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He launched himself into the air, the ropes dangling down below him.

  “Damn, that’s cool.” Syra’s voice was strained from the effort of trying to keep the wheel turned hard to the right. If the rudders failed, we might be driven faster into the middle of the whirlpool.

  My heart pounded as the water roared in circles, dragging us along. We were gradually moving deeper into the whirlpool as it widened, the boat starting to keel over as my world began to go vertical.

  Fear iced my skin as I clung to one of the ropes that was tied off to the boat and watched Declan. He flew the ropes over to the jagged cliff face. They could barely reach, and he had to time it just right so he tied them off when the boat was on the closest side of the whirlpool. Only then were they long enough.

  Come on, come on.

  He looped the first one around a huge pinnacle of rock that didn’t have any sharp edges, and quickly tied it off. The rope pulled taut, and the boat stopped, jerking abruptly. The force threw me to the side, and I grabbed the taut rope to steady myself. Then I began to pull.

  Declan had tied off the rope that was closer to the stern, and the bow began to tip farther into the water. We were now nearly vertical, the whirlpool opening up like a huge monster’s mouth.

  As I pulled, I looked over my shoulder, staring down into the black pit, dark magic bellowing up from the depths.

  My stomach heaved, and I turned back to the rope, yanking hard.

  “Hurry!” Syra screamed.

  Quickly, Declan tied off the other rope, and the front of the boat straightened out. We were still nearly vertical, but at least there wasn’t so much pressure on one cleat. I didn't want it to tear right off the boat.

  I pulled on my rope as hard as I could, trying to drag us out of the whirlpool. My muscles strained, and sweat popped out on my brow.

  In seconds, Declan was back on the boat and folding his wings into his body. He bent to his rope and grabbed it, pulling hard.

  Together, we inched our way out of the whirlpool, which roared and splashed, the water moving so fast that if I fell off, I’d be lost in seconds.

  “Almost there!” Syra shouted.

  Every muscle in my body screamed with the strain, and the whirlpool increased its speed and pull, as if it sensed that we were getting away. We were nearly halfway out of the whirlpool, but it felt like there was so much left to go.

  “Just a little farther,” Declan grunted.

  I gave it everything I had, my skin chilled with fear. The whirlpool gaped behind us, threatening to drag us down into the deep.

  Finally, we reached flat water.

  “Cut the ropes!” Syra yelled, revving the engine.

  I drew a knife from the ether and sliced through the rope. Declan did the same. As soon as we were free, Syra pushed up on the throttle, and the engine roared. The boat leapt forward, gaining traction and speeding away from the whirlpool.

  Panting, I turned to watch it disappear into the distance. The water seemed to roar its frustration, the wind loud and fierce as it closed back up.

  I sagged onto the deck, my muscles sore. “Holy fates, that was hard.”

  “Nicely done!” Syra cried.

  I looked up at her and smiled.

  Declan rubbed my shoulder. “Well done.”

  “Thanks. You too. That was some fancy flying.”

  “Kind of my specialty.” He gave a wry smile. “Want a back rub?”

  “I’d think that’s a lame pickup line, but my shoulders are killing me and I bet yours are too.”

  “Why can’t it be both?”

  I laughed, liking him more and more. After what had happened in the cabin earlier, I was up for more of him, any time I could get it. “Okay.”

  Might as well take the good things while I could get them, right? Who knew what we’d be up against next? And time was weighing on me heavily. Soon, a fifth district would go down. Leaving us with just six more hours. Would the Protectorate find a nullifier in time? Declan’s people hadn’t gotten back to him yet. Not to mention, if we couldn’t use a transportation charm to get out of the Bermuda Triangle, we’d be too slow to make it back.

  I shook away the dark thoughts and turned my back toward Declan. His fingers dug into the sore spots on my shoulders, and I tried to focus only on that.

  I groaned and leaned back, pleasure surging through me. Memories of what had happened earlier amped up the tension. “Wow, you’re a professional.”

  His hands moved like magic over my skin, and it took everything I had not to melt into a boneless puddle. Heat began to rise within me, bringing with it an intense desire to turn around and kiss him. My lips tingled with it.

  But Syra was here. And we were going to be fighting something else any minute, I was sure of it.

  So I just focused on the back rub, letting him work away the soreness in my muscles so I’d be ready to use them again soon. The warm sun beat down, and the ocean sparkled a beautiful, impossible blue.

  It was amazingly nice.

  “I need a vacation,” I said. “Something like this, but with fewer chances of dying a horrible death.”

  “Couldn’t agree more,” Declan said.

  After a while, I looked back at him. “Your turn.”

  He cocked a smile. “Not going to turn that down.”

  We switched places, and I got to work on his shoulders. Damn, he had nice shoulders. Perfectly muscled and warm from the sun. A low moan of appreciation rumbled through him, and I vowed he’d make that sound again.

  This was fun. I could spend all day touching him, and I enjoyed every second of the back rub, way more than was probably normal. Or maybe it was a perfectly normal amount, considering he was a hot-as-hell fallen angel that I wanted to jump on.

  No. Bad.

  Now was not the time.

  Not only were we in the freaking Bermuda Triangle, this spot wasn’t even close to private.

  “You did something with the wind earlier, didn’t you?” he asked.

  I stiffened, my hands stilling on his shoulders. Quickly, I moved them again, not wanting him to notice that I was acting weird.

  “The plan with the sail wasn’t working. It wasn’t going to work. The wind never would have caught it. Then I felt your magic swell, and the wind came.”

  Shit, in my stress I hadn’t hidden it enough. I’d also been pouring so much magic into it that I probably wouldn’t have been able to control my signature.

  That was why I tried to stick to only creating small magic with my dragon blood.

  Once I tried to do the big, complicated stuff, it was way too easy for people to notice. They’d definitely notice if I tried to ever make permanent magic—that would almost kill me.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.

  “You keep using new magic. Things I’ve never seen you do before. That’s unusual. No one can make new magic.”

  “It’s your imagination.” I tried to laugh, to turn this conversation into a funny misunderstanding.

  But my laugh sounded strangled.

  “There’s more to you than you show the world, Aerdeca.” He repeated the words from earlier, speaking so quietly that Syra wouldn’t be able to hear. “You trusted me with your demon-slaying secret. You can trust me with this, too.”

  Was he guessing what I was?

  My skin chilled.

  No.

  That was too dangerous.

  He trusted me, but once he found out that I was a Dragon Blood and that I could create enough magic to destroy the world? No one trusted that kind of Magica. We were too scary. I’d seen how the FireSouls were mistrusted and abused when people knew how powerful they were. Not to mention how we’d been treated.

  It was one thing to tell him the demon slayer secret. That wasn’t that big a deal.

  But this?

  This was huge.

  It was too big a secret to reveal.

  “I’ll stop prying,” Declan said. “But I’m here if you want to tell me.”

/>   A chill went over me. Not a bad one. More like a subtle knowing.

  Like my soul believed Declan. Like it knew he was special. Trustworthy.

  That was just crazy, though. Actually crazy.

  “Hey, guys, something is coming.”

  Thank fates. A distraction. With any luck, he’d forget about this.

  Ha. As if.

  I let go of Declan and stood, searching the sea. She pointed toward a dark shadow on the water. It was long and narrow, snaking through the waves.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Don’t know, but it’s not right.” She tried to steer around it, but it only grew, stretching longer. She leaned forward and squinted. “Sargassum.”

  “Sargassum natans or Sargassum fluitans?”

  “Both, actually.”

  Ooh, nice. I liked that she knew her classifications.

  “What?” Declan asked.

  “Those are the two species of Sargassum most commonly found in the Caribbean. I wondered which it was.”

  “Can you smell the stink of dark magic in the air?”

  I sniffed, getting a hint of rotten seaweed that was more than just natural decay.

  “At least it’s not a giant snake,” I said.

  Syra shook her head. “I’d almost prefer a snake. This stuff can drag your boat under.”

  Shit.

  In the distance, beyond the weeds, I spotted a pinprick of green against the horizon. I pointed to it. “Is that Eleuthera?”

  “I think so,” Syra said. “We’re going to have to try to go through the weeds. Hang on tight.”

  She pushed up on the throttle, and the boat surged forward. We were going to try to speed through. I held on as she pushed the boat to its limit. As we neared the long line of seaweed that floated on the surface, the stench of dark magic grew until it was nearly overpowering.

  I held my breath as we got closer.

  The boat cut across, gliding over the top of the weeds. They were brown and rancid.

  I turned around to watch the seaweed disappear behind us. “That wasn’t so bad.”

  The weeds started to snake toward us, racing behind.

  Shit.

  “Faster,” Declan shouted. “It’s gaining.”

  “This is as fast as we go.” Syra cursed and looked back. “It’s coming for the prop.”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, the long column of seaweed reached us and wrapped around the propeller. Syra cranked down on the throttle immediately. Probably so she didn't burn out the engine.

  “It’s going to drag us down!” she shouted.

  I drew a long dagger from the ether. “I’m going in.”

  “Wait!” Syra screamed. She lunged for me, a rope in her hand, and tied it around my waist. “It’s strong.”

  “I’m going with her.” Declan drew a sword.

  “No.” Syra shoved the rope at him. “You gotta pull her back up. I’m not strong enough. Not against that stuff.”

  The back of the boat began to dip into the water as the weeds pulled us down. I jumped off the boat, my heart in my throat.

  Dark water closed around my head, as if the magic in the weeds had polluted the water. All around, the seaweed waved. Then it reached for me, wrapping around my limbs.

  In the distance, dark shadows circled.

  Immediately, I recognized them.

  Sharks.

  Oh, shit.

  13

  Panic clawed at my throat as the seaweed wrapped around my limbs. I ignored the sharks, which were still circling, and hacked at the weeds with my blade, sawing it away from my arms and legs. Then I kicked toward the propeller, which was totally entangled. The weeds pulled taut as they dragged the boat toward the bottom.

  I clung to the main column of weeds, sawing away at them. Piece by piece, they fell away from the propeller. My lungs burned, and I kept an eye out for the sharks.

  Galeocerdo cuvier. Carcharhinus leucas.

  I repeated the scientific names to myself, a calming litany that helped me focus on my task as my lungs burned and my skin chilled with fear. The back of the boat was dipping farther and farther into the water as the weeds pulled downward. More of the bright white hull submerged. The bow might even be pointing out of the water by now.

  How long did I have before the boat was destroyed? Before I ran out of air?

  As I worked, the weeds twined around my limbs. For every strand that I hacked away from the propeller, a new one twined around my body.

  Declan had better have a good grip on that rope.

  I sawed away, my chest aching.

  Nearly there. The prop was almost free.

  The sharks continued to circle, closer and closer.

  They were just curious. Humans weren’t the natural prey of sharks, so I was safe.

  Mostly.

  While that was all true, I knew I’d still make a tasty nibble if a shark decided to add some variety to its diet.

  Finally, I sawed away the last of the weeds that twined around the prop. The boat popped upward, the bow smashing onto the surface of the water with a loud crash.

  Suddenly, the weeds yanked me down. Hard.

  The boat had been heavy, but I wasn’t. Now that they didn’t have to contend with the vessel’s weight, the weeds could yank me to the bottom in a heartbeat.

  Unable to help myself, I screamed, bubbles escaping my mouth. I thrashed, trying to hack my way free. Deeper and deeper, the weeds dragged me, the water growing darker. So dark I couldn’t even see the shadows of the sharks, but I could feel them.

  Not a threat, not a threat.

  Galeocerdo cuvier. Carcharhinus leucas.

  The rope around my waist yanked hard, reminding me that it was there. Pain flared as it dug into the bottom of my ribs.

  Declan!

  The rope cut in harder. He must be pulling with all his strength.

  But the weeds were pulling, too, dragging at my legs. I ached; my lungs burned.

  They were evenly matched. Declan and the weeds were equally strong.

  Holy fates, they could tear me apart.

  Because of the way the rope pulled at me, I couldn’t bend over to hack at the weeds. I stashed my dagger in the ether and called upon a sword, the longest one I had.

  I reached down and hacked at the weeds that twined around my legs. Black spots danced at the corners of my vision.

  Panic blasted through me.

  I was about to black out.

  I called on every bit of strength I had, finally managing to hack away at the rest of the weeds.

  Immediately, I surged upward, water dragging around me. Declan pulled me up so fast that my head burst through the water seconds later. Choking and sputtering, I gasped for air.

  Strong hands grabbed my arms and yanked me out of the water.

  “Go!” Declan shouted.

  Syra gunned it, and water sprayed up from behind the boat as it sped away.

  Declan carried me into the cockpit. I coughed and gasped, clinging to him.

  “Badass!” Syra said.

  “Thanks.” I could barely speak. My lungs still burned.

  “Are you okay?” Declan’s concerned gaze met mine.

  “Fine.” I sucked in a few more breaths, finally able to speak. “I never thought that seaweed would be one of the scariest things I’d ever face.”

  Memories of the weeds twisting around me made a shiver run through me.

  “I don’t see any more around us,” Syra said.

  Thank fates.

  I staggered to my feet, giving Declan’s arm an appreciative squeeze, and joined Syra near the wheel. She was staring out over the blue sea, her gaze glued to the green island in the distance.

  “I think that’s it,” she said. “We just need to find a safe place to leave the boat.”

  “Who lives there?” Declan asked.

  “No humans. Mostly magical creatures and regular animals. And pirate ghosts.”

  “Ghosts?”

  “Ye
ah. The pirates were killed off by the locals.”

  “Unfriendly, huh?” Declan asked.

  “Nope. Not really. There’s danger there, don’t get me wrong. But it was the pirates who were unfriendly. Thieves and rapists, pillagers and murderers. From what I’ve heard, their ship got stuck on the reefs a few hundred years ago. They were given a chance to live nicely with the locals, but they were assholes. So the locals took care of them.”

  “Wow. Tough locals.” I spotted a head pop out of the water in the distance. We were close enough to the island that the figure could have swum from shore. I pointed. “Who’s that?”

  “One of those same locals I was telling you about.” Syra grinned and waved, slowing the boat.

  I grabbed a pair of binoculars to get a better look. A beautiful woman was smiling at the boat, her hair slicked back from her face and a triple strand of pearls around her neck.

  “A mermaid?” I asked.

  “Siren.”

  “Like you.”

  “Yeah.” A radiant smile spread across Syra’s face.

  “So the locals who killed the pirates were a group of sirens?” Declan asked.

  “Yep. It’s mostly women on the island, and they didn’t take kindly to a bunch of seventeenth century men who never bathed and also thought women were chattel.”

  Declan nodded as if he approved. “So they gave them a chance, and when they proved to be the murderers and rapists that pirates are famous for being, they showed them who was boss.”

  “Pretty much. It’s wild out here. Only the strongest survive.” Syra slowed the boat alongside the siren.

  I leaned toward Declan. “Well, that’s pretty much my favorite story ever.”

  He grinned. “I can see why. You’re bloodthirsty.”

  “Yep.” I joined Syra, who was crouched on the side of the boat to get more level with the siren.

  Declan joined us.

  The siren was beautiful, with glittering dark eyes and full lips. The sun gleamed on her brown skin, giving her a nearly heavenly glow. Her hair was swept back from her head, drifting in the sea.

  “Greetings, sister.” Syra reached out and held her hand in a relaxed high-five gesture.

  The siren touched her fingertips to Syra’s, lining their hands up. Her other hand disappeared beneath the water, then returned, clutching a shell. She held it to her mouth to speak.