AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I see a body drifting down to the ocean floor, completely still. I tap Wolfe on the arm and point, letting some air out of my lungs in order to sink deeper and deeper. The water is cold and sharp against my skin, but even in the midst of the chaos, the quiet here is comforting.
Wolfe’s moonlight illuminates the body, and I panic when I realize it isn’t Landon. I get closer, but I don’t recognize the man. Maybe the captain. I wrap my arms around his waist and kick upward, Wolfe’s light going off in another direction. We surface, and I see a boat from the Witchery rushing toward us, taking advantage of Wolfe’s current. It stops a safe distance away, and I flip onto my back and swim with the body, kicking as hard as I can.
When I finally reach the boat, it’s my father’s arms that reach over and pull the body inside.
“Tana, are you hurt?” he asks, and the words take me a moment to process.
“No,” I say.
“Get in the boat. It’s not safe,” he says, reaching for me.
“I’ll be okay. Wolfe is here; he’s helping.”
My dad realizes what I’m saying, that it’s Wolfe’s magic that is enabling me to help. Wolfe’s magic that is saving Landon and his family. He tenses, but he doesn’t argue.
“Okay. There’s nothing we can do until that current moves on. Help as much as you can, and we’ll be here, standing by.” He’s soaking wet, the rain unrelenting, the inside of the boat drenched, but they’re safe where they are.
Dad reaches over and rests his hand against the side of the boat. I quickly squeeze it, then dive beneath the surface and search for Wolfe. His light is coming toward me, and I rush to meet him. He’s carrying another person, Landon’s mother, but she’s moving, kicking her legs along with Wolfe.
Watching him, carrying the light of the moon and riding a current he created, I see just how powerful high magic is. If there’s a manor full of witches who can do what Wolfe is doing now—if this is the baseline of what they’re capable of—I can only imagine what they could do with more magic.
An idea forms in my mind, fuzzy at first but growing in clarity.
“What’s wrong?” Wolfe shouts at me, and I realize I’ve been treading water, staring at the sea.
“I know how to fix the currents,” I say, stunned. Then the trance is broken; Landon is still missing. “Get her to the boat,” I yell.
Wolfe transfers his light to me, and I’m amazed when it doesn’t go out, doesn’t even flicker. I feel my magic rush to meet it, sustaining it in my hand and guiding my path as I dive deeper into the Passage. A shadow moves above me, and I look up to see a person swimming away from the wreckage.
I quickly surface to see Landon’s father swimming toward my parents’ boat.
“Can you make it on your own?” I call after him.
He treads water and looks back at me, blood running down his face from a large gash on his forehead.
“Is Landon on the boat?” he asks, his voice frantic.
“Not yet. I’m going to find him now. How many of you were aboard?”
“Four of us. Our family plus the captain.”
“Get to the boat. I’ll find your son.”
I dive back beneath the water and head toward the current. It begins to shift, slowly releasing the wreckage from its hold, debris surfacing and sinking, wooden shards everywhere. Landon is trapped somewhere in this mess, and my heart slams against my chest, desperate to find him.
I cast my light as far out in front of me as it will go, and finally,finally, I see him, his suit jacket caught on a large piece of debris dragging him down, down, down.
He settles on the Passage floor before I can get to him, totally lifeless. His arms and legs drift from side to side, moving with the sea. I follow after him, kicking my legs and thrashing my arms, letting air out of my lungs to swim deeper.
Light comes from behind me, and I know Wolfe is close by, bringing more moonlight with him. When I finally reach Landon, his eyes are closed and his lips are blue. His skin looks gray, all the life in him gone.
I try to pull him off the seafloor, but he’s stuck, his jacket pinned beneath the debris. I struggle to get him free, worried I won’t be able to do it in time, but then Wolfe is by my side, holding Landon up. There’s blood all over his white shirt, a deep red circle that seeps out in all directions. My lungs burn. When he’s finally clear of his jacket, I wrap my arms around Landon’s torso, careful to avoid his injury, and begin to kick.
I gasp for air when we pop out of the water. Wolfe surfaces a second later, and he reverses the current he created, sending us sailing back to my parents with Landon’s limp body.
“Mom! Dad!” I yell as we get closer, and both of them leanover the side of the boat, stretching out their arms. “He’s hurt,” I say when we finally reach them.
They lift Landon out of the water, and I pull myself into the boat, desperate to help. Elizabeth is standing out of the way with a blanket wrapped around her, and the captain is sitting on the bench seat with his face in his hands.
