Pivoting, I yanked the two halves of the katana to each side so they wouldn’t stab or slice me as I crashed into the warm, purple-glowing water. Popping up to the surface, I scanned the chaos, careful to keep both parts of the katana immersed as I did. Haru had warned me not to remove my sword before it was healed. At this rate, the water had better work its magic fast. The peaceful cove had transformed into a war zone.
The selkies had gone into attack mode. Four of them were latched on to one of the Akuma … eating it alive. Its screams were inhuman shrieks … until they dissolved into little more than a death rattle. Not even its super speed had managed to spare the creature from the viciousness of the selkies’ attack.
Note to self: Never cross a selkie. Like, never ever.
Tianna and Cass faced off with one of the other Akuma demons, while Brock and Molly took on the third. Where was the fourth? The fire was spreading; the thickening smoke and flames made it hard to see. I spun around in the water. Haru and Reo were missing too … somewhere among the flames with the fourth demon.
With a start, I remembered that none of us were going to be able to go anywhere until this sword was fixed. We were trapped here fighting the Akuma and couldn’t even retreat. With shaking hands, I brought the two broken pieces together again so the water could do its thing. The lilac glow surged around the severed edges of the sword again.
Come on, come on.
“They’re trying to burn our cove!” the selkie leader howled, prompting the last few seals to leave the safety of the water and fight with them.
I felt so helpless, it was like the pool scene with the siren all over again. My hands were vibrating as the blade stitched itself together. Purple shafts of light bounced off the sharp edge as the metal fused. It was incredible, and in any other situation I would’ve enjoyed the marvel of the water’s magic. But not right now.
Impatience flared through me while I desperately kicked my legs to keep myself floating. Cries, snarls, and gunshots circled the cove. The fire roared and crackled as if it too were alive, making my nerves twitch. It was hard to keep track of my friends, and beyond the one Akuma the selkies were working on devouring. Were the other three still on their feet? I spotted one, black veins bulging beneath its skin, its black eyes merciless, lit only by fury as it charged at Cass and Tianna, who held it back with flashes of their magic.
Suddenly, Haru burst through the wall of fire with Reo right behind him. Black blood dripped all over them as they searched for me with desperate eyes. They looked like they’d been through hell.
I brought the blade up toward the surface of the water, careful to keep it fully submerged, and inspected the seam that was melding to make it one again. It appeared almost fully stitched together. The purple glow was diminishing, fading along my arms too.
The instant this thing was fixed, I was jumping out of the water and slaying some Akuma ass.
“Kitsune!” the female Akuma Brock had been fighting hissed from in front of a wall of crackling fire. I whipped my head around. Brock wasn’t there anymore. Maybe she’d thrown him. Oh God. He’d better be okay. I couldn’t see him anywhere.
Extending her left hand, the demon overlord pointed it toward me. A razor-sharp black talon tore through the flesh, extending from the middle of her palm in a deadly curve. Then she ran right for me.
Fuck.
“Molly, no!” Cass shouted, before I’d even registered the streak of purple hair.
Molly leapt in front of me, across the edge of the pool, and blocked the female Akuma’s attack. The demon’s black talon stabbed Molly instead of me. It plunged into her gut, cutting all the way through to her back. The blade-like tip emerged at the back of Molly’s shirt in a spreading circle of crimson blood.
No! I choked on a sob as rage filled my every pore. Molly was the most treasured person in our little group, young and eager to take on the supernatural world. As the only human among us, she alone couldn’t regenerate.
I would fucking kill all of them.
As the Akuma pulled out the talon, Molly collapsed to the ground. Before I realized what I was doing, I launched myself out of the water—my blade was whole again, shining purple, and ready to cut this bitch’s heart out.
With a battle cry that was equal parts sorrow and rage, I jumped onto the bank and slashed into the black-veined bitch. I planned to carve her up like a fucking Thanksgiving turkey for what she did to Molly.
Molly who was limp at my feet in a puddle of red blood.
So much blood.
The Akuma tried to stab me in the neck with her creepy palm talon, striking at my carotid with a fancy martial arts move, but I’d already positioned the tip of my sword over her heart. With a satisfying crack, the sharp tip of my katana sliced into her chest.
The demon bitch gasped as my purple glowing magic lit up her face like the Fourth of July. Up close she was even more hideous. Her black veins bulged beneath her skin like worms trying to break free through her flesh. Her eyes were dead, even while life continued to thump through her.
“You … can’t stop … it,” she mumbled, before going deadly silent. The air whooshed from her body and she sank to the ground. With a kick to her gut, I slid my sword from her body as she exploded into demon jelly.
Ewwww. Shit had to stop blowing up all over me.
I flicked demon gunk off of me as I spun to check on Molly.
Oh no.
A sob lodged in my throat. She was lifeless, drained of color, cradled in Brock’s arms.
“No,” I croaked. Brock met my eyes with a look that said there was nothing we could do.
Molly was dying.
A quick scan revealed that the other Akuma were dead too, and the selkies were working to put out the fire by wetting their seal skins and draping them over certain spots. With how moist this area was, they should be able to put it out with all of them working together.
My eyes fell to my newly fixed blade, thinking that getting it repaired definitely wasn’t worth Molly’s life, when an idea struck me. I fell to my knees beside her, placing my blade on the ground. “Molly!”
“I … didn’t want her … to hurt you.” Blood bubbled on Molly’s lips as she forced words through stuttered breaths. “You’re … more important.”
Tears flowed down my cheeks. I loved this chick more than I realized. She’d become like the little sister I never had.
“Nonsense. You’re important too,” I told her, taking her from Brock’s arms and pulling her into my own. I ran a hand across Molly’s purple hair.
A pink fuzzy hand plopped on my shoulder and I sniffled loudly.
“Yeah, you’re our walking supernatural dictionary,” Cass said.
Molly smiled weakly, her eyes glassy, and my gaze flicked up to meet Brock’s. “I need to get her in the water,” I told him.
He nodded, but looked sad and defeated, as if he didn’t think the water would heal her. His hands and arms were covered in her blood.
Fuck that negativity. There might be a lot of blood—okay, a shit-load—and she was growing cold in my arms, but I refused to believe we were going to lose Molly. I wouldn’t allow it.
‘You got this, Ev,’ Cass cheered me on in the way only I would hear.
Without a word, each member of our team trailed to the edge of the pool. Brock helped me by carrying Molly’s legs. Blood dripped from beneath her in a steady flow, soaking into my shirt and jeans. It was so much damn blood.
Even the fae-witch Tianna, who enjoyed making light of everything, was somber as fuck. But the night is darkest before the dawn, right? Yeah, I was holding on to that shit with everything I had.
Even the selkies looked our way with expressions of regret as they put out the last of the fires.
Brock and I lowered Molly into the warm water and I waded in with her in my arms as the selkie we’d first met crouched on the bank next to me. “I’ve never seen it heal a human before. Only supernaturals,” she said, her tone morose.
Fuck.
I didn’t want Molly to hear that. Hell, I didn’t want to hear that. I wasn’t sure if the selkie meant no one had ever tried to heal a human or if someone had attempted it and it hadn’t worked. Either option sucked, so I ignored her.
“How you doing?” I looked down at the purple-haired girl in my arms, blinking away tears, and tried to plaster a semblance of a hopeful smile on my face.
She gave me a drunken lopsided grin. “Never been stabbed by a demon claw before.”
Oh, Molly … bless your supernaturally obsessed heart.
The water clouded with diluted red around Molly’s abdomen. There was too much blood for her to last much longer. Already her ability to focus was waning and her gaze was growing vacant, the spark in those bright eyes fading.
I crushed her against my chest as if the mere action might keep her with us longer. She didn’t even whimper as I squeezed her.
“Hey … um, it’s me again,” I said to the water as if it were alive. I mean, clearly it was some kind of intelligent consciousness since it had just healed my fucking blade like it was no big deal. “I’d be ever so grateful if you would heal my friend Molly. Like you did my blade.” I put on my super sugary sweet voice. The one I used to use on Gran when I wanted something badly.
The water began to stir, churning around where I stood with Molly in my arms. The water swirled around my shoulders, covering her. My crew leaned forward in anticipation along the bank. Brock allowed hope to light up his eyes. Anticipation fluttered through my body and I really had to blink back tears. A jerky sound somewhere between a cry and a sigh of relief slipped from my lips.
Purple magic burst to life around my arms, glowing fiercely … before dying down.
What?
“No,” I breathed. “No, no, no. Please! Please help her. Heal her!”
Molly’s teeth started to chatter even though the water was warm. The life force was leaving her body.
The water sprang to life once more, spinning in fast circles around us. Again purple magic swirled around my arms in a bright, hopeful glow.
Before dying down again.
What the fuck! It wasn’t working.
No. No. No.
Tianna, splattered in black demon blood, crouched down, one eyebrow raised. “I think the water’s trying to tell you something.”
Well, I didn’t speak water, so we were fucked.
“What’s it saying?” I growled. The fae-witch had better know, or there was no chance at all at saving Molly. Her shivering had picked up, making her body rack against my hold. We had minutes, maybe seconds before it’d be too late.
Tianna pointed to my arms. “The water can’t heal her, but I think maybe you can.”
The purple glow. My purple magic. My healing power.
Haru nodded. “It’s never been done before that I know of, but it’s possible that your kitsune healing, combined with your witch magic, could extend to a human being.”
The normally stoic warrior was misty-eyed. He ran a hand through his dark, short-cropped hair, his lament tangible. It made me think something had gone down between him and Molly. Maybe between Reo and Molly too. Reo also seemed pretty shaken, and he was ordinarily as composed as his brother. I was sure Molly liked both of them. She didn’t do subtle well, nor did she hide the many looks she gave them. God, I wanted her to survive to enjoy … whatever it was she had going on here. The warriors were beautiful, and she deserved all the passion they might share with her.