“Give me the damn pin and I’ll get myself and Mrs. Brodigan out.” Jade made a face. “These cuffs feel like needles. I can’t even tell if my magic’s returned.”
Arthur pressed the pin into her hand. “Rory said the ring controls the wind.” His grip tightened on the box. “Can you use it?”
She shook her head. “Someone has to see how to unlock it.”
Their eyes met. And then Ace was sprinting for the boardwalk and the ocean.
The ocean at Gwen’s feet broke the simmer and began to roil at a full boil despite its icy cold. The air pricked at Rory’s skin, charged like static electricity.
“What have you done?” Gwen demanded.
“Moon controls the tide and it’s pouring power into the amulet.” Rory clenched his still bleeding fist. “Too much power.”
Gwen’s hands were shaking. Around her neck, the amulet’s gem was glowing blue.
“You know I can see history. I saw the amulet’s last owner die ’cause he tried to use it on a full moon.” Rory fought back a shudder. He could still see the castle and the man on the jagged cliff, the man’s face frozen in terror as the magic tidal wave surged higher than the cliff. He could still hear the choked-off scream as the wave crashed down, sweeping the man off the cliff to break on the rocks below. “Take it off, or it’s gonna kill you too.”
Gwen’s jaw tightened.
“Gwen!” Ellis launched himself down the boardwalk stairs to the beach, striking the sand and kicking it up as he ran their way. “Gwen, take it off, don’t let it kill you—”
“Ellis.” Gwen’s eyes widened. Her hands lowered. “Oh, Ellis, look at you—”
“Take it off. Please, Gwen. Do what the kid says. I can’t lose you—”
Rory flung out his arm. “Don’t come any closer, Ellis!” he ordered. “We got too much magic on the beach already—can’t you feel the air?”
Ellis growled, but he did stop. “You lied to Gwen.” He glared at Rory from only feet away. “Give me a reason not to slice you to paralyzed ribbons.”
“How’d that work out for you when you stabbed your pal Philippe?” Rory said, with narrowed eyes. “’Cause I heard he set everything and everyone on fire. But go ahead and see what my magic does when your dagger lights it up like dynamite. Hope you like history.”
Ellis bared his teeth, but his hand hovered without landing over the holster of his dagger.
On the beach, the ocean continued its strange, cold boil. Rory stretched his other arm toward Gwen. “Just put it down,” he said. “Put the amulet on the sand and no one’ll get hurt.”
“So you say. But do youknow?” Gwen’s gaze stayed on Ellis. “Or are you fumbling in the dark, same as us, unable to promise that if I set my relic down, we’ll all be safe from the sea?”
Rory set his jaw and didn’t answer.
“I’m gonna kill him,” Ellis started. “He’s good as killed us all—”
“No need, love.” Gwen’s eyes finally left Ellis’s face for the briefest second, flicking down to the pocket of his coat. “As long as we’re together, we’re going to be just fine.”
Ellis blinked. Then his hand moved from the holster to rest on his pocket, and a tiny smile curled one corner of his lips. “You and me against the world, darling.”
Rory’s stomach began to roil like the sea. “Take the relic off, Gwen.”
Never taking her eyes off Ellis, Gwen clutched the amulet around her neck and lifted it over her head.
“Set it on the sand,” Rory said desperately. “Stop touching it and no one’s gonna die.”
Gwen suddenly turned her gaze on Rory. “Care to bet?” And with a powerful jerk of her arm, she flung the amulet into the sea.
The wave followed the amulet—too fast, too far. Much too far, until there was nothing to see but sand as the wave disappeared like a slingshot being set.
Ellis let out a bark of laughter and dove for Gwen, sweeping her into his arms like a bride. As he held her up, Rory saw the vial in his hand, the flash of orange.
Pavel’s last potion.
