Perilous Waters (33 page)

Julia swallowed tightly. She knew Angie was upset about her decision, but she still offered her support. Guilt flooded her, even as dark thoughts ran through her mind. She was a huge jinx. First she ruined Ethan’s life, then she turned Brian into a sea monster. Now she had set Indira free on the world with the power of the jewels.

Her head dropped. She would have to tell Ethan that the jewels were lost. Probably forever, unless they could lure Indira back and somehow get them from her. That meant his brother was doomed to become a creature.

As if Ethan didn’t have enough reasons to hate her.

“Creatures are coming right at us,” Kaitlyn said, her face like stone. “Crying isn’t going to change anything.”

“Accusations aren’t going to, either,” Angie said.

The two girls eyed each other, one with barely concealed rage dripping from every inch of her rigid body, the other calm and serene, her eyes still hopeful despite everything they had gone through.

“What if we make a run for it,” Julia asked, her voice stuffed up. “We have the seashell. We can go back to Atlantis and find out what’s going on with Brian. Maybe there’s still something we can do to help.” She choked back tears as she thought of Ethan, and the devastation he would endure if his brother turned Scylla.

“Too late,” Angie said as Scylla stormed the beach, along with another type of sea creature. Monstrous and massive, with dragon-like heads that rose high above the ocean.

“Cetea,” Angie said. “We can’t defeat these. Not alone.”

“Summon Ethan,” Kaitlyn yelled.

“I can’t find him. My connection is broken. It might be because Brian already turned Scylla and maybe Ethan is—is—”

“Ethan isn’t dead,” Kaitlyn said. Before Julia could smile at the comforting reassurance, Kaitlyn added, “He’s going to die in Paris, remember?”

Julia’s blood drained from her face, but even as Angie murmured a reprimand in Kaitlyn’s direction, she realized Kaitlyn was right. Strange relief seeped into her. He was supposed to die two years from now in Paris. If nothing else, she knew one person was safe today.

“Forget it,” Kaitlyn said. “Forget everything. Look at these monsters. We need to get back to the present and regroup.”

“But, the portal,” Angie yelled above the creatures’ thrashing, the sea churning with their movements as the first of them touched the shore. “The world is at stake—”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about saving the world,” Kaitlyn said. “I never have, and I don’t care about your precious boys, either. I just want this mission over with. Now that Julia has dumped another problem into our laps, we have to deal with it, but facing these monsters isn’t the way. Don’t you see? The Sorceress wants to distract us with these creatures here in the past, while she takes over the present. We need to Voyage back.”

Julia held her hair from her face as an unearthly wind picked up. Kaitlyn was making sense. She glanced at Angie, who stared at Kaitlyn with wide eyes.

“Don’t look at Angie when you know I’m right,” Kaitlyn said. “The Sorceress has both Indira and the jewels. If Brian turns Scylla, she gets him too. We’ll have no hope against her. Who do you think will be the first ones to die once she takes over humanity?”

Julia swallowed tightly. Her eyes darting from the dragon-headed Cetea to the Scylla. “Us.”

“Exactly,” Kaitlyn said.

~ Chapter 28 ~

Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn
was absolutely fed up with Julia. How could she have been such an idiot?

“We have to go back to the present,” she said. “I’m not worrying about the task here in pirate-land while Indira sneaks into the real world and snatches up Brian. We have to do whatever it takes to stop that from happening.”

Julia bit her lip. Kaitlyn could practically see the girl’s mind playing out all the possible endings to Brian’s life that might take place.

Kaitlyn narrowed her gaze, sending her a silent dare. “Whatever. It. Takes.”

Julia’s gaze dropped.

“You’re right,” Angie said, urging them into the cover of the dense tree line.

Finally. Maybe they could get something done for a change. “Help me get the threads of time—”

“Not yet,” Angie continued. “You’re right about making sure Brian is safe from the Sorceress, but we’re in no shape to use major spells right now. I doubt I could cast Illuminate without your help, much less send us through time. Just make us invisible for now. We’ll run, like Julia said. We can go back to the present as soon as we’re ready.”

Kaitlyn took her offered hand, left with little choice as Angie rushed deeper into the forest. “Slow down a sec, I need to cast the spell.” She shut her eyes and pulled a ribbon of magic from Julia’s essence.

“Hey—”

Oh, whatever. It was so much faster to just take what she needed. In fact, the girl’s resistance only made her magic more powerful. The scar on her cheek burned with a moment’s pain as she combined their magic, casting the spell to make them invisible.

“Now what,” Julia asked, her body like carved diamond.

“Quiet,” Angie said, pulling them forward once more. Kaitlyn tried to see anything beyond the trees, but the world had become a tangle of thick roots and branches. Even so, the creatures’ snarls and thrashing movements proved they weren’t giving up. Fangs and claws would tear them to shreds if they made a wrong move.

She nearly laughed at herself. Before becoming one of the Daughters, she would have made fun of someone afraid of monsters. She had thought the only monsters in the world were men.

Stay close,
Angie said through their connection.
Once we lose the creatures, we can find a better place to rest.

Time inched by as they crept through the gloom, and Kaitlyn felt a strange solidarity with the other two girls. None of them bothered to shield their minds in the face of the danger. She could feel Julia’s panicked heartbeats drowning out the steady sense of calm Angie tried to send them, but they moved as one. They needed each other in such a true and primal way, she couldn’t see Angie as a prissy good-girl, or Julia as a clumsy loser. She didn’t care about anything except getting away from the creatures, and she knew the other girls felt the same.

Wait,
Angie said, her voice hushed even in their minds.
They’re moving away.

Kaitlyn held tight to the other girls’ hands, listening.

They can’t stay long outside of water,
Angie continued.
I—I think we might be okay.

Julia’s relief fell over them like sunrays through an open window.

Let’s get out of here,
Kaitlyn said.

But… which way?
Julia asked.

Away from the ocean would be ideal
,
Kaitlyn said.
Not exactly possible on this tiny island.

They moved forward in silence, but their minds remained open. For a moment, Kaitlyn was tempted to pry and search through the other girls’ thoughts. She wanted to find out what they really thought about her. She wanted to know if they hated her as much as she suspected they did. Except… she liked this feeling. They trusted her right now, as much as they trusted each other. What if they caught her peeking into their thoughts? They would shut her out and become exclusive little twinsies again. Without her.

“Look,” Julia whispered, breaking their silence. Kaitlyn swallowed hard, forcing herself not to cling to Julia’s hand as she let go.

“If you’re pointing, we can’t really see it,” Kaitlyn said. “Not with invisibility and this level of darkness.”

“Oh. Right. Just look over there, though. There’s light.”

“I see it,” Angie said, hurrying ahead.

Kaitlyn followed, winding around knotty roots and ducking below thick, gnarled branches.

Beyond the tree line, the world opened up to a grassy bluff. Ahead, a small scattering of homes that could barely be called a town dotted the coast.

“A little fishing village,” Angie said, as they continued onward. “Exposed here, it won’t be long before pirates drive these people out.”

“Why would they be here at all?”

“Look at those nets the men are hauling in,” she said.

Kaitlyn peered at the men dragging nets filled with wriggling, silver fish. “They probably make loads of money and always have plenty to eat.”

“Let’s steer clear of the village,” Angie said, heading toward large rocks that jutted out from the sea. They rounded the coast, and Kaitlyn doubted she was the only one staring out at the ocean with her heart in her throat.

“Oh wow,” Angie murmured, her shimmering, glass-like form hesitating before disappearing beyond the enormous rocks. “Come here, guys. You have to see this.”

Julia darted ahead and Kaitlyn followed, unsure of what could have Angie sounding so excited.

The murmur of low tide mingled with another sound, also of water but much steadier. Before Kaitlyn could pinpoint what it was, a gorgeous lagoon came into view.

Her heart sped up as she took in the glorious paradise spread out before them, with lush trees that surrounded a serene, sunlit lagoon, complete with waterfall.

Enormous boulders made it seem secluded and safe. Kaitlyn stepped onto the soft sand, her gaze drifting from the waterfall to the trees, heavy with fruit and draped with colorful flowers.

“This place looks like something out of a dream,” Angie said. After a moment she sighed, her voice grown tired. “We should find a spot that’s hidden and stay invisible, in case the creatures are patrolling here.”

A cluster of mangos bobbed through the air, and a moment later paused in front of them. “We can have some snacks though, right?” Julia asked, offering one to Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn took the fruit and watched the unusual sight of a mango that appeared to peel itself as Julia proceeded to eat. She smiled, not worrying about her scar since they were invisible. She peeled away her own mango and took a deep bite of the juicy, sticky-sweet fruit, wondering if she might have smiled at Julia anyway, even if they hadn’t been invisible after all.

~ Chapter 29 ~

Angie

Voyaging,
world sped by in a blur. Angie managed to send them to present-day Cuba, right in the midst of a crowded, time-frozen beach. The deep, orange glow of sunset cast the world in an idyllic, dreamlike glow.

Even though they remained invisible, Angie didn’t want to take any chances. “Journey us. Quickly.”

“But I sent you so much of my power,” Julia said.

We have to get back to David,
Angie wanted to answer. She should be concerned with Brian, and the fact that the Sorceress might reach him. From the moment Indira had been freed from the nether, all she could think of was David. What if this was how he would finally meet his death at the beach? What if the Sorceress had planned this all along?

Julia blinked slowly, looking pale.

“Kaitlyn, can you send her your magic,” she asked. “We need to get home, and you have the most magic left. Mine won’t be enough.”

“Fine,” Kaitlyn snapped. “I’ll feed her my magic, only because she looks ready to pass out and I don’t want her to drop us right out of the sky. But you need to send the last of yours. I had to keep the threads of time going while you Voyaged. It’s not like my supply is limitless either.”

Angie exhaled in relief as they formed their connection.

David.
His blue eyes appeared in her mind. Kind. Patient. Sweet. No one made her feel as safe as he did.

But if her visions were correct, she was going to lose him—

What the hell, Angie?

Kaitlyn’s voice burned like a streak of fire through Angie’s mind.

Quit thinking about David. We have enough to worry about with Julia’s boy problems.

She wanted to tell Kaitlyn that David mattered to her, and her visions had foretold his death on a beach. Now that they had returned to their own timeline without sealing the portal, creatures could invade the present, and it would be even easier for Indira to use the crown to help the Sorceress. It would be the perfect time for the visions to come true.

But explaining all of this to Kaitlyn wasn’t likely to gain her understanding.
Please, just stay out of my thoughts.

Not if your thoughts threaten our plans.

Angie tensed, realizing Julia’s strength was fading because she wasn’t giving her enough magic.
I’m sorry
, she said, sending Julia the steady stream of magic she needed to keep Journeying them.

Once they reached Ethan and Brian’s Spanish colonial style home, Julia landed them in front of the fountain, releasing the magic just as their feet touched the ground. Angie blinked at the abrupt transition from the Caribbean’s radiant sunset to the darkened night they had originally left the present world in.

Kaitlyn removed their invisibility, and without missing a beat, Julia rushed forward and began pounding on the door.

“Ethan? Brian! Someone please come to the door.”

There was no answer. The silence of the time-frozen world made the darkness difficult to bear. Was David being attacked even now?

“Ethan and Brian aren’t here,” Angie said. “You may as well unfreeze time.”

Julia nodded. She took longer than normal in unfreezing time. Angie sent her a fresh burst of magic, and the world came alive with the scent of the ocean and feel of cold night air. Crickets chirped and in the distance she could make out the melancholy song of some lonely bird.

Angie tried to think of some viable reason to deviate from the plan and go check on David, but with Brian’s life still hanging in the balance, she forced herself to say, “If something went wrong with Brian, they would have gone to Atlantis.”

“Are you sure that’s our best plan?” Kaitlyn asked. “They didn’t exactly welcome us there.”

“It’s the only place that will give us answers.”

Julia let out an audible breath. “Send me as much magic as you can,” she said in a tired voice. “I’ll take us to the coast.”

Their bodies lost substance. As the world sped below them, Angie did her best not to think of David, but a part of her selfishly wanted to find him before they returned to their mission. She would be able to see for herself that he was okay. She would cast a secret protection spell over him—