He poked his head out of the doorway. “Jeremy t’inks we gots it, Ms. Roxanne. Dat signal stop a few miles off de coast o’ Lake Borgne. Dats where we heads.”
I wasn’t very familiar with any of the lakes in the area except for Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain—and that was only from driving past them on the highway and Jeremy’s place. I had no idea how far away it was or how long it would take us to get there by boat.
“That lagoon leads to the gulf. There are many treacherous areas, as well as small islands further out. We are familiar with all of it and we will keep pace with you. We will warn you of any areas to avoid.”
Before I had time to respond, both he and Arella were already over the side of the boat, their bodies gracefully arching into the water.
“Well, let’s go find those children,” I said as the engine purred to life again.
Chapter 13
Launching the rescue team
& naming the fae Object
It took nearly half an hour traveling at the top speed allowed on the lake to get to the canal leading to Lake Borgne, and it would probably take us close to an hour to get through the canal and make it to the spot where the signal had left off. Though I was tempted to stay up on the deck to watch the well-lit homes we passed, Sam, Rand, and I joined the others below deck to explain what we might be dealing with.
“Danai, do you think that you and Tess will be able to help the children in case they’re too sick from the sedatives or the iron?”
In answer, Danai pulled out the large medical bag she’d brought with her. Chewing her lip, she glanced at Rasta. “Your highness,” she said, addressing her as the newly appointed queen she was. “I am not familiar with fae nervous systems. Would you mind looking over the ingredients I brought and tell me if any are known to be harmful to faekind? I’m not sure if anything I have will help with iron poisoning.”
Rasta flew over and she, Tess, and Danai started going through Danai’s healing supplies.
Turning to the five witches watching my every move, I said, “We don’t know what we’ll be walking into out there. These people could be armed with weapons, magick, or both. Getting these children back unharmed is our priority, but I don’t want any of you putting yourselves directly in the line of fire. Leave that to . . .” I looked around the room. “Well, to me, I guess.”
Pixies and witches alike began protesting. Loudly.
Rasta looked up from the other end of the table, frowned, then whistled. Everyone quieted instantly.
“Thanks. I’m just saying that if they have guns or worse, I should be able to shield us.”
Rayna raised her hand. This wasn’t exactly grade school, but I nodded to her anyway. Anything would be better than everyone trying to talk over each other at once.
“Should we test these, while we have a chance?” She picked up the crystal amulet hanging from her neck. They all looked at me expectantly.
“Why not?” It would be a good time to see if the idea of the group shielding Sam would work, too. “Let’s go back up on the deck. Would any of you pixies like to join us? We’ll need someone to test the shield strength.” They all took to the air and raced past us to the deck. Tess looked torn until Danai waved her away.
As we headed up, Rand leaned close, keeping his voice low. “Are you sure this is a good idea? The canal is narrow enough in areas that people might see.”
Hmm. He had a point. “We’ll risk it. I’ll try to be careful.” I hadn’t tried any spells involving glamours since Sam and Tess had first arrived. I’d managed a minor mani-pedi glamour and that was it. Since then, it seemed like everything had been nearly non-stop and Zara and I hadn’t gone back to that part of my training. Could I manage it now? More to the point, could I glamour a boat this size while it was moving? I had a much better handle on my magick and I was a lot stronger since those days, but still . . . I glanced down at my Power ring. Glamours didn’t take much magick from what I remembered reading, so there were no worries there. I felt a distinct feeling of amusement coming from somewhere—I was pretty sure it was my bracelet.
On the deck, I studied the scenery on either side. While it was dark, there were several large homes lit up along the banks of the canal. Most were set back a decent way from the banks, since this area tended to be so swampy. I was surprised that a boat this size could navigate some areas, but Cappy didn’t seem to be having any problems. As everyone stood waiting—for me—I thought about what I would have to do.
“Cappy?” I called out, just loud enough to be heard over the engine.
“Aye, lass?” He handed the wheel to Jeremy and stepped out of the cockpit.
“Can we dim these lights at all?”
Scratching his head, he thought about it. “We have ta have certain lights on ta be legal at night, but we could dim some of the deck lighting.”
That would have to do. We were nearly out of the canal anyway. Once we got to Lake Borgne, we could pick up speed, especially with the water fae guiding us around any tricky areas. Once the lights were dimmed, I pictured everyone on the deck sitting on the bench style seats around the deck, laughing and talking. Well, everyone human-sized, that is. I closed my
