Perilous Waters (22 page)

“All right, but don’t use your full force,” Angie said. “Julia, you shoot one and Kaitlyn take the other. Just enough to slow them.”

“I’ll take the one on the right,” Julia yelled.

Kaitlyn nodded. Julia lifted her arms and fired a bolt of energy at the minotaur, but Kaitlyn blasted the same one.

“You said you were taking the one on the right, idiot,” Kaitlyn yelled. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Julia’s breaths came in burning, painful gasps. She had said right when she meant left. How could she have made such a stupid mistake? With both of them blasting the same minotaur, it was knocked unconscious and useless to them for finding the portal. Meanwhile, the other one snarled, looking fairly pissed as it bore down on them.

“It’s okay,” Angie said as they sped down to the back of the large hacienda. “Just… don’t blast this one. Okay?”

Up ahead, an outdoor space led to a cooking area. Julia’s heart felt like it was going to burst… so much running! How big was this place, anyway?

Another whir of energy sounded behind her. Another infuriated roar. Was Kaitlyn blasting the other minotaur? As she turned to check, her foot caught on a groove in the tiled flooring. She went careening forward, slamming into Angie’s back.

Angie scrambled backward, twisting in her enormous gown as the two of them tumbled to the ground.

“Ow,” Julia muttered, unable to get up in the tangle of lace and skirts. She scooted across the stone floor. The kitchen area was behind her and time-frozen servants were clearly within view. “People,” Julia managed to sputter, still twisted in her gown. “The creature will have to go back to the portal if we unfreeze time.”

“Not yet,” Angie cried, managing to stand up. “Lure it closer, Kaitlyn. Hurry!”

Julia tried to stand but her nearly floor-length veil snagged, tangled around her waist. She kicked at her petticoats and the heavy fabric confining her legs, hitching up her dress as the minotaur fought Kaitlyn. It was clear Kaitlyn was in command of herself, almost toying with the beast as she twirled out of reach like a dancer. Her black hair spun in a horizontal plane across her back, landing in an inky waterfall along one bare shoulder. The minotaur lunged for her and she raced a few steps toward the kitchen before pausing again to send a tiny blast of magic at the creature’s leg, making him stumble. She laughed and ducked as he swiped at her.

“Don’t make him even madder,” Julia called out, finally unraveling her skirts and staggering to her feet.

“Fools,” the minotaur growled. “You do not understand the power you trifle with.”

Julia’s breath hitched at the gravelly sound. She wanted to run away and hide. The thing was huge. Its shoulders were as wide as the three of them. Its horns gleamed, sharp and deadly in the strange, time-frozen sunset. She managed to stumble toward Angie, who took her hand and held it tight. “Kaitlyn! Come on. Make the connection!”

But Kaitlyn only gave the minotaur a sly look. “We’re the fools?” she taunted. “You’re the one who got yourself banished to the nether.”

His nostrils flared in his slimy, glistening muzzle. “And you nearly did as well, Daughter of Future. Or have you forgotten?”

Kaitlyn paled. Her lips became a thin line as she lifted both hands.

“No!” Angie cried. “We need him”

But it was too late. Kaitlyn blasted him with the full force of her power, both palms turned out as twin bolts of searing white magic sped from her hands and landed square on the infuriated minotaur’s chest.

The beast flew back, slamming against a far wall. The impact caused a split to appear in the stucco behind him.

“Great move,” Julia muttered. “Now we have two unconscious creatures and no lead to the portal.”

“So?” Kaitlyn lifted her dress and stepped over him. “He’ll wake up.”

“Yeah but we waste so much time until then,” Angie said. “Other creatures could be pouring from the portal even as we speak, emerging on a time-frozen world that they have free reign over.”

“Not to mention Brian transforming into a creature,” Julia said.

Angie slumped against the wall, her delicate shoulder pressing against the clay-like stone. She glanced down at her palms and filled them with light for a moment. Julia realized Angie was healing her hands… she didn’t even have to say Restore out loud to heal small wounds.

She felt a moment’s awe, and also tried to cast the spell without talking out loud.
Restore
, she thought, holding out her own scraped hands. Magic formed in her palms, but it sat there, almost like it was waiting for her to tell it something. It certainly didn’t heal her. “Restore,” she finally said out loud.

Angie brushed her palms together and looked up. “We have no choice but to unfreeze time and try again. It might be hours before he comes to.”

Julia looked down at the monstrous creature. “But then he’ll return to the nether and be free to come back again.”

“Not if we kill it.”

Angie gave Kaitlyn a level stare. “Our magic can’t kill.”

Kaitlyn strode to the kitchen area and returned with a large, gleaming knife. She looked first to Angie, then set her flashing green eyes on Julia.

“Our magic can’t kill,” she said slowly, each of her words dropping like ticking time bombs. “But
we
can.”

Julia sucked in a breath. Stabbing an unconscious creature to death? “Are you flippin’ out of your mind?”

“It’s going to wake up and try to kill us all over again,” Kaitlyn said, her eyes cool and her voice soft and very, very serious. “I’ll cut its throat. You guys don’t have to watch.”

“You’re nuts,” Julia said, turning to Angie, looking for backup. “She’s nuts.”

But Angie wore an uncertain frown, her head tilted to the side. Her clear blue eyes lifted to meet Julia’s. “Ethan would do it, if he were here.”

Julia’s lips parted. Ethan never left a creature alive. Ever.

“Just because we’re girls doesn’t mean we can’t do the same thing he does.”

Her mouth went dry. Could they really do it? The idea of cutting into skin and meat, of hot blood gushing over her hands… her head shook slightly as she looked from the knife to the creature, then back to Angie. “I’m not—I’m not—”

“You’re not a killer?” Kaitlyn said. “But you let Ethan be one. You didn’t complain then.”

Julia wanted to deny it. The way Kaitlyn said it made it sound like she was just using Ethan. “But… th-that was what Ethan said. He said he was supposed to kill them.”

“Whatever we’re doing, we need to do it quickly. Leaving time frozen like this is only going to make our job that much harder,” Angie said, her hands clenching and unclenching in her gown. “Not to mention, that minotaur could wake up any minute.”

Kaitlyn moved in her dress like a dark angel. Shrouded in black lace, surrounded by black hair, she knelt beside the stunned beast.

“Ethan would stab it in the heart and slice its throat, quick,” Kaitlyn said. “I watched him fight at Santa Monica.”

A jolt of heat zapped Julia’s heart. She remembered that fight. Kaitlyn and Ethan had worked really well together.

“I’m going to do it,” Kaitlyn whispered. She raised the blade high.

Julia wanted to stop her. Killing something in the heat of the moment, out of self-defense, that somehow made it seem less terrible.

Kaitlyn’s blade flashed. Her teeth bared and the scar on her cheek twisted. The knife came down and as it did, the minotaur’s eyes flew open.

“Holy crap!” Julia yelled, her hands filling with power.

“No,” Kaitlyn cried, her knife coming down hard on the demon beast’s chest. Blood gushed from the wound, black and thick. The creature grabbed at Kaitlyn’s wrist, making her cry out. It rose to its full, horrifying height, yanking Kaitlyn’s arm high and causing her to cry out. Blood pulsed from its chest in thick waves. As the monster roared, something like vomit came up past its lips. Its eyes rolled back and its intense, awful noises made Julia’s stomach churn. She almost covered her eyes.

“We have to blast it,” Angie yelled, magic pooling in her palms. She fired a bolt at the beast, who reared back its head and roared.

Julia lifted her hands and focused her energy on the monster. “Kaitlyn, you’re too close.”

“It won’t let go of my wrist,” Kaitlyn said, her breathing tight through clenched teeth.

“Focus your energy on the monster,” Angie said, lifting her hands again. “You won’t miss.”

The minotaur slammed Kaitlyn against the wall. Her head lolled forward as her knife clattered to the stone-cobbled ground.

“Do it,” Angie cried, sending another jolt of magic at the creature.

Julia shot at the demon, forcing as much of her energy toward it as she could.

The monster’s eyes rolled back as it collapsed against the wall.

“We need to heal Kaitlyn,” Julia said.

Kaitlyn lifted her head, pushing herself into a sitting position. “We need to kill the creature,” came her dull, croaking voice.

Julia took the knife from where it had landed on the ground. It was heavier than she thought it would be. Silently, she offered it to Kaitlyn.

Blood still flowed from the minotaur’s wound. Julia pressed her lips together. Kaitlyn was right. The thing needed to die.

But Kaitlyn stared at the beast. Her eyes lacked their usual fire and her hand trembled. She rose to her knees, wincing as she lifted her arm high. Moments passed. Her face took on a strange, gray tone. With a hitch in her breath she turned her head aside. “I can’t.”

Julia blinked rapidly. She knelt beside her. “Maybe if we heal you first—”

“No. It’s… harder than I thought it would be. I think I could do it in the heat of the moment, but stabbing it earlier while it was unconscious,” she broke off, handing Julia the knife. “You do it.”

Julia nearly fell back on her butt. “Me?” She gripped the hilt, her hands slick with sweat and her body shaking, wanting nothing more than to hurl the weapon aside.

“Do it,” Kaitlyn whispered. “It’s only stunned, after all. That never lasts long.”

Julia stared at the creature. Its chest rose and fell, air escaping from cruel lips that even unconscious, still twisted in a sneer. The thing would kill them for sure.

“I just… I just don’t think I can.”

The knife vanished from Julia’s hands. Like a darting beam of light, Angie put herself between them and the creature. Silent, other than the rustle of skirts, the blade swept across the minotaur’s throat.

The monster’s nostrils flared once. Dark fluid poured from the wound in gushing waves.

Angie looked smaller than ever with a bloodied knife in her hand. Wide, blue eyes blinked at them, as innocently as an angel’s even as her hands dripped with blood.

Julia rose to her feet. “Holy crap.”

Kaitlyn took the knife from Angie’s hands. “Thank you,” she whispered, the two words low and halting. Her chest heaved against her blood-soaked gown. The scar on her cheek was rimmed in red.

“Hopefully we don’t have to do this often,” Angie said, her face pale and her eyes revealing no trace of emotion. “And, you’re welcome.”

Kaitlyn cleaned the knife on the minotaur’s fur. Before she had turned the blade over to wipe the other side, the minotaur’s body began losing substance. Blackness enveloped the creature, swallowing the corpse even as it swirled around them until every drop of blood vanished into nothingness.

“The nether took him back,” Angie whispered.

Kaitlyn stood. “It was the same at Santa Monica, remember?”

Julia swallowed thickly. She had never paid attention to what happened when Ethan killed creatures before. She hadn’t wanted to see their bodies.

Kaitlyn looked at Julia and then at Angie, almost as if seeking approval. “We did it. We killed a creature and we did it ourselves.”

Angie’s lashes lifted. She gazed steadily at Kaitlyn, her voice soft and clear. “One less demon for the world to worry about.”

Kaitlyn’s lips turned up, her scar puckering along her cheek, but her smile evaporated as another roar sounded from the hallway where they had come from.

“The other minotaur,” Angie breathed. “Link up. Let’s time it just right this time. We want to be sure it will have no choice but to escape to the portal.”

Julia nearly jumped out of her skin as the other minotaur appeared at the far end of the courtyard.

“Now,” Angie cried.

Julia shut her eyes, forcing the flow of time back into motion. The sounds of the kitchen servants could be heard on the light breeze, laughter and talking and utensils scraping against cooking ware.

“It will have to take off for the portal,” Angie said. “Julia, when you Journey us, follow the path of darkness. Don’t let it get—”

The minotaur bellowed, but rather than evaporate into a darkness that Julia could follow, it quickly morphed. Its fur disappeared, leaving tanned skin and a shaggy beard. “Gross,” Julia whispered at the sight of his naked body. Almost immediately clothing materialized over him. He wore a neckerchief, boots, pants that were frayed at the bottom… all he needed was an eye patch and he would look like a pirate. And
not
the Ethan kind of pirate. The kind of pirate that looked dirty and probably had scurvy.

He faced them and offered a snarling view of yellowed, rotting teeth.

“Double gross,” Julia whispered.

The noises from the kitchen came to an abrupt halt as a bell tolled, loud and insistent. People flooded the courtyard, a confusing mass of frightened faces.

“Now what,” Kaitlyn spat. “Blast him with everyone watching?”

“I—I thought he would escape from us and go back to the portal,” Angie said, her eyes welling with uncertainty. “I hadn’t thought he would glamour himself and remain here.” She spun around, looking from side to side. “We can’t blast him. Not with so many people watching.”

Julia held Kaitlyn’s arm down before she could lift it.

What are you doing?

Kaitlyn’s eyes narrowed on the minotaur as she wrenched her arm free.
It doesn’t matter what these people see,
Kaitlyn’s voice echoed in her mind.
Let them think what they want. We need to blast it.

The pirate-glamoured minotaur scrambled away as a pair of men reached for him, tearing across the courtyard. Kaitlyn raised her hands and shot him with a bolt of magic. He dropped like a rock.