Bay of Sighs (The Guardians Trilogy #2)(15)

It was like her dream, she thought. All her friends together with the sun and the water. And that was enough for the day.

Even the work was like the dream. All her friends together with Bran’s magick. His magick was so pretty, so bright and strong. They swept away all the dark, laid light with the powdered crystals and bespelled water. Then, with a shield from human eyes beyond the wall of trees, he rose up to spread the protection from the top of the house to the ground below.

“I didn’t know it would be beautiful,” Sasha murmured, gazing up at him.

“Irish has style.” Riley draped an arm around her shoulders. “We did all this in Corfu, but I’ve got to say, it doesn’t get old. Okay, inside or out for war council?”

“We’re as protected out here as in there, and it’s too nice to sit inside, even for war.”

“Agreed.”

“I need to finish the new chart—for chores. I’ll do that tonight. But I’ll take dinner. It would be nice to have war talk over, as much as it ever is, before we eat.”

“I’ve got some maps upstairs.”

“I can fold the laundry now,” Annika said. “Should there be wine?”

“Baby.” Riley swung her arm away from Sasha, over Annika. “There should always be wine. Let’s get started.”

Annika sat while the others pored over the maps. Riley pointed out caves she knew, or had researched. Doyle showed them others he remembered from long ago.

“Do you know any underwater caves, Annika?” Sawyer asked. “Any we don’t have marked?”

“We only came here.” She reached out to touch a spot on the north of the island. “The Grotta Azzurra. It’s tradition to bathe in the blue light. But we didn’t stay or seek other places. So many people, you see. There are other places not so . . . inhabited?”

“Did you hear the sighs or the songs when you came with your family?” Sasha wondered.

“No, but I didn’t listen. I was young, and it was beautiful and exciting. I had no purpose. I could look, from the sea.”

“Not alone.” Reaching over, Bran touched her hand. “No one ventures alone. We know she’ll come, and send her dogs. The attacks will come on land, from the air, in the water, as they did before. We have to prepare for that. No one ventures alone.”

“We’re more closed in here than we were at the villa.” Doyle looked around, scanning trees, rooflines. “Advantage and disadvantage. We have less area to defend, but less room to maneuver. The light bombs took out swarms of the dogs. Actually, calling them dogs is an insult to dogs.”

“I like Sasha’s minions.”

“Minions then,” he said with a nod to Riley. “She’ll send them again. Losing them means nothing to her. She’ll just send more. Can you use the light bombs on the bolts, on the bullets and blades?”

Bran sat back, arched his eyebrows. “That’s interesting. I can work on that. Sure, I can work on that.”

“You wounded the— Was it a Cerberus, Riley?”

“Three-headed hound of hell. Sure looked like one.”

“You wounded it,” Sasha continued. “And hurt and frightened her. Aged her. I can’t see what weapon she’ll forge, but she needs something to combat what you can do at full force.”

“What we could do,” Bran reminded her. “I wouldn’t have been strong enough without you.”

“It’s a good thing you don’t have to do without me. Still, it took all we had to hold her off.”

“And kick her ass,” Sawyer added. “She ran. You beat a god. We beat a god and her minions. And it’s not cocky to say we’re going to do the same thing here, whatever she brings. But I wouldn’t say no to a load of magick bullets.”

“There’s good cover in the grove,” Doyle pointed out. “We make our stands there rather than out in the open.”

“Add some surprises in the open. Take some of them out,” Riley calculated.

“She spread that mist on the ground. It bit.” Now Sasha judged the distance to the grove. “We can set off the light bombs from there—bolt, bullet, blade, magick.”

“I can do this with my bracelets,” Annika pointed out.

“It’s a plan.” Riley reached for her wine. “Covers land and air. Now water.”

“Harpoons, knives—a magick assist?” Sawyer added. “And mermaid.”

Annika smiled. “My bracelets also work well in the water, and I’m faster there than anywhere else.”

“We’ve never asked,” Sasha began. “How do you communicate with your family? With others like you?”

“Oh. It’s . . .” Annika touched her head, her heart.

“You think. You feel.”

“We can speak, but it’s often without voice.”

“I see where you’re going.” Riley leaned toward Annika. “How about other sea life? Fish, whale, that sort of thing?”

“We have understandings. They don’t think as we do, though the whale can be wise, and the dolphin is smart and clever. But fish? They forget quickly.”

“Dory.” When Annika looked blank, Sawyer explained. “From a movie. We’ll stream it sometime. They’re wondering if you can maybe sense the bad guys—underwater?”