Magic Nights (9 page)

His buddies snickered.

He smacked them. “Charms?” he asked Sera. “Just what are you expecting, sweetheart? A sonnet?”

“What did you call me?” Sera demanded, fury frosting her tongue as she stepped toward the bars.

His grin returned. “Sweetheart.”

Magic roared inside of Sera, crashing against the barrier she’d created.

“She’s rough,” said the pirate who’d licked his lips at Naomi. “Not soft like the fairy.” He waved at Naomi. “Hey, fairy.”

In a blur of speed, Naomi drew her knife and launched it through the bars at the pirate. She stared cooly down at his body, watching it expel its final twitch. “Sorry, not my type.”

“Nice aim,” Sera said, straining against her bubbling magic.

“Thank you.”

As the pirates glowered at them, Sera’s control finally snapped. Magic roared inside of her, crashing against the barrier she’d created. She didn’t fight it, didn’t try to stop it. No, she encouraged it. Stoked it. She thrust her hands through the bars, grabbing the pirate by the collar. Ignoring the burn of iron and the splitting agony of fifty magical auras slamming against her, she smashed him against the bars. Ice blasted out of her hands, shooting through his chest. She released him, and he crumpled to the ground.

The final remaining pirate gaped at her, shock crackling through his magic. And fear. Lots of fear.

Sera shrugged at him. “He called me sweetheart.”

Naomi came up behind her. “Only one man is allowed to call her that.”

The pirate stepped away from the bars. Away from Sera. Like he was afraid she’d ice him too.

“You’re going to have to back way up if you want to get out of my range,” Sera told him, allowing tendrils of gold lightning to slither up her arms.

He took another step back. He looked like he might run for it. Sera smacked him with a wave of lightning. It rippled across his body in tiny golden strands. His radio puffed out smoke in protest, the scent of melting plastic and metal stinging her nose. The pirate’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the floor.

“Oops.” Sera rubbed her head. Sweat trickled down her neck, and her head was roaring in protest. It felt like a stampede of horses was ripping through it. The mother of all migraines was brewing inside of her. The iron had finally caught up to her.

“You ok?”

Sera reversed her magic again, blocking out all the magic in the room. “Fine. I had to use magic to get rid of some of those pirates.”

Naomi grinned. “Knives work too.”

“True.”

“So icing Mr. Smirks was all part of a plan?” Naomi asked. “You weren’t really angry at him?”

“Oh, I was furious. But I worked with it. Now let’s find your sisters.”

They walked through the doorless archway to the larger room in the back. Sera scoured the clusters of huddled children. She identified two familiar heads right away, one raven-haired, one with curls of red-gold. “There.”

Ivy and Ruby jumped up and rushed over, embracing their sister.

“Are you two hurt?” Naomi asked them.

Ivy shook her head. “No.”

“We’re ok,” Ruby added sheepishly.

“Good.” Fury flared up in Naomi’s eyes. “Now you will tell me what insanity possessed you two to come here and take on a band of pirates.”

“You came here too,” Ruby muttered.

“I am trained to fight monsters and criminals. You are not,” Naomi snapped, channeling her mother. Cora was right. She and Celeste were more alike than either of them realized. “What you did was reckless and stupid, and if we weren’t all stuck in this cage—”

“But we
are
stuck in this cage,” Ivy cut in. “You too. The pirates got you too.”

Naomi shot her a look that could have vaporized an iceberg. “We are professionals. We have a plan. We’re going to get everyone off this accursed island. But first, tell me if there’s a boy named Jacob here.”

Ruby nodded, her red curls bouncing against her shoulders. “Yeah, he’s over there in the corner.”

“Ok,” Naomi said. “I want you two to go sit with him.”

“Why?”

“Because I told you to. When the time comes for us to make our escape, it’s your job to make sure he gets out. Got it?”

They nodded.

“Good. Now go.”

“Do you really have a plan?” Ivy asked.

“Of course,” Naomi told her, her words tinted with impatience. “We always have a plan.”

Her sisters nodded, apparently appeased. As they walked toward a young boy with a red dinosaur t-shirt, Naomi leaned in closer to Sera and muttered, “We do have a plan, don’t we?”

Sera glanced at the bars over the window. Beyond the bars, a magic barrier glowed a sinister shade of red. If she could get past the bars and the glass
and
the magic barrier, the opening should be large enough for a person to crawl through. The kids would need a boost. And maybe it would be a good idea not to have them crawl over broken glass.

“The plan’s a work in progress,” she told Naomi as heavy boots thumped to a stop outside the bars. “There’s another pirate outside. Do you think you could go work your magic on him before he raises the alarm?”

“Of course,” she said and put on a disarming smile as she strutted toward him.

Sera hurried toward the window. First up were the iron bars.
You think you can handle this part?
she asked her dragon.
My head’s still splitting from icing that pirate.

Her dragon grinned inside her mind.
You didn’t bring any corrosive solutions along?

No,
Sera replied. It took her a few moments to remember the conversation her dragon was referring to.
So, I take it you agree with Kai’s strategy for breaking iron bars?

Nah, I’m more subtle than that. But Riley is
too
subtle. I have a better idea.
The top edges of the bars began to smoke.
By the way, you should have had me handle the pirates. Remember, the iron doesn’t affect me since I don’t have a body.

We should do something about that. I’m pretty sure dragons are supposed to have a body.

Or really? Where did you hear that?

Sera shrugged.
I think I read it in a comic book once.

I don’t know. I think maybe you just need to shift into a dragon.
She grinned.
Your boyfriend would love that.

You should be worrying more about those bars than about my love life.

I can do both. See? Already half done.

The bars groaned and split from the inside rim of the window. Steam rose from the bottom edges of the bars. The air smelled of burning metal. Hopefully, the stench hadn’t reached the pirate in the other room. Or he was too distracted to notice. Sera leaned back, stealing a peek at her friend’s progress. The new pirate had wandered close to the bars, and from the look in his eyes, Naomi already had him wrapped around her little finger.

“No, I’m not sure why he passed out,” she was telling him. “All I did was smile at him.”

“Does that happen often to you, honey?”

“Yes, it does, if you can believe that.”

“Oh, I can believe it.” The pirate gave her a dopey grin. “You have beautiful smile. They probably just got a bit too excited. And they were hitting the rum pretty hard tonight.”

Naomi giggled. “Say, this is a pretty impressive place. Real big,” she cooed. “I sure would like a tour.” She batted her magically-lengthened eyelashes at him.

“I’d love to, darling, but I’m afraid the Captain wouldn’t allow it.”

“Shame.”

His gaze caught on her pouted lips. “But I could ask him.” He shot her a sappy grin. “For you.”

She winked at him. “As long as you’re the one to give the tour.”

“Eh…I…um…”

“What are you boys doing out here anyway? Angel Island is dangerous. Haunted.”

“We’re protected.”

Her eyebrows arched together. “Oh?”

Your bars are ready,
Sera’s dragon announced.

Thanks.

Sera pulled on the first of the wobbling bars, jostling it loose. She repeated the motion with all the others. It was a good thing they didn’t make much noise. And that the guard was too busy drooling at Naomi to notice anyway.

Do you think you can melt the glass too?

You don’t ask for much, do you?
her dragon groused, but she set to work anyway. Heat bathed the window pane.

“We’re collecting the hybrids for a fellow named Darksire,” the guard was telling Naomi. “He’s the one who gave us spells to protect against the spirits here.”

“Darksire? As in Darksire the Destroyer? The Harbinger of the Black Death? The dark fairy who killed roughly half of Europe’s population in the 14
th
century?”

“I thought that was rats,” said the pirate.

“Nope. It was Darksire.”

“Oh. In any case, yes. He introduced himself as Darksire the Destroyer.”

Naomi paled. “I thought he was dead.”

The pirate shrugged.

“And what does this Darksire want with the children?” Naomi asked him.

“Don’t know. Don’t really care.”

Naomi frowned, the enchantment she’d woven over him splitting a crack. The pirate shook his head, as though throwing off a dream.

“Look, hon. We’re getting a lot of money and magic out of this deal, enough for us to take over all of Angel Island. Very soon we will be the island’s only residents. The Princes of Twilight are expanding.” He looked at her, the corner of his lip quirking up. “We might be looking for new members.”

“I’m not sure I’d fit in.”

So, anyway, your glass is done.

Great.
Sera scoured the windowsill for glass bits but found none.

I dissolved the glass particles against that magic barrier. It seemed to appreciate the offering. It glowed a particularly nasty shade of blood-red as it chomped down on them.

Let’s see how it likes what I have to offer it next.

You’re going to blast it, aren’t you?

Of course. What else?

Her dragon snickered.
No wonder you and Kai get along so well.

Sera made a loop around the room, gathering the children to the window. When that magic barrier went down, it would do so with a bang. They all had to be ready to run. Once the children had gathered, Sera went to go check on Naomi’s progress.

“How did you know we were coming?” Naomi asked the guard.

“Oh, that.” He motioned for her to come in closer, but when she did, he didn’t even bother to drop his voice. Naomi had muddled his mind up nice and good. “We used that drug guy. The one with the Fairy Lily.”

“Wait, you mean Cloud?”

The pirate nodded. “That’s the one. Apparently, he’s having a bit of a supply issue. The Fairy Lily only grows on Fairy Island, and that hippy who rules there refuses to give him enough plants to meet the needs of the drug-addicted mages of San Francisco’s magic dynasties. So we promised him Fairy Island if he helped us locate hybrids in the city. Fairy Island is more complicated to take. But so full of hybrid blood. So far, we haven’t been able to get there. Magic is blocking us. Powerful spells. For months, Cloud has been sabotaging the magical defenses protecting the island, all under the pretense of strengthening them.”

So that’s what Celeste had meant when she’d said she had extra help with the island’s defenses.

“Those hippies are so trusting,” the pirate said. “So stupid. Soon, we will invade. Those tree-hugging fools won’t stand a chance against us. They abhor violence. They probably don’t even know which end of a weapon to hold.”

He prattled on happily, completely unaware that Naomi was glowering at him. He didn’t even notice Sera walk up beside her.

“We’re ready to go,” she told Naomi. “You ok?”

“Yeah.” Her laugh cracked with bitterness. “It figured that as soon as the guy got interesting, it turns out he’s evil.” She sighed, then turned toward the pirate. “Does Cloud know he’s going to be screwed out of this deal?”

He laughed. “Oh, you’re a smart one, aren’t you? No, he doesn’t suspect. As though we would just hand him an island that’s the sole source of Fairy Lily in the region. Do you know how much that stuff sells for? And there are at least a dozen other plants of similar worth on that island. The Captain would never give up Fairy Island.”

“Of course not,” Naomi said. “But I wonder if your captain knows… oh, never mind. He probably doesn’t. And I’d hate to spread bad news.”

“Bad news?” Concern plagued the pirate’s brow, crinkling up his forehead. “What doesn’t the Captain know?”

Naomi stepped up to the bars. “That you’re all going to be screwed out of Angel Island.”

He blinked. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Even the Magic Council, the most powerful supernaturals in the world, haven’t found a way to easily take back Angel Island. It won’t be taken over by someone else. Not even Darksire. You will not get your prize.”

The guard dropped his mouth, then closed it. “You’re just trying to turn me against the others.” He frowned at her. “It won’t work.”

Naomi shrugged, then blasted a shot of Fairy Dust through the bars. It hit him in the face, pouring through his gaping mouth.

“You’re right, I was trying to turn you against them,” she told the sleeping pirate on the floor. “But that doesn’t mean what I said isn’t true.”

Sera squeezed her shoulder, then ran back to the window. Time to leave before more guards came. “Is everyone ready to get out of here?”

The children murmured their assent.

“Good.”

Sera thrust out her hands, sending a ball of elemental mayhem at the barrier. The barrier moaned in protest, then shattered, the collapse of magic rocking the whole building.

“Naomi, you first,” Sera said. “Check to make sure the coast is clear.”

Naomi kicked up the wall and slid herself through the opening. A moment later, her head appeared in the window. She shot Sera a big thumbs up, then cleared out of the way. The children squeezed through the window one-by-one, more orderly than Sera had expected.

With every second that dripped by, she was sure the pirates would storm into the room to stop them, but it wasn’t until they were all running down the hill toward the shore that she caught sight of the Princes of Twilight. Sera led the children through a small grove, away from the pirates.