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The ocean rumbled, roiled, heavy splashes of water dropping down on Mark and me from the wave I was barely holding back. It brought me around. Then I was reaching down, scooping up the piece of glass and holding it tightly in the palm of my hand. Years of being tossed and tumbled through the ocean had dulled the edges so that I didn’t slice my hand open, but it was still sharp enough to hurt. I barely noticed.
Instead, I was remembering those times in the cave when I had seen my mother’s memories and had wondered how she’d managed to trap them inside the glass and pearls. Something told me this was it. This outburst of power that was almost uncontrollable.
I glanced over at Mark, who was watching me with a combination of awe and fear, and told myself there was no way I was going to mess this up. He’d stuck with me through everything and I would not let him pay for that with his life.
Throwing the glass up in the air as high as I could, I aimed every ounce of magic, of power, I had straight at it. Electricity blasted into the glass, suspending it in mid-air and lighting it up from the inside until the entire world around us was a bright, glowing blue. The sea glass hovered there, a large crack appearing down the center of it, but it didn’t shatter. Instead, it absorbed every ounce of energy I poured in.
Around me, the wind died down, the thunder and lightning stopped altogether, and slowly, so slowly that at first I thought I was imagining it, the wave began to break down. Drop by drop, inch by inch, it began to melt back into the simmering sea.
And still I kept the power flowing straight into the glass, draining myself of magic and emotion and power. Burning myself out in an effort to stop the destruction that still hovered at the tips of my fingers.
I’m not sure how long I stood there, pouring everything I had into that tiny piece of glass. Long enough for exhaustion to replace energy and frustration to replace fear. But in the end, it was worth it. The wave dissipated. The storm died into nothingness. Soon the only reminder of my loss of control was the destruction left in the wake of the storm and the cracked piece of sea glass that dropped harmlessly at my feet.
I bent down to pick it up, but it was burning hot. I wanted to leave the sea glass there, to bury it deep in the sand and pretend the last hour had never happened, but doing so was impossible. I’d sent every drop of power I had into that thing—who knew what kind of memories it would show the next person to handle it?
Ignoring the blister that was rising on my hand from the heat, I held the glass for one second, two, then used whatever strength I had left to launch it as far into the ocean as I possibly could. It soared for long moments before sinking below the still surging waves.
“What was that?” Mark staggered up to me, looking like he’d just run the longest marathon in history—and come in last.
“You knew I was different,” I answered.
“Different, yes. Able to light up a major metropolitan area under your own power, no.” He smiled to show he was joking, but I could see the truth.
I let him pull me into his arms, spent a few minutes drawing comfort from him in a way I never had been able to when I was completely human. But he felt so good. So strong and safe with his heavily muscled arms wrapped around me that I never wanted to leave.
I couldn’t stay here forever, though, much as I wanted to. Not when Tiamat was a threat to everyone and everything I cared about—here on land and in the ocean. There was something deep inside me again, pushing me to hurry. Telling me that something awful was about to happen.
At the same time, though, I couldn’t stand the idea of leaving here. Not now, when I had just found Mark and my family again. Not now, when I had so much to say to my friends and to Rio, who could barely stand the sight of me.
Still, the sense of urgency grew with each second I was on land, until my skin was once again so sensitive that I could barely stand the feel of Mark’s calloused hands resting on my shoulders. Tiamat was up to something. But what was it? What use did she have for my brother?
Unless … unless Hailana had been right all along, and she hadn’t needed Moku. Not really. What she’d needed was Kona and me out of the way for a few days so that she could run unchecked through the ocean, doing whatever she wanted. She would still have to fight Sabyn and Hailana, would still have to fight Kona’s family, but without the two of us she would have a much better shot at wreaking havoc on our clans.
In those moments, everything clicked into place and I knew.
“I have to go,” I told him.
“What? Now?” He reached for me.
I pulled away from Mark. For one long moment he looked devastated. And then his face closed up and he stepped back, letting me know he was as hurt by my leaving as Kona had been a few days earlier by my choosing to stay.
“Will I see you again?” Mark asked stiltedly. “Or is this it?”
“I want to say yes, of course you’ll see me again.”
“But?”
“But this thing I have to do … I don’t know. I promise you, though, if there’s any way for me to come back, I’ll do it.”
Fear for me replaced the hurt on his face. “What are you doing, Tempest? Where are you going?”
I shook my head, then kissed him with all the aching wishes and could-bes that stretched between us. “Tell my dad—” I cleared my throat, tried again. “Tell my dad and my brothers that I’ll miss them.”
The idea of leaving my family here, vulnerable to anything that Tiamat wanted to do to them, killed me. But leaving her out there, knowing she could strike at any time, made it so much worse.
This, what she’d done to Moku, was her calling card, her call to action, and I would not disappoint her. Not now. She’d already killed my mother. She’d nearly killed my brother. There was no way I was letting this go, no way I was leaving her free to attack everyone else I cared about.
I gave Mark one last hug, then ran for the water. When I got there, I turned to find him staring at me, anguish and anger at war on his face. “I love you,” I told him. “I swear, if I can find a way out of this, I’ll be back.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.” He jogged the short distance between us, yanked me hard against him, and gave me the kind of kiss that made my head spin and my body melt. “I love you, Tempest Maguire, and you had damn well better come back to me. Or I will find a way to come after you.”
He stepped away, and I took one last look at his beloved face. Turned and had one last glimpse of my house, where my family waited for me. Then I was gone, plunging into the surf and diving deep.
As the ocean closed over my head, I told myself I was doing the right thing. The only thing. Going after Tiamat once and for all was the only way to keep everyone I cared about safe.
Chapter 27
It was a long, hard swim, and I was exhausted by the time I got close to Coral Straits. I’d tried to reach Hailana, tried to reach Kona, but despite the crazy power that seemed to have taken up residence inside of me, I still wasn’t able to communicate over long distances, not unless someone else was holding the bridge for me.
Still, I wanted them to know I was going after Tiamat. That this time she had gone way too far. If she hoped to take me on, that was fine. I was used to it and could take care of myself. But to go after my baby brother … I was done playing around. One way or the other, this thing had to end.
