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Bayn pressed some water from his braid. “Do you think it has something to do with saving her life?”
“Perhaps. She’s easy to talk to, which is going to make working together less of a burden,” Mananan replied. Magic tugged a little in his chest, alerting him that they were almost at the area that Ella had marked on the map.
Bayn leaned his elbows onto his knees. “If you want my opinion, I think it’s good thing that you found her when you did. She’s gifted and needs help that we can give her. You both could do with a friend. How did she react to you kissing her?”
“She kissed me back,” Mananan replied. He’d been trying not to think too hard about that. He could’ve kept on kissing her. He had been a moment off dragging her onto the sand and pinning her soft little body underneath him and never letting her go. Mananan pushed allthosethoughts away. Thinking about bed sport was a good way to die when going into a fight.
Bayn grinned. “If she kissed you back, then you have nothing to worry about. She’s a pretty little thing with big eyes that watch you constantly. I’m glad you’ve finally noticed because Uncle Taran sure has.”
“Taran would notice anything with a pulse that walks past,” Mananan said, rolling his eyes.
“He’s mostly talk, and where Ella is concerned, he’s only trying to stir you up. And succeeding at it, I might add. I thought you were going to knock his lights out today,” Bayn said, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.
Mananan grunted. “I was close. He can be such an asshole when he’s in a mood.”
“It’s not all him. You have no sense of humor when it comes to the girl.”
“Because I saved her, and that makes her mine,” Mananan snarled before he could check himself. His eyes went wide in surprise.
Bayn tipped his head back and laughed. “Take a breath, uncle. You’ve got a crush. How long has it been?”
“An eternity,” Mananan replied. It was the truth. He’d grown bored with the whole business centuries ago. That was the problem with living forever.
“Maybe coming to the human world has made all things new again, hmm? I say if she makes you happy and welcomes the advances, then pursue it. Nothing else should matter,” Bayn said. He looked out at the blackness. “How much further?”
“Not far. The boat is already slowing,” Mananan replied and adjusted his grip on the harpoon. The boat began to rise and popped out above the surface. There was no storm above them on this side of England, just the black night sky and a few stars.
The boat halted, and Mananan dipped his fingers into the water over the side. Almost instantly, he felt the disturbance in the sea. It was awrongness, a void of darkness.
“There is something here,” Mananan growled and got to his feet. He pulled off his shirt. “Be alert. We don’t know if the Fomorian mage set guards about these altars.”
“Try not to walk into a trap if there are any,” Bayn said and added cheekily, “Can I have Fragarach if you die?”
“I’m not dead yet, faeling,” Mananan replied and dived over the side of the boat.
Instantly, his body shifted so gills formed over the top of his ribs. He swam down into the depths, searching for the cause of the disturbance.
Ella had seen a body held down with stones and bones. He would have to try and take some of the bones back to Kian and Taranis to find out who they belonged to.
Fomorian magic hit Mananan like a punch to the guts. He followed the sickening feeling, diving deeper and deeper. He reached the ocean floor and pushed through a thick tangle of weeds. The body was half rotted but looked surprisingly undisturbed. Perhaps the magic kept all living things away from it. Mananan studied the net of rocks and bones and the sea floor around it. There was no circle of protection, no wards to stop him.
The body is the spell, he realized suddenly. He placed his hands to the sea floor, and a shudder ran through him as he sensed the weak place between the worlds. It wasn’t only an altar. It was one that was being charged by draining a gateway.
Chrissy’s prophecy had said he needed to find the altars and restore the portals. Perhaps he could do both in one go.
Light glimmered between Mananan’s fingers, his magic pouring out of him like fine threads before weaving together to form a net. He cast the rays, and they wrapped themselves around the body, containing it and cutting it off from the gateway’s power. He pulled his dagger from the sheath on his calf and cut the rope around the corpse’s feet. The magical net carried the body back to the boat. Mananan checked the net for any nasty curses, and finding none, he hauled it to the surface.
Bayn was already lifting the corpse into the boat. “Your little seer was right. Gods, this body is rank.”
“We are taking this too. Taran can dig about in it and see if there’s anything interesting inside,” Mananan said and hauled the net up. Bayn grabbed it and lifted it in the rest of the way. “It was feeding off a portal…” Mananan’s words choked off as something grabbed his leg and pulled him back down through the water.
He expected another kraken. What he got was a nightmare Fomorian monster of jelly fish tentacles and shark heads. They hadn’t only been making monsters in the forests.
Mananan gripped his harpoon, and it lit up like a bolt of lightning in the blackness. He didn’t waste time wondering about the madness that created such an abomination; he drove the tip of his harpoon deep into the maw of teeth ready to devour him.
The beast screamed, jerking away. It was enough of a distraction for Mananan to cut the tentacle free from his legs, ignoring the burn it left behind.
Strength and magic flowed through him, and he darted through the water behind the creature, searching for a weak spot. The body of the creature was clear in places like a jelly fish, and he saw three beating hearts in the center of its blobbing body. Of course.
