More than Magic: Semester Aboard (35 page)

All three of them chuckled. "Good idea. We'll
do that."

Dani and Charlie both gave me a hug as they
left. TS licked my cheek and I had to remind myself he was
technically a dog. But to my surprise Thomas hugged me too.
Tightly.

"Be careful," he whispered.

"I will."

Then they were gone.

"I can't believe they left us!" I groaned.
"I'm going to be terrified until they get back!"

"I'm glad they did," Mariana said. She looked
like she didn't want to admit it.

"What?"

She sat down heavily on our bed. "I'm useless
out of the water. At least you can use magic. If I were with them
I'd only get in the way. I'd hate myself if Dani, or anybody, got
hurt because they were trying to protect
me
. They're all
worried enough as it is. If they know we're here in the room, safe
and sound, then they can concentrate on finding the biter and
keeping themselves safe."

I hadn't thought about it that way. I had
been so focused on worrying that I wouldn't know if they were all
right unless I was with them I hadn't thought about what would
happen if I was there. For a moment I felt ashamed. Dani had
already nearly been killed trying to protect me. If I hadn't been
out on deck that night Thomas wouldn't have been hurt and Charlie
wouldn't have been thrown overboard either. I hated that I was
powerless, but Mariana was right. We'd do more harm than good if we
were out there too. There was nothing we could do but wait and hope
they made it back alive and unhurt.

Chapter 20

The minutes ticked by like hours. Mariana had
turned on the TV, but I couldn't concentrate on it. I tried to
study, but as soon as I turned the page I forgot what I had just
read. I thought about uploading my pictures to my laptop, but as
soon as I spotted a picture of Charlie my gut knotted up with
worry.

"Are you watching?" Mariana asked
suddenly.

It took me a moment to realize she meant the
TV. "No."

"Me neither."

She turned the TV off and I hardly noticed
the absence of sound. I was terribly worried about the others. And
it was so weird knowing that Mark was sitting on the other side of
the door. I felt safe knowing he wasn't invited in, but I was still
uneasy. Mariana wandered out onto the balcony and looked out at the
water. I joined her and for a few tense minutes we stared silently
at the ocean.

"I'm glad you told them to text us," she
said. She laughed weakly. "They drive me crazy. All these older
magics are so weird about keeping up with technology."

It was a weak topic, but I was thankful for
the distraction. I managed to laugh too. "Charlie said he's pretty
technologically advanced."

"Well, he is! That's what drives me crazy!"
Mariana exclaimed. "He and Dani have this amazing computer. It's
got like the best graphics card, and a massive hard drive. And Dani
spends hours playing video games on the internet with his brother
and his friends. Plus, they have this huge flat-screen." She rolled
her eyes. "But unless I text Dani first, he never sends me any! I
remember being a kid, maybe eight or something, and having to
remind him to check his answering machine every time I went
over."

"I guess just because they can use it doesn't
mean they're used to it."

She laughed. "And oh my God, the office! I
get to use a great, modern computer, but it has an ancient mouse!
It's got some adapter for the USB port, doesn't have a scroll
wheel, and doesn't even have a laser! It's got one of those little
rubber balls that gets stuck all the time. And nobody seems to
mind. It's like they had to get a new computer, so they got a nice
state-of-the-art one, but didn't bother to upgrade the mouse. I had
to read a paper copy of the computer use policy and it included a
definition of double-click!"

We both laughed. It was a relief to have
something to genuinely laugh about. But it wasn't long before we
fell back into an awkward silence.

"How long have they been gone?"

Mariana glanced at her phone. "Half an hour,"
she groaned, tucking it back into her pocket.

She was wearing a cute cargo skirt and I
realized I had never seen her in pants or shorts. Even her swimsuit
was a skirt.

"Do you ever wear pants?" I asked.

"Nope. I don't like when my legs can't touch.
I guess it's a mermaid thing. But if I ever jumped in the water
wearing pants and shifted without taking them off..." She
shuddered. "They'd rip when my legs fused. Eventually. I did it
once by accident when I was little and it really, really hurt."

For the first time I realized that TS turned
into a wolf without taking his clothes off and was always dressed
when he changed back. "TS’ clothes don't rip."

"They're treated."

"Treated?"

"Oh. With a potion, I mean. When shifters
like werewolves buy clothes they can buy a potion to soak them in,
it allows the clothes to shift with them. Otherwise they'd shred
clothes all the time. I could treat my clothes too, but the potion
I'd have to use is more complicated because the fabric has to turn
into scales, not fur. And I think there's some extra thing to make
it waterproof too. It's a lot more expensive. Plus, I only shift
from the waist down, so if I'm wearing a skirt nothing happens to
it."

"That's so neat," I said.

She smiled. "You're so much fun, Jen. I mean,
it's really nice to have another girl around. But I get a kick out
of how much you're enjoying this. I think Thomas was wrong, you're
still having a great time learning about our world."

"I am."

"I hope you'll keep in touch when we get
home. I'd really like to be friends."

I grinned. "I'd like that too!"

She suddenly smirked. "So, I couldn't help
but notice you eyeing Thomas..."

"No!"

"No?"

I sighed in defeat. "Yeah," I admitted. "He's
really cute and...yeah, I guess I like him."

"Aww, that's so splashy! You two would be
great together!"

"Don't tell him," I pleaded.

Mariana giggled. "Relax, I'd never tell him!
This is girl-talk!"

I had to giggle too. "I'm glad you're close
to my age."

"Trust me, age doesn't matter."

"So, I've heard."

She smiled. "It can be nice to have someone
closer to your age around though."

Then I heard a sound. We both looked through
the open sliding glass door and into the room.

"Was that a knock?" Mariana whispered.

It came again, louder this time. Someone was
knocking at the door. We edged nervously into the room. My hope
that it was Mark knocking died when a third knock came. It was
clearly coming from the door that led into the hall.

"He's not invited in," I said. "If it's him
we're safe, right?"

"Right."

The person on the other side knocked
again.

"What's going on?" Mark called. He opened his
door and looked into the room. "Is someone knocking?"

We both nodded.

"Can you smell him? Is it a vampire?" Mariana
asked.

Mark sniffed and shook his head. "I can't
smell very well. What's-his-name, Thomas, said it’d get
stronger."

The person at the door knocked again, louder.
Mariana and I exchanged a nervous look, and then went over to the
door.

"Ok, he can't cross the threshold," Mariana
said. "Ready?" She opened the door and we both cried out in
horror.

The biter was standing there, with Laurie in
his arms.

"Good evening," he said with a positively
evil smirk. "May I come in?"

"No!" Mariana and I said boldly.

His smile widened and he gave Laurie a little
shake. "Let me rephrase that. If you don't invite me in, right now,
then I'll turn her."

I swallowed nervously. He wasn't
bluffing.

Mark couldn't stick his head into the room to
see what was happening. "What's going on?"

The biter sniffed and then snarled. "Damn
him! I told him that I'm..." He shook his head and growled. "Let me
in."

"No."

"Then I guess I'll just kill her instead of
turning her." He turned Laurie in his arms and his fangs snapped
out.

"No!" I cried.

He paused, fangs a fraction of an inch from
her neck. "Invite me in. You have five seconds. Then I kill her and
I go find another. And then I'll be back. And if you still refuse
to let me in, you'll have two dead bodies by your door." His smile
widened. "I'll kill everyone on the ship if I have to."

My mind was racing. Mariana and I both slept
in this room. If we let him in we'd have a chance to uninvite him.
If he came in with Laurie then she'd be safe too. But it was a big
risk. I didn't know what to do. If we let him in there was no
telling what he'd do. He could kill me, Mariana, and Laurie. If we
didn't, he'd kill Laurie and maybe more people. Mariana and I
looked at each other in horror.

"Five, four, three..." the vampire
snarled.

"Fine!" Mariana cried. She looked at me
helplessly. "Jen, I don't think we have a choice."

"No," I said weakly. "We don't."

Mariana took a deep breath and whispered,
"Come in."

The vampire smiled and took a step forward. I
had been hoping that he'd come inside, drop Laurie, and give us a
chance to uninvite him. Instead, he threw Laurie at us! Mariana and
I both cried out as we were knocked backward. We landed with Laurie
on top of us. Before we could recover the biter had rushed forward
and grabbed Mariana. He stepped away, hand clamped over her
mouth.

"If you uninvite me, I'll take her with me,"
he promised.

He grabbed Laurie by the hair and dragged her
further into the room. I watched, feeling stupid, helpless, and
confused. What should we have done? We couldn't have let him kill
Laurie, but there had to have been a better option that letting him
in. He threw Laurie into the adjoining room. Mark looked shocked,
but caught her before she hit the ground. Then, to my horror, the
biter pulled out a rope and lashed Mariana's hands behind her back.
He stuffed something into her mouth as a makeshift gag and then
tied it in place.

"Now," he said to me, looking satisfied, "we
can pick up where we left off."

He dropped Mariana and lunged at me. I didn't
have time to even uninvite him, much less raise my wand. In an
instant I was flat on my bed with him on top of me, one hand
clamped over my mouth. He knocked my wand out of my hand and pinned
my wrists down. Mark was freaking out in the other room and pacing
frantically. I tried to kick the biter and he loosened his grip
enough for me to pull my mouth away from his hand. Mariana was
between him and the door. If I uninvited him there was still a
chance he could grab Mariana on the way out.

"Mark! Come in!" I screamed. The biter was
about to feed from me, and probably kill me, anyway. If Mark
wouldn't help, he certainly wouldn't make things worse.

"Bitch!" the biter spat. He slapped me across
the face so hard my ears rang. I was so dazed from the blow I
hardly noticed when Mark flew into the room and tackled him.

I tried to open my mouth to uninvite the
biter and gasped when pain shot through my jaw. Then it was too
late. The biter easily overpowered Mark and slammed him into the
wall. Mark cried out in pain and hit the ground, unmoving. Then the
biter was on me again.

"Think you're clever, do you?" he snarled.
"You'll pay for that, stupid girl."

He grabbed my chin, holding my mouth shut,
and forced my head to the side to expose my neck. I shut my eyes,
hoping it would be over soon. Then he hissed furiously and grabbed
me. He yanked me to my feet and held me, one arm pinning me to his
chest and the other hand over my mouth. In the doorway, Thomas, TS,
and Charlie inched forward.

"Any closer and I'll kill her," the biter
snarled.

Thomas raised his stake, but didn't take
another step. TS bared his teeth and growled, and small fireballs
erupted in Charlie's hands. My heart leapt with fear. Not because
the biter had me, I knew that somehow they'd protect me, but where
was Dani?

"Let her go," Thomas hissed. His fangs were
extended and this time they looked more intimidating than neat.

The biter only laughed. He tightened his grip
on me. "Move aside. If you let me leave safely I might release
her."

They all glanced at each other and I knew as
well as they did that he was lying. We'd hurt him before and he
wanted revenge. Not to mention I was the only witch on the ship and
he wanted my blood. This was his best chance.

TS growled and took a single step forward.
Charlie's fireballs flared and Thomas tensed like he was ready to
lunge.

"I said, stay where you-" The biter's command
turned into a gasp of pain and his entire body went rigid.

His grip loosened and I jerked forward and
away from him. I spun around just in time to see Dani vault over
the edge of our balcony and dash into the room. He raised a stake
and brought it down into the biter's back. The biter screamed in
pain as blood splattered everywhere. He fell to the ground and I
spotted a knife already embedded in his back. Dani snarled
something in Greek before driving the stake the rest of the way in.
Then hands grabbed my shoulders and I nearly screamed before
realizing it was Thomas.

He hugged me so tightly it almost hurt. "Are
you ok?"

"Y-yeah."

He turned me to face him and almost tenderly
brushed my hair out of my face. "You're sure?"

I nodded. As Thomas stared into my eyes I had
the absurd feeling that he was about to kiss me. Light flared to my
left and I saw that Charlie had burned through the ropes holding
Mariana. She staggered to her feet, pale as a ghost. Dani hugged
her, and then sighed heavily. His eyes slowly swirled from black to
gray and he sagged against Charlie. He muttered something I
couldn't hear.