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“What did?”
“The voices came back.”
“And—” I hesitate on my next question, but then decide to go for it. I don’t think she’s crazy. I know this island, this world in fact, isn’t what it seems. Hell, I’m not what I seem. How could I ever accuse anyone of being crazy when I’m literally from a different world? “And what were they saying?”
Before she can answer, the sky lights up a murky neon green behind the wall of smoke created by the fireworks. There’s a bang that’s more violent than any rocket going off and the force of it shakes our boat.
“Cove!” Malia cries, reaching for me. “What’s going on?”
“I-I’m not sure,” I stammer.
“Is this part of the fireworks display?”
“Not that I know of. It might be but—”
Dark shadows emerge from the smoke and circle. Alarm bells start ringing and I pull Malia even closer. She clings to me and I can taste her fear. It mingles with my own.
“This isn’t part of the display, is it?” she whispers.
“No, it’s not. But I’ve got you.”
I can’t promise her that everything will be okay, or that I can keep her safe, but I can keep her close, and no matter what happens, I won’t let her go.
She shudders in my grip and then tenses, as though she’s just steeled herself for whatever’s coming.
There’s another blast of light – too blinding to be anything other than magical – and it strikes the boat.
We rock dangerously and the first shadow dives.
I duck, pulling Malia along with me.
Shikari.
Shit.
As if taking their cue from the leader, the rest of the shadows circle restlessly, then one by one fall from the sky. They race towards us and fear claws at my throat.
With every strike the boat lurches more erratically but I can tell they’re just playing with us; riling us up so that they can feed off our fear.
It’s only a matter of time before they escalate though.
“Mai-Tai, we need to jump,” I whisper.
“No. It’s freezing and pitch black. We’ll never swim to shore.”
“I need you to trust me,” I insist.
“I do but—”
“Shit’s about to get real weird, but if you can just trust me until this nightmare is over, I’ll explain everything. I swear.”
Her eyes are too large in her head, and her skin is too pale with fear. I hate it. Hate that she’s in danger, that I might be to blame.
There’s no other explanation for this attack. We’re too remote for it to be random. I can’t imagine what caused them to pick up my signal like this, but I do know there’s far too many of them for me to fight alone. Especially while protecting Malia.
“O-okay.”
“Take my hand, follow my lead, and whatever happens, don’t let go.”
