Perilous Waters (10 page)

Ethan stopped. “Here,” he cried, spinning around in the water. “I sense them.” He took a breath and dove.

“Illuminate,” Angie cried before he was out of sight. Ethan’s form glowed bright white. She repeated the spell for herself, Kaitlyn, and Julia before speeding after Ethan. “Hold tight, Kaitlyn. We’re going under on my count. Ready?” She didn’t wait for an answer, counting to three and diving down. Kaitlyn’s hold on her would likely leave bruises. Angie didn’t let it slow her, following the blaze of white light that sank to dizzying depths beneath the time-frozen ocean.

Pressure built in Angie’s lungs. She glanced behind her, hoping Julia followed, but Julia had always lacked strength. Her glow was far enough away to cause her worry. Kaitlyn’s nails dug into her shoulders and Angie kicked harder, willing herself to follow after Ethan, but Kaitlyn started pulling at her hair. Ethan had gone too deep. She didn’t think she could follow after. Her kicking became spastic as her body choked on its need for oxygen.

Kaitlyn formed the magic between them.
Turn back, turn back,
Kaitlyn begged through their connection. Angie’s heart plummeted. She would have to. Her lungs and mind screamed in unison, matching Kaitlyn’s frantic pleas.

Kaitlyn’s arms grasped at her body, wrapping around her as she began thrashing. With a kick of frustration, Angie changed direction, pumping her legs toward the surface. The thought of leaving Brian and Ethan in the depths of the sea to face creatures alone made her sick to her stomach.

But a girl appeared in front of her.

Golden light spilled from her body, leaving a trail of glimmers behind her as she reached out with both hands.

Angie blinked at the girl, vaguely aware that Kaitlyn had loosened her grip. Despite the frozen world, she felt warmth. An alarm raced through her thoughts as she realized she no longer felt the need to breathe.

She glanced back at Kaitlyn, who looked on with wide, green eyes. Kaitlyn spun in a slow circle, surrounded by her black, floating hair that wrapped her bare midriff like a dark ribbon. She placed a hand on Angie’s arm, forming the magic between them. Even before their connection solidified, Angie could sense that she wasn’t afraid.

I can swim,
Kaitlyn said.
I’ve never been able to swim before.

The mergirl beckoned them. Kaitlyn moved ahead, but Angie held her.
Wait. What about Julia?

They both glanced back. Julia’s form grew closer. She pointed at the mergirl excitedly, and Angie nodded. This must be the girl Julia had mentioned before.

They followed as the mergirl swam gracefully backwards. She faced them with undisguised curiosity, as if they were all new toys she would play with. Kaitlyn reached for her and the mergirl smiled, allowing Kaitlyn to touch her arm before spinning and swimming away, descending to the golden light shining beyond the darkness.

Angie’s desire to follow nearly overwhelmed her. Tendrils of gold reached up from a dome of light below them. She had no thought for how deep they were going, or what they might find when they reached their destination. She only knew that beyond the dark, velvety descent, something called to her. She was powerless now, unable to stop herself from seeking out the golden light.

The girl urged them forward as soft, high-pitched sounds echoed across the water; gentle noises that reminded Angie of faraway squeals of joy. She wanted to meet whoever made the endearing sounds. She swam toward them.

The girl beckoned, her golden, light-bedecked hair billowing down to conceal her bare body like a veil. The tilt of her head and expectant eyes tugged at Angie’s heart. She followed, not surprised to find Kaitlyn and Julia doing the same.

They reached a place where the golden light amassed, forming an enormous, glowing sun beneath the surface. The mergirl dove directly into it. Angie followed after, knowing without looking back that the other girls did the same.

Passing through the light filled every cell in Angie’s body with energy. Her magic sang as it coursed through her body, the world blazed with a gold so bright she squinted as her feet found solid ground. She breathed deeply as air, not water, touched her skin.

She sank to her knees and took several great breaths, blinking to clear her vision. The golden light formed a barrier between them and the ocean. She twisted around to see Kaitlyn and Julia, both of them dripping wet, staring with wide eyes. Their gazes flitted across the strange space. Kaitlyn stood, her legs visibly trembling, but her chin lifted as she inched near Julia and Angie.

Angie glanced around the room, finding the area beyond them divided into hallways, with stairs that spiraled down and away, and others that led up, all branching out from this golden room.

Movement caught her eyes. She swallowed, seawater dripping over her lips. This room was filled with people… who were not quite people.

She braced her hands on the smooth, marble floor in front of her, staring at the people as they closed in on them. A few of them shielded their naked bodies with seaweed and seashells, but most wore nothing at all, or used glimmering objects from the sea as one might wear jewelry, not to hide their bodies but to enhance their beauty. Fine scales covered their skin, and their hair ranged from red to gold to aqua and deep, navy blue. And all of them were perfect… beautiful in a way that made it hard to look at their faces for long without feeling her heart ache from the loveliness. “Nymphs,” she whispered. “Oceanids.”

She tried to think over what she knew about nymphs, but the creatures of Mythos who hadn’t been cast into the nether had long since stopped interacting with humans. Little had been passed down about any type of nymph, much less ocean nymphs, other than the fact that they steered clear of the affairs of humans.

The golden sea nymph who had helped them approached, tilting her head. Her lips parted and she made a sound like a song. The highs and lows blended together, her eyes beseeching. Angie shook her head. “Comprehend,” she whispered, searching the nymph’s mind for understanding, but her power didn’t form.

Her heart jolted. “Comprehend,” she repeated, holding out her hands, but her mark remained unchanged. Instead of blazing white with the power of the Fates, the pale, gold-toned symbols remained motionless on her flesh in delicate swirls surrounding a small moon.

She reached for Julia, who blinked at the abrupt contact, but their connection didn’t form.

Angie withdrew, wondering why the anomaly didn’t cause her any alarm. “No… magic,” she finally said.

Julia remained on the floor, resting back on her hands. “Really?” She held out one palm. “Illuminate.” When nothing happened, she lowered her hand. “Huh. Weird.”

“Something is wrong with us,” Kaitlyn said, her voice slow and devoid of its usual acidity. “Not just the fact that we have no magic.”

The nymph shook her head and began a new melody. If Angie listened carefully, her song seemed almost apologetic. She faced the nymph. “You can understand us, even though we don’t understand you?” The nymph nodded and Angie thought for a moment, struggling to keep her mind on track. “Do you know of the Daughters of Fate?”

The nymph sang a soft song in reply. Angie shut her eyes a moment, her brows knitting together. “We can’t use Comprehend,” she said, her lashes lifting. “Or any of our powers.”

“But why?” Kaitlyn asked.

“We might be in a Timeway.” She pursed her lips, finding it difficult to recall much of the knowledge she had spent her life learning about. “I think… if this is a Timeway, magic doesn’t work here the way it normally does. Time doesn’t, either.”

Kaitlyn shook her head, her brows knitting beneath locks of wet hair. “Timeway?”

Julia shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I’m drawing a lot more blanks than usual.”

“So am I, come to think of it,” Angie murmured.

The nymph’s brow puckered. She beckoned with her hand and walked away from the room with the golden light.

“One thing’s for sure,” Julia said. “We’re magically blocked.”

“So… pretty much screwed,” Kaitlyn said.

Julia gave her double thumbs-up. “Bingo,” Julia said. “Why aren’t we more bummed about this?”

“I don’t know. Let’s see where the nymph leads us,” Angie said. “They might have Brian.”

Julia stood. “And Ethan, too.”

Angie rose to her feet, but her lids fluttered at a sudden wave of dizziness. She took a few deep breaths to clear her mind. What was the matter with them? Why weren’t they racing through the hallways looking for Brian and Ethan? Why wasn’t she overwhelmed with concern over David, who would be defenseless up on the sand until they unfroze time? She should be more concerned about having no magic. She should counting things to steady her mind and tapping her fingers along her thigh to soothe herself, but the light coated her skin and seeped into her very essence… warming her… reassuring her. She rested her palm against her temple and shook her head, as if that would free it from its sluggish state.

“There is something about this golden light… something almost hypnotic.” She only knew that trusting this—this nymph—felt absolutely natural. Everything would be all right.

They followed the nymph’s lead as she took them away from the central room and into an alcove. Rather than walls of golden light, the rest of the enclosed space had transparent walls that showed a clear picture of the sea beyond. Angie avoided touching the strange surface as they hurried forward, worried that it might be fragile like the walls of a bubble. What if one touch burst the entire segment and flooded them with seawater?

Julia didn’t seem to share the same concern. “Cool,” she whispered, reaching her hand toward the wall.

“Wait—” Angie cried, but Julia’s fingers already brushed along the clear membrane.

“It’s so soft,” Julia said.

Angie’s worry still hovered at the edge of her mind as she watched the pliant surface give beneath the trail of Julia’s fingers. What if Julia pushed too hard? “Be careful,” she warned, glancing behind her and realizing the room of golden light was no longer within view. She was no longer influenced by its strange, calming spell. Her own worries and concerns welled in her mind. The weight of the entire ocean bore down on her, and she began tapping her fingers against one another, the calming rhythm helping to steady her runaway thoughts.

The nymph turned a corner, her hair falling in incredible locks of curling gold with glints of copper, well past her thighs. They sped beyond an open room with cushions strewn about the floor. Nymphs lounged upon them, their slanted eyes growing wide as the girls entered. Haunting songs rose and fell, questioning and curious in tone.

She and the girls raced to keep up, rushing past another open room with more cushions. Low tables with food were set throughout. Onward they went, up a staircase until the nymph’s hurried pace came to a halt. Upstairs, a corridor rounded a large pool with a trickling fountain in the center. The circular hallway housed doorways, each one curtained by streams of gauzy cloth that looked like woven silk. The mergirl advanced to the centermost doorway. The curtain fell in soft, pale strands of cream and gold. She brushed aside the curtain of cascading material, a slight glow leaving her fingertips as they made contact.

Behind the curtain, Ethan’s silver eyes peered at them from beneath his shag of drying black hair.

“Ethan.” Julia rushed ahead. Angie felt a pang of sympathy for her friend, watching as she skidded to a stop before reaching him, shoving her hands behind her back. “Is-is Brian okay?”

His eyes tensed. “I don’t know.” He returned his gaze to his brother, who lay stretched out on a bed of cushions. His chest moved rapidly. On his right side, a gash opened his leg. Despite the pool of crimson beneath it, the wound didn’t cause Angie worry until she saw the black lines curving beneath the surface of his skin.

Scylla venom.

~ Chapter 8 ~

Julia

Julia’s
breath caught at the sight of Brian lying unconscious on the satiny cushions.

She didn’t think. She didn’t hesitate. “Restore,” she said, holding her palms out, but no light formed… no magic burned through her veins or warmed her blood.

“No magic,” Angie said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Remember?”

Julia’s fingers curled against her palms. “Then, how are we going to help him?” Julia’s throat became tighter with each word. “How does being here do any good at all?” She turned from Angie in frustration and watched Brian. Her heart beat as though it would explode. “We need to get out of here. Brian needs healing and we have no way to help him unless we can use Restore.”

Angie’s fingers began the twitchy, tappy thing they did whenever she was worried.

The nymph stepped forward, her voice echoing like a song.

Angie’s face fell. “I can’t understand you. I’m sorry.”

The nymph’s lips formed a soft, disappointed pout. She spun around and pointed to Brian, kneeling beside him and motioning toward the dark, vine-like marks beneath his skin.

“Scylla venom?” Angie asked. At the nymph’s emphatic nodding, Angie added. “Our magic can’t help him, even if we were to try.”

The nymph sighed, pressing her fingers to her temple.

“Venom,” Julia cried. “He isn’t… he won’t…” she couldn’t bring herself to say the words lodged in her chest.

“Their venom doesn’t kill,” Ethan said, his voice gravelly and his eyes downcast. “But it may as well.”

“Oh no,” Julia moaned, remembering the vision she had seen in Angie’s basement. Brian had become a monster, but she hadn’t believed it could happen. He had never been mixed up with the magic before. “The venom will turn him Scylla.”

“Scylla,” Kaitlyn murmured. “Are those the ones with claws and seaweed hair and a mouthful of fangs?”

Julia’s heart pounded like it would break her ribcage open. “If Brian turns into one—”

Angie cut her off in a hushed tone, her gaze flitting to Ethan. “We will find a way to save him.”

“We have to,” Kaitlyn added, her eyes narrowing on Brian’s unconscious form. Her whisper hissed against Julia’s ear, making her flinch as she continued. “Do you realize the advantage the Sorceress will have if she takes Ethan’s brother? Ethan will never fight him, and our power can’t kill creatures.”