30. Adrian
Adrian
T he boat barreled toward the island with eerie silence as Adrian guided the stern over the waves. As he squinted through the mist that was gathering in the air, he could see a thin plume of smoke curling up from the cove.
He had camped in the fishing cabin at the cove so many times, he could probably navigate the rig to the small dock with his eyes closed.
His brother looked back at him expectantly, noticing it, too. They watched the smoke waft into the clouds, mixing with a heavy electric energy. He and Seth locked gazes again as they simultaneously sensed the expanse of magic in the air.
They had her . Adrian felt his fear materialize above him, as thunder rumbled in the distance and the air heated with the density of his emotions.
Seth shot him a look of warning. “Try to reel that back if you can. It’s going to make it a lot harder to rescue her if you unleash a hurricane over us.”
He was right. Adrian reined in his emotions the best he could but droplets of water splashed against the skin of his neck as they were beckoned from the sky.
The boat slowed, gliding with unnatural ease on the choppy water. Fire burned under his skin as they guided the boat like a ghost up to the dock. The rig eased to a stop and Seth dropped the rear anchor.
“Well, brother,” he asked as he turned the crank, “It’s your rescue mission. Shall we go by land or by sea?”
The tension within him cracked for a moment, and he felt a smile tug at his lips. The answer was obvious. They would make it to the cove much faster if they swam. They left their shirts on the dock and dove into the choppy water. No splash, no sound, not a ripple in the water to suggest their presence.
The Huxley brothers couldn’t breathe underwater, but they could create a bubble of air around their heads that allowed them to swim under the surface for a prolonged period. Adrian and Seth swam with ease through the waves as the storm intensified over them. The sand sloped toward him as they approached the shore.
Dread washed over his senses. What if we’re too late?
Even though he had only just met her, he felt as though he had been connected to her for his entire life. Every moment that came before her was tied to her arrival. Every breath and every action he took was in anticipation of the moment that he saw her on that beach, about to be swallowed by the tide. The notion that he might need to realize a future without her—the woman he was fated to—terrified him.
The shore sloped toward them, and they swam upward peering over the surface. He spotted her immediately, standing close to the shore, her long wavy hair swirling loose and wild around her shoulders in the wind.
He let out a breath. She was alive, but she wasn’t alone. Two strangers were standing close by, speaking to her with animated and exaggerated gestures. An enormous blond man put up his hands as a tiny woman, who was dressed like she was on her way to an art exhibition, stood nearby with her arms crossed.
Cori’s posture appeared tense as she backed away. The large blond man approached her, his hands outstretched as though to stop her.
Adrian and Seth crept out of the water, inching up the large worn rocks toward the cabin. As they got closer, he could not hold back.
The sky opened in torrents as he and Seth now raced toward them, unfazed by the deluge of watery aggression that Adrian unleashed from the sky. Deep puddles formed in between the rocks, called there by his will.
He furrowed his brow, lightning crashing above him, as he willed the water out of the shallow pools around the cove. Water heeded to him, becoming a large orb, revolving in the air like a liquid tornado. The sphere of water levitated off the ground and collided rapidly with the large man in front of him, encapsulating him within it.
The water swirled all around the man as rage, fear, and desperation materialized into a violent whirlpool. Spinning and twisting with the water, the expression on the man’s face was gripped by dumbfounded shock.
Adrian held the water there for several moments, completely enraptured by the drive of his magic. So driven by instinct, he couldn’t hear or see anything except the prison of water that he controlled.
Darkness crept around him as the man in the water went limp. His concentration was broken as someone tried to pull him down to the ground. He fought them off until he realized with a shock that it was his brother.
Someone was desperately yelling his name. “Adrian! Adrian, let him go!” Her voice was muffled as though he were listening underwater, but the sound of it snapped him back to reality. As he broke concentration on the water, it came crashing down to the sand and rock with an enormous splash.
The man who had been trapped inside the watery prison came crashing down with it, coughing and sputtering as he struggled to his hands and knees on the rocky sand. Adrian turned and saw her, eyes wide with fear, her hand clasped to her chest.
She was frozen for a moment before she ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck. As she buried her head under his chin, the clenching in his chest eased. He put his arms around her, letting his chin rest on the top of her head.
She was alive.
The dark heaviness of the storm dissipated around them as the raindrops became smaller and a breeze broke through the humidity like a sigh of relief.