Page 44 of Legacy of Chaos

“Yes,” Taran said. “But mage magic doesn’t work underwater.”

“Not usually,” she murmured. “But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a workaround. They could be teaming up with aquatic demons who live in the human realm. Rusalkas or mermen.” Although, as far as she knew, neither of those species was inherently proficient in magic, and whoever had done this was a masteranda Cyberis demon. “You said you don’t have another technomancer on board?”

Taran shook his head. “We haven’t had one since the last time Quillax was here.”

“When was that?”

“About two weeks ago.” Stryke wandered over to the communications center, which seemed surprisingly high-tech for being on an oil platform. “He flew out to make sureeverything was secure before he went on leave.” Stryke pointed at a red light. “Why is that flashing?”

Taran let out a vile curse. “It means the comms are down.” He crossed the room in half a dozen strides, punching a technician in the shoulder on the way by. “Why the fuck aren’t you manning the radio?” He flipped a series of switches, and the screen went dark.

Cyan peered over him. “What are you doing?”

“Rebooting the system.” Taran’s fingers flew over the controls. A moment later, the screen lit up again, and he leaned into a mic. “Dire Wolf One, this isSea Storm. Can you hear me?”

“Wolf One, affirmative,Sea Storm.” Cyan recognized the pilot’s voice. “We are on approach into Aberdeen after dropping off Mr. Stryke and passenger.”

“Copy that, Dire Wolf One. Safe flight.” Taran punched another button. “Dire Wolf Two, can you hear me?”

Cyan glanced at Stryke. “You named your helicopters after Dire Wolves?”

“I always wanted one as a pet.” Stryke gave her a sheepish look. “I was jealous of Logan’s hellhound.”

Er…yeah. Neither sounded like a fun time.

“Dire Wolf Two,” Taran said, more urgently this time, “this isSea Storm. Can you hear me?”

Static filled the suddenly tense silence.

“Dire Wolf Two. Can. You. Hear. Me?Dire Wolf, this is Sea Storm.Come in.”

“…Storm…Dire…Two.”

Stryke swore under his breath, his frustration at a situation he couldn’t control making the muscles in his jaw twitch. She got it. She didn’t like being helpless either.

“Wolf Two,Sea Storm, say again. I repeat, say again.”

“…lost…instruments…where are…storm?”

Cyan shouldered her way past Stryke and Taran, firing up her spellcaster energy.

“I can boost the signal.” She activated her third eye, and the inner workings of the communications system—the wires, microchips, and switches—instantly appeared to her as a schematic overlay. And while she couldn’t explain any of it, she instinctively knew how to manipulate its electricity.

“Wolf Two,” Taran shouted. “Say. Again.” He shot her a look. “Anything?”

“I’m working as fast as I can.” She let out a frustrated breath. “The signal is being blocked and warped by a forcefield. Some kind of dark power.” She cast a wave of magic to convert her commands into actionable spells. When the spell framework inside the comms device lit up in a series of symbols, she nodded. “Try now. I compensated for demonic energy.”

Stryke smiled, a slow, sexy tilt of the mouth that inexplicably made her pulse spike a little. “Clever. I wouldn’t have thought about evil interference from the breach.”

“Sea Storm!” Dire Wolf’s pilot shouted over the radio, his voice broken but still considerably clearer than before. “We hit a wall of…fog…storm…we lost…navigation…altitude. Mayday, mayday, mayday!”

“Taran!”

At Twila’s shriek, they wheeled around to the forward window. A dim light in the sky pierced a veil of thick, undulating fog that hadn’t been there just sixty seconds ago.

“It’s coming in fast,” Stryke barked. “Get down!”

Suddenly, he was on her, taking her to the floor as an explosion of sound and light detonated all around her. Glass and stinging rain pelted her face and arms, but Stryke’s heavy body shielded her from the worst of it. Beneath them, the floor trembled.

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