“Then let’s get you inside and comfortable. It must be hard on the system to come through a rush of magical transformation after almost drowning.” He was starting to move her out of the shallows and through the hall where the others had disappeared.

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  Light streamed through the huge cavern leaving her blinking in shock. Her companion’s eyes blinked and then an inner lid blinked sideways. “I am guessing that you spend a lot of time in shark mode.”

  “I do. It is something I am hoping to change, magus.” He escorted her to a table and sat down across from her.

  He was more disturbing when she faced him head on. “How do you know what I am?”

  “The ocean told us. Your magic came to us on the waves.”

  She cleared her throat and gathered her thoughts. “I don’t know what the ocean told you, but I am not a good magus.”

  He raised his midnight eyebrows, “You are of an evil inclination?”

  “No. I simply mean I am not a skilled magic user. My magic…it’s wrong.” Saying it out loud was freeing. She had fought for years not to admit it, even to herself, but now, underwater, it seemed right to say it.

  He smiled and a young shifter brought them something hot and sweet. “You were too powerful. Too much energy, too fast with your spells. You can do your incantations in silence, no need for an audible trigger.”

  “You know an awful lot for a man I just met.”

  She sipped at the drink.

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  “You are not the first water magus born, just the most recent.”

  “Water magus?”

  He nodded and grinned that disturbingly sharp grin. “Yes. Air, earth and fire are easy to spot and have no problem with their talent above the seas.

  A water magus needs water to bring her into focus.”

  She drained her cup and her host refilled it.

  Haily sat in silence while she got herself under control. There was a possibility that he was correct. It would definitely explain why the gills she just grew were lying shut, but she could still feel them.

  “This is fascinating, but why should I believe you?”

  He was still smiling. “You shouldn’t. You are here because I am going to prove it to you.

  Everything that I have just said can and will be proven in the next few days.”

  She swallowed, “Days? I can’t stay here for days. My family will miss me and come looking.”

  “They won’t find you until you have gotten your talent under control. We have been guarding and training the water magi for centuries. Now it’s your turn.” His face looked as if it was waiting for something. His midnight eyes blinked, the lack of whites in his eyes becoming less creepy by the second.

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  The interior of the large cave spun around her.

  The faces of the shark shifters grew fuzzy.

  “Who are you?”

  “Ekobai. Loki Ekobai. Alpha of the shark shifters.” He rose from his seat and came around behind her.

  Good thing he did, she fell right into his arms.

  April Danvers giggled in the arms of her dance partner. As he swung her around the floor, she glanced over to the spot where Haily had been camped. There was no Haily at the table. That wasn’t like her.

  She paused and broke away from her partner, a guy named Brock or Brent or something. “May?

  June? Have you seen Haily?”

  June looked up from the tower of cream puffs she was feeding to a guy who was more jaw than man. “What? No. I haven’t seen her since just after dinner. Why?”

  “I have a funny feeling.”

  Her sisters gathered around her and their dates edged away. May looked closely at her, “Are you sure it isn’t just the shooters?”

  “No. This is a Haily feeling and not a hey-duck-Haily’s-using-magic feeling. This is far more serious. We need to get the parents.” April 16

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  smoothed her blue dress and looked to her sisters.

  “We can either look for her now, or we can face Mom and Dad in the morning.”

  May held her hand up. “Fine. First we look, then we interrupt Mom and Dad, deal?”

  “Deal.”

  “Deal.” June nodded and patted the giant jaw guy on the shoulder. “See you later, Luke.”

  “My name is Tony.”

  “Good for you. See you later, Tony.”

  With April’s senses in the lead, she looked around for their missing elder. The trail went from the table, to the wall and then out onto the deck.

  There was a peculiar buzzing as if a magic burst was being overlaid on Haily’s imprint.

  The sensations led to the railing. “Oh lord.

  Quick, use every tracking spell you have. If she is on this boat, we have to find her. If we have no result in five minutes, we are waking the parents. I think she went overboard.”

  June went green and May started to cry. April used her tracking spells, but they kept leading to the railing.

  May had the same result after she stammered her spells out and June just ran for their parents.

  When Morag and Eduard arrived on deck, the faces on their drunken daughters must have made an impression. “What happened? June was…

  June.”

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  “Mom, Dad, I think Haily was accidentally blasted over the railing, but I don’t know how long ago.” April straightened her shoulders and faced the disapproval.

  To her astonishment, tears came to Morag’s eyes and Eduard looked unsettled. “Are you sure?”

  “Pretty sure. She isn’t on the deck and we can’t find her inside. Mine and May’s tracking spells both stop at the railing.”

  Morag straightened, wiped the tears out of her eyes and looked to her husband. “Get the Morgans and turn this boat around. We are going to do a reconstruction and find where our daughter hit the deep.”

  April sighed in relief as her father left to follow their mother’s orders. Their parents were in charge and they would find Haily. April just hoped that her sister had discovered an untapped affinity for swimming.

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  Chapter Three

  he pillow under her face felt like the softest T suede and the cover that draped over her was made of something leathery, yet butter soft. Haily opened her eyes to the bizarre sight of a canopy over her with four posts holding it up. She also wasn’t alone in the bed.

  “What the heck?”

  She sat upright and clutched the blanket to her breasts. Unfortunately, that ended up exposing more of her bed companion than she was comfortable with. Planes of muscle and bulging arms moved as he turned toward her and stared with those jet black eyes.

  “I see you are well rested. Time to begin your training.” He stood and put one of those short skirts into place. It didn’t conceal nearly enough for her peace of mind. Living through almost three decades without the hope of a man in her life made her very sensitive to things like attractive muscular nudity.

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  “Training? What about breakfast?” She got out of the bed when she noticed she was still in her white dress.

  He looked over his shoulder and winked,

  “Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to swim on a full stomach?”

  She pattered after him, enjoying the feel of stone worn smooth down through the centuries under her feet. “My mother forbids me from swimming.”

  Loki waited for her to catch up. “Does she? I am guessing that the water magus gene is on her side of the family then. If they never went to the water, they would not know what they were. Interesting technique. Are you married?”

  Her face flushed red. “Me? No. With my uncontrolled talent, I am not a good catch for anyone in my social circle.”

  “Control is in the eye of the beholder. I would bet that you were able to cast the perfect spell, you just had way too much power behind it.” He was leading her down the hall that led to the water.

  She could smell it. Clean, cold and so inviting.

  She shook her head and focussed again. Water had never seemed inviting before, but then again, as she touched her neck and felt her back, the gills were still there and still eager for water.

  It was embarrassing, but she turned to Loki.

  “Can you unzip me?”

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  “What?”

  “We are going into the water, right?”

  “Yes.” His face showed confusion.

  “Then I need the back of my dress unzipped to the waist to free up my back gills. The fabric gets in the way.”

  “Oh. Certainly. How does this work?” His fingers touched the top of her neckline gently and she quickly explained.

  “There is a small tab, pull it down slowly and steadily. It should not take much power to do it.”

  She felt the small tug on her neckline and then the caress of cool air as the zipper opened. Her skin felt hot in comparison to the damp atmosphere of the cave, but when Loki stopped pulling as he freed her gills, she took a gasping breath. “Thank you.”

  He came to her side and took one of her hands,

  “You are welcome. Now, come along, we are going into the sea.”

  She shivered and lagged behind as far as she could. “What will I be doing?”

  “Illumination spells. You are going to try to light up the submerged cavern I take you to. I will have to alter my shape somewhat as my gills don’t come out until I take on a half-form. Will that distress you?”

  “Probably, but let’s get this started. If it is all a dream, the water ought to bring me out of my 21

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  coma anyway.” She took a few steps until they were both in the water to the knees.

  Her mind ran through all the illumination spells she could think of and the moment that her gills were splashed, her mind cleared and fear of the water faded. By the time her upper gills were submerged, she was eager to be guided to the cavern he had mentioned.

  Loki’s face was only remotely human now.

  Thick grey skin with black striping took the place of his Polynesian tone. His black eyes remained the same, though he now had a dorsal fin and webbed hands, arms and feet. As he kept her hand to lead her forward, he also showed her a tail that could do quite a bit of damage.

  Are you all right, magus? His voice in her thoughts was crystal clear.

  She focussed and tried to send a message back, Haily, my name is Haily.

  Are you all right, Haily? The grin on his face was now truly disturbing.

  Fine. Shall we head to that cavern?

  By all means. He swam behind her and wrapped his arms around her ribs, moving them swiftly through the water.

  They were still in the darkest deep. Is it daylight up there?

  Yes, but we prefer to be out of the light of the human world. It is far safer to be at the bottom of the sea than 22

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  the top of it.

  It made a certain sense. Is there a way to get a message to my family?

  You will be able to do that later today if you wish.

  We just need to get you used to channelling your talent through the water. Once you have grasped that, all spells you have ever learned will be at your disposal.

  That sent a thrill of anticipation down her spine. She kept her mind shut as they swam along, her body completely lost, but part of her brain keeping close track of where she was. Haily supposed it was similar to April’s tracking and instincts. No one in the family ever argued with April’s instincts, not if they wanted to live.

  She used the swim time to focus on spells she wanted to try. The feel of walls next to her started her heart pounding. She was going to be able to practice her magic and no one was trying to stop her. This was going to be so cool.

  We are here. I will go to the entrance. You may commence whenever you are ready. He released her and she slowly waved her arms in the slightly moving current.

  Her senses expanded and suddenly, she could see the walls around her in a gray scale. Haily turned to face the far end of the cavern and selected a spell from her whirling thoughts. If her mother was right, this spell would kill her. If the strange shark shifter was right, she was a water 23

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  magus.

  She touched her gills absently and decided to believe Loki for the time being. With a deep breath, she silently chanted her spell and threw the power to the far end of the cavern. It struck the far wall and stuck. Another whispered word and the spell hopped in a series of splotches around the wall until they made a complete circle.

  Showtime. She activated the magic with a word in her thoughts and the cavern exploded into daylight.

  Holy starfish!

  She looked behind her at Loki, to see him shielding his eyes from the bright light. I did it!

  Yes, you did. Congratulations. This was obviously successful. Is there anything else you would like to try?

  Haily looked down at her dress and whispered silent words. There, that was one.

  One what? He looked around for proof of her skills.

  She turned to show him her back. It now goes low enough to free the gills without the zipper.

  The mental chuckle was indulgent.

  How long will these lights burn?

  Burn? They are permanent unless I turn them off. I used a transformation spell on the rock.

  How do you have that spell?

  My name is Haily Holly Danvers, of the Spell Crafters. We design spells. It’s in our genes.

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  Those black eyes did that disturbing double blink again before he smiled. You may leave the lights on if you wish, but it isn’t necessary.

  Her stomach rumbled. Can we have breakfast now?

  Can you find your way back?

  Probably, but I don’t want to try. Oh, can I make a call?

  This is your experiment, do what you will.

  With trepidation rolling through her, she reached out to contact her family, the communication spell forming a great white whirling vortex in front of her.

  Morag stood next to her husband as they prepared to cast the spell that would show exactly what happened to Haily. Together, they chanted and reached out, turning their memory of their daughter into a three-dimensional image.

  The party started up around them, anyone near Haily turning into an image. Morag’s heart ached as she realized that no one was coming near her daughter. Not even a pity dance.

  She and Eduard sped up the image, the loneliness on the face of their eldest heartbreaking as they watched her sigh and go to the wall, then stand in the doorway, turning suddenly as 25

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  something caught her attention. A bright flare came from one of the partygoers and struck Haily squarely in the chest. Surprise and pain froze her face as the power exploded on contact. She was lifted off her feet and thrown over the railing. The party never skipped a beat.

  Morag rushed to the railing to watch her daughter disappear into the blackness of the waves. Eduard placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her back.

  “Elli, can you track her?”

  Elli Morgan was one of the most advanced tracking mages in existence. Her son Tony was a good age for one of Morag’s daughters, but he was all chin, few brains. He favoured his father.

  Elli took a deep breath and whispered her spell over the water. “She’s alive. Something has her, something old and powerful.”

  Dolphins came to the surface and frolicked in the waves around the almost immobile ship.

  Eduard was looking at the animals with a considering eye. “Do you think they know where she is?”

  Morag scowled, “Why would they? They are just dumb animals.”

  “No, my dear, I believe they are shifters.” He leaned out and gestured for one to come aboard.

  The dolphin took a running leap and shifted into the form of a naked man as he skidded across 26

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  the deck. He cleared his throat and grabbed a towel from one of the lounge chairs.

  It took him three tries before he was able to speak. “Greetings, thank you for the welcome.

  May I ask why you have asked me to come aboard?”

  Morag nodded to Eduard, her throat too clogged to speak.

  Her husband stepped forward and spoke. “Our eldest daughter has gone missing and we fear for her safety. Is there anything that you can tell us about her whereabouts?”

  “Your eldest daughter? You have others?” He made a gesture with his hands and a few more dolphins leapt onto the deck, transforming mid-air.

  “We do. But we are concerned with the one who is missing.”

  The dolphin shifter cocked his head. The others on board came forward as they dressed in towels.

  “I see. Well, I could tell you where the water magus is, but I would rather meet your other daughters. Where are they?”

  Morag got a sudden chill and put a shield between the magic users and the shifters. The first dolphin gave her a look of contempt and strode forward. “You might have to pay for that. Let’s see how agreeable your offspring are.”

  He gripped her by the arm and the other 27

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  shifters took possession of the magi on the decks.

  Morag swallowed. “Why didn’t it work?”

  “Because we are on the ocean and your magic has no anchor here. We tried to get to the water magus first, but the sharks beat us to her, as usual.

  If she has sisters, one of them may have the same abilities. Let’s just go and see, shall we?”

  He was hauling her back into the main dining hall when a burst of light erupted in front of them.

 

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