“Maybe we should get a room,” I suggested. “We all could use a place to sleep.”
“As long as they don’t ask for that card, that’s not a bad idea. If this is just a non-magic resort, then being able to snag some free food and a place to rest is going to be very useful.”
Something occurred to me and I stopped in my tracks. “It’s all-inclusive,” I gasped. “We get food and a room and can stay as long as we want without paying anything until we leave!”
“Yes?” Thomas said, eyeing me curiously. “I sort of just said that.”
“What if we wanted to stay for six months?”
“Why would…” His eyes widened in shock. “Holy shit,” he breathed.
Six months: the amount of time the blood casters on our list went without spending anything. Each one took a leave of absence from work, most had transactions showing they went to Miami, and then they seemed to vanish for six months before another transaction showed up. If they were coming here they’d have food and board and literally could vanish.
“But,” he said, eyes narrowing, “we didn’t see any huge charges after they get back to Miami…”
“Maybe they aren’t being charged,” I suggested. “What if this is a non-magic resort, but the blood casters are behind it somehow? Go to Miami, sneak onto the ferry, and then just stay here for six months doing that initiation or whatever Fletcher talked about. It would be impossible to trace them.”
“I hate how well that fits,” Thomas said.
“Drought, no,” I said. “Then, why the labyrinth? What’s the point of being able to come and go through that, if they’re going to Miami and getting on the ferry?”
“Every time I think we’re closer, we get more questions,” Thomas snarled.
We fell silent as we reached the gate to the castle-like hotel. I bit back a laugh at the cheesy, trident-wielding mermaid statues flanking it. Both tails were ridiculous; whoever made the statues obviously had never seen a real mermaid.
The lines up to the front desk moved quickly. To my relief, it looked like they weren’t asking for the cards or any sort of ID at all. As we waited, I flipped through my little booklet.
“There are private cabanas,” I said, pointing to a spot on the map. Thomas looked at them curiously.
“They’re pretty far from the main resort…” he said, “and look, this here says there’s an employee area nearby.”
Before I could reply, it was our turn.
“Welcome,” said the guy at the desk as we walked up.
“Hi,” I said. “We just got here and wanted a room?”
“Sure thing.” He grabbed a key off a pegboard behind him and held it out. “Just drop this in the basket when you leave.” He nodded to a basket on the counter.
Thomas started to reach for it, then hesitated. “Can we get a cabana? Are those included?”
“Cabanas are extra,” the man said. “I’m afraid you have to reserve them in advance though; they’re all booked.”
“How far ahead do you have to reserve them?” Thomas asked.
“Months,” the guy said. “I’m sorry, but I assure you our rooms here are just as nice and almost as private. Plus, they’re closer to the food and the beach!” He held out the key again.
Thomas took it with a smile. “Thanks. Hey, I don’t have any service, could I make a phone call?”
“Oh…” The guy smiled awkwardly. “Sorry, someone should have told you, we’re off the grid here. No phones. No internet either.”
Thomas and I exchanged a look of alarm. “What if there’s an emergency?” I blurted.
“Not to worry, we have medical staff on hand and a clinic equipped to handle just about anything that could happen here.” I could tell from the way he rattled it off that it was a practiced speech. “In the event of a more serious emergency, we can radio for medical transport.”
“Okay…” Thomas said. “Um… thanks, then.”
We were directed to our room and we headed off.
“Great, that leaves Dani swimming for help, unless we can track down this radio,” Thomas muttered.
I agreed and we turned out of the lobby and down a hall lined with doors to the guest rooms. As we walked, Thomas seemed to be going quite slowly, taking his time near each door.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Checking for magics… so far nothing.” He took a step back and looked at the door. “Most have been slept in… Everything seems so… normal. Except…”
“Except there's a labyrinth doorway on the beach and the minotaur wanted us to come here to kill a blood witch,” I said, ticking the points off on my fingers, “and it’s called Mystic Cay, and the ferry departs from Miami.”
“Yeah,” Thomas said grimly. “Except that.”
We found our room and poked our heads in. Thomas sniffed and hunted around but found nothing out of the ordinary. Armed with our map, we started heading back to the others.
As we walked down the hall we passed a woman in an employee polo. We all nodded and smiled to each other, but as soon as we rounded the corner Thomas picked up his pace, then turned the wrong way.
“What…” I began, hesitating when I realized he was trying to follow a scent.
“That woman,” he said between sniffs. “She was a witch… I think I caught a whiff of blood magic too. Faint but…”
I swallowed nervously and looked behind us. “Do you think she noticed us?”
“I don’t think so… Let’s hope not.”
We followed her trail to a locked door, labeled employees only.
“So, one witch,” Thomas said.
“Who works here,” I added.
“I smell the buffet,” he chuckled. “We should see if we can grab anything; Jen and TS are probably starving. Well, I know TS is.”
We were almost to the buffet when Thomas stopped in his tracks and whipped his head around. “Something’s wrong!” he gasped.
“What?!”
“Come on!”
We hurried through the hallways and out onto the beach, as fast as we could without attracting attention. Just when I thought it was safe to start running, Thomas slowed down a little.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s not an emergency… still urgent, but no need to be reckless.”
Nevertheless, we hurried along the beach, trying to avoid the crowd. There were people spread out on towels and splashing in the water now. We kept going, around the dunes and back to where the labyrinth entrance was. There, much farther down the beach, I spotted the others. Everything looked fine to me. Jen and Charlie were standing on the beach and Dani and TS were in the water. As I watched, Dani bent over abruptly; it looked like he was throwing up!
I glanced behind us; we were out of sight from the tourists. That was all I needed to know. I sprinted down the beach. Instead of stopping me, Thomas took off as well, easily outpacing me.
I caught up after he was already standing with Dani and TS. Charlie was right at the edge of the water, eyes flaring wildly. Jen was between him and the others, clearly ready to stop him from impulsively getting wet, but she looked worried too. TS, in all honesty, looked a lot better now that he wasn’t able to sense Delilah dying, but he certainly wasn’t happy.
“Dani?” I cried as I splashed up.
He turned toward me with a weak grin. “Hey, calf,” he said hoarsely. His eyes were churning with gray and his normally tanned skin was pale. “Hold that thought!” he said quickly, before I could say anything.
Dani spun away from me and then started retching. It didn’t seem like anything was coming up, he was just dry heaving, but it sounded awful and he was obviously in some sort of pain. I started to panic, had his stomach injury somehow returned?
“I really… really fucking,” he growled between gags. “hate blood magic.”
Chapter Two
Jen
Dani hadn’t been gone for more than a few minutes when he staggered back up into the shallow water and
threw up an alarming amount of black liquid.
“It’s just water,” he choked when Charlie cried out in alarm. Dani threw up more of it, before dropping to his knees and gasping, “There’s blood magic in the water!”
I held Charlie back, nearly burning my hands, while TS rushed to help Dani.
“If there’s blood magic in the water, then get out!” Charlie yelled at them as Dani sat down right where he was, leaving TS to kneel next to him.
“Not in this water,” Dani said.
I didn’t think that clarified things and, based on his expression, Charlie didn’t either.
Dani adjusted his position and put his head down between his knees like he was trying not to pass out. After a minute or so TS helped him to his feet, he was barely standing again before he threw up more black water.
To my relief, Thomas came flying down the beach, with Mariana not far behind.
“What happened?” he demanded, coming to a stop in a spray of water and wet sand.
“I don’t know!” TS said. “He said there’s blood magic in the water!”
“What?!” cried Thomas.
“Dani!” Mariana called, rushing up to join them.
He said something to her, then doubled over and started vomiting again, although this time nothing came up.
“I really, really fucking hate blood magic!” Dani said as he coughed. He sat heavily in the water, then flopped backward with nothing but one knee sticking out.
There were some aspects of being a magic I was still getting used to; one of them was seeing water elementals just go underwater without coming up. I knew he could breathe, but I still felt uneasy as I watched the surf gently lapping over his face as he lay there without coming up for air.
“Blood magic?!” Mariana asked in alarm.
TS shrugged helplessly.
Dani sat up with a groan and pointed down the beach, where he had gone earlier. “We got sick of waiting while you guys were up at the resort, so I figured I’d take a quick lap around the island.” He shook his head and sighed heavily. “I didn’t get far. There was a barrier that said, “no guests beyond this point” so, of course, I went beyond that point.” He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. “The water started tasting foul pretty quickly, but it took me a little while to realize it was… I don’t know, tainted, I guess. With blood magic.” He stood, with a little help from Thomas, and shook his head. “If I hadn’t turned back when I did… well, based on the fact they have all the deeper water roped off, I don’t think anyone is getting off this island by water. We’re not going anywhere unless we figure out how to sneak onto that ferry.”
With that, Dani splashed out of the water. I let go of Charlie’s shirt and he hurried to Dani’s side, even though his shoes got wet.
“If you could stop scaring the hell out of me, thinking you’re about to die, again, that would be great,” Charlie said, throwing his arms around Dani.
“Believe me, I’d like nothing more,” Dani said.
“What happened at the resort?” TS asked as he and Thomas joined us on the beach.
Thomas and Mariana told us all about the resort, the complete lack of magics, and the room, as well as their suspicions about Miami.
“This place just gets better and better,” said Dani.
“Can’t complain about getting some food though,” TS said. “If there really are that few magics about, let’s see if we can get into the room unseen and then eat. I’m knackered. We could all use a good sleep. Danio, you up to finding a couple more pairs of sunglasses? Anything we can do to make you and Charlie stick out a bit less…”
Dani nodded. “Yeah, this water’s fine.” He stretched and waded in.
“Be careful,” Charlie called.
Dani waved, then jogged a little and dove in. We all sighed in relief when he was back just a few minutes later with enough sunglasses for all of us.
“Figured we might as well all hit the resort in style,” he chuckled. “Also…” he held up two sopping wet things, then dried them and tossed one to Charlie. “Since your hair is more than a little conspicuous.”
Charlie considered the bucket hat skeptically, then pulled it on. “Whoever lost this probably threw it in the water on purpose.”
Dani chuckled and, with a smirk, put on a Detroit Lions cap.
“Bloody hell, how long did you spend looking for that?” TS asked.
“Sheer luck,” Dani said. “It even fits. I might keep this.”
“You should throw that in the water on purpose,” Thomas suggested.
“Excuse you, I’ve been a fan since before you were born.” Dani haughtily adjusted the hat.
“That’s your fault,” said Thomas, starting off down the beach.
We walked after them as they argued about Dani’s favorite football team. It was weirdly normal, just the six of us, walking together while Dani and Thomas teased each other.
I felt nervous as we got onto the beach with other people, but it didn’t seem like anybody took even a second look at us. Thankfully, Thomas had already been there, so he took the lead, carefully sniffing to make sure there were no magics lurking around. We hurried down the hallways of the pink castle and Mariana quickly unlocked our room and we released a collective sigh as the door shut.
“I don’t think there were any magics out there,” Thomas said. He turned to Mariana. “Let’s grab food like we were planning earlier. We’ll be back.”
After a nerve-wracking few minutes, they were back with plenty of food for all of us. Dani said he was full from his time in the ocean, but Thomas obviously needed to feed and Charlie was worn out from the blood magic attack. We could see a bunch of driftwood from our balcony, so Thomas ran down to grab some for Charlie. Once he was settled in and enjoying some wood, the rest of us ate voraciously. When we were done Dani checked the water in the bathroom, just in case, and we started taking turns enjoying much-needed showers.
While I was gratefully washing and shampooing, Thomas poked his head into the bathroom. “Dani suggests we wash our clothes and he’ll dry them. Want me to do yours?”
“Oh, yeah. Thanks.”
“Do you need soap?” I asked.
“No, there’s some on the sink. Let me know if the water temperature changes while I’m washing them. Unless you want to save water?” Thomas added with a weak chuckle.
“Sure,” I said, grateful for anything somewhat normal. “It’ll be easier to wash them in here anyway.”
The resort certainly didn’t skimp on luxury and there was plenty of room for two in the shower. I stepped out of the way and sat on a little teak stool in the corner and helped him with our clothes. When we were done, we tossed them out into the sink and I waited while Thomas washed himself.
It was normal and yet not normal at all; just a few months since moving to New York and I was already taking things like this for granted. How quickly, how easily I had almost lost it - one wrong move in that labyrinth and I would have never seen Thomas again. The last time we shared a shower would have been the last and I hadn’t even known it. My eyes drifted to his chest, searching for some sign he had been impaled by the minotaur only a couple of hours ago. I wondered just how much in the labyrinth was real and how much was an illusion, but decided that the confusion was probably the point.
Unfortunately, even with that behind us, we were far from safe. We might get a few hours or a day to rest here in the resort, but then we had to find Alaria. If she really was who Fletcher called his mistress, then how powerful was she? This, right now, could be our last day together. Ever.
A small sob escaped my lips at the thought, Thomas wiped the water from his face and looked at me curiously.
“Jen?”
“Just…” I shrugged and suddenly couldn’t speak.
He knelt down and his green eyes met mine. I reached up and brushed some of his hair, much darker brown since it was wet, off his forehead. For a moment, we just looked at each other wordlessly. Then, so fast I hardly saw,
his hand shot forward as he grabbed me by the back of the neck. He tugged me closer and kissed me hard. I put both hands on his cheeks and kissed him back. He pulled away, just a little, and pressed his forehead against mine with a sigh as the water from the shower splashed down over us.
It reminded me of our very first kiss; it had even been raining, and we were in mortal danger then too. That was back when I didn’t know if he liked me. In fact, I had been trying to convince myself I didn’t have a crush on him. But when things looked bleak and we were positive we were about to die, he kissed me before pleading with me to run.
I grabbed him and kissed him again, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. I wasn’t strong enough to stop him if he really wanted to pull away, but he knew I didn’t want him to.
I wouldn’t run this time.
One way or another we were going to fight these blood casters together.
Thomas adjusted his grip on me and then stood, easily lifting me up. In spite of the danger lurking outside of the hotel room, I laughed as he did. He shot me a challenging grin and I wrapped my legs around his waist as we kissed.
“You need to feed,” I murmured as I ran my hands over his back, trying to find the best place to hold on.
“I will,” he whispered, gently nipping my lower lip.
“More than a pint.”
“I’ll drink what I need.”
“Thomas,” I growled.
He lifted me higher, then mock-dropped me a few inches and I let out a little shriek of surprise. “You’re hardly in a position to bargain,” he teased, shifting me to one hand and pressing a finger to my lips. He glanced to the side and rolled his eyes.
“What did Dani say?” I guessed.
“Something stupid,” Thomas chuckled, he used his free hand to brush some of my hair behind one ear, then grabbed me by the thigh and adjusted how he was supporting me again. “Although, I might follow his advice anyway… was that your purse I saw in here?”
“Yeah.”
“You didn’t happen to bring any… um…”
“Now? Here?!”
He flushed. “I mean… we kind of almost died… and…”
Rise of the Arcanist Series: Books 1 - 6 Page 31