Page 101 of Seas the Reckoning

I suppose she has to let her anger out somehow.

“Oh, spectacular, we can still hit them?” Never pulls back her leg to dropkick someone.

“Stop!” I yell. “Let’s just start dealing with this mess.”

“If we were free, we’d bury you all,” a witch near Never sneers. The Were pretends to lose control of the foot and kicks someone after all.

“Quiet!” I instruct the rest of the captives.

Not having chaos or pain follow my magic is indescribable. Like it’s a central part of me that’s been missing, and I can use it as easily as I can breathe.

“Is anyone handling any stragglers who might be waiting in the wings?” Ji-hwan asks.

“I’ll go with you to check,” Brody volunteers.

“Me too.” Cannon, back in his skin, raises a hand in the air and the three of them take off down the beach.

Never surveys the absolute chaos that is disturbed sand, glass sculptures made by lightning strikes, and frozen supernaturals, who will have to be moved somewhere since human beach-goers will need to be able to get back in this area eventually.

“The Magikai are going to be so pissed about all this hubbub. What a mess.” She’s grinning from ear to ear.

“Didn’t you say she cleaned that organization up? Didn’t she work for them? Doesn’t she have friends there?” I pepper Jackal with questions.

He just shrugs.

“She likes chaos. What can I say?”

The Carolina Beach coven members begin to disperse, making sure that our perimeter stays secure.

Keegan offers to take Pickles back to the bar.

“You are the best dog. I am going to feed you pickles and bacon for breakfast tomorrow,” I croon at him before he’s carried off the beach, his head held high in triumph.

Malcolm goes with Shanell and Never to work on contacting the Magikai and planning on how to transport the criminals off the beach.

Pretty soon, there’s only a few of us left by the water.

Starla stands at my side, voice quiet.

“Can I speak with him once more before we leave?”

No need to ask who she means.

“You want me to undo his gag now, or would you like to say anything first?” I ask.

“Good point.” She takes a deep breath, grabbing Exos’s hands and walking over to her father.

“This is Exos. He’s not my bodyguard. He’s my boyfriend. You already knew that, of course, but you didn’t care. You have never cared about me or my wishes. You’ve only cared what use I can be of to you. The answer is none. I am my own witch. I’m not marrying anyone right now, and if I decide to, it will be someone I choose for myself. You will not be invited to the wedding. In fact, you will never see me again. To be quite frank, I’m only telling you this because I know it’ll piss you right off, and you deserve that. If it makes me petty, so be it. All right, Leena.”

“Speak.”

Councilman Taylor works his mouth around for a moment, then lets loose.

“I will get out of this. I have so many powerful people under my thumb it’s not funny, and when I do, you will wish you had said yes to the generous offer I had arranged for you, you impudent child. You will be brought back under my control, and when that⁠—”

“It’ll be a cold day in an Alabama summer before that happens,” Starla shouts over him, Southern accent dripping from her voice.

“The expression, my overly-Americanized child, is ‘cold day in hell.’”