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Morgan’s face was ashen. “What do we do now? Skye, if Hunter’s out there somewhere... Do you think you can still breathe under water?” She swallowed. “Because I have this if we need to go...there,” she reached into her jeans pocket, and held up a twisted ring of shell, iridescent grey on the outside, gleaming white in its inner curve.
“My ring!”
Morgan nodded.
Terrifying memories of Thea flooded back: deep beneath the ocean, her finger bent almost to breaking point as Thea ripped this ring from her and left her to drown. Only she hadn’t drowned. “How did you get it? Oh. From...Jarrod.”
Morgan nodded. “He said this one would keep me alive without having to take over my mind. He said it would be better. Keep me safer.” Her pale cheeks flooded with colour as Skye stared at her, amazed.
“He really meant it, didn’t he? Wanting you to be safe from whatever is coming?”
“I think he must have,” Morgan dropped her eyes.
“Definitely complicated,” Skye said softly.
“You got that right,” Morgan looked up, profoundly exasperated. Skye almost laughed. But the oppressive atmosphere killed the instinct. “Do you want it back? It’s yours, really.”
“You keep it, Mags. I want you safe too.” She stared out at the teal grey water. Something was coming, and the only way Hunter wouldn’t be here with her was if he was out there at the forefront of whatever it was, trying to stop it on his own. She toed off her sneakers and threw them as far up the beach as she could, then waded out into the water, stopping calf-deep.
“What are you doing?” Morgan called, alarmed. “Are we going...out there? Right now?” Obediently she took off her shoes and threw them after Skye’s. Then stopped to answer the muffled ringtone from the phone in her pocket.
“Hello? Mike, hey!” She angled her body away from the ocean, cupping her hand around the receiver to shield it. “Yeah, just stepped outside, there’s quite a breeze today,” she raised her eyebrows at Skye and pointed to the phone, but Skye shook her head. She couldn’t talk to Mike right now. “Oh, sorry, Skye just had to go back inside; bathroom. Can I take a message?”
Skye tuned out the sound of Morgan’s voice and closed her eyes, stretching out with that part of her that seemed to be connected to Hunter. The absence in her, hungry for the presence that was missing, reached out like cold arms to life-giving warmth. There, like an essence against her soul, was the feather-light touch of his, precious and... Her eyes flew open and she gasped, recoiling. She stumbled backwards, and staggered from the water, tripping and falling onto the wet sand.
“Skye, what happened?” Morgan crouched beside her, like déjà vu of her first failed swim that summer.
“I was trying to sense Hunter. It works better in the water.”
“And?”
“I found him. Only it wasn’t just him.” Her heart thudded sickly. “There is someone with him. Like, really with him. It’s like he’s drowning in this crimson kind of darkness. There’s crazy electric energy just racing and sparking and snarling around him.”
“Does that mean...he’s been mesmerised? Is that even possible?” She helped Skye to stand as the tide sent a hungry swathe of water racing over the wet sand to soak them.
Skye didn’t notice the drenching, her eyes wide and staring. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
“Do you think whoever got him like that, knew you were there?”
Skye shook her head slowly, “I don’t think even he knew I was there. But he’s close, he’s somewhere near.”
“I doubt this will help, but just in case, Mike gave me a message for you. He felt stupid, but your dad specially wanted him to tell you about something that old guy who ran the second-hand bookstore told him.”
“What was it?”
“He wrote a booklet about myths and legends of Bannimor, and came across the idea that if there are people like, you know,” she nodded at the sea, “maybe it’s because of a curse. And if it is, then curses can be broken.”
Skye’s eyebrows rose. “By who? Who could break it?”
“Do you think there’s something in it?”
“Maybe. Who could break the curse?”
“Whoever cursed them in the first place.”
“Great. So that solution is impossible.”
“You mean there was a curse?”
“Was. Is. However long they’ve been around is however long ago it happened.”
“So, they were like us before?”
Skye nodded, “Us, but they used to be able to do a kind of magic back then.”
“Magic. Just when I think I’ve got my head around this stuff, there’s more.”
“I know. Hunter said it was like bending nature, moving what already is. Like sensing what people feel and manipulating it.”
“Nice,” Morgan muttered.
“Totally agree. When they became this, it kind of skewed that magic into what they do now. Except Hunter. He was different. He was more. He is more.” Saying his name sent a tangle of longing and anxious fear twisting through her.
Find me he’d asked her once. The first time she’d walked from Bascath Beach through the saddle, past Ciarlan Cove all the way to Ocean Beach in a grief-filled daze thinking he was human and drowned. She’d learned his secret then. And the next time she looked for him, she had found him at Lithus Rock. She looked past Morgan, across the choppy tide to where the small island stood. Somehow, she knew he was there. It was their place, his and Skye’s. For her it meant him. What was happening to him there? Fear for him sent an adrenaline-fueled rush through her, focusing her.
“I have to go out there, Morgan.”
Like that day, today it was inaccessible except by swimming. Or... They both heard the same noise and looked around, across the Bay where the end of the arm hid Ocean Beach from them. A small craft sped towards them, the faint drone of the engine reaching them over the wind and the water, becoming louder.
“It’s Ethan,” Morgan exclaimed.
“Morgan, I have to get to Lithus Rock. Maybe Ethan could take me in his IRB. But he can’t know about any of this.”
“Maybe he could take us you mean,” Morgan said. “And I really don’t think he would believe us if we tried to tell him.”
The IRB banked sharply as it reached shallow water, and Ethan steered the boat in close to the two girls. He stared wild-eyed at Skye from the rocking craft. “I knew it.”
“Knew what?” Skye’s already raw emotions plummeted at the distress so obvious on his face.
“Ethan, what’s wrong?” Morgan splashed into the water and waded out to the boat, and Skye followed.
“Get out of the water,” Ethan shouted, waving his arms at them to stop, “get back. Don’t come any closer.”
“I’m sorry Ethan, but we really need your help,” Morgan said as they reached the vessel. “We have to get out to Lithus Rock to check...something. Could you take us? You can tell us what happened on the way.”
Both girls took a step back as Ethan stared silently at them, his chest heaving as if he’d been sprinting, his eyes wide with fear and suspicion.
“Ethan, what is going on?” Skye had to ask.
He stared back towards Lithus Rock, fear all over his face, and swallowed. Then he looked at Skye, his eyes hard, “Maybe you can tell me.” With one last glance at the small island, he gave a short nod. “It may as well be on the water as anywhere if they’re coming here. Come on.” Ethan held out his hand to help Morgan aboard.
“If who is coming here?” Morgan asked, taking the outstretched arm and scrambling aboard.
Ethan didn’t reply, helping Skye next. When they were safely seated, he revved the motor and angled away from the shore toward the small island. “Life jackets,” he muttered, indicating a stack on the IRB floor near the girls. Morgan and Skye looked at each other as they donned the bright orange buoyant vests in silence, unsure what to make of his uncharacteristic behaviour. When he cut the engine, they looked around.
“No Ethan, not here.” They were only half way. “We need to get to Lithus Rock. There,” Skye pointed.
“Answers first.” Beneath the fear his voice was harsh. “Why do you need to get to Lithus Rock?”
She looked at him properly, searching his hazel eyes. “Because Hunter is there and he needs my help.”
“What is Hunter?”
“He’s - he’s important to me.”
“I didn’t say who is he. I said what.”
Skye didn’t speak.
“We’re not moving until you tell me.”
Skye looked helplessly at Morgan.
“Why would you ask something like that, Ethan?” Morgan’s voice was calm.
“Because I just saw a crowd of freakn’ people out there in the Bay, under the water, heading this way. And I think this one,” he stabbed his finger towards Skye, “knows something about it.” But despite the forceful stance, the pointing finger shook, and so did his voice. Morgan and Skye looked at each other again.
“I know a little bit about it, Ethan,” Morgan said in the same calm voice. He stared at her.
“Me too,” Skye said quietly. “I don’t know about anyone coming this way, but you’re right, something is very wrong, and if anyone can put it right, it’s Hunter. He’s probably the only one who can. He’s one of the good guys.”
“Really,” Ethan spat out.
“Can you just trust me on that?” Skye’s voice rose along with her agitation. “I need your help to get to him. I’ll swim there if you won’t. I have to get to him, and if what you’ve seen is a threat to us, I can’t waste any time arguing about it.”
Ethan hesitated. Then, jaw clenched and expression grim, he fired the motor again and they moved across the water towards Lithus Rock.
“Ethan, did you see any sign of life in the island when you passed?” Morgan asked.
“Not sure I was close enough but I didn’t really look. I guess I should have though, seeing as it’s obviously a significant place for some people,” he shot a look at Skye.
Skye didn’t comment, staring hard at the approaching rock. She held her hand up to slow him before they reached their destination. “Don’t go any closer. Just wait. I need to think.”
Ethan cut the motor and the boat coasted to a stop where it rocked, silent apart from the slap of the waves against the canvas hull. Skye could see that no one waited on the village-facing side. That wasn’t unexpected. The best access, ledges and privacy were on the other side. And Hunter was too, she was sure. Inside her was the blissful feeling of the void filling, its raw edges blunting. But with it came a jangle of red-tinged confusion, unfamiliar emotions rippling along the edges of him. Like someone else was wrapped around him, around the essence of him, so much so that the unwelcome presence seeped into Skye’s consciousness.
Who could possibly have got that close to him, and feel that wrong to her? It wasn’t Jarrod. She knew the feel of Jarrod’s presence better than she would like. Like him, this presence was hungry, angry. But it burned like the sea on fire, staining whatever caught its glow of dark passion and power. Skye gripped the finger Thea had almost broken, empty of the ring that Morgan now had, stolen in a deliberate act of murder when Thea had left her to drown...because she wanted Hunter for herself. And then Skye knew.
Thea. What was she doing to him? Or was it through him? He’d been conduit for the dark ambitions of others before, and this girl knew him like no one else – not even Skye. And...Thea had been banished, ostracised by her clan. She had nothing to lose. A rash of goosebumps flashed painfully over Skye’s skin and revulsion shook her. The people that Ethan saw, moving towards Lithus: Nemaro? Or human? And who was controlling them?
“Ethan, if anyone’s there with Hunter, I think we need to not let them know we’re here too. Can we get closer really quietly, to somewhere on this side where I can climb out? I’ll get around the other side on foot.”
“It’s pretty steep here, Skye,” Morgan observed doubtfully. “Do you think you’ll make it?”
“There are ledges most of the way around, they’re just below high tide. Not deep. And I’m already soaked, not that that matters right now. Can you do that Ethan?”
He nodded, “Yeah, if we go really slowly the motor’s quiet, especially with the noise of the wind covering.”
They began to ease forward at a snail’s pace. Skye watched the small island drawing closer. Ethan cut the quiet motor a few metres away from the rocky island. Their slow speed didn’t give the IRB the momentum needed to propel them as close as they needed to be. Skye tried leaning over the round side to paddle with her hand but couldn’t reach.
“I’ll just go in here,” she whispered.
“You mean we’ll go in here,” Morgan whispered back, pale but determined.
“You can’t go in the water,” Ethan hissed. He looked horrified. “What if there are people down there?”
Fear twisted Skye’s gut, and she closed her eyes for a moment, fighting to find her courage again. Then she opened her eyes and shook her head, pushing the image away. “Sorry Ethan. I have to do this. Can you stay close by in case we need to get away from here fast?” She looked around. The boat was already gently rocking closer to the rock. The tide must have turned. “Do you have a mooring rope? I can find a rock to anchor it with.”
“I’ve got an anchor,” he nudged a coil of rope that almost obscured the anchor beneath it. “Are you really sure you have to do this? Should I come with you?”
Skye could see the effort it cost him to offer, and a familiar surge of affection for him made her smile. “Just stay close with the boat. We’ll creep around the side,” she included Morgan in her whispered plan, “I’m not sure how far around we can get before we’re seen. But we have to try to find out what we’re dealing with. Okay?”
Both nodded. Ethan’s mouth was a tight line. Skye and Morgan shrugged out of their life jackets and balanced on the curved side of the boat.
“Are you really sure about this, Morgan? You don’t have to.” Skye whispered.
“Yes, I do,” Morgan replied. Then she held up a hand, a pearly grey and white shell ring on her little finger, “Ready as I’ll ever be.” Skye understood her pensive expression. The last time Morgan wore that ring, Hunter had been rescuing her from Jarrod.
They both swung their legs over the side and slipped quietly into the water. Skye gasped a little at the sudden change in temperature, but it was more psychological than anything. The water wasn’t particularly cold. And even before the half a dozen strokes through the water brought her within touch of the rough rock face, the temperature was comfortable.
Concentrating on finding a safe foothold, she tentatively felt with her bare feet for the submerged rock ledge. It was just a few feet below the surface. Gaining her balance, she looked at Morgan already settling to a crouch beside her on the ledge. From her expression Skye guessed Morgan was processing the eerie effects of wearing Hunter’s shell ring. While it touched her skin, she would be impervious to the usual effects of water on humans; including the need to breathe air when under water. She only hoped Morgan wouldn’t be forced to test that out ever again.
They held each other’s gaze for one long moment. There were no words. Then Skye led the way, stepping cautiously around the side of the rock until they could climb higher up onto dry rock ledges. Edging around the curve of the rock the horizon lay open before them, and more ledges of rock rose up to their left. Skye froze and crouched lower, Morgan copying her stance at once.
Skye peered at the three figures level with her on a wide ledge, standing apart, arms out-flung, not touching, but somehow entwined. Two she knew at once, the third she couldn’t see properly. The trio was perfectly still and she could hear no sound at all apart from the waves against the ocean-facing side of Lithus Rock, and the wind.
Her skin crawled at the dark atmosphere flowing from the trio to pool around her. It matched the darkness she’d sensed wrapped around Hunter’s presence. Whatever was happening up there, Hunter was fully in it. And the way the darkness was wrapped around him, he probably didn’t have much say in it. This was bad.
