Page 20

Ivy

A scream lodged in my throat as the first zombie made its way up the side of the boat to the railings. A skeletal hand reached between wooden planks, but the crew member standing nearby drew a sword from their back and brought it down with such force that it severed the hand from the body.

It felt like a scene out of a movie. Watching the hand try and creep across the deck. I wanted to throw up again, but someone tossed it overboard with a grunt.

I forced myself to look away, only to find the rest of the ship was dealing with much the same.

Half-decayed bodies climbed the sides, some making it further than others.

They were all in different states of decay; some were actual skeletons with what was left of their clothing hanging from their bones, while others looked freshly dead—save for the gaping wounds that killed them.

I always thought the dead would do no harm. But seeing these things trying to climb aboard, I realised just how little I knew about this world.

Why are they like this? I asked Maeve, glancing over at where she stood on the quarter deck with Hawk.

My vampire mate looked up, black hair clinging to her face from the rain.

It’s the curse of the ocean. The Titan’s Channel leads directly into the Underworld’s fields of death.

Captain Vale and his ship would have taken us a different route, one other vessels use.

But those would be blocked now. This is the only one Dante can’t control.

Because of the curse? I asked, wincing as Rowan cut down one of the less-dead looking zombies.

Even over the roar of the storm, I thought I heard the body hit the water.

Would it just come back? I had a feeling I already knew the answer to that one.

Chances were, our efforts were in vain. I doubted we could kill the dead twice.

Let’s hope he has not found a way to control it, was all Maeve said in response.

My stomach twisted as I pulled away from the bond in time to notice something dart across the island we were slowly passing by, launching itself at the main mast.

Sometimes, it was easy to forget that I was surrounded by supernatural creatures with abilities that surpassed my own. Elias and Maeve were faster and stronger than the average supe.

And the dead were the same.

Before I could alert anyone to the creature, a dark, twisted form stopped the revenant midair. A shadow-like thing wrapped around the decomposed body until I could no longer see it before throwing it back into the dark, rolling waves .

I gasped and watched as the shadows returned to its post on the mast. I caught only a flash of silver before realising what it had been.

Orion . He was hiding in the crow’s nest. Somehow, the worry I had for him only heightened.

The roar of blood in my ears did little to drown out the crash of waves hitting the ship’s hull, or the grunts and sound of swords coming down on the revenants. But magic…magic carried on the wind. It ghosted over my skin, lifting the hairs on my arms and neck.

It didn’t feel like anything I recognised. The magic didn’t belong to one of my mates, that much I could be certain of. And although I’d only spent a few days with Captain Meira and her crew, I’d come to pick up on all their magical signatures in that time.

But this was…different. A type of power I couldn’t identify.

A chill rushed through me, settling deep in my bones. Not one caused by the rain, which flooded the deck, or the storm still raging around us. I didn’t even care about the revenant-zombie things anymore. They were pushed to the back of my mind as I surveyed the ocean and its angry waves.

We passed the island of the dead, and were in open water once more, but the feeling refused to pass.

The magic drifted over me, teasing me with the promise of death.

The fighting died down, though with every strike of lightning that illuminated the sky, I caught sight of the bobbing bodies still coming towards us.

The waves sometimes revealed more wrecks before hiding them again.

The witch lights weren’t enough to cut through the darkness, giving us only enough light to see ourselves, really. And yet I couldn’t figure out why the sensation of magic unsettled me.

Elias’s hand tightened around mine, jerking me out of my thoughts. I looked at him with furrowed brows, noticing the way his eyes glowed with the proximity of his wolf.

What’s wrong? I asked, pressing myself into his side, feeling the heat of his body despite the wetness of his clothes. I was not looking forward to the rashes I’d have after we made it out of the storm.

Shaking his head, Elias pressed his lips into a firm line and brought another arm around me. Something doesn’t feel right.

I stiffened in his embrace, casting another quick, almost desperate look around the ship.

I checked on each mate, from Rowan at the very front of the ship, to Adrian, who had his back to me and golden hair wildly whipping around his face, up to Orion in the crow’s nest, who I couldn’t see fully but knew was close, and then to Maeve still standing with Hawk, both with weapons drawn, searching the darkness ahead of us.

There’s a strange magic in the air, I finally managed, turning back to meet Elias’s eyes. I feel it. And there’s something wrong. I don’t ? —

Before I could finish that thought, the ship rocked violently, swaying to one side so hard, we almost hit the water.

If it weren’t for Elias and his arm around me, I would have lost my footing and fallen into the black water.

Elias shouted, releasing my hand to grab a rope tied around the mast, crushing me to him as the boat tried to right itself.

I buried my face in his chest. The groan of wood, the cries and shouts of everyone around me, barely cut through the sudden buzzing in my ears.

All of my bonds brightened in my chest out of worry—maybe even out of fear.

I tried to reach for all of them. I called upon my magic, bringing it to the surface before casting it out in a web of violet power over the ship.

But it wasn’t enough.

The ship gave a warning groan, likepart of it was being torn apart. Had we hit something? There were so many wrecks, I would be surprised if we had.

Oh, god, what if we go down like the Titanic? I thought dying by car crash would suck. What a way for a future Queen to go. But shipwreck in the middle of a cursed ocean full of zombies?

If it weren’t for being smothered by Elias, I was ninety percent certain I’d throw up again.

I gritted my teeth in an effort to hold the ship together. My magic strained, pushing against the inside of my skin, swelling within me in an attempt to explode. It wanted to tear my skin apart, but I reeled it in, hoping—no, praying—that I would be enough to protect us.

But the pressure building within me threatened to crack as the ship made another alarming sound. Above my head, Orion shouted, though not in fear.

I forced myself to look up, and bit down on a cry as the mast splintered from the weight of the storm.

It was like the world around me moved slowly. The crow’s nest waved almost comically in the air with my mate holding tightly to it. The power holding us together, keeping the ship stable, wanted to do more than act like glue. It wanted to be unleashed.

It wanted to save our mate.

And yet if I let go of the ship, I knew I would lose the others. Maeve and Hawk at one end, still tied to the deck with ropes. Adrian and Rowan at the other.

My heart pounded. Magic burned my veins .

I closed my eyes at the next crack in the mast. Bit my tongue as the ship rocked again.

I tried to ignore the tears building behind my eyes. The tightening in my throat as I delved deeper into my magic.

Now, I finally had a reason to test the full extent of my power.

Don’t worry about me, flower , Orion whispered down the bond. Though he tried to be calming, he was anything but. Don’t push your power. Not this soon.

I clenched my jaw and focused on what I knew about the structure of the ship as I replied, I’m not letting you go again, asshole .

There was the briefest hint of amusement through the bond, but it was quickly drowned out by a flash of fear. His fear.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I pulled up the ship in my mind and imagined every part of it.

I drew together the different people on board, from my mates right down to the crew.

Captain Meira at the helm, her power nothing against the wind and waves.

The three shifters and two mages scattered across the deck, all holding on for dear life.

As I imagined them, awareness raced down my spine. In that moment, I felt everything: their emotions, their power, and most importantly—their terror. They did not want to die. They did not want to become the creatures that watched us from the water.

And I had no desire letting the curse take them.

I pulled Orion into the image as well, taking the mast and imagining a net around it, keeping him steady and protected above me.

I placed a series of charms around the ship, almost like the ones I’d set up on the SUV.

Only this time, I imagined them stronger.

Less breakable. And more importantly, designed with the safety of everyone in mind.

Protecting the ship wouldn’t be enough. I had to build a barrier around the people, too.

Something in the distance made a deep, almost animalistic growl, one that chilled me to the bone. My eyes flew open, and I met Elias’s wide stare.

“What—” I didn’t get the chance to ask what the hell kind of creature could make a sound like that. Because it wasn’t the zombies in the water.

Elias looked away from me to glare at something behind me. I gasped and looked over my shoulder.

Lightning struck, and for the briefest moment, I thought I saw the outline of a monster against the swirling dark grey clouds.

My heart stopped, ears ringing.

Some of the crew shouted as the thing in the distance growled again. I felt the five presences of my mates, tearing at our bonds in order to keep me and my magic stable.

But the beast in my chest, the thing now capable of more than I ever thought possible, clawed at my insides for release.

All the rage and frustration that’d been building within me from the last couple of days transcended everything.

Another crack of lightning revealed the monster had moved closer to the ship. Still, it was just a mass of darkness. A thing born of shadows and magic.

I blew out a shuddering breath as Captain Meira shouted something about being at the eye of the storm.

No , I thought, feeling that same wrongness from earlier trickle over my skin.

We weren’t at the eye of the storm.

We had arrived at the reason they called it the Titan’s Channel .

We’d made it to the curse of the ocean.

And as it reached for us, I realised there was no way to escape it.