I couldn’t imagine the things she’d faced in the last sixty years being aboard Bastian’s pirate ship. Actually, since she joined the Lost Boys later, I didn’t know how many years she’d been on this ship.
“He can’t stay mad at me, at us,” Kara finally said. “He’s always had a soft spot for his little sisters, even though we’re not so little anymore. Plus, he feels so much guilt over our shadows getting taken that he tends to forgive us pretty easily. I think he’s afraid we’ll grow to hate him, resent him eventually. So he tries to keep the peace as much as possible.” She peered at me. “Except when it came to you. That was the one time he was willing to fight us.”
“Oh,” I said.
A long green body shifted in the water next to use, and I curled my hand into a fist, commanding the water to pull the creature down.
“You’re good for him,” Kara said. “We all knew it. But we also feared it. We’d seen how the shadow king descended upon me and Mia when we’d saved that little boy. He took our shadows as punishment. We couldn’t imagine what he’d do if Bastian outright rebelled against him, refused to bring him more shadows. It made us angry. It made us hate you. But the truth is you make Bastian do something he’s never done before.”
“And what’s that?” I asked.
“Hope,” she said simply. “Hope is scary, but it’s also powerful.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly. I smiled. “You know, I think I’m growing on you.”
“Let’s not push it,” she said.
While we’d been talking, we’d gotten closer to the edge of the island. We could probably get out of the boat and slosh our way through the water, but I would not be stepping foot out of this vessel while the crocodiles lurked beneath the surface of the water. No, we needed to get as close to the land as we could.
Our boat rocked upward, Kara’s eyes bulging as she let go of the oars and gripped the sides to keep from falling out. I tried to use my magic, but I didn’t even know how to use it in this situation. I couldn’t see where the attack was coming from. Kara’s end of the boat rose higher, slanting more as crocodiles emerged, wading toward us.
“Do something,” Kara said. “You’re going to get eaten, and Bastian will never forgive me for that.”
“I’m holding onto the boat,” I said back. “I can’t use my magic unless I let go.”
The boat fell a bit, crashing down on whatever was underneath us, but then Kara’s end once again started risinghigher. It would soon be vertical and Kara and I would fall right into the crocodile-infested water.
“I’m going to let go,” I said.
“How are you going to use your magic against so many crocodiles at once?”
The boat rose even higher.
“I’ll figure that out as I go.”
“That’s your plan,” Kara shouted, bracing her feet against one of the ridges on the bottom of the vessel.
“It’s all I got,” I shouted, glancing behind me at an emerging crocodile’s open mouth, waiting for me to fall right into it. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a breath, then counted.
One.
Two.
Three.
I let go of the boat, a cold sweat forming at the base of my neck. I immediately stuck out my hands, summoning the water to yank the crocodile down.
The only problem was I fell down with it. My body plunked straight into the cold water, nothing like the warm waters near Apolis.
My view became murky green, and reeds and other plants tickled my skin. Something nipped at my feet, and I yelped, sucking in a lungful of the water.
I kicked my legs, striking my hands out to push the water, to make it keep whatever was lurking in its depth at bay. I could only use my magic for one thing, and I had to choose: either use it to get myself back to the surface or to trap the crocodiles. Either way, my chances at surviving weren’t looking good. I only hoped Kara made it to the island. Her best chance at getting there would be if I used my magic to trap the crocodiles.
So that’s what I’d do. Decision made, I thrust my hands out, curling my fingers as water continued to swirl around me.Down, I commanded.Keep us all trapped. Don’t let anything rise to the surface.
All I had to do was give Kara enough time. Hopefully she’d take it.
My lungs squeezed painfully. I couldn’t see anything through the slimy green that surrounded me, but I felt the crocodiles closing in, their bodies brushing against mine. Right now they were likely distracted by the magic keeping them from being able to break the surface, but soon, they’d turn their attention onto me.
