Author's Notes: First off, I'm sorry that it's taken so long in getting this chapter up. My old writing muse seems to have gone on vacation, and didn't bother to tell me. I have a new muse now, and this hopefully shouldn't be a problem again. This chapter is going to do a little time warp now and go back in time a little bit.
I slide into the passenger seat next to John and put on my seatbelt, slipping the strap under my growing belly. I sigh and try to calm my nerves as John starts the car. Soon we're out the main gate and headed toward the Monterey Plaza Hotel.
I'm not sure I like what I'm being told to do. Scratch that, I know I don't like what I'm being told to do. Manning wants me to kill this Lewis woman. From what I've heard, she's in no competition for Miss Congeniality, but she's still a human being. I've killed others, but they were all accidents. Not that that's helped with the nightmares, but at least I didn't go out of my way to hurt people. Now I'm expected to just out and out murder her.
A shiver runs down my spine as I watch the scenery go by throwing lengthening shadows along the ground. The sun is so close to setting and I worry about HB and Abe. I'm even worried about the SEALs that have gone with them. They are so not ready to deal with this. I feel a comforting hand on my shoulder, and I turn to look at John.
"You all right?" he asks quietly.
"Yeah," I automatically reply. I sigh. "No. I don't know. I've never been asked to kill anyone before. I don't mind blowing up monsters, but Lewis is human, plain and simple."
"True, but she's also responsible for the death of a lot of people," he reminds me as his hand returns to the steering wheel. "Plus, she's threatened to kill Maggie and now has kidnapped her. We're not even sure that Maggie's alive."
"She's alive," I state.
"How do you know?" he asks.
"Abe would have been able to tell," I answer. "It's something that Guillermo told me once when I was worried about Red one time. If anything ever happened to either one of us, the other one would know automatically. He said it's true of all couples with at least one Mage it in."
"Oh," he replies. "Well, anyways, she also wants to control Abe and do things to him that I'd rather not think about."
"Yeah, I know, Maggie told me," I respond with a chuckle. "She said she was going to get Abe a stainless steel cod piece with a really big lock on it."
"Ouch," he cringes. "That'd chafe."
"She said something about kissing and making better, but it was hard to understand her above the laughing," I laugh. "I don't think Abe was very happy about it though. He sank to the bottom of the tank and wouldn't come up until she apologized."
John pulls into the driveway of the hotel and a couple of employees open our doors. John takes a claim ticket from the valet and we head for the front doors of the hotel. We're intercepted by Sharon just before we reach the sliding glass doors.
"We're down this way," she says in way of a greeting.
I can see the strain on her face as she leads us off the right. We head for a set of stairs located between the hotel and the building next door. We stop and wait at the top of the stairs as several kayakers come up, carrying their dripping boats over their heads. When it's clear, we head down to the little beach that's mainly used by kayakers entering and exiting the water.
Half a dozen people are lying on the sand, apparently asleep with about ten more sitting or standing around. The ones lying down are covered in blankets that someone probably snagged from the hotel. I can see Maggie's grandmother watching over the people on the ground.
Almost everyone is dressed in very nice and expensive clothing and they don't seem to care that it's getting ruined by sitting in the moist sand. There's even one guy who looks like he's in a tux. The cummerbund and tie are lying on a rock and the jacket is over the shoulders of the woman next to him, but it's still obviously a tux. He has his arm wrapped around the woman wearing his jacket; she's the most underdressed of the group wearing only jeans and a T-shirt. The stress is very evident on all of their faces. Sharon pulls my attention away from her family and points out over the water.
"Maggie is out there, under where the birds are circling," she tells us.
I look out and I can barely make out the circling black birds.
"How do you know that?" I ask.
"They've joined with the cormorants and are keeping an eye on things," she answers pointing toward the unconscious six. I guess they're not asleep after all.
I remember Maggie mentioning something about joining with animals after they came back from Panama. I've never really thought about it since Guillermo told me that I would only be able to join with certain magical animals. Not that it matters since it takes a lot more training than I have to do it anyways.
I find a spot to sit and look back out over the water. John sits down next to me and keeps vigil with me. I see a boat not far from where the birds are circling and then I see something red out on the deck just before it jumps into the water. Several more splashes follow the first one and I figure that must be the SEALs getting into the water after Hellboy. I don't see anything blue, but chances are it's because of the low light and the bay as a background that's making it hard to see Abe. I watch the boat carefully, and about ten minutes after HB went in, I think I see a flash blue with black enter the water, leaving not so much as ripple.
Now comes the hard part. If Abe is successful, he will head for this beach with Maggie. I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to tell if they're on their way or not. I notice that the water is getting choppier out in the bay and it's having an effect on the waves coming into shore. It's getting a lot harder to see the cormorants as the sun starts to disappear behind the hills behind us.
A few moments later, the circling birds start to head toward shore. About half way between where they started and the shore, they stop and start circling again. Suddenly, they dive into the water and disappear beneath the waves. After what seems to be a life time later, the birds resurface and fly off.
The "sleeping" family members all open their eyes and groggily start trying to sit up. Other family members come over and help them.
"Their coming," says one of the women, wearily.
I turn toward the bay and try see into the dark water. A few moments later, I think I see something. I start trying to get up; John stands and helps me to my feet. I walk toward the water and raising my arm up into the air, I let the fire engulf my hand.
"There's something out there," I state turning back to the Cavendish family.
A couple of the men start wading out into the water as a wave brings Maggie and Abe toward shore. I watch as the taller one reaches for Maggie and the other one starts trying to help Abe.
"There's something wrong with Abe," I say to John.
John quickly kicks his shoes off and wades into the water as others head out as well, including the guy in the tux.
"Help Brian get Abe out of the water," I hear Maggie order the big guy.
I watch as John and the others reach them. The tux guy catches Maggie as she collapses. The others manage to get a hold of Abe and start trying to bring him in despite the fact that the water is getting rougher. Tux guy brings Maggie in first and lays her in the sand near the foot of the stairs.
I look back to the others and I'm finally able to tell why their having such problems with Abe. He's ram rod straight and not moving. The only why I can tell that he's still alive is that his gills are moving. As soon as they're clear of the water, Abe's body relaxes and they nearly drop him.
"Please put me down," Abe requests.
Everyone but John quickly lets Abe go, most of them swearing. Maggie's grandmother immediately comes over and smacks the ones that swore upside their heads.
"Watch you're language," she growls at them
Luckily, John had hold of one of Abe's arms, so Abe doesn't get dumped on his head. After making sure that Abe has his balance, John finally releases him. Without saying a word, Abe stumbles toward Maggie and lies down next to her, holding her close.
"LOOK!" someone shouts.
I turn and look toward the person who yelled. The lady in the jeans and T-shirt is pointing toward the water. I turn in time a giant wave coming toward us. Without thinking, I quickly let the flames grow between my hands until I can barely contain them and then I let it loose, evaporating the wave before it reaches shore. I keep the flames alive over my hands and try to watch for incoming attacks.
I hear a woman's voice speaking in Spanish carried over the water. I get the distinct impression that she's swearing. Suddenly, a column of water shoots out of the bay straight towards me and I blast it to vapor.
I feel a strong wind kick up next to me. I turn to see Sharon, her grandmother and several other family members including tux guy standing between Maggie and Abe and the water. Another large wave of water is being blown back out to the bay. I look at them and realize that I can 'feel' their power. Before I have a chance to really think about this, I hear the voice I heard earlier screaming and yelling.
"Not this time, lady," I hear HB growl.
Keeping the flame alive in my hands, I turn toward their voices. I can barely see Red standing waist deep in the dark water. He has a woman by the arm gripped in his stone hand and he's trying to pull her out of the water. She manages to twist around and place her free hand on his chest. He bellows in pain as a geyser of water shoots up between them.
Without a thought I send out my own column of flame towards them. It hits HB and knocks him back in the water. I pull the flame back and wait. After what seems to be an eternity of silence, Hellboy stands up spitting water out and starts wading towards shore.
"Geez, Sparky, you think you could have nailed her a little sooner?" he grumbles as he splashes up to me.
"Did I get her?" I shakily ask him.
"Nah, though you did singe her a bit," he answers. "She's still out there, so stay on your toes."
I nod as he walks past me and looks around. With the exception of John, Sharon and her grandmother, everyone else is standing there with their eyes wide and their jaws hanging open. Red spots Abe and Maggie and heads over to them. After dropping the air tank from his back onto the ground, Hellboy kneels down in the sand next to them, he rests his left hand on Abe's shoulder.
"Hey, Abe, how is she?" he quietly asks.
"She's exhausted and very cold," he answers just as quietly. "She needs to get warm soon."
With that comment, Sharon and Mrs. Cavendish grab several of the blankets and bring them over to Maggie. With Abe's help, they tuck the blankets around Maggie. Momentarily forgetting about Lewis, I go over to Maggie and heat the blankets up for her. Abe smiles his thanks to me as he pulls away from the quickly warming blankets.
"We need to get her inside," Mrs. Cavendish states.
The big guy that went out to Maggie in the water comes over and picks her up. I look at him as he stands up, towering over me. I realize that I'm not 'feeling' any power coming from him. I look around and realize that I'm not getting any 'readings' off of him, the lady in the tux jacket, or an older gentleman that's standing off to the side.
"Are you a Mage?" I ask him.
"No," he answers.
My hand is still lit and he's looking at me with ice blue eyes. It dawns on me that this guy is nearly as tall as Hellboy and his voice is nearly as deep. A part of me wonders that if Hellboy was human if he would look like this guy.
"Liz, this is my husband Ron," says Sharon, interrupting my train of thought.
I look at her and 'feel' her power again. I close my eyes for a few seconds and try to concentrate. I can 'feel' the power of thirteen Mages. I look at Mrs. Cavendish.
"I'm a bit confused," I confess. "Why is it that I can suddenly 'feel' your powers?"
"Every family has a member that can 'feel' the power of other Mages. They're called 'Seers'," she answers. "Maggie's the Seer in our family. Since you're the only Mage in your family so far, you're also a Seer."
"Can I detect the power of any Mage?" I ask her.
"Of course, dear," she replies.
Extinguishing the flames, I turn back to the water and look back over the black waves. I concentrate and continue to scan the water, but I don't 'feel' anything.
"Then how come I can't 'feel' Lewis?" I question.
"Chances are she's gone," Sharon answers. "Water Mages and Fire Mages are natural enemies. When she realized that you're just as strong as she is, she probably high tailed it out of here. When Maggie's feeling better, the two of you can have a look around to see if you can find her. But I have a feeling that she's long gone."
I turn back toward the beach and I see Maggie's family starting to make their way up the stairs. Abe looks wistfully up at them, especially Ron who's carrying Maggie. Sharon follows them without another word. John and Hellboy are still near Abe and I notice that John is on his phone talking to someone quietly. I can hear the sound of a motor carried in on the wind from the water. John hangs up and looks at me.
"Dr. Manning has sent a boat to pick Abe and Hellboy up," he says. "Could you give them a little light to help them? The transmitters can only do so much."
I nod as I reignite the flames and let them play around my fingers. I hear the motor get closer and then a search light blinds me as it lights up the water. I blink a few times as my eyes adjust to the sudden brightness. I see a boat with an agent at the helm waiting just off shore.
I douse my fire as Abe walks to the waters edge. Stretching his hand out over the water I can tell he's checking for Lewis. Satisfied that Lewis is gone, Abe smoothly enters the water and quickly climbs up onto the boat a few moments later. Hellboy walks up to me and wraps his left arm around my waist.
"I'll see you back at base," he says in my ear.
I turn to him and kiss him. At first gently, then the kiss deepens as the reality of what could have happened today finally sinks in. My arms snake around his neck as my need for him intensifies. He gladly returns my kiss as his left arm pulls me closer to him, my stomach pressing into him. Suddenly, the baby kicks hard and he/she kicks so hard that Hellboy feels it. He pulls back and looks at my belly.
"You're grounded," he tells my stomach.
I quietly chuckle as I watch him reenter the water and wade out to the waiting boat. Shortly after he pulls himself up onto the deck, the spot light is turned off and I hear the motor rev up as they pull away.
I turn back to the stairs and John. He's got Red's tank slung over his shoulder. He tries to make it look easy, but I know that thing must weigh a ton. What is it with men and always trying to act macho? I slowly climb to the top and silently wait with John as the car is brought to us. John tips the valet as he gets in and soon we're on the road back to the Naval Postgraduate School. Sleep claims me before I ever see the front gates.