>>I’m on my way.
>See you soon.
Linus, I was certain, would remain behind to babysit his mother and hold her off for as long as possible.
“I don’t suppose you have a spare wetsuit?” I still wore my Kevlar ensemble. “Or a swimsuit?”
“We use our own suits. They’re spelled to the individual wearer. No swimsuits either.”
“Undies it is then.”
After I unlaced the heavy boots, I stepped out of them and my clothes to stand in my bra and panties.
“Don’t panic.” Meredith rested her hand on my bare arm. “This won’t take but a minute.”
On edge after that warning, I tensed under her touch. “I’ll do my best.”
The witch held a hand to either side of my ears, chanting until an iridescent dome formed over my head. I didn’t register I was holding my breath until she laughed at my chipmunk cheeks.
“Breathe.” She shook me by the shoulders. “The spell works fine on land and in water.”
“That is so cool.” Remy poked it, to no one’s surprise. “Hey, it didn’t pop.”
“Thank you for testing that.” The urge to smack my friend and business partner was strong. “What will you be doing?”
“Me, myself, and I are going to patrol the area for unfriendlies.”
As much as I loved Remy, she was a fighter, not a lover, so that was for the best. And three Remys was a lot of backup for the coven.
“Dee.” Meredith waved over a short woman already in a wetsuit. “Come here, please.”
“Hi.” Dee gave me a short wave then turned to Meredith. “What’s up?”
“Can you give Hadley the rundown?”
“Teams Three, Four, Seven, and Nine are in position,” she reported. “We have two swimmers per person to get the initial targets to the surface quickly. Five has the spare oxygen tanks and masks. One will remain on standby in the event of an emergency. That leaves Team Two, Six, Eight, and Ten available for secondary target retrieval.”
The scope of the operation, and the attention to detail, gave me hope we would get everyone out alive.
“Excellent.” Meredith angled toward me. “We swim with buddies. You’ll be with Dee.”
Already dreading the plunge into icy water, I plastered on a gung-ho smile.
Dee checked her tanks, put on her mask, then shoved me over the edge of the boat to Remy’s snarls.
I hit the water with a splat, my head bouncing oddly off the surface before sinking with the rest of me.
Oww. Oww. Oww.
Ambrose thrashed and kicked and generally made an ass of himself.
Oh, wait.
He was miming me.
Oops.
With that in mind, I stopped acting like a cat thrown into the tub for bath time.
Bubbles exploded in my vision, and Dee came into view with an apologetic wince.
“Sorry about that.” She looped a length of rope around my middle and tied it off on a carabiner hooked to her waist. “We do it for all the first-timers. Folks get antsy about the bubble. Nothing like a little shock to push you past the fear.”
“Well, I was definitely shocked.” I forced myself to breathe normally. “Oh, hey. I can hear you.”
“Yeah.” She took my hand and pierced the dark water like an arrow. “All part of the spell.”
“You guys must use it pretty often to have tweaked it so much.”
No way had they designed such an intricate spell on the spot.
“We’re a tactical coven, remember? We get called in for all kinds of weird crap.” She snorted. “With Lake Lanier so close to our home base, we spend a lot of time in the water. Pretty sure this place is a hellmouth. You wouldn’t believe the number of bodies we’ve recovered.”
Bodies.
“I, uh, didn’t mean it to come out like that. Those were recovery contracts, not rescue.”
But it could still be Neely, or the Billiards, they fished out of the drink if we failed.
“I get it.” I spotted more people in the water, all in wetsuits, ready for anything. “How much farther?”
“See that mound?” She pointed ahead in the murk. “That’s an old barn. Your friend is in there.”
Until she pointed it out, I mistook it for debris, which it was. Just not the dead trees or muck I expected. The inhabitants of the lake must not have had a use for the barn. The uppermost part had been sheared off, probably when the area was flooded, and it had been left to rot.
On my periphery, I swore I glimpsed scales. Gray ones, edged in black. And teeth. So many teeth.
“Don’t look at them,” Dee murmured. “Pretend you don’t see them, and they’ll do the same.”
“I’ll do my best.” To Ambrose, I thought, Keep an eye on them.
The shadow was invisible in the gloom, but I sensed his curiosity as to what manner of creatures swam alongside us. They had magic. That much I could tell without Ambrose zinging me. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be salivating at the chance to nibble on them.
“Meredith is point on the Billiard extraction.” Dee picked up speed. “Neely is being held lower in the lake, so he needs the head start to the surface. We’ll crack the ward surrounding him then let the other team retrieve the Billiards after theirs dissolves.”
“Okay.” A kick in my pulse sent my gaze skittering toward another scaley side. “Let’s do this.”
The divers angled straight for the barn, their flippers and experience making descent look easy.
Meanwhile, poor Dee was stuck working twice as hard to drag me behind her.
The darkness at this level explained why no one had spotted Neely during their initial sweep of the area. A mountain of rubble where the walls had collapsed in on themselves didn’t help matters. The wide barn doors hung open, but the hayloft had crumbled to the main floor.
A hard thud in my chest warned me this was about to get real. “You’re sure he’s in there?”
“The tack room is intact,” she assured me. “It’s a tight fit, but we can get through in single file.”
Three others ducked in ahead of us, giving me an idea of where to go when our turn came, but Dee was right. We were packed into the ruined main aisle like sardines in a can. The trio ahead must be the ward breakers. They linked hands and began chanting, though I couldn’t hear them, just saw their lips moving in sync and felt their intent spreading through the water around us.
The door before them fit square in its frame, and they didn’t attempt to open it.
Light blossomed in the small room, seeping through the cracks, and a percussive ripple punched through me. I flew back, my spine cracking against a fallen beam, but the bubble protected my head. The witches around me were in worse shape. They all had a dazed look about them.
Ambrose, knuckles poised to rap on my bubble, mimed eating then rubbed his belly.
“You snacked on the ward?” I would have throttled him if he had substance. “Without permission?”
A clap of his hands simulated the explosion, and he chomped at the water.
“You ate the magic the ward flung at us?”
I had credited the bubble, but this explained why I hadn’t had my bell rung as thoroughly as the others.
The shadow patted me on the head then reached for the tack room’s doorknob.
Unnerved at how Ambrose was evolving, my constant state of being lately, I took the hint.
The door swung open under my hand, revealing a tiny room with a cot, a bucket for waste, and supplies.
Water filled the space now, causing the contents to float, but I had no doubt the area had been dry until we smashed the bubble with a hammer. And drifting in the center of the flooded cell…
Eyes shut.
Tiny bubbles fizzling out the corner of his open mouth.
No. No. No.
This was not happening. This was not how it ended. I was not going to lose him.
Not here, not now, not after everything I had already sacrificed.
&nb
sp; At that moment, I would have given anything to yank the bubble over my head and down onto his.
“Neely.” I kicked off the door and launched myself at him. “Hang on.” I dragged him out. “I’ve got you.”
Such a big personality ought to have taken up more space, but his thin frame glided gently in my wake.
The other witches were coming around, but the one I aimed for, the one with the spare oxygen tank and mask, had yet to shake off impact with a chunk of concrete that had no business in a barn.
I needed this witch, even if I had to jostle her awake.
Out of my depth, literally, I spun and bumped into Dee.
“Let me.” She nudged me aside, swiftly accessing the equipment and sliding the mask over his head. “He needs to get topside ASAP.” Unless I missed it, Neely wasn’t breathing. “He’s swallowed half the lake.”
“Go.” I shoved him at her. “I’ll help the others.”
Once she got him clear of the wreckage, three more divers latched on to his arms and legs.
They kicked toward the surface for all they were worth. As much as I wanted to follow, I stayed put.
Heart beating a mile a minute, I returned to the dazed witch who had carried the spare tank.
“Pretty sure you can’t hear me.” I lifted her gently. “I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”
Careful not to bang her head on the way out, I released her to her coven, who spirited her away.
The others had come around by the time I returned to check on them. They followed me out under their own steam, which was good. I was running low myself. I had doubts about reaching the surface with Dee gone. Ambrose had eaten a lot during the gauntlet, but he had burned most of that up while healing me.
Thankfully, two of the remaining witches hooked their arms through mine and gave me a lift.
We breached the surface in minutes and took turns climbing up the ladder into the boat.
“Oh.” I jolted when Dee was kind enough to burst my bubble. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” She helped me stand. “Your friend is right over here.”
The dive team formed a loose circle around Neely’s drenched form, and Higgins knelt beside his head.
“Well?” I scanned their pinched faces. “How is he?”
“He doesn’t want to see a mirror,” Neely rasped and coughed. “God only knows how I must look.”
The coven made way for me, and I plopped down beside Neely, my hands taking his.
“Beautiful,” I told him, and I meant it. “You’re in the top-five best things I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
“Lie to me some more.” He smiled faintly. “It’s making me feel better.”
“Okay, I will, but there’s something you need to do first.” I waved to get Dee’s attention. “Get this man a phone.” I pictured Cruz in his hospital bed. “He’s got a call to make.”
Twelve
Sitting at the end of the pier, I swung my legs over the water and stared at my exhausted reflection.
A sleek head broke the surface, forcing me to hold still or risk kicking Sean in his cute little seal face.
“Hey.” I didn’t know what else to say except the obvious. “Are the kids okay?”
Magic shuddered around him and left Sean the Selkie treading water in human form.
The Billiards had been anchored closer to shore, so that was where their rescuers had brought them.
“Yes.” His dark eyes bored into mine. “Thanks to you.”
An awkward moment lapsed where we both stared at one another in utter exhaustion.
“I’m sorry for what was done to your friend.” His black eyes glittered. “For what was done to you.”
“All part of the job,” I joked, but it fell flat, seeing as how I had no job. “I’m just glad you’re all okay.”
“What will happen to Sue?”
“Seeing as how the Grande Dame is in town, I imagine she will make that ruling personally.”
As much as I hoped Sue would walk out of Atlanta unscathed, I couldn’t promise him that, so I didn’t try.
I would do everything in my power, which might not amount to much after this, to ensure she was pardoned for her unwitting participation in Clan Jefferies’s scheme.
There was nothing I could say or do to make this any better or easier on anyone, so I changed topics.
“Sue told us the vampire who kidnapped you had your pelt.”
“Selkies have been controlled with their pelts since our beginning. We guard them with our lives. The vampire found my decoy.” Sean’s breath rippled across the water. “I didn’t let them know otherwise. I was biding my time in case they gave me an opportunity to escape with the children.”
A yell from the manmade beach drew his attention to where a lanky teen waved his arms over his head.
“I should go.” His skin rippled as his pelt began to merge with him. “The kids need me.”
“Sean?” I caught him as the change swept over him. “I’ll do everything in my power for Sue.”
With a dip of his chin, the seal slid under the water, carving a wake as he sped toward the shore.
Footsteps drew my attention to the dock behind me, but I was too tired to turn my head. “Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Okay, scratch that. I must be hallucinating. I whipped my head around to find Cruz standing there with puffy eyes, dressed in saggy pack sweats. Lost in my own head, I hadn’t noticed the cavalry had arrived.
Cruz filled his lungs like a man who hadn’t breathed in years. “He’s alive.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t find him sooner, but I’m grateful for the outcome.”
“You took the correct steps.” He spun his wedding ring. “In the event the worst had happened...”
“I was aware of your wishes for him to be resuscitated, but I wanted your express permission.”
“I appreciate that more than you can know.” He lowered his head. “I hope this won’t cost you the potentate seat.”
“If it does, it does.” I dipped my toes in the water. “I made the only choice I could live with.”
“I need to get back to him.” Cruz met and held my stare. “I’m in your debt.”
The edge of my lips curved an upward path. “There’s no debt between friends.”
While Cruz didn’t agree we were friends, he didn’t disagree, which meant we were totally friends now.
Ambrose manifested then jerked his chin behind us.
A second or two later, a set of footsteps I would recognize anywhere padded toward me.
Warm fabric smelling of Midas slid over my head as he clothed me in his tee. “Hey.”
Grunting, he sat beside me then hauled me onto his lap. “Hey back.”
“Any update on Sue?”
“She won’t be running gauntlets anytime soon, but she will make a full recovery.”
Moonlight rippled on the water, drawing my eyes to the soft glow, and we listened to frog song.
Midas rubbed his chin over my hair. “Ready to go?”
“In a minute.”
I was in no rush to return to Atlanta.
I was too afraid of what awaited me.
Thirteen
The crowd remained where I had left them hours ago, which surprised the heck out of me. I’d expected them to ditch when it got boring. Then again, learning the two rats dumped in a maze had chewed a hole to escape rather than capture the cheese at the end was drama enough to make them salivate.
Or something.
I was frakking tired.
I could be forgiven a cheese metaphor. Was it a metaphor?
No clue.
Brain too mushy.
Midas held my hand as we took the stairs to the small, raised platform erected for the Grande Dame. She rose when we reached the top and slid her gaze over me. I was mostly dry, dressed in my gauntlet finest, but I smelled like lake water.
“Hello again, Ms. Whitaker.” Her lips pulled tight. “Imagine my surprise when I di
scovered the woman who professed to love this city enough to want to be its protector disappeared without a word in the middle of her trial.”
“I—”
“I’m not finished, Ms. Whitaker.”
The way she said my last name gave me chills, as if she were taunting me with it. As if she knew.
Forcing my knees to quit wobbling under her regard, I straightened my spine and squared my shoulders.
“Only slightly less shocking than an apprentice abandoning her trial was discovering the woman who pled her case for a second chance so passionately had also exited the gauntlet without permission, of her own free will.” Her gaze touched on Linus. “That leaves us with a draw, by my reckoning.”
For what felt like the first time since Neely was taken, I took a full breath.
“Crimes were committed tonight,” she continued, leaving me in a cold sweat as I waited for the other shoe to drop. “Crimes against the Society, against the Office of the Potentate of Atlanta, and against yourself and Sue Billiard, as well as her family.” Her lips thinned. “Six members from Clan Kretzmer were killed so that members of Clan Jefferies could take their places in the gauntlet.”
A shuddering exhale parted my lips as her wrath swung away from me.
“Given the involvement of several out-of-state factions, such as Clan Kretzmer and Sue Billiard, I have decided the trial for this conspiracy will not be held in Atlanta.” Her mouth was a red slash of malice. “Clan Jefferies, and their cohorts, will be held accountable at the Lyceum at my earliest convenience.”
The Lyceum was located in Savannah, in the seat of necromantic power in the United States, and it guaranteed a spectacle.
I had been tried there, as Amelie Pritchard, convicted and sentenced.
I still had nightmares about all those tiers of judging eyes staring down at me.
“Your team was very thorough in assembling its defense of your absence.” The Grande Dame’s eyes glittered with pride. “It’s no small thing, what my son accomplished in this city during his tenure as potentate.”
“I agree,” I said quietly, unsure if I was allowed to speak.
“What you have managed to accomplish is even greater.”
Jaw falling open, I couldn’t find words enough to string together an answer.
The Epilogues: Part I: Badge of Honor (The Potentate of Atlanta Book 6) Page 14