Although a few other guards are also down, their own bullets finding them after hitting our shields, they still outnumber us by many.
I make eye contact with Will. “Take my lead.”
Holding our shields with our left hands, we squat and dip our right hands into the rushing stream.“Slyngva fiskr!”I shout, and Will follows.
Within seconds, the black-eyed carcasses of a thousand rotting fish fly through the air. Pelting, swatting, smacking the guards—cutting them off at the knees, cannonballing them in the chest, tossing them back into the water with a flying splash.
“To your left!” Will calls as the guards who chased us down the alley appear around the side of the building, barreling straight at us with knives.
“Frijøsa!”I scream, hands still in the water.
A vein of ice hardens immediately where my hands have contact, spidering down the tide into the men sloshing directly at me. Their feet stop on a dime, frozen in blocks of ice.
“Yes!” Sofie yells before casting the spell herself at two more men coming her way. They try to jump, only to slip and fall facedown into the street.
“Let me try,” Agnata says.
The three of us line up, placing our hands six across, and yell the spell together; it sends several more men sliding. Over my shoulder, Will has sent two guards burning, and three more are facedown in the water with other various injuries.
“Runa! Go! We’ve got this!” he yells.
I believe him, but I won’t leave until I check the numbers—the guards have dwindled to just a handful. With Agnata’s confidence back, we’ve added another fighter and she and Sofie are working side by side to bring down those remaining in the street, while Will works the side yard.
He’s right: it’s time.
Shields up, I let a crack of lightning orient me to the beach and the sea witch’s cove just beyond. I begin to run but get only a few steps before a pinch of anxiety stops me cold. My eyes immediately find Will—who’s face-to-face with a guard, fighting hand-to-hand, rolling on the ground, through the water. Slash, punch, splash.
And though he’s fought several times before, both this night and others, there’s something in my heart that makes me hesitate and watch, every sense trained on the altercation below. The rolling stops, and the guard has Will stumbling up, his hands pressing into the siding of the shop row.
“Show me your hands, Witch!” the guard screams at Will, pistol trained straight at his chest.
Will smiles, straightens—and presents the man with adaisy made from thin air. “Wizard, actually.”
The man gasps and overreacts, batting at Will’s hands with his pistol. Will tosses the daisy in the man’s face and gets a hand on the barrel of the gun.
But then it goes off.
This time, the blast doesn’t ricochet. There’s no shield.
Will stumbles backward into the building and falls in a heap in the water.
“No!” The wind steals my voice as I scream. I change course and sprint straight for him.
The guard gets to his feet and cocks the hammer again. Aiming at Will as his back is turned and he struggles to his feet.
Oh no you don’t.
“Fœra!”With laser focus, light bursts forth from my hands and plows the man backward, stunned and landing hard on the cobblestones, the gun sliding away as water splashes around him.
Will’s on his side when I get to him, face in the water. He’s trying to get up, but one arm isn’t working and he’s inhaling water. I wrap my arms around him and get him sitting up. “Will, I’m here. I’m here. I’ve got you.”
“You need... to be... over... there...”
“I know, but I can’t.... Hold still.” The bullet didn’t pass through. It’s in his shoulder, and the damn thing needs to come out as soon as possible or he’ll get lead poisoning. The sea kingdom has seen this a million times with whathooks and harpoons can do to merpeople who come too close to the surface.
Face blanched, Will tries to smile. “Still. No problem.”
His body shivers and so does mine. With shaking fingers, I tear open the remains of his shirt, exposing his shoulder, stained with blood that not even this water can fade. I place my hand over his wound as lightly as possible.“Slita.”
