Authors: Mia Marshall
“Explain.”
Instead of speaking, Vivian punched another button to pull up a photo. Sera stood next to me, still refusing to sit. Together, we stared at a picture we’d never seen before.
It was a scanned photo of a small sailboat, taken by someone standing on the dock as it pulled out of the harbor. One woman hoisted the sails while the other sat in the boat’s stern, watching the land recede. Both their faces were alight with joy. I didn’t recognize the one doing the work. She had blond hair and blue-green eyes and looked like a strong beach, maybe even a full.
I’d hadn’t met the woman at the railing, but I didn’t need to be told who she was. Her skin was a lighter shade of bronze than some fires, due to being half human, but her hair was a wild mass of curls and her eyes turned up at the corners like the woman standing next to me. Sera’s mom wore a v-neck sundress with oversized flowers on the skirt, and the other had flared white pants with a patterned wrap top. The photo had yellowed with time.
“Viv, when was this photo taken?” The words were strangled.
Vivian’s eyes were too soft, too full of pity. “According to Josiah’s notes, 1973. Two days before her death. Her official death, that is.”
Sera said nothing, but two seats near Mac burst into flames.
Miriam sauntered to the front of the bus. She grabbed the fire extinguisher and doused the flames as casually as she would water plants.
I watched Sera, hoping the entire bus wouldn’t explode when Vivian answered my next question. I reached for my fire side, just in case. “Is she still alive?”
Vivian didn’t stammer or hesitate. “I can’t say. I only know that she didn’t die when you were told she did.”
Tiny sparks flew from Sera’s fingers faster than any Fourth of July firework. “How is this possible? I went to her funeral. I was there when the body was lowered into the volcano to rest with her ancestors. She was dead.”
Vivian pressed a key. “I didn’t find her by searching for Aidan’s cure.” She said nothing more, letting us put the pieces together ourselves.
It was another photo, this time of a woman with gray eyes and curly brown hair. She leaned against a railing with a close-mouthed smile. A small boy with slate gray eyes and brown hair stood next to her, face somber. Two stone elementals in a family portrait.
The truth was right in front of me, but I didn’t want to acknowledge it. He couldn’t have. Yes, his morals were flexible, but this would have been a step too far, even for him.
“The boy in the car,” Simon murmured.
It was a photo of David, taken years before. The stone I’d murdered. The man who claimed Josiah killed his mother. The man who’d hated my father since he was ten years old, hated him so much he spent decades following Josiah, trying to find any weakness that would allow him to kill the oldest fire in the world.
The same man who told my father that he was “the boy in the car” right before he stabbed him.
It shouldn’t have been true. No one would do that to an innocent. Even Josiah wouldn’t protect his daughter if it meant ruining another child’s life.
Except we both knew better. Josiah would have wiped out a continent to protect his children.
The stone was the right height, and her build was similar. Like fires, stones were muscular, if not as curvy. Her hair was lighter, but a bit of dye would have sorted that out quickly. If she was disfigured in a horrible accident…
Miriam rejoined us and studied the photos. “Vivian, how the hell did she die?”
Vivian didn’t have a chance to speak before Sera bit out the answer. “Her car drove over a cliff. Near the volcano, right?”
Vivian waited. She didn’t contradict anything Sera said.
“And David was in the backseat. He watched Josiah take his mother, because my father needed a corpse to bury. He murdered her and destroyed her son, then hid it from me my entire life. The fucking bastard.” The last words burst from her, each syllable a small explosion. She paced up and down the aisle, the movement growing faster and more agitated. “How do I find out if she’s alive, Viv?”
“The last time anyone saw her, she was headed for the first’s island. You’ll need to start there.”
Sera didn’t need any more information. She spun around and took long strides to the front of the bus. “Move.”
Mac’s shifter ears had picked up the entire conversation, and he didn’t argue. He barely managed to pull the bus to the side of the road before she tugged at his arm, demanding he move from the driver’s seat. As soon as Sera took his place, she pressed the accelerator to the floor. The engine groaned in protest, but even it couldn’t resist Sera’s will. Tires squealed as we pulled onto the road, leaving black rubber behind.
I kept my voice low, though I doubted Sera even heard the rest of our conversation. All her attention was focused on a small island thousands of miles away.
“How is Sera’s mom connected to the first?”
“This folder is all about Helen Blais, from about a year before her supposed death. There are notes from investigators, photos, that sort of thing. Josiah was paranoid, but this time it was justified. She planned to leave him.”
Vivian showed me another photo, this one of her mother sitting at a cafe with the blond woman. Their heads were bent together, as if they didn’t wish to be overheard. Another showed them on a park bench. They were intimate pictures, but they looked more like two women who shared a secret than shared a bed.
“What are we supposed to be seeing?” Mac asked. He’d moved next to me. I welcomed the solid warmth of his body. It felt wrong to be comforted while Sera’s world was unravelling, but I was okay with wrong when it came in a Mac-shaped package.
“Nothing, yet.” She swiped the trackpad, and a handwritten note appeared. The ink had faded, but it was still legible. It was addressed to Sera’s mom.
Helen, I cannot believe I’m writing this at last, but I found proof. The first magics do exist, and I’ve found one. It’s so close! Only two days by boat. We can witness this miracle and return before anyone notices we’re gone! Tell Josiah and Sera you’re visiting family on Oahu. I will wait for your response. Kathy.
It was dated a week before Sera’s mom officially died in a car accident.
“But why would he lie?” I asked. “Why not tell Sera her mother left? Many parents try to protect their kids from grief, but his solution was unthinkable.”
I slid my fingers through Mac’s hand, gripping his palm. He held me as tightly, as if afraid I might slip away.
“I didn’t know Josiah well,” he said, “but I don’t think he’d have protected Sera from the grief of her mother leaving. Wouldn’t that still be better than believing she died? He might even like being the ‘good’ parent in her eyes, the one who stuck around.”
“Then what…” I didn’t need to finish.
Josiah was making sure Sera never went looking for her mother. Never followed her.
Sera’s mom and her friend had willingly traveled to the island for a short visit. As far as we knew, they hadn’t returned.
And we were about to do the same thing.
CHAPTER 11
“N
o.” Simon stared at the immense metal beast rising above him. I thought I actually saw his hackles rise. “Not again.”
“Only way across the ocean.”
“Airplane.” He spoke the word with absolute certainty, as though I’d asked him the sum of two plus two, a question to which there was only one possible answer.
I wished he was right. I’d rather be at the airport than watching a container ship load in Long Beach, California.
Flying would be a hell of a lot faster, and while I dreaded what waited for us in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, any further delay could cost us dearly. Sera had parceled out the drug as much as she could, filling four syringes with a few drops each. We’d run out of time.
Vivian stood next to Simon, studying the vessel with only a little less dread. Just as waters weren’t overly fond of the desert and fires didn’t vacation in the Arctic Circle, earths would find pretty much any excuse to avoid boats—particularly when the boat wouldn’t be near land for the next five days.
“We can’t fly.” She’d already said this, but Vivian needed to remind herself. “Even if we were willing to risk a connection, it would be stupid to break into the TSA’s system. If I left any footprint behind in the current political climate, deleted footage would raise too many eyebrows. And that other hacker… he’s good. If we fly openly, he’ll find us.”
I’d never heard Vivian express doubt before. A week ago, she would have scoffed at the idea of being caught or outmaneuvered. If I ever met that blue-shirted bastard, I’d give him my nastiest look. Then, when he started laughing, I’d ask Miriam to beat him up.
Sera strode down the gangway, returning from her discussion with the captain. Her movements were even more determined than usual, her eyes more intent.
“Did you figure it out?” I called when she was within earshot.
“Yeah. He’s got a couple of no shows. If the captain sticks us in their cabins, he can keep us off the books, which means he also gets to keep all our money. I do mean all our money, too. If the agents hadn’t arranged that nice anonymous transfer, we’d be screwed. I was only able to keep a hundred or so.”
“One-way trip, then?”
The question had multiple meanings, and Sera ignored the scarier one. “My family has a small armada. They won’t notice if we take a few.”
Simon hadn’t moved his eyes from the ship. He seemed to think, if he stared at it hard enough, it might transform into a plane or perhaps an especially long bridge.
“A week surrounded by the ocean on that… thing, and then we transfer to smaller boats? I do not plan to speak to any of you for the foreseeable future.”
“It’s not an issue. You’re not going.” I didn’t realize I’d made the decision until I spoke, but as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized it was the only possible choice.
They yelled at me simultaneously, voices rising to be heard over each other. Together, they accused me of being stubborn, of trying to handle too much on my own, of refusing their help. Miriam added a few anatomically impossible suggestions for what I could do with that particular idea.
“She’s right,” Sera said. “It’s too dangerous. You’re not going.”
Mac already stood next to me, but at her words he wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
Sera rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. You have a ticket, Mac.”
Vivian’s fingers curled into fists. “You already made the decision for the rest of us?”
For as long as I’d known her, Vivian didn’t get mad. At most, she became a bit peeved. Watching her face darken, I thought this trip might have pushed her over the edge.
She continued to glare at us. “I’m here because I wanted to be with you and help however I can. Don’t you dare take that choice away from me.”
“You’re not thinking, Brook.” Miriam said. “Are you really planning on infiltrating the home of some homicidal magic bitch without Simon’s spy skills? Or maybe an otter who can sneak onto shore in a way no boat can?” She glared at me, trying to force her words into my thick skull. “Plus, sailors have nothing to do but gamble. Give me a week, and we’ll be flush. I might also be a happier woman after a week with sailors.”
I hesitated. Her libido aside, there was truth to Miriam’s words.
It didn’t matter. I couldn’t shake the memory of that mass grave. The image had woven itself into the tapestry of my nightmares. When I’d slept the night before, I dreamed of bodies rising from the pit, begging me to help them even as I smothered them with flames.
If anything like that waited for us on the island, my friends needed to stay behind. I couldn’t risk their lives, not if there was another option.
“You weren’t there. You didn’t see, didn’t feel…” I struggled to express the terror that had overcome me at the first’s touch. I didn’t think there were words in our language that could capture such fear. “We were her puppets, her fuel, her playthings, and if I hadn’t figured out a new way to use my power, Mac and I would be dead.”
Vivian lifted her chin. I’d forgotten how stubborn earths could be once they’d made up their minds. “It’s my choice.”
Sera grabbed Vivian’s bag from the bus and chucked it to her. “I arranged your passage, Viv. You’re coming.”
Vivian and I wore matching surprised expressions.
“She has to,” Sera reminded me. “The council has seen her with us. She’s an elemental and subject to our rules, including the one where she gets locked up for a hundred years for helping you. You want her to share a cell with your mom and grandma?”
Sera understood exactly what button to push. It was horrible enough that I could do nothing to free my family. I wouldn’t allow Vivian to suffer the same fate.
My earth friend swung the bag onto her shoulder. “I’m defenseless on my own. I wouldn’t have a chance if they came for me.” She sounded almost happy about that.
I grumbled something that might be interpreted as acknowledgement of Sera’s point. Vivian had thrown her lot in with us, and we needed to protect her—though taking her toward a homicidal creature seemed an odd way to do that.
“Besides,” Sera added, “if they catch Vivian, you’ll have another reason to feel guilty. I’m already bored of your martyr complex.” Her expression was bland, daring me to take offense. “You need a new schtick.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my schtick,” I muttered.
“That’s what he said.” Miriam waggled her eyebrows. “Now, if we’re done being serious, let’s get our asses on that boat.”
“You and Simon aren’t going. That’s final.” I said. “Before you all accuse me of being stubborn, well, shut up. More people at risk means more I need to worry about—and more chances for me to lose control. You’d be in danger if you went, but so would I, because I’d flip out if anything happened to you. Also, you’re needed in Tahoe. The council is threatening our friends. We can’t leave them to fend for themselves, not when we caused this mess. And you know the agents will be lucky if even one shifter takes them seriously.”
They wanted to argue, but for once I’d used actual logic.
“Good.” I felt the weight of responsibility lift. “Simon, contact the bears and mountain lions when you get home. Carmen is stubborn, but Will should listen. They’re going to want to fight the elementals, so remind them how powerful the old ones are. Anything weird happens, make a note and fill us in later. There probably won’t be cell reception on the island, so we’ll be out of touch for a while.”
No one spoke. They were too busy looking really depressed.
“We’ll see each other soon,” I insisted.
“What about me?” Luke stood apart from us, leaning against the hood of the school bus with his thumbs hooked into the belt loops of his worn jeans. The pose should have appeared studied, but it had the opposite effect. It made me think that every man who’d ever posed as a cowboy for a book cover or beefcake calendar had taken his inspiration from Luke.
Sera fixed him with her trademark glare, the one that told him she might tolerate his presence, but she didn’t plan to make it easy for him. “You’re coming with us so you can teach Aidan everything you know. If she makes it to the island with all her gray matter working, maybe I’ll forgive you for that whole Utah debacle.”
Mac’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t argue.
The last of the shipping containers was lifted onto the vessel by the metal monsters lining the docks.
We said goodbye, and the words carried more than a hint of desperation. Sera handed Miriam the last hundred dollars to cover their fuel costs.
Simon rubbed his cheek against my shoulder. “Come back. I am quite fond of you.”
I blinked away the tears that came with Simon’s version of unconditional love.
Miriam wrapped all of us in enthusiastic hugs, including Luke. She managed not to grab his ass, though the wicked smile told me she considered it.
Sera’s face was impassive, but she swallowed several times. “One last thing. Friends don’t let friends ride in a Sunday school bus.” She pulled three cans of spray paint from underneath a seat. “Don’t worry, I didn’t spend money. I stole them.”
Vivian protested. Miriam nodded her approval.
“I’m keeping track of all my thievery, Viv. I’ll pay them back when people aren’t trying to kill my sister, okay?”
As she spoke, she coated the side of the bus in thick black paint, obliterating the stenciled letters proclaiming the bus transportation for the faithful. Over the black, she used orange paint to create crackling flames. As a final touch, she grabbed the red can to write, in strong block letters, “Hell on wheels.”
“That,” she said, stepping back to admire her work, “is an improvement.”
I stood next to her, welcoming the brief moment of normalcy. Whatever doubts and questions she had about her mother, they weren’t consuming her, not yet. And I hadn’t gone mad, not yet. Things could be worse.
“Much less conspicuous,” I said.
Sera chucked the empty cans onto the bus. “Once they’re far from us, they won’t matter to the council. Making any effort to capture them would require acknowledging shifters even exist. They’ll leave them alone.”
“As much as they’re leaving any of our shifter friends alone,” I reminded her. We both grimaced, but sending them away was our best choice. “I know most elementals don’t believe in the Christian god, but maybe we should hedge our bets.”
“Pfft. Sometimes, you need to remind the universe to relax and enjoy the joke.”
I grabbed her hand for a quick squeeze.
And then we were done. Miriam and Simon waited till we boarded the ship, then they waited while it left the harbor. I stood at the railing and watched until they were nothing but tiny specks on the shore. Even then I didn’t move. I fixed the land and my friends in my mind and imagined I was leaving a piece of myself behind, an anchor that would draw me back when our task was complete.
We spent the first night exploring as much of the ship as we were allowed to access.
Until that point, I thought I knew all about boats. When you’re raised on an island by a bunch of strong waters, it’s inevitable that you learn your way around every kind of yacht, sailboat, and canoe.
The cargo ship was something different altogether. Unlike a cruise ship, which felt like a glamorous floating city, this was block after block of industrial neighborhoods, nothing but metal and sharp edges. It wasn’t dirty, but it was far from pristine. The containers were all faded shades of orange, gray, and brown, dull against the vibrant blue of the ocean.
We ate dinner with the crew. Somehow, I’d expected a bunch of surly longshoreman who resented our presence, but instead we found a gregarious bunch from enough different countries to hold their own international summit.
It was full dark before we made our way to the cabins. I’d pictured large rooms strung with hammocks, but it turned out that didn’t exist in this century. The cabins were small and plain, but they were clean and provided all the basic necessities.
Sera had only been able to bargain for a couple of rooms. Both had two single beds too small for any of us to share comfortably. Vivian had the second cabin to herself, mainly because Sera and Mac wouldn’t leave either me or Luke unsupervised.
The men claimed the floor, either because they were gentlemen or because they didn’t want the other guy to look tougher. Sera and I didn’t argue. Mac lay on the ground next to my bed. I suspect he would have done so even if there’d been enough beds to go around.
Luke lay down a few feet from Mac. Within minutes, his breathing deepened.
After months of sleeping either in a cramped trailer or on the ground, it was a luxury to have a soft mattress beneath me. My body was desperate for sleep, and for once I didn’t fight it as I slid into unconsciousness.
Even without Mac’s arms around me, I slept more soundly than I had for weeks. Being surrounded by the soothing whispers of my element after weeks in the desert helped. I woke once in the middle of the night, but the nightmare images faded quickly. I was able to sleep again, and my eyes remained closed until the dawn light peeked through the small cabin window.
The others slept, and I was in no hurry to get up. For a moment, I felt safe. In the middle of the ocean, we were free from the pursuing elementals and not yet facing the terror that awaited us. So long as we were on the ship, nothing could harm us.
My magic took greedy gulps from the feast surrounding us. For a few minutes, I pretended I was just a water. For the next week, I would keep that side of myself so sated it drowned out the fire.
An hour later, the others woke up. Sera filled the small coffee maker, looking somewhat disgusted by its inadequate size.
The room was too small for four people to shower and dress with any privacy, so we took turns, then joined the crew for breakfast. Once they began their work day, we were more or less left on our own. They likely expected us to read or play cards.
Instead, Luke decided it was a good opportunity to learn how to control my power.
“Are you sure this is safe?” Vivian perched atop a container. While the ship was capable of stacking ten containers—five above deck and five below—it didn’t have a full load, and the final row had singles on either end. Sera and Vivian had climbed on top of one, mainly to get out of my and Luke’s way.