“You’re so awkward,” I laughed. “But yes, I did. They’re in that little zippered pocket.”
He set me down just long enough to dip out of the shower and was back in a flash, swallowing a little pill-sized potion. He handed one to me and I popped it in my mouth as he lifted me back up, this time pressing me against the wall, leaving both hands free. He waited until I had swallowed the potion, then kissed me.
I wrapped my arms and legs around him and kissed him back. I was far too distracted by other things we were doing to notice when he switched from kissing to numbing my neck, but it was impossible to miss the way his entire body shuddered against mine as he started feeding. His shoulders stiffened beneath my hands and he half-moaned, half-whimpered into my neck. He was hungrier than he had let on.
To his credit, he did take longer to feed than usual. When he was just about done feeding, he moved to press me between him and the wall to get a better position. This time, we both moaned.
A couple of minutes later, after gently making sure the fang punctures had started healing, he eased me to my feet. We stood there for a little longer with our arms around each other. I rested my head against his chest and just tried to enjoy the moment.
“Some of us would like a turn!” Dani yelled, banging on the door.
“Asshole,” Thomas muttered into my hair with a chuckle. He kissed me on the top of my head, then reluctantly stepped back. “We should probably…”
“Yeah,” I said, not wanting the moment to end. We both quickly washed up again, then stepped out to dry off.
“You’re going to dry our clothes, right?” Thomas asked, sticking his head out the door.
I didn’t expect Dani to join us in the bathroom and tightened my towel in surprise as he did. He dried my clothes, then thrust them at me. I noticed some unusually dark waves in his eyes.
“Are you okay?” I asked, nervously hurrying out of the bathroom.
“Yup.” Dani gave Thomas his clothes, then turned him around and started literally shoving him out of the bathroom. “Goodbye.”
“Hey, wait, didn’t you shower before we did?” Thomas demanded.
“I said we wanted a turn not a shower,” Dani replied.
“Sorry,” Charlie said, not sounding terribly sorry, as he slipped between us and into the bathroom. He practically slammed the door, eyes flaring with dark red.
“Elementals,” Mariana said with a long-suffering sigh.
Thomas knocked on the door. “Do you need a contraceptive potion?” he called.
“You’re going to regret interrupting!” Dani yelled back.
“After thirty seconds? You’re probably not even undressed,” Thomas said, knocking again for good measure.
“Go away!”
Chuckling, Thomas got dressed and, sort of shielding myself from the others with a towel, I did the same.
“Do you need more blood?” TS asked.
“I’m okay.”
TS tilted his head and studied Thomas for a moment but nodded in satisfaction. “Right.” He stretched and slid out of a chair to sprawl out on the floor with a throw pillow. “I’m going to take a nap then.”
Once I would have asked if he was going to be comfortable, but it seemed werewolves were usually content to sleep anywhere, even as humans.
The bed was huge, so Thomas and I easily fit on one side, with Mariana on the other and room to spare. I snuggled up under one of his arms, reluctant to sleep in case things weren’t as safe as they seemed.
“Get some rest,” Thomas told me.
“What about you?”
“I’ll sleep later,” he said. “I’m feeling pretty good from that blood.”
I leaned up to kiss him, before settling back. I reached out my senses for Rak. He was still a mess of emotions; relief, confusion, concern, and – now that he could tell I was resting and safe – somewhat content.
Thomas groaned and covered his ears. “He was right; I regret it.”
I laughed and closed my eyes.
~~~***~~~
It was after sunset when I woke up again. I must have really slept deeply; Dani and Charlie had joined us without waking me and were on the other side of the bed, both still sleeping. I was relieved to see that the veins in Charlie’s arm were already faded from black to gray. At some point TS had shifted and a huge wolf was curled up on the foot of the bed.
I was hungry again and it wasn’t long before the others started waking up. We decided that we all felt better, but still a bit tired, so Mariana and Thomas risked another trip to the buffet and we ate a big meal, before all settling back down to go to sleep again.
It reminded me of the cruise when we first met; hiding here was eerily similar to hiding from a dangerous vampire in our room on the ship. Being able to see the ocean if I looked out the window added to the bittersweet ambiance. That trip nearly ended in disaster, but against all odds, we survived. As I drifted off to sleep again, I hoped we’d make it out of this one too.
Chapter Three
Jen
In all honesty, I was surprised when I woke up in the morning without incident. I assumed that something would have happened in the night; maybe an attack or at least a scare that woke us up.
Instead, it was mid-morning and I felt shockingly well rested. The sun was streaming in through the open curtains and I had a perfect view of the ocean - I always wanted to visit the Caribbean, but a trip like this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.
Mariana and Thomas set out for the buffet again, while I went out to gather a bit more driftwood for Charlie, careful to stay within sight of the stairway that led up to our room.
A horn blast caught my attention and I looked out over the water and saw the ferry. I hurried back to the room, just in time to meet Thomas and Mariana, who had seen the ferry as well.
We ate in a tense silence, all watching the ferry as it drew near; our room had a perfect view of the dock, so we could easily see when they started to disembark.
“All non-magics again, do you think?” TS asked.
“Looks like it so far,” Thomas said. “Can’t smell them from here though.”
“Wait!” Mariana gasped. She leaned against the railing of our balcony, shading her eyes and frowning out at the ferry. “I thought I saw a jackal… or at least a black dog.”
I swallowed nervously; unless the jackal was unbonded, then it was there with a witch or a wizard.
“Where?” Dani asked.
“Down there, next to the piling with a life preserver on it – there!” Mariana cried.
“I see it,” Charlie said, pointing.
“Looks like a jackal to me,” said Thomas.
I nodded in agreement as the black canine stood patiently on the dock.
“Who is it with?” TS asked. “I can’t tell.”
Thomas shook his head. “I’ll go down to the lobby and see if I can find anything out.”
“I’ll come,” Dani said instantly.
“No. As long as the jackal doesn’t catch my scent, I’ll be fine. One look at you and they’ll know what you are.” Thomas started to leave, but TS grabbed his arm.
“Wait until the jackal is up near the lobby at least,” TS said. “There’s no reason to mill around, risking being caught, if we don’t have to.”
Thomas nodded in agreement. We all quietly watched the people disembarking, keeping an eye out for any other magics. Soon, the jackal and a young-looking man with a suitcase were heading up the path toward the hotel. Thomas went out to the lobby and we were left waiting nervously.
I was glad TS could sense him through their bond; he looked slightly concerned, but as long as he was calm, I knew Thomas was okay. Nevertheless, I heaved a sigh of relief when TS announced Thomas was on the way back.
“Wizard,” Thomas said as he rejoined us on the balcony. “One wizard and a jackal, I didn’t see or smell any other magics. I couldn’t tell if he was a blood wizard either.”
“Did the jackal notice you?” Dani asked.
Thomas shook his head. “I stayed pretty far away and kept an eye on him. If he did smell me, he didn’t react at all.”
“Something interested happened though,” TS said confidently, tilting his head curiously at Thomas.
“Guess where the wizard is staying,” said Thomas.
“The cabanas?” Mariana suggested right away.
“Bingo.”
Dani cleared his throat. “Didn’t you say those have to be reserved months in advance?”
Thomas nodded.
“Bit of a stretch to say it’s just a coincidence the only magic guest we’ve seen is staying there,” TS said.
“Where are those?” Charlie asked.
We went back into the room and pulled out the guidebook Mariana had been given. She opened it up to the map page and pointed out the cabanas.
“Maybe it’s just me…” Dani said. “But if I reserved a private cabana on a tropical island, well in advance of my trip, I’d be pretty pissed to find out the hotel has an ocean view while the cabanas are in the middle of the jungle.”
“That’s a fair point,” TS said. “They aren’t in the most ideal location, are they?”
“If the map is right, they’re all just clustered together there too. Not very private,” Charlie added.
“Unless you want privacy from, say, non-magics?” Thomas suggested.
“I think we should go check it out,” TS said.
We all nodded in agreement.
“Tonight?” asked Thomas.
“Sounds good to me,” Dani said.
But after spending most of the day sitting in the room, we all started to get antsy long before sunset. We watched people lining up to get back on the ferry, keeping an eye out for departing magics, but saw none.
“That’s the second ferry to leave since we got here,” Dani said. “What if Alaria was on one?”
“No way to be sure until we check out the cabanas,” TS said. He sighed and glared up at the sky impatiently. “Couple more hours until sunset.”
“I’m sick of waiting too,” Thomas said in agreement.
“Then let’s go,” Dani said. “Charlie and I aren’t exactly constrained by the sunset.” He picked up the map and studied it. “Considering we’ll be sneaking around, it’ll practically be sunset by the time we get there anyway.”
TS looked hesitant but stood and started pacing. “I don’t like it… but I don’t like that we spent all day sitting about either. If we did miss Alaria, I don’t know what we’ll do…”
“Honestly,” Charlie said slowly. “Now might be the best time to go…” We all turned to look at him and he shrugged. “Just thinking about my parents’ dude ranch… Nobody is in the cabins during the day, that’s when all the action is. I know there’s supposed to be some beach party tonight, but I’d be surprised if the blood casters are going to that. Dani got me thinking, when he said we aren’t constrained by the sunset, neither are the blood casters, as far as we know. We’re sitting here assuming they’re all in the cabanas right now, but they could be out.” He nodded toward Thomas. “You think you saw a blood witch in an employee uniform; they could all be out doing stuff right now. This might be the best time to find the cabanas empty. We could head over there after sunset and be outnumbered.” His eyes flared. “Not that we fared well against just one…”
TS groaned. “I hate to agree, but that’s a possibility. The fact is until we’ve actually seen the cabanas, we have no idea what to do.” He stretched. “Right. Let’s go, cautiously. If we get all the way to the cabanas without incident, we’ll go from there.”
We got out of the hotel without running into any magics and headed down a path that led into the woods. It soon split into three different directions: Ocean Trail, Forest Trail, and Employees Only.
“So, which one leads to the cabanas?” Dani asked.
Thomas nodded toward the employees only path. “The jackal and the wizard went down that way.”
“Which means either the cabanas are so private they don’t even want people who aren’t staying there to find them or our suspicions are correct; these cabanas aren’t what they seem,” said TS. “Everyone be ready.”
I drew my wand warily as we walked. It was extremely weird to feel so uneasy in broad daylight. The sunlight came easily through the trees and I saw glimpses of the ocean between the trunks. The weather was perfect, almost a little too hot even, for an island hike. Sometimes I could swear I could hear the ocean. A couple of colorful birds flew by, followed shortly by a refreshing breeze.
Yet we were following the scent of a possible blood wizard.
“I don’t know if they’d risk a trap with so many non-magics around,” TS said softly, “but remember if you hear that blood magic crackle, you run.”
Everyone murmured softly in agreement.
“Stop,” Thomas said suddenly, before slowly beckoning us closer.
The trees parted into a clearing, revealing a dozen small cabins. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but based on the cheesy pink castle, it certainly wasn’t a bunch of non-descript buildings. They were all small and simple, with no nautical themes to speak of; certainly nothing I would have wanted to reserve in advance, that was for sure. I also couldn’t see anything that indicated these were associated with the resort.
“These are the cabanas?” Dani whispered, obviously as unimpressed as I was.
“The wizard and jackal were here,” said Thomas. “I can still smell them, but they aren’t around now.” He tilted his head slightly and frowned. “I don’t think anyone is here now, but I can smell more people: witches and wizards. No non-magics though…”
“Can you tell where they went?” TS asked. “Without going too close. We don’t want any of the familiars to smell us.”
Thomas’ eyes narrowed. “Now that you mention it, I don’t smell any.”
“Any what?”
“Familiars. I can’t smell any, aside from the jackal we saw.”
“But you smell witches and wizards?” I asked. “I thought we all had familiars.”
“Most do,” said Thomas. “You don’t have to bond though, if you don’t want to. But it’s weird that they’re all together here… I can smell… oh, probably a dozen different people. One familiar.”
“Maybe blood casters don’t bond?” Charlie said.
“Well, Fletcher had a…” TS trailed off.
“Had a familiar,” Dani finished grimly. “Until he went to Miami and then, presumably, here.”
We all looked at each other in horror.
“Do you think they’re killing familiars?” I gasped in horror. As much as I missed Rak, my throat closed up at the thought of these blood casters trying to hurt him. My knees felt weak; thank god he was safe in New York.
“I don’t know if I’d put it past them at this point,” said Thomas.
For a few moments we all sat there silently, mulling it all over.
“We need to keep going,” TS said. “I don’t think we can afford to lose the jackal’s scent.”
Almost as one, we nodded to him and Thomas cautiously led the way around the cabanas and to another path; this one just dirt instead of shells.
“Are you alright?” TS asked suddenly.
Thomas stopped and turned back to us, frowning. “I… don’t know. I feel kind of…”
“My hand!” Charlie said.
I turned to look and gasped in alarm. The veins in his arm and hand, where Donna had struck him with blood magic, had faded to gray, but now they were turning black again right before my eyes!
“I have a small problem,” Dani said suddenly.
“Oh god!” Mariana cried.
I was almost afraid to look, but I forced my gaze away from the almost mesmerizing way Charlie’s veins were darkening to look at Dani. Honestly, I wished I hadn’t. One hand was pressed up under his nose as dark blue blood dripped though his fingers. Even worse, was the fact he looked worried.
“I mm… I could probably use some w
ater,” he said too casually.
“Water!” TS gasped. “That’s it! They didn’t just use blood magic to make a barrier around the island, it’s protecting whatever they’re hiding here too!”
“We have to get back to the public area,” Thomas said.
“It’s happening to you too!” TS cried.
He was right; Thomas’ veins were slowly darkening and swelling too.
We started to run, sprinting back through the woods, heedless of whether or not we attracted attention. The public area seemed much farther away than I thought, even though we were moving so much faster than before. My legs were throbbing and my lungs were burning as we burst into the area where the paths split.
“Is that it?!” Thomas turned back, breathing hard, eyes scanning the trees behind us. The ink-black veins had spread up his neck and across his cheeks. “Is crossing back all we have to do?!”
“Did we cross?” Mariana asked. “How do we even know what’s safe?”
“If they’re trying to keep people away from whatever they’re doing,” TS said, “it makes sense they’d set traps in the employee areas, just like with the water.”
“Speaking of water… can we…” Dani gasped. He sat down heavily, one hand still under his nose, the other pressed against the side of his head.
“Ashes,” Charlie spat. “Come on, get up!” He wiggled beneath one of Dani’s arms and pulled him to his feet, clutching his injured arm against his chest.
“Here!” Mariana tucked herself under Dani’s other arm and started toward the ocean trail path.
“Char, stop,” Dani said weakly. “Get yourself some wood, I’ll be fine.”
“But—”
“You’re not getting in the water with me. Get some wood.”
Charlie reluctantly stepped back. He turned to face us and I realized in horror it wasn’t just his arm.
“Your face,” I gasped. “It’s still spreading!”
He raised a hand in alarm to his cheek, then lowered it to examine the darkening, swelling veins. “Maybe I do need some wood…” After looking around for a moment, he crouched down next to a fallen log and put his hands on it. I watched nervously as he burned it, hoping it would help.
Rise of the Arcanist Series: Books 1 - 6 Page 32