Page 36 of Summer L.A.W.

At the moment, Joell was pacing. “I’m just saying, we should’ve run a containment sweep the second we docked. If that compass is still leaking residual energy⁠—”

“It isn’t leaking,” Sahara interrupted smoothly, her Egyptian accent sharpening her words. “It was calling. To her.”

Lioness looked up from her sketchpad, where she was halfway through another impossible rendering of the Sea Witch’s demise — this one featuring more tentacles than accuracy. “You mean Crystal?”

“Yes.” Sahara set the towel-wrapped compass on the table. Even bound in layers of silk and protective sigils, it vibrated faintly, as if something deep within it was trying to breathe. “She’s attuned now. Whatever that creature was, it left a mark.”

Victoria arched an immaculate brow. “So, our beloved sister witch is carrying around a magical tracking beacon for an aquatic demon. Merveilleux.”

Brianna frowned from the far end of the table, hands wrapped around her mug of tea. “She nearly drowned saving the rest of us. Maybe we should skip the judgment and focus on how to help her.”

Rayna, leaning against a bookcase, crossed her arms. “Agreed. What kind of mark are we talking about? Because her skin’s still glowing like a rave bracelet.”

“That light isn’t residual magic,” Magda said quietly. Her tone was the kind that made the others pause. The healer’s voice brooked no argument. “It’s resonance. Her aura’s synchronizing with something vast. Elemental.”

Joell stopped pacing. “Like the ocean?”

Sahara nodded. “Not the Sea Witch. The sea itself.”

Silence dropped like a stone. Even the mansion’s enchanted map of ley lines on the wall flickered uncertainly.

Finally, Lioness broke it with a muttered, “Well, that’s not ominous at all.”

Victoria sighed and sank gracefully into a chair. “So, what’s our next move, Commander?” she asked pointedly — at Joell.

Joell straightened automatically. “First, we secure the artifact. Then we⁠—”

“—do nothing until I finish my analysis,” Sahara cut in, calm but firm. “You’re very good at logistics, Joell, but this is my rotation in charge.”

Rayna’s mouth quirked. “Uh oh. Mom and Mom are fighting again.”

“Quiet, imp,” Sahara said without looking at her. The compass gave a sudden pulse, and the candles guttered out. In the brief darkness, faint blue light rippled across the walls like reflections off a deep pool.

When the candles reignited, Lioness’s sketchbook had changed. The unfinished drawing now showed Crystal lying in her bed upstairs, surrounded by a faint corona of light that seemed to flow outward in tendrils.

Magda leaned forward, eyes wide. “That’s not nothing. That’s a link.”

Sahara drew in a slow breath. “Yes. The sea isn’t done with her. And if we don’t stabilize that connection soon…”

Rayna finished for her. “It’s going to come knocking.”

A low creak rolled through the mansion. The table trembled. For a heartbeat, they all heard a distant, echoing seagull crying.

“Is that Crystal’s familiar?” Brianna asked.

Lioness exhaled. “Yeah. I’d say the ocean’s threat is already at the door.”

The mansion’s hum had changed. It used to sound like home, soft magic under wood and stone, steady as a heartbeat. Tonight, it sounded like the tide, restless and waiting.

Crystal sat propped against a mound of pillows, staring at her own hand as faint blue veins shimmered beneath the skin. The glow pulsed in time with the whisper in her ears. Not words, but rhythm. The sea was breathing. The sea remembering.

She pressed her palm to her chest, trying to quiet it. “Not now,” she whispered.

The whisper faded, carrying the scent of salt and rain. The glass of water on her nightstand quivered. Ripples bloomed across the surface, and her stomach tightened.

“Easy,” she murmured to herself. “You’re on land. You’re safe. Stay here.”

The mansion creaked in answer.