“Clock is ticking then,” Thomas said grimly. “First things first though, they’re looking for us. For Jen,” he added with a hiss that made me shiver. “We have to find a way off this island.”
“We can’t fight Alaria alone,” TS said. “But we’ve got to tell Jon and try to get reinforcements here before she leaves or gains any more power.”
“While keeping her away from Jen,” I added.
“At least she doesn’t know about the rest of us,” Danio said. “Gives us some advantage.”
“Except we’re trapped on half the island,” TS said, “and I don’t suspect Alaria is the type to give up when she can’t find what, or who, she’s after. I think—”
“Quiet!” Thomas gasped suddenly. He moved toward the door and paused, listening with a frown.
TS heaved himself to his feet with a groan and took an unsteady step to Thomas.
After a moment, Thomas turned back to us. “There’s someone out there, going door to door.” He cast a worried look at Jen. “He’s telling people to watch out for some girl who…”
“Looks like me?” Jen finished with a wince.
Thomas nodded.
“Is it a blood wizard?” Danio asked.
“I can’t tell.” Thomas eased the door open and cautiously peered out for a second, before closing it again. “I’m pretty sure he’s a non-magic… but, I don’t think we want to attract any attention.”
“Is he going into the rooms?” Jen asked in concern.
“No, but you need to get out of sight anyway. We don’t need them to spot anyone who matches the description, especially since they’ve only seen me and Mariana here.”
“Except they can’t exactly see you right now,” TS said. “Not with all that shite on you.”
Thomas examined his veins, still dark with blood magic, with a glare and cursed.
“So, I have to open the door then,” Mariana said. “I’m the only one, aside from Jen, who isn’t marked.”
“And obviously they can’t see me,” Jen added, wrinkling her nose. “Since they’re going to be describing me as the person they’re looking for.”
“He’s getting closer,” Thomas warned.
“I have an idea! Excuse me,” Mariana added to me, stepping over me into the bathroom and closing the door.
“What are you… Why are you taking your clothes off?!” Danio cried.
“Just close your eyes.”
“Believe me, I’m not loo – Why are you getting into the shower with me?!”
Mariana’s retort was drowned out by the sound of the shower starting. I supposed I couldn’t complain about that, assuming Dani actually stayed in the shower. I was still annoyed he had insisted on turning it off so he could hear the conversation; blocking the drain and sitting in an inch of water was certainly not helping him recover faster.
A minute later, Thomas got up, crossed the room, and cracked open the bathroom door. “Good plan,” he said. “I’ll let you know.” He backed away and nodded to the rest of us. “Everyone else out of sight.”
I stood and joined them, tucked away around the corner from the door. Thomas went to the door to make sure we were all hidden, then stood, waiting. Hardly a minute passed before he called softly. “Okay, Mariana!” Then, he hurried around the corner with the rest of us.
Thanks to the mirror above the dresser, I was able to catch a glimpse of Mariana after she came out of the bathroom. She had a towel twisted up onto her head, concealing the tell-tale green streaks in her hair, but allowing some strategic blonde locks to hang out, and another towel wrapped around her body. She waited by the door to the room and all too soon, someone knocked on our door. Mariana did nothing.
The person knocked again and then Mariana called, “Hang on!”
I heard some exaggerating shuffling, followed by the door to the hallway opening. Judging from how loud the shower sounded, the bathroom door was open too.
“Can I help you?” Mariana asked sweetly, throwing in a flirtatious sounding giggle.
“Oh uh… hello uh, Miss,” stammered a voice. “Sorry to bother you…”
“Who is it, babe?” called Thomas’ irritated voice from the bathroom. The real Thomas snorted softly and rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know, honey,” Mariana yelled back. “Did you need something?”
“Yes. Sorry. There’s a young woman who paid her initial deposit with a stolen credit card,” the man said. I bit back a laugh at the absurd reason they had come up with to look for Jen. “She’s probably about five-one, maybe five-two. Medium build, light skin, brown hair, about shoulder-length. She was last seen wearing dark jeans and a gray t-shirt.”
“Oh, that’s awful! I’ll let you know if I see her,” Mariana said with another giggle. “Thanks so much!”
“Of course. Oh, there’s a party on the dock this evening.”
“I know! I can’t wait! Oh! I better get ready!”
The door slammed.
“I’m five-four!” Jen muttered indignantly.
“Was that too easy?” Thomas asked. “Or are we good?” He joined Mariana by the door and listened, then shrugged. “He seems like he’s going about his business.”
“What do we do now?” Mariana asked.
“They obviously knew Jen came in through the labyrinth,” TS said. “It also seems like the minotaur did not tell Alaria that there were more of us. Since Taylor also only saw Jen and that non-magic just now didn’t see anyone matching her description, I think we should be safe here. At least for a little while.”
“Enough to rest a bit and let these blood magic marks fade,” added Thomas.
“Wait a second,” Mariana gasped. “How did Alaria know Jen was here?!”
“Taylor told her,” Jen said. “Remember?”
“Yeah,” Mariana said. “But that only came up because she was telling us about Donna’s death.” Everyone nodded. “How did she know about Donna?”
“She asked the minot—” Jen stopped and her eyes widened. “Alaria said she went into the labyrinth! The doorway is open again!”
“Bloody hell,” TS spat. “I should have realized that… this blood magic has me all wonky. Unless Alaria can open the doorway, somehow?”
“I don’t think so,” Mariana said. “I’m pretty sure only the minotaur can control it. I also don’t think she has any way to contact him from outside the labyrinth.”
“Which means either there’s a predetermined time when the doorway opens or it is open again,” TS cried. “Maybe even right now.”
“We have to check,” Mariana said.
“How?” Jen asked. “We can’t risk them seeing anyone except for you.”
“She’s not going alone,” Dani called from the bathroom.
“Not that anyone but you – and me – is in any shape to go in the first place,” Jen continued. “Not without more time to recover.”
“Time that we don’t have,” Thomas said grimly. “I’ll go. I’ll be back in minutes.”
“That blood magic is slowing you down and you know it,” TS said. “Even if it wasn’t, you can’t exactly run at full speed through the middle of the hotel without attracting unwanted attention. With those marks all over you, you can’t just stroll through either.”
“I could try,” I offered. “I wasn’t hit as badly as you two. I think it’s just on my arm.”
“It’s not,” Thomas said, shaking his head.
I looked over at the mirror and spotted darkened veins up my neck and across my face. They weren’t as noticeable as on Tom or TS, but they were still obvious enough, especially to a blood caster.
“But we can’t wait,” TS growled. “If there’s any chance the labyrinth doorway is opening from time to time, we can’t afford to risk missing it.”
“Then I should go now,” Mariana insisted. “It’s right on the water. I just have to make it through the hotel and down to the beach. I can pop out right by the doorway.”
An awkward silence fell as we all con
sidered it. It wasn’t ideal, but I wasn’t sure if there was anything better.
“But then what?” Jen groaned. “What happens if by the time you’ve come back to tell us and we’ve managed to all get there, it closes again? Then we’ve risked it for nothing.”
“I go in?” Mariana said, not sounding thrilled. “The minotaur said his doorway has seven stones, right? I just go in and hope he lets me back out in New York this time. Then, I go for help.”
“Then, what do we do?” Dani called. To my dismay, he had gotten out of the shower and was leaning against the doorframe trying, in my opinion, to look a bit too casual. “It might only take you a few minutes to get to New York through the labyrinth, but how long until you’re back? Hours? Days? While we sit here on our asses waiting for help that might never come? Meanwhile you could be on that alter next; we’ll never even know if you make it into the labyrinth. I don’t want you to go alone because I’m admittedly overprotective. But you also can’t go alone. Someone has to know if you make it into the labyrinth or if you get caught.”
“I’ll go too,” Jen said.
“They’re looking for you,” Thomas said. “You’re the last one who should go!”
“Then we’re out of options!” Jen cried.
“I have an idea,” TS announced, frowning. “It’s quite terrible… but I think it’ll work. And it’s all we’ve got.”
“What?” Thomas asked warily.
“Jen and Mariana need to check out the labyrinth,” TS said, lifting a paw in very human-like way to stop Tom’s retort. “The blood casters are obviously hoping the non-magics will watch the hotel for Jen and only Jen. They won’t expect her to be with another person, so even out in the open she’s better hidden with Mariana. Taylor was also the only one who saw Jen. As long as Jen is careful, simply changing her clothes and hiding her hair – like we did before for Mariana – is going to be enough that nobody will connect her to the girl they’re supposed to be looking for.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Dani said.
Thomas pursed his lips but stayed silent and nodded for TS to continue.
“I also doubt they’re looking very hard here at the resort. One, they’ve got all the non-magics watching. Two, they know Jen came in through the labyrinth and seem to think she was alone. They’re not going to expect her to be here at the hotel. Chances are, they’re looking for her near the alter and the cabanas.”
“Or the labyrinth doorway in case she goes back,” Thomas said.
TS nodded. “I considered that. It might be a risk we have to take. Plus, they won’t think that she would come from the water. They’ll watch the beaches and the trails. Next, Jen has to be the one who goes into the labyrinth; the minotaur would have killed us all without her. She might be the only one he’s willing to talk to. Thanks to her bond with Rak, she’ll also know for sure if she’s in the labyrinth or not at any given time and will know the moment she’s back in New York. Meanwhile, Mariana can swim back here and let us know if the labyrinth was open. Jen’s the one they’re looking for after all, the safest place for her is off the island.”
“The minotaur told Alaria before that I was here… maybe he’ll tell her when I leave too,” Jen added. “They’d stop looking for me and wouldn’t find anyone else.”
“I hate to agree,” Thomas groaned. “But it’s a solid plan. Assuming we can disguise Jen.”
“I’m way ahead of you!” Mariana said. She hurried into the bathroom, then came out with her knife, grabbed Dani’s sweatshirt, and sliced off the sleeve most of the way up.
“Oh, come on!” Danio cried. “I liked that!”
Mariana ignored him, removed the other sleeve, and then started chopping the entire hoodie in half.
“First you flash your squashy everything at me and now you’re destroying my favorite hoodie?” Danio said.
“There we go!” Mariana said, as she sliced off the entire hood into a wide neck and added a little V in the front. She pulled it on, dropping her towel down to her waist as she did. “What do you think?”
“I hate it,” Danio said flatly. “It looks good.”
He was right. The former-hoodie fit Mariana perfectly, exposing most of her midriff, with shortened sleeves and a wide v-neck. It was honestly impossible to tell if she had done it herself or overpaid for it at some trendy store.
She bent down to retrieve the fallen bottom half of the hoodie, then put it on upside down, letting the original hem serve as a waist band. It hung loosely off her hips, forming a short skirt. I had to admit, Mariana actually looked like she was ready for a beach party on a tropical island. I would never guess that her skirt and top hadn’t been sold as a coordinating piece.
“Jen,” Mariana instructed. “Give me your shirt and then grab my stuff and put it on.”
“If you say so,” Jen said.
She glanced around, cheeks flushing slightly, then pulled off her shirt and tossed it to Mariana, before heading into the bathroom.
Mariana held the shirt out to me. “Do what you did before, hide my hair in it. We need another one for Jen.”
“Here,” Dani said, pulling his off.
“Are you… sure?” Mariana asked, looking as stunned as I was. Danio was self-conscious about his heavily scarred abdomen and rarely volunteered to remove his shirt if it there was another option.
“I’d like to contribute to the plan somehow,” he said with a shrug. “Besides, TS would have to shift back, not to mention his shirt is a tent, Char has one of those fire elemental ones that doesn’t burst into flame, and Tom needs his in case it’s sunny and he gets all glittery.”
“I do not glitter!” Thomas cried indignantly.
Everyone released a much-needed laugh amid the tension and even Thomas looked a bit more relaxed. Jen had returned from changing just in time to catch the joke and giggled along with us.
“Hey, they fit!” Mariana said, catching sight of Jen.
“Sort of, yeah.”
Mariana’s shirt was designed to be loose, so even though it was obviously a size too big for Jen, it still looked fine. Although I was surprised that Mariana’s knee-length skirt looked the same length.
Jen noticed that Mariana and I were both looking at the skirt and raised up the hem of her borrowed shirt to reveal she had rolled the skirt’s waistband several times to hike it up.
“No more dark jeans and gray t-shirt,” TS said in satisfaction. “Now to cover the hair.”
I quickly turned the t-shirts into wraps that concealed Mariana’s green streaks and Jen’s brown hair. There was no way to hide the fact the wraps were made from t-shirt material, but I thought it would be difficult enough to tell they were actual shirts.
“You look like a hippie,” Danio chuckled.
“She does not,” I said in defense of my own hippie phase.
Mariana frowned at herself in the mirror. “You mean hipster. And I do,” she groaned.
“You should go before I realize what a bad idea this is,” TS said ruefully.
After a quick review of the plan and some tense goodbyes, Jen and Mariana left. Thomas flopped onto the bed next to TS with a groan that sound part-stressed, part-pained. TS whined softly and nuzzled him, before putting his head down heavily on his paws.
“I think I’m going to get back in the shower,” Danio said. “Why don’t you get some sleep, Charlie?”
“Even if I was planning on not sitting with you, there’s no way I’ll fall asleep until someone comes back.” I honestly couldn’t tell if I would be happier if the labyrinth was open and Mariana returned alone to report Jen had entered safely or if the two of them came back unharmed together.
Dani shrugged agreeably, but as he turned to go into the bathroom, I saw him try to surreptitiously wipe a drop of blood away from his nose.
“Danio!” I gasped.
He winced, then waved me off. “I’m fine, it’s not coming from anywhere serious, just my nose.”
I fought back a flare of irritation and
followed him into the bathroom. He turned on the water, then sprawled out on the floor of the shower, looking, like he always did, perfectly comfortable, no matter where he chose to sit.
“Are you okay?” I asked, sitting down as close to the shower as I could.
“It’s just my nose, really.”
“My arm still hurts a lot,” I confessed, “and the rest of my body is sore as heck.”
“I mean, yeah… I could be better. I’m just uncomfortable, not mortally wounded.”
“If you’re getting cold feet about the wedding, please just tell me instead of dying.”
Danio chuckled at my bad joke, then naturally made a worse one. “I’m a water elemental, my feet are frequently cold. Besides, we haven’t even set a date yet. Not that I plan on having second thoughts then, either,” he added softly, flashing me a small smile. “You’re kind of stuck with me.”
“Good.” I wanted to leave it at that, but as my thoughts turned a little morbid, I blurted, “I can’t lose you.”
He swished the water off one arm, then reached out to take my hand. “I’m not going anywhere, C. I promise.”
“I know,” I whispered, forcing a smile. “You just… you tend to find trouble.”
Danio laughed and gave my hand a squeeze. “Not all the time. I found you.”
“I’m a fire elemental,” I protested. “I think that’s the definition of trouble when a water elemental is involved.”
“There are worse kinds of magics for a water elemental to be involved with.”
“I guess I am a step up from an electric elemental,” I said.
“Several steps, if you ask me.”
I grinned at him. “I’m going to tell him you said that.”
“Oh, please don’t. I’ve been zapped more than enough times.”
He flicked a tiny drop of water at me as he spoke. It was cold, but not nearly enough water to cause anything more than a brief tickle. Sometimes I wished I could join him in the water. Then again – I clenched my fingers tighter around his – at least I didn’t have to avoid even touching his skin, like an electric elemental did.
We sat in silence for a moment as I idly rubbed one finger along his. As soon as the thought crossed my mind though, I spoke up.
Rise of the Arcanist Series: Books 1 - 6 Page 35