*Lucas*
Distress washed over as I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. The whole “I need to think” thing had made it so I wasn’t going to sleep a wink. Still, that amount of fear from my mate would have woken even if I’d been dead.
The feeling that sothing was seriously wrong clung to , sending goosebumps over my flesh and a chill down my spine. It was as if there was a weight on my chest, a pressure that wouldn’t dissipate no matter how much I tried to breathe through it.
“Sasha!” I knew I had to go to her, to make sure she was okay.
Throwing back the covers, I got up from the bed and pulled on so clothes. I didn’t bother with shoes, the urgency in my gut propelling forward. I made my way through the darkened ship, my wolf senses on high alert for any danger.
When I reached the deck, about ten n were standing at the edge of a... well, a storm, except it was a storm isolated to the center of the deck.
I could feel the energy emanating from the storm, crackling with power. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before. My heart pounded in my chest as I approached the group, my eyes locked on the center of the storm.
That’s when I saw flashes of Sasha followed by her darkened silhouette.
“Dark magic,” one of the crew hissed.
Another nodded.
My heart sank as I realized what this ant. My mate, my love, was standing in the midst of the dark magic storm. Soone was trying to harm my Sasha. I could feel my wolf rising to the surface, the urge to protect her overwhelming.
I felt Brady co up beside . “You always know when to show up,” I muttered, staring at the storm myself.
“It’s a gift,” Brady said. “Also woke up the cavalry.”
Oliver ca up next to us. The captain showed up in his pajamas. All of us stared at the storm.
Finally, I squared my shoulders. “Sasha is in there. And if Sasha is in there, I’m going in.”
The others turned to look at as though I’d lost my mind.
Maybe I had. Maybe I had lost my mind. But Sasha was in there, and I could sense she was in trouble.
Taking a deep breath, I ran at the barrier of what appeared to be so unholy typhoon.
As I hit it, the wet swirling rain pelted into before bouncing away.
I went skidding across the deck, ramming into the opposite railing.
“Well, that went well,” Brady observed.
I growled at him. I stood, and tried again, running at the storm.
The storm threw back every ti, no matter how many tis I tried to get through it.
“I think maybe you might want to let give it a try,” Oliver coughed after the sixth ti I slamd into the railing.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” I responded and he turned to the storm, raising his hands toward it. I could feel the force of his power beginning to break the swirling winds. But there was an imdiate response from the barrier that blew everyone on deck back and to the ground.
My head spun as I regained my footing, but my eyes were still fixed on the storm, watching as Oliver was thrown into the air, his body tossed like a ragdoll.
“Oliver!” I shouted, running toward him.
But before I could reach him, I was t with another force that sent flying backward, my body hitting the deck hard.
The wind was knocked out of , and I lay there for a mont, gasping for air.
“Lucas, get up,” Brady’s voice sounded far away.
He ca and helped to my feet and we both went to Oliver as she shook off the impact of the blast against him.
“It’s not like anything I’ve seen before. It’s definitely dark magic, but there is sothing more to it. I can’t quite say what it is. It took the energy I put out and threw it right back at .”
I took a step back, panting heavily as I looked at the storm. My mind raced as I tried to co up with another way to get through the barrier. I could feel Sasha’s distress growing stronger, and my heart clenched at the thought of her being trapped in there alone.
“I don’t know what’s doing this, but I have to get Sasha out of there!” I cried desperately.
Brady nodded and tried simply walking up to the storm and pushing his hand inside. He winced and pulled it out quickly. His hand was completely frozen. “Well, good thing I’m a vampire,” he muttered, grabbing a lantern and holding his hand over it.
“This is awful,” Oliver sighed, starting to pace around the storm, looking for weaknesses.
I howled and let myself shift, my wolf already close to the surface as he was concerned for his mate.
“That might work,” Oliver said.
Everyone watched as I gouged great claw marks in the wood of the deck, taking a running start at the storm. I launched myself into the air...
... and landed hard, in human form, half overboard on the opposite railing.
Oliver and Brady quickly ran over and pulled back onto the deck.
“It’s magic, alright,” Oliver muttered. “It turned you back.”
I howled again, but this ti could not conjure my wolf. It was as though the storm was holding him at bay, though he snarled within to get out.
“I don’t know what to do, Sasha!” I yelled at the sky. “Tell what to do!”
If she heard , I couldn’t tell, because only silence greeted my statent.
“We are supposed to protect her at all costs,” Oliver said. He picked up an anchor and threw it at the storm.
The crew got the idea and started coming up with everything from barrels to boat hooks, attacking the storm as though it was a great behemoth of a sea monster.
I managed to catch my breath, then looked at the lanterns... the oil lanterns.
“Captain, forgive , but I’m about to roast your ship a little,” I apologized.
The captain caught my drift and broke open a barrel of kerosene himself.
He and the crew dumped a semicircle in front of the storm. Then everyone stood back as I threw a lantern at the kerosene, the lantern breaking and the kerosene lighting skyward.
The storm shivered, almost breaking, and I saw, briefly through the swirling rain, a man waving his hands at it.
Sasha was waving her hands as well, fighting him.
“Wish we could get in there,” Brady said in frustration.
“Indeed.” Oliver looked at the captain, and more kerosene was added to the extinguishing flas.
But we just couldn’t keep the fire going. The power from the storm drained its oxygen and kept putting it out, and there was only so much kerosene on the ship.
“Sasha!” I tried to yell above the storm when it weakened again. She didn’t so much as turn her head.
“Fuck,” I swore, not knowing what else to do.
Oliver ca up to and put a hand on my shoulder. “Enough, brother,” he said quietly. “Enough. We are not strong enough to overco this magic, no matter what else we try. We can only hope Sasha is.”
I sagged to the deck and dropped my face into my hands. Sasha was in battle with so powerful, dark mage, and there was nothing I could do to help her... nothing.
As I sat there, feeling helpless, a sudden realization hit . If I couldn’t physically help Sasha, maybe I could find a way to reach her through our bond. I closed my eyes and focused all of my energy on her, on our connection. I could feel her fear and her determination, her intense concentration as she fought against the storm of dark magic.
Brady sat down next to and we watched the storm and prayed, while Oliver spoke with the captain and the rest of the crew attended to the semicircle burn on the deck.
“Please,” I begged the Moon Goddess. “Please let her be okay.”
The minutes ticked by like hours. We all watched the storm, wondering when it would end.
As I sat on the deck, battered and beaten, a faint glimr caught my eye. It was Sasha, her figure almost translucent as she fought the man. My hope surged as I realized the storm was weakening.
Her movents were swift and calculated, her hands glowing with otherworldly energy. Her face was set in a fierce determination, and I knew that she wouldn’t give up without a fight.
The man, another dream dancer I presud, was strong, though, and he fought back with equal ferocity. His powers were imnse, and I could see the strain on Sasha’s face as she struggled to hold him off. But she was holding her own, and I knew that the tide of the battle was slowly turning in her favor.
Finally, and abruptly, the typhoon stopped, the water dropping to the deck in a great sploosh that nearly swept half of us overboard.
I gripped the mast, then tripped over the wet deck to get to Sasha.
“Sasha!” I called, just as I saw her slip on top of the rail and tumble overboard.
“Lucas!” she scread. “Lucas!”
Her cries tore at my heart, and I ran to the rail, shocked to find it icy.
“Dark magic,” the captain grunted again. He and Oliver stopped from jumping overboard.
“I have to save her!” I protested. “Let go! LET GO!!!”
The captain pressed a life preserver into my hands. “Then go get her. But be smart about it.”
I tied the life preserver to my waist and dove overboard.
The water ravaged like icy claws, trying to suck down into its darkness. But I had the life preserver, and I clung to it. “Sasha!” I yelled. “Sasha!”
An undertow kept sucking at my legs, and I tried to swim in ever widening circles, but kept being pulled under the surface, saved only by my tether to the life preserver.
“Sasha!” I choked, coughing water as I surfaced once more.
I had almost despaired of finding her when I saw sothing pale and white bobbing in the water.
With great effort, I heaved myself through the water, coming up beside an unconscious Sasha. Her head was bleeding.
“Sasha,” I lanted, pulling her to , my other arm wrapping tightly around the life preserver. I could feel her heartbeat against my cold skin and thanked the Moon Goddess for that, at least.
Sasha didn’t respond.
I turned back toward the ship, treading water, but the ship kept getting further and further away. I realized they didn’t know where we were, or where to look for us.
“HEY!!!” I yelled, trying to be heard above the waves. “HEY!!! OVER HERE!!!”
Either they didn’t hear or couldn’t co to us, because the distance just kept getting wider and wider.
The undertow was also sucking at both of us, getting stronger. I desperately clung to Sasha, but eventually, I lost my strength, or the undertow beca too powerful... or, more likely, both.
A large wave crashed over us, and Sasha was ripped from , dragged bobbing across the sea.
I tried to go after her, paddling for all I was worth. The waves continued, and I continued to be dragged further and further away from my Sasha as they pulled under and swirled around.
Panic set in as I struggled to reach the surface, my lungs burning with the need for air. I fought against the pull and finally broke through to the surface.
I was alone
“Sasha!” I howled, in more pain than I could express at being torn from my mate.
“I love you, Sasha!” I called, tears stinging my eyes more brutally than the cold water that stung my body. “I love you. I love you!”
There was no answer in the night.
#
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