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“But I still have Okeus’s mark. My Manitou is safe.”
“That’s what you think.”
Oh, shit. I lifted my palm. My mark glowed white, the light filling the dark night, and I began to recite the words of protection.
“I am the daughter of the sea…”
The wind picked up, blowing my hair into my face. A low growl rumbled in the badger’s throat as a faint white vortex appeared behind him.
“Born of the essence present at the beginning of time and the end of the world…”
The badger snarled and lunged for me. I jumped sideways as he swung out a paw, his claws slamming through the wood with a loud crash, creating a two-foot hole.
Oh. Shit.
My hand still raised, I continued my chant in a shaky voice as I walked backward along the back of the building. “I am black water and crystal streams…”
The vortex wind grew stronger, and I struggled to stay upright. The badger fought against the gusts as he tried to follow me.
“The ocean waves and the raindrops in the sky.” I had almost reached the opposite end and was preparing to turn and run when I heard another low growl. I looked over my shoulder and shrieked.
A second badger was inching toward me, its nose low to the wood deck.
There were two of them.
My hand dropped in my shock and the vortex disappeared.
I was screwed.
The second badger swung his paw, his claws gleaming in the moonlight that shone through the misty fog. I jumped close to the railing abutting the water as he crashed through the decking, creating another hole. They had me cornered.
The water bubbled violently in the sound, and Mishiginebig burst to the surface, his mouth open and hissing.
“Who dares defy Okeus?” his voice boomed through the darkness.
The badgers hesitated, and I took advantage of the moment to run toward the raised walkway, leaping onto the edge of the two-foot-high deck and then scrambling over the railing. I pressed my back against the siding of the lighthouse as both badgers charged. They crashed through the wood railing on either side of me, leaving gaping holes in the deck. I was trapped on a three-foot-wide section of sidewalk with three-foot holes to my left and right.
One of the badgers tumbled into the water, squealing as it tried—and failed—to gain purchase. The other ignored his friend and charged the section of the deck where I was standing.
Mishiginebig lunged toward the badger, grabbing its neck and dragging it away from me. The badger wounded the snake with a vicious slash, and its thick black blood leaked into a puddle on the deck.
I took advantage of the distraction and climbed onto the railing. Balancing on the balls of my feet, I stood and jumped, grabbing an extended support beam from the low-slung roof. I pulled my body up so that my chest was leaning over the beam, then swung my legs up, my knee hitting the edge of the metal roof. I ignored the pain that shot through my leg and dug my knee onto the slick roof, releasing the beam with one hand and gripping the raised metal seam to pull myself the rest of the way up.
The building shook violently, and I began slide back down, my lower legs hanging over the edge.
The second badger had climbed out of the water and slammed back into the building. Extending his claws, he dug into my left calf.
I cried out in pain and tried to climb higher, tamping down my bubbling terror. I had to get to the widow’s walk at the top of the lighthouse.
Blood dripped down my leg, the slash throbbing with every heartbeat, but I climbed higher on the roof, grabbing hold of the lower edge of the widow’s walk and pulling myself up. I climbed over the short railing and stood, grunting when I put a small amount of weight on the foot of my injured leg.
The other badger had broken free of Mishiginebig’s grasp and was now climbing onto the deck’s railing with its identical friend.
I lifted my palm, my chest heaving from exertion and fright as I began to chant again.
“I am the daughter of the sea, born of the essence present at the beginning of time and the end of the world. I am black water and crystal streams.”
The wind gusted as the vortex reappeared.
