Elementals: (Dane Maddock Universe 3) by David Wood & Sean Ellis

Author:David Wood & Sean Ellis
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Adrenaline Press
Published: 2019-03-20T00:00:00+00:00

17

“I’ll just ask the obvious question,” Bones said as they hurried down the path at a near-jog, as fast as they dared move in the darkness. “Why are we in such a hurry? We’ve got all three magic doodads, and you obviously know how to use them. They mess with us again, just put the whammy on ‘em.”

Without breaking stride, Kismet looked back over his shoulder. “You ever see Wizard of Oz?” “Who hasn’t?”

“You remember how Dorothy killed the witches?”

Bones shrugged. “Sure. She dropped a house on one, and melted the other with a bucket of water.”

“She got lucky. Twice. I got lucky back there. I caught them by surprise. But they know a lot more about these things than I do, and maybe I won’t get lucky a second time.”

Maddock thought about his answer, remembering how Aliyah had tried to use the Apex and the Magna of Illusion together—tried and failed. Kismet was wrong, he decided. When it came to tapping the power of the elementals, the magicians were as much in the dark as everyone else. Still, probably best not to put all their eggs in that basket.

They descended the moss-slick stairs and hurried out onto the pier. The rain was coming down harder now, the seas noticeably rougher. Storm waves, rebounding off the headlands and coming in from every conceivable direction, were pounding the cliffs and throwing curtains of spray over the pier. When they reached the steps leading down to the dock, Maddock half-expected to find their boat gone, torn from its mooring, but instead there were now three Zodiacs tied to the cleats. Both the dock and the inflatable boats were rising and falling a good three feet with each swell that rolled through.

By mutual accord, Maddock and Bones hurried ahead to the nearest boat, steadying it, at least to the extent that was possible, so the others could board.

Rose climbed in first and as soon as she was seated, Maddock passed the box with the Magna of Illusion over to her. She accepted it without comment, slipping it into the pack with the orb. Jade boarded next but Kismet moved past them, to the next Zodiac.

“What? You too good to ride with us?” Bones called out.

Kismet laughed. “I’m not going to ride in it.”

His hand dropped to his waist and, with a noise like fingernails on a chalkboard, he drew an enormous kukri knife from a concealed sheath and slashed it across the bright yellow inflatable gunwale. Air rushed from the ruptured cell in a flatulent whoosh. The boat did not immediately sink, but as the buoyancy chamber emptied, the craft settled lower, and water began sloshing over the gunwale, filling the bilges.

“It leaks.”

He did the same to the other boat then sheathed his knife and rejoined the others, clambering into the Zodiac with Rose and Jade. Maddock went next, immediately settling into the pilot’s chair, while Bones loosened but did not release the knot around the cleat. With the raft still rising and falling crazily with the sea, their timing would have to be perfect.

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