WaterMage Rising

Chapter 12

Adam squeezed her hand, and Selena again wanted to yank her hand away despite the odd reassurance the gesture gave her. "We've got this."

Selena nodded and fought the destructive magic even as lightheadedness made her see stars. It whispered into her mind, reminding her of her own impulse for wrath. Every time she'd used her magic to harm others flashed through her memory, like the hundreds of incidents of wreaking vengeance on the hair, clothes, or school assignments of bullies who had taunted her over the years, up to the moment she'd wiped her mother's memory and implanted a new one before boarding the ship. She was a monster, and she might as well give in and embrace her true nature. Besides, the foreign magic whispered, Uncle Franklin's murderer was most likely on board. What better way to stop him for good than to let him drown with the ship?

But, a part of her mind protested, then she'd never know who he was, and she would be sacrificing herself and everyone else on the ship in the process.

It was a feeble protest, and Selena almost surrendered to the magic until a high-pitched scream, the scream of a child, snapped her back to her senses. She whirled and caught a glimpse of a familiar blond girl clinging to the railing above, at the aft of the ship, as the vessel plunged downward into the water at a much steeper angle than it should have.

The brawl had done far more damage than tearing the bubble. It had made the ship go out of control.

Selena's heart gave a lurch as she recognized Olivia's little sister Veronica. Veronica's skinny limbs shook with the effort of keeping her grip on the railing, and one of her hands started to lose its grip. Somehow, that scrappy little eight-year-old had managed to get herself outside the ship's protective bubble, and now she was about to drop into the ocean and be left behind to flounder when the ship fully submerged.

Everyone else who was stuck out on the deck clung to anything they could for support. Selena herself grabbed onto a nearby pillar until Adam steadied them both to keep them from toppling over. The hull of the ship shuddered and gave an ominous creak.

"Quick, get her while I hold the breach!" Adam's voice sounded heavy and tight, and his face scrunched with exertion.

"I'm on it." Selena flung out her free hand toward Veronica, and a green vine snaked its way upward around obstacles and people until it reached the little girl. It snagged Veronica's wrists just as she lost her grip on the railing. Veronica's scream cut off midstream in a cry of relief when the vine caught and kept her from falling. The effort of reeling in the vine and pulling Veronica to safety made her dizzy, and she sank to her knees as the vine pulled the little girl into her waiting arms. The hole her magic had made to pull Veronica back in sealed shut behind her, unaffected by the cracks at the other end of the ship caused by the brawl.

"Lena, you saved me," the little girl sobbed, clinging to Selena for all she was worth. Selena leaned against the pillar in exhaustion, her breaths coming in shallow, ragged gasps. She wrapped her arms around Veronica while they sat in a crumpled heap on the deck. The vines fizzled into nothingness, having completed their task.

"Of course I did, silly. Did you think I wouldn't?"

"Well," Veronica sniffled, laying her head against Selena's shoulder. "Livvie says you turned against us and hate us now."

"Olivia is wrong," Selena sighed. "But then, the fact that she believes it is her own problem. She shouldn't have made you worry."

Before Selena could ask how Veronica recognized her through her magical makeover disguise, Adam cut in. "Lena. What a pretty name. It suits you."

Veronica's sniffles subsided, and she perked up to give Adam an appraising once-over. "Ooh, he likes you," she stage-whispered into Selena's ear in a singsong voice reminiscent of her older sister's.