Panic flared in my chest. A potion. Something could surely help me in this situation. But no, I needed to keep feeding the spell for the captain to make it to the surface.
My limbs began to weaken all at once, like energy was spooling from them. That would indicate that my energy reserve had run dry. The spell was using magic directly from me to feed it now. On top of that, my burning lungs were protesting.
I closed my eyes and kicked, hoping for the best. I stopped again after a minute, lungs screaming for air. My body was cold. My magic had depleted. I could no longer feel it in my veins. I hoped the captain had made it to the surface before I’d had nothing left to feed the spell. All I saw was how far I still had to go.
And streaks of gold. I looked to the right and realized it was fire, above the surface. Narcissa was trying to signal to me which way was up.
I adjusted my position and began to kick in that direction, but black dots appeared in the corners of my vision, growing larger and bleeding over my sight. I needed to breathe. I didn’t know how much longer I could go without opening my mouth, desperate to draw in anything, even if it was the salt water that would serve as my grave.
Something grabbed me around the waist, and the air emptied from my lungs as I was yanked along, cutting through the water at breakneck speeds. I refused to draw in a breath, despite my lungs screaming at me, until I finally felt the water give way, and fresh air met my cheeks. I gasped, coughing. I dragged in lungful after lungful of sweet oxygen. My breathing was slow to return to normal, as were my eyes. My vision cleared after another minute.
I leaned on the figure that had pulled me from my watery grave and blinked at Therese, floating in the water beside me. “You … you saved me,” I said.
“Of course,” she said, frog head nodding. “Frogs are good for hopping, but also for swimming. I’m infamous.”
“Infamous?”
“Amfamous,” Therese corrected herself, frowning.
“Amphibious?”
“Yes, that one!” she squinted at me. “Are you all right, Mr. Witch?”
I smiled. “You beautiful girl, I’m quite all right, thanks to you.”
It took several minutes for my strength to return enough to climb the ladder up to the deck of theKoriko.But once I did, Captain Mary wasted no time in readying the ship for departure, her crew running around the deck, ensuring everything was in order.
Freya sat down beside me as Auggie conferred with the captain about something or other. She sent me a sideways look.
“What?” I asked her.
“Thank you for seeing to Ambrosia.”
I smiled tightly. “You aren’t mad? I thought you’d perhaps want to do it yourself.”
Freya considered. “As satisfying as it would have been, I don’t think that would have been possible, given her ability to control me. Watching her end was as close as I could come to seeing her pay for her deeds.”
“Then I’m glad I was able to do that for you.”
Freya huffed. “Yes, well, you’re quite the hero, Callum. Even I was surprised to see you go after the captain.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
She tilted her head. “You didn’t have to save her. It served no purpose other than to help a human being in need. You got nothing out of it.”
“Yes, well, I couldn’t just let her die.”
“But I think you would have. Before.” Freya fixed me with a stare. “Callum, you risked your own life for her. You could have died. You almost did. That was very selfless of you. And of your many frustrating qualities, that was never one I associated with you.”
I absorbed her words for a moment, then cocked my head. “I have no frustrating qualities. Of that, you’re mistaken.”
She laughed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The docks ofNew York were bustling with activity when we arrived two days later. With one day left to fulfill my task, I was cutting it close, but all I needed to do at this point was deliver Auggie to the address Lucifer had indicated.
I sent Auggie a furtive glance as he descended the gangplank. Had he made a deal with the Devil to save his aunt? Perhaps it was more complicated than that, something to do with his bloodline or family. That would be the sort of selfless act I would expect of Auggie. But if Lucifer was ensuring Auggie’s arrival at his aunt’s, it must be to see that his own side of the deal was met. Perhaps that meant that Auggie’s soul wouldn’t be collected immediately. Maybe he still had time to enjoy his life. And perhaps … I could fit into that somehow. Once my soul was in my possession again, I could decide what I did, and where I went. Lucifer would have no say if I wished to see Auggie.
