Evelina and the Reef Hag Part 4

"My parents too." Tally edged closer. "I got the word. Home before midnight, or else."

"Me too," Evelina said. "The aunties want me at the beach house."

"It's happening," Tally breathed, the old fear clouding her eyes.

"I can't wait to see it." Abby gave a gleeful chuckle. "They say it's quite the spectacle-violent even."

Tally nodded. "The warlock compet.i.tions are more physical." She sounded quite the expert. "According to my mentor."

"Their trainers are certainly intense." Evelina s.h.i.+vered remembering the ominous warning from Leviticus Wilkes, Frankie's trainer. He seemed determined to keep them apart and protect his charge at all cost. Apparently this time he'd succeeded. Frankie didn't want anything to do with her.

"But..." Evelina shrugged. "We'll be on the sidelines. We won't be involved."

"I know. It sucks!" Abby wore a look of disgust. "We're benched."

"Novices don't see much action." Tally didn't sound disappointed, as she continued in the same pragmatic tone. "We're there to observe and perform menial tasks as necessary."

"Like what?" Abby scrunched up her face. "Better not be cleaning. I hate cleaning."

"Next year," Tally continued as though she hadn't heard. "As apprentices we'll act as pages, and the next year, when we're mentors, we'll be security."

A slow, wide grin spread across Abby's face. "Can't wait for that."

"Can't wait for what?" Cliff Robinson strode toward them out of the gloom. Evelina's flesh tingled as she peered past him into the darkness, knowing Frankie couldn't be far behind.

"Power," she said with a laugh. "She's hungry for it."

"That's my Abby." Cliff slung his arm around Abby's shoulders and grinned. "She's a fighter, not a lover."

"Nice." Abby gave him a jab in the ribs with her elbow. "Very romantic, Robinson."

Evelina spotted Frankie chatting it up with a curvy blonde in tight, white shorts. Her spirits sank. She could almost feel herself growing taller and skinner as she watched them through the crackling flames.

She turned her back on the amber glow of Frankie's tan amidst the sparks, slipping through the humming crowd.

The tightness in her throat eased as she wandered down the beach under the moonlight, while the wind whipped her hair and the tide pulled at her feet under the wet sand.

It wouldn't have worked anyway. Wasn't that what people were always saying? Time Keepers and Water Witches led different lives. They weren't meant to be together.

That's why her parents were dead.

It would be crazy to make the same mistake.

She stopped to gaze out at the rolling ocean, wondering where they were and if they were really watching over her as Grammy Crimm promised. There had been no Cosmic Calls. If they loved her, why hadn't they attempted to contact her yet?

Sometimes she felt angry with them for leaving her here alone. But it wasn't them she blamed. It was the forces behind the black magic that took their lives, and ruined hers.

A glint of light in the waves jerked her back to reality.

It disappeared, then flashed again as it bobbed closer to sh.o.r.e.

Evelina hurried up the beach following its progress, keeping it in sight.

The bouncing spark of light angled to sh.o.r.e, then disappeared.

Evelina scanned the sh.o.r.e as she jogged along, but couldn't find it. Whatever it was must have sunk, or melted away. It was gone.

Her toe hit something hard.

"Oww!" She bent down to discover a green bottle jutting out of the wet sand. A green slimy film encrusted the once smooth surface. Barnacles and other small mussels poked out, like the bristles on an old hairbrush.

She held it up to the moonlight.

There appeared to be something inside-paper.

Her pulse quickened.

A message in a bottle.

She sucked in a deep breath, then pulled the cork.

Pop!

A white mist snaked out.

The force of it flung the bottle from her hand.

It dipped and looped, beginning to write in the air above the surf, against the inky starlit sky.

Count the coins at Cutthroat Cove.

The words floated above her like wispy ghosts.

Then, just as suddenly, they melted away.

Evelina reached down to retrieve the bottle in the sand. She tipped it upside down, then gave it a shake. She lifted it up attempting to peer inside.

But there was nothing else.

Frankie appeared out of mist. "Where did you get that?"

Her mouth went dry.

It was difficult to make out his sun-kissed features in the dark with the battering wind tearing against them like salty fingers. "I found it. It washed up on sh.o.r.e." She pointed to the spot. "Right there."

"You don't find Wave Wires," Frankie deep voice rattled up and down her spine. "They find you."

"Oh." A Wave Wire. So, that's what it was. "You mean, like a heat seeking torpedo or something?"

He smiled. "Something like that."

"Really?" The whole thing was a bit much to swallow. "Sooo, it knew I was here and it just shot out of the water?"

He shrugged. "It's a pretty good spell."

"Wow!" She turned the bottle around in her hands. It was easier to examine it than look at him. "It certainly is. Yup. It's a good one." She s.h.i.+fted from one foot to the other, mind racing, but for the life of her didn't know what to say. "Well, good to see you. I'd better get back now. Abby and Tally are probably wondering where I am." She turned to go.

"Aren't you going to tell me what it said?" He didn't sound insistent, only mildly surprised.

She stopped, then slowly turned back around. For all intents and purposes, he'd abandoned her. It was stupid to trust him, but as usual her heart overruled her head and before she knew it, the truth blurted from her lips. "It said, Count the coins at Cutthroat Cove.'"

His brow furrowed. "That's in the Old City, down by the fort. There's a fountain that people toss coins into."

She'd seen it when she got off the bus, or at least the heritage sign pointing its way. It was one of the main tourist attractions. Which meant a kazillion people must throw coins into it. How could she possibly count them? Unless, it meant something else.

His expression turned from thoughtful to intense. "Who do you think sent it?"

"I don't know." But then, she didn't know why she was talking to him either, or why he cared. He'd cut her loose like a snagged anchor.

"It looks pretty old."

"Yup." There was a lot of crud on it, that's for sure-enough to form an artificial reef, which meant, it had been in the ocean a long time. Who knew who sent it or why. It was difficult to think with Frankie standing at arm's length, gazing at her with such intensity.

"We should check it out."

She blinked in surprise. "Okay."

"How about tomorrow? I'm done work at five."

"Perfect." Her skin grew warm at the thought. "Good... Well, gotta go."

He opened his mouth as though he might say something, but must have thought better of it, then smiled. "Okay."

Evelina turned on her heel to head down the beach, brus.h.i.+ng the barnacles off the bottle as she went.

Had she actually agreed to meet him?

She must be nuts.

The rest of the night pa.s.sed in a blur.

She was still clutching the green bottle as she tramped up the steps of the beach house a few minutes before midnight.

Still thinking of Frankie.

That's probably why she failed to spot the cloud of blue and silver sparkles before it was too late.

An outraged screech jerked her awake.

She gazed down to find the sparkling cloud spilling over the side of the stairs.

Plop!

Kamaria landed in the sand like a strawberry into a bowl of cereal.

Evelina groaned. She should have known. Only a Moon Fairy screeched as high as church bells.

"Are you okay?" Evelina peered down at her, examining Kamaria's ten inch body for damages. Her glittering red swimsuit appeared intact, as well as her silver wings and extravagant coif of platinum blonde hair. "Sorry. Didn't see you there."

Kamaria flew up and...

Zap!

... pinched Evelina on the ear.

It stung like an electric current, traveling up the back of her skull to ignite every follicle hair. "Ouch!" She put a hand to her throbbing lobe. "Stop that!"

"Watch where you're going next time!" Kamaria buzzed off to land on the railing of the stairs. "Can't a girl do a little moon bathing without being flattened like a pancake?"

"Sorry."

"Yeah!" Kamaria made a fist in the air. "Well, watch it next time, zombie girl, or I'll pop ya' one!"

"All right, all right!" Evelina held up a hand. "Who let you out of your bottle?"

"Who do ya' think, Toots?"

Evelina gazed over her shoulder at the shadowed interior of the beach house. Kamaria's bottle sat beside the door. Only Udora or Mrs. Segal could have popped the cork. But, they were no where in sight. The place appeared deserted.

"Yeah, that's right." Kamaria fanned out both hands, examining her glossy red nails. "You're ridin' with me tonight."

Evelina gritted her teeth. It wasn't the flying she worried about. It was the landing. Kamaria had logged more crashes than flights. Evelina preferred not to arrive at the Glaring in a mangled heap.

But novices didn't have the skill to fly. At least, they weren't taught how until second year when they became apprentices. Even after that, they weren't adept until they became mentors. Until then, she was in for a lot of b.u.mpy rides, so she might just as well suck it up and get this one over with.

"Where are we going?" The aunties were always tight-lipped, but Kamaria loved to blab whenever she could. "Where is this Glaring thing anyway?"

"Out there." Kamaria pointed at the vast ocean beyond, across the rippled sand. "On the island."

The Flurry was held on an island as well-something the two compet.i.tions had in common. Was this also an island that mortals couldn't see? A better question was, how were they going to find it in the dark? She would have pointed that out, but Kamaria tended to get a tad p.r.i.c.kly when it came to flight plans. Instead, she asked, "How far?"

"A few minutes-lucky for you. Suit up." Kamaria c.o.c.ked her thumb toward the orange striped beach bag propped against the door. "Time's a wastin'."

Evelina retrieved the bag, yanking out the silk emerald tunic. Memories rushed back as she jerked it over her head. The wildness of the Flurry changed her life forever. What life altering event was she in for tonight?

"Grab on, Toots!" Kamaria bent forward cracking her knuckles and wiggled her wings. "They'll be h.e.l.l to pay if we're late. I've already suffered through flight training twice thanks to you. So, shake a leg!"

"That wasn't my fault!" Evelina stepped closer to the rail just in time to witness Kamaria morph before her eyes. Moon fairies doubled in size every hour, once out of the bottle. You couldn't put them back until they'd completed their mission, or shut them up.