
“Did you see the hole in Reuben’s wall? Does it have cannons?”
“They modified them for all sorts of things,” Dylan told her. “They would originally have been merchant ships that were stolen and refitted for smuggling purposes.”
Avery huffed. “Okay, there’s nothing we can do about that right now, and it doesn’t look like there’s a way to the centre of the energy from here. The cliffs are too steep. I think we should head inside, see if they’ve found a tunnel.”
Dylan folded his camera away. “It was worth a shot. El? Any luck?”
El was staring at the cliffs in fierce concentration, saying what Avery presumed to be a spell. Before she could answer, a boom sounded above the noise of the storm and a cloud of dust and debris carried on a wave of magical energy blew through the opening of the rock and billowed around them, held at bay by the protection spell. The ground rocked beneath their feet and Avery staggered, almost falling, until Dylan pulled her upright.