Page 40 of A Touch Enchanted

Most people had gotten out on their own, but a few stood in non-electric pockets, too scared to move. I grabbed them and swam for the shore as fast as I could, but the excess weight dragged me down. Donovan called on the silver fish who had once pulled me out of the ocean to cut a path through the eels for me. I hadn’t been able to prevent anyone from getting burned, but at least I got them out of the water without any serious injuries.

Finn and Thora zipped across the beach healing everyone they came in contact with. They worked fast, but a phantom pain started to linger from healing that many at once. Thora rubbed her side where she’d taken on twenty different electric burns, her face pale and drawn, yet she pushed on, enduring the barrage of angry red welts with grim determination.

Half an hour later, Wes and Audrey finally made it down to the beach. Once I took a second swim through to confirm that everyone was on land, they pushed their palms out and froze the water. When they broke the ice apart with their lightning, the eels disappeared into a haze of smoke that continued to hover over the cove.

Donovan nudged Wes. “Nice of you to show up right at the end there.”

“Please, little bro. I was fighting this curse back when you were still crying about your inconvenient hard-on.” Wes crossed his arms as he surveyed the damage that had been done. A scattering of abandoned towels, coolers, and umbrellas littered the sand. Plastic cups and ketchup-stained wax paper rolled by on the breeze. “It could’ve been worse, I guess.”

Everyone who’d been healed had gotten off the beach as quickly as possible, leaving the six of us alone. I had no doubt that those who had survived the eel attack were packing up their cabins and booking the next ferry back to the mainland. Maybe we wouldn’t need to instigate a shutdown after all. If the curse kept attacking tourists, they’d take care of it for us.

Finn’s phone rang and he walked away to answer the call. When he came back, his expression was heavy. “That was my dad. Tourists are lined up at the ferry. Word about what happened is all over town.”

Wes swore under his breath. “How long before the mayor blames us?”

“He’s at the park as we speak.” Finn clenched his fist. “I could head up there, lay his ass out, and be back before anyone saw me.”

“As tempting as that is, we can’t afford to have you locked up,” Wes said. “Town hall meeting is tomorrow. That’ll decide things one way or the other.”

As the guys continued to talk about the shutdown, I pulled Audrey to the side and told her what I could remember of my dream-slash-vision. “Do those gates sound at all familiar to you?”

She shook her head. “Were they literal gates? Or a metaphor of some kind?”

“Actual gates. Black and gold.” I picked through my brain, trying to dig up any details that would ring one of her bells. “I can’t remember everything, but I was in a cave that was more like a tunnel. It went straight down, if that helps.”

Audrey turned her gaze to the center of the island. “Maybe it was the cave in the dead zone? It’s destroyed, but there’s still a hole in the ground.”

“Could be worth checking out.”

“If you go up there, be careful.” A worry line creased Audrey’s brow. “The curse appears to be camped out on the beach, but Finn and Thora released something up there. It didn’t do them any harm, but I don’t like the idea of messing with magic we don’t understand.”

“Fair enough.”

A small crowd of locals had gathered near the stone wall. They stood in a tight cluster, shooting nervous glances at us. None of them approached. It seemed whatever ludicrous story the mayor was spinning down at the park was already taking root.

Donovan rolled his eyes. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could use a drink.”

“I have to get back to the office,” Wes said. “Not all of us have the day off.”

“We’re at war,” Finn said. “Work can wait.”

It didn’t take a lot to twist Wes’s arm. Audrey texted her grandma to make sure she and Ella could cover her shop, then the six of us headed over to Leo’s.

The walk up Stardust Parkway was eerily quiet for an afternoon in the summer. There were still tourists, but probably about half as many as usual. The mood was more somber. Even the candy-colored finishes on the buildings seemed duller. Locals were split pretty evenly between those fishing for gossip about what happened on the beach and those who avoided us because they thought we’d caused what happened on the beach.

“This is getting to be fucking ridiculous,” Wes said.

“We can’t afford to give this any of our energy,” I said. “People are scared and the mayor is preying on that. Let him deal with the fallout when he’s proven wrong.”

“I know,” Wes grumbled. “Still pisses me off.”

Audrey rubbed a hand over his chest, taking the edge off the worst of his temper. It gave me an immense amount of joy to see my oldest friend so in tune with her perfect match. She didn’t trust easily, and the lengths Wes had gone to to earn her trust warmed all the parts of me that had given up on finding that kind of love when Donovan left the island.

Sensing my thoughts had gone someplace dark, Donovan lifted my hand and kissed my palm where my aqua light glowed the brightest. Funny how such a simple act could be so comforting.

It was early afternoon, but Leo’s was already packed. For the first time in the history of the summer season, locals outnumbered tourists. A sense of unease crept up my spine as we wound our way between hushed tables. Several people whispered to each other as we passed, refusing to meet our eyes. It reminded me of nightmares I had in high school where I’d show up to class naked, but no one was pointing or laughing. It was just eerie silence.

A shadow blocked out the sun, casting the parking lot-turned-patio in a gray wash that only added to the tense mood. The curse continued to hover overhead, no doubt having itself a little feast on the fear and suspicion that permeated the air. A muscle in Donovan’s jaw ticked, but he saved whatever outburst had been on the tip of his tongue.

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