More than Magic: Semester Aboard (48 page)

"Yes? Yes, you
can
sense TS?"

Thomas nodded. "Yes."

I hadn't been entirely prepared for that
answer, even though I had been right. "But you both told me that
soul-pack bonds don't work like that."

"They don't."

That was a bit confusing. "Then what kind of
bond do you have?"

"We don't know."

I glared. "Would it hurt to give me an honest
answer?"

Thomas smiled weakly and shrugged. "I'm being
honest. We've been trying to figure it out for decades. As far as
we can tell it's never happened before. We don't know how it
happened and we don't know why it did." He slid the door open and
TS lumbered out and sat down.

"So, you're just...bonded to each other for
no reason?" I asked.

"We think the only reasonable, albeit
farfetched, explanation is that Tethys soul-pack bonded to me at
the exact moment Hylay died. And..." Thomas shrugged.

"Something went all wonky," TS finished.

I thought back on what TS had said about
soul-pack bonds. "And nobody else has a soul-pack bond that goes
two ways? Other than between two werewolves?"

They both shook their heads.

"You can't tell
anyone
. You can't even
mention that it's possible." Thomas' serious expression faded and
he laughed. "Honestly, I think the only reason you figured it out
is because you don't know that much about it. Any other magic would
have dismissed it and forgotten about it. Most people don't even
dream about the possibility."

"Then why can't I tell anyone?" I asked,
confused.

"Most werewolves would do anything for a good
soul-packmate. If word got out that it was possible to have one who
could sense you back..." TS hesitated and flattened his ears
against his head.

"If anyone found out how it happened to us
they might try to recreate it," Thomas said.

I swallowed nervously. "They'd...kill
someone's familiar?"

"We can get absolutely mental when it comes
to our soul-packmates," TS said. "If even one werewolf out there
thought they could have a two-way bond by killing someone and then
tried it, it would be a right shame. But if it worked then more
would try it. Familiars would be dropping like flies. It'd be a
tragedy. A disaster."

"And if the fact that I was turned has
anything to do with it then...well, that would make it even more
horrible. We've only told a handful of people," Thomas said. "I
consider keeping this a secret just as, if not more, important than
keeping the existence of magics a secret from non-magics."

"I understand," I said softly.

"My family doesn't even know," TS said.

"They don't?"

He shook his head. "I can't tell any
werewolves. Ever."

I was shocked. "But you don't think your
family would...would..."

TS shrugged and bowed his head. "I think that
if I didn't have this bond, but I knew it was possible
,
I'd go pretty far to get it. And I can think of more
than one scenario where...well, I'd at least be tempted. I don't
think anyone in my family would ever do it, but I can't risk it.
And we werewolves aren't the best at keeping secrets. It's hard
enough for me and it's my bond. The more people I tell, the higher
the chance that someone will slip."

"I promise I won't tell anyone," I said.

"Thank you," Thomas said. He smiled weakly.
"Sorry I didn't tell you about it. But please understand, it's not
something we make a habit of sharing."

"I do."

"Get on to sleep," TS said. "We've got class
in a few hours."

I was tired enough to not argue, but spent
another hour wide-awake, just thinking about it all. Once the storm
hit I wished that I had gone to sleep earlier. The ship pitched and
rocked and it took me ages to fall asleep.

Chapter 27

The first part of the day went well, aside
from the fact it was still storming. We stuck together in the
hallways on the way back and forth between classes. The ship was
rocking the entire day and I had never seen so many people using
the railings. There was no sign of Nathaniel at all, but we decided
not to push our luck and went back to the room when our classes
were over. I started to feel sick being stuck inside, so I went out
on the balcony. Dani joined me and hopped up onto the railing. He
closed his eyes and leaned out into the rain. I had to smile; it
reminded me of a time not so long ago when I hadn't known anything
about magics.

"How does it taste?" I asked.

"It's good. Fresh." He cracked an eye open
and looked at me. "You don't look so splashy."

"It's rough," I said, gesturing to the waves.
"It's making me a little sick."

"Why didn't you say something?" Dani jumped
off of the railing and went inside. He was back a moment later with
a little cube.

"Is that for sea-sickness?"

He nodded. I couldn't decide if I was excited
or nervous about taking my first potion, but I reached out for it.
It felt slightly squishy and I hesitated, wondering if I was
supposed to chew it. Dani answered before I could even ask.

"It might be bacon flavored."

I looked at him skeptically. "Bacon?"

He laughed and shrugged. "It's TS'. You'll be
lucky if it doesn't taste like old shoe or something."

The ship rolled again and my stomach did too.
I popped the potion into my mouth and quickly ate it. It definitely
tasted like meat of some sort. Seconds later I started to feel
better. In two minutes I felt completely fine.

"Wow. How long does it last?"

"Forty-eight hours."

"Wow."

I went back into the room and we all spent
the next few hours studying. Our midterms were coming up before we
reached Costa Rica. I couldn't believe the trip was already more
than half over. Just before sunset Thomas, Dani, and Charlie went
to get dinner. When they got back we found a cheesy movie on TV and
settled in. The sequel followed it and we decided to watch it too.
The movies were a nice distraction and time flew by. Suddenly,
Charlie called my attention back to reality.

"What's wrong, Dan?" he asked.

I looked over at Dani in concern. He was
frowning in concentration and little splashes of gray were churning
in his eyes.

"Dani?" Mariana prompted.

Dani held up a hand. "Hang on..." It looked
like he was listening to something. "There's a pod of leviathans
nearby. I can't figure out if they're coming or going."

"What's a leviathan?" I asked.

"A whale the size of an aircraft carrier,"
Mariana said.

Dani went out on the balcony and we all
followed and crowded out onto it with him. I had my wand and
quickly cast my night vision spell. I couldn't see anything but
open ocean. Dani looked around, still frowning.

"They're close," he muttered.

"Keen. I've never seen leviathans," TS
said.

"You better hope you don't," Dani said.

"Why not? Are they dangerous?"

"Not on purpose. They're the very definition
of gentle giants."

"Then why don't we want to see one?" Thomas
asked.

Another concerned splash of gray crossed
Dani's eyes. "When a leviathan breaches, the waves it causes could
be taller than the ship." He hesitated and then added, "If a wave
that
big hits us..."

"Is that a possibility?" TS said.

Dani nodded.

"How likely is it?"

"Leviathans breach more often at night...and
when it's raining." Dani looked back out at the water and frowned.
"They're getting louder too. Drought, I don't think they'll be far
enough away when they surface..."

"It's ok if they surface," Mariana said,
"just as long as they don't breach."

"True," Dani said. "But I'm not very happy
that they're so close. If just
one
does breach..."

We all went back inside in a much different
mood. The movie was still on, but nobody was watching it anymore.
Tension was high as we all sat quietly. Even if I had wanted to
watch the movie my night-vision spell had made the TV so bright I
could hardly look at it. Several nerve-wracking minutes went by.
All of a sudden Dani jumped to his feet and whirled around to face
something none of us could see.

"No, no!" He backed up, eyes wide with
horror. "Oh my God..."

That was the only warning we had. I heard a
horrible crash and we were all thrown off of our feet. Thomas
caught me before I slammed into the wall. The ship turned almost
completely sideways and I found myself practically lying on top of
Thomas on the wall. For a few agonizing seconds the ship hung
there. Then just as suddenly as it had gone up it rocked the other
way. We were both thrown onto the bed. Thomas kept himself from
landing on me too hard. The ship rocked back and forth, but none of
the jolts were as violent as the first. The TV flicked off and the
bright beam of light I had been able to see under the door to the
hallway vanished. Then everything was still.

It was a ridiculous time to be embarrassed
that Thomas was on top of me, but I was. My hands were pressed
against his chest and I could feel all three of his hearts pounding
wildly. His face was inches from mine and he pulled back slightly
and looked at me.

"You ok?" he gasped.

I nodded.

"Danio? Could that happen again?"

"Not likely. The only other ones that
breached were far enough away and the pod's already moving off.
They won't surface again for another hundred nautical miles."

Thomas sighed in relief. As he sagged against
me I noticed that I could actually feel his ribs under my palm. I
knew he was really skinny, but I couldn't believe how prominent
they were. He eased himself off of me and stood. I sat up and
looked around. TS had changed into a wolf and his legs were spread
almost comically far apart. Mariana was sitting on the other bed,
looking slightly stunned. Dani and Charlie were in the narrow hall
by the door which, in hindsight, was probably the safest place to
be.

"Is it going to sink?" Charlie asked. He
sounded absolutely terrified and looked like he was clinging to
Dani with no intention of letting go.

Dani already had his arms around Charlie, but
tightened his grip. "Of course not."

My breath hitched as a new thought struck me.
I had been scared, but somewhere in the back of my mind I hadn't
been worried. We were with a water elemental and a mermaid; I
wasn't worried about drowning. But Charlie was a fire elemental. He
couldn't even go out in the rain. The odds of a fire elemental
surviving a shipwreck were probably slim at best. Even if he didn't
drown it would be impossible to keep him dry.

"Something's...wrong," TS said. "I can't
quite figure it out it's...it's quiet."

"The engines," Thomas gasped. "It isn't just
the lights, I can't hear any engines at all."

The ship pitched to one side and everyone
staggered.

"These are not the conditions to be without
engines," Dani said grimly.

Even as he spoke I realized that the ship was
still rocking far more violently than it usually did. Almost
everything in the room had overturned and half of it was still
rolling around as the ship pitched back and forth. Dani beckoned us
over and all six of us crowded into the hallway. We still slid
around, but were able to brace ourselves against both walls and
each other. Nobody spoke as the minutes went by. Thomas kept an arm
around me and I couldn't help but snuggle closer to him. And then,
at last, I spotted a dim light coming in from under the door. A
familiar, welcome chime echoed and the loudspeakers crackled to
life.

"I'm sure you're all wondering what's going
on." I sighed in relief at the sound of Dean Dave's voice. "There's
nothing to worry about. Our ship has been struck by a rogue wave.
It's a pretty uncommon phenomenon, but we're certainly not the
first ship to be hit by one. There's a little damage, but nothing
serious, and the engines got some water in them, but our crew is
working hard to get them back up and running. Just as a precaution
we'd like everyone to get their life jackets and make their way to
Purser's Square. Again, there's nothing to worry about, we just
want to get everyone into one place to make sure there were no
injuries."

There were four life jackets in the room,
which worked out since Dani and Mariana wouldn't need them. Charlie
looked less than happy putting his on and I knew it was because
floating wouldn't help him; he'd freeze to death with or without
it.

"Here." Thomas held out a stake to me and I
froze in horror.

"Shouldn't we stay here?" I gasped. "What if
Nathaniel is out there?"

Thomas sighed. "They'll take attendance. If
we're missing they'll come looking for us and we'll be taken out
there either way."

"And if Nathaniel
is
out there then I
don't want innocent people wandering the ship alone because of us,"
Dani added.

We grimly went into the hall and followed
other people toward Purser's Square. The emergency lights spaced
along the hallway were probably dim, but looked as bright as normal
lights with my night vision spell. I felt a little safer in a
group. I hoped Nathaniel wouldn't try anything while everyone else
on the ship surrounded us. Getting to Purser's Square was easier
said than done. The storm was pushing the ship around so much that
we had to cling to the rails and practically drag ourselves down
the hall. There were several times when we had to stop and just
hang on until a lull in the rocking. It was chaos once we were all
packed into Purser's Square. Unlike the hallways
,
the floor wasn't carpeted and people were sliding
back and forth across the floor.

The six of us sat against a wall near a
hallway. Thomas locked an arm around my waist and braced us against
a doorframe. We slid a few inches with every rock, but not nearly
as far as some people. Dani was barefoot and had his feet planted
firmly on the floor, which kept him, Charlie, and Mariana nearly as
stationary as Thomas and I were. TS just slid back and forth,
clearly wishing he were still in wolf form. As we had expected,
they took attendance and then Dean Dave and some of the professors
and crewmembers went to talk. They went down the hall far enough
that nobody could hear them. Except for Thomas.