Turning to face the tree, she did a brief curtsy. “Thank you, Mr. Tree,” she laughed.
She turned and started cutting through the large garden surrounding the palace. Technically, she should have gone through the front gates, but she never did. One advantage of being the younger sister of the Captain of the Guard: everyone knew who she was.
Humming under her breath, she gripped her bow and took off at a slight jog along the winding path that cut through the huge garden maze. She was excited. Isha was supposed to return to their village today. She would surprise him at the palace—and just make sure he hadn’t forgotten that he said he’d be home.
The annual Festival of Lights this weekend was a very special time in their village. Because the village was farther inland than the palace, which was closer to the sea, the mountains came alive once a year with the blooming of the Nightstar flowers. The blossoms would open, and the glowing seeds within would float up into the trees, lighting the forest with color. The villagers’ voices would rise in song and spread their magic on the breeze to mix with the floating seeds. It truly was a magical night and one that she loved to witness.
Marina’s steps slowed when she heard the sound of shouting and a scream that was cut short. She stumbled when the ground shook under her feet from a loud explosion that ripped through the air. To steady herself, she reached out and wrapped her left hand around the thick branch of one of the tall bushes that hedged the maze. She was almost to the exit near the main gardens to the right of the palace’s front entrance.
Releasing the branch, she whispered to her bow. She could feel the string grow taut as she woke the magic within the bow. She moved forward in concern when she heard the Queen’s voice rise above the shouts, cries, and screams.
A feeling of concern flooded Marina. She couldn’t help thinking in an oddly disconnected way that she had never heard the Queen’s voice raised in anger before. She had only taken a few steps forward when she caught her breath in surprise. Thick bands of magic swirled around her like a turbulent river, rushing toward the area where she had heard the Queen’s voice. The pure beauty and power of the flowing colors took Marina’s breath away.
Spying the exit from the maze, Marina put on a burst of speed. She slid to a stop when she cleared the last hedge. Her lips parted in horrified awe. On the front steps of the palace stood a slender woman. All around her, a dark mist twisted and churned. The woman looked as if she was made of the black essence.
“Sea Witch!” Marina whispered, her gaze glued to Magna.
“I command you to stop, Magna! As Queen of the Isle of Magic, I sentence you to death for your deceit and traitorous acts,” Magika declared, lifting her hands.
“You cannot stop me. I now control the Isle of Magic and all the powers of this kingdom,” Magna replied, her voice strangely flat.
“You are wrong, Magna. Whatever evil magic you have summoned, it is not from this world. Think of the damage you are doing,” Magika responded in a cold voice.
“Magna!”
Marina turned to see Kell and Sabine, Magna’s parents, appear—the Queen must have summoned them. Hope rushed through Marina. Surely the pleas of the Sea Witch’s parents would be able to touch their daughter.
“Think of your family, Magna,” the Queen said.
Marina’s gaze anxiously turned back to the Queen. A soft hiss slipped from her lips when she realized what the Queen was doing. Queen Magika was weaving a spell in her words and using Magna’s parents to distract the Sea Witch.
Marina had never seen such pure and beautiful magic woven so tightly—so precisely. The ability to see magic was one of her talents. She had inherited her gift from her grandmother who had cautioned her to keep the ability to herself.
‘No one else has the gift like you and I, Marina,’ her grandmother told her when she was barely ten years old. ‘Except perhaps the Queen and King. There isn’t much use for the ability to see magic—except when you need to. Keep this little secret. You never know when it might come in handy,’ her grandmother had added with a wink.
Now, she watched the threads reaching out toward Magna. The magic was subtle, woven in the words the Queen spoke. Marina turned to focus her attention on Magna again. Was Magna able to see the magic? How would she react toward her parents?
Marina’s mouth dropped open when the black essence surrounding Magna reached greedily for the hidden strands of magic. The Queen cried out in pain as the bands devoured the magical threads. Marina could see the malevolent mist greedily absorbing the Queen’s magic—and growing stronger!
“Magna, no!” Kell shouted, stepping forward and placing himself between the Queen and his daughter. ”Let us help you. Please, I beg of you. Give yourself up, and we will help you.”
The expression on Magna’s face softened, her lips parted, and for a moment Marina thought the Sea Witch would give in. Even from several yards away, Marina could see the conflict on the other woman’s face. The indecision lasted no more than a second before her expression hardened.
“Watch out!” Marina cried, lifting her hand in warning.
She saw the change in the mist. In horror, she helplessly watched as two long tentacles shot out. The bands wrapped around Kell. Magna’s mother, Sabine, lifted her glowing hands while her lips moved, weaving a deadly spell to stop her daughter’s attack. A wave of mist swept over Sabine, hardening her features to stone and freezing the incomplete spell on her lips.
Magic unlike anything Marina had ever seen before rose up around those standing in the courtyard. All around her, the features of the Queen’s guards and the few servants who had fled outside began to freeze and hardened. Even Queen Magika was not immune to the horrifying mist turning her people to stone.
Marina frantically swept her gaze across the sea of faces, searching for her brother. She needed to find him. Surely Isha could feel the danger to the Queen and would come to her assistance—unless, she thought with a growing panic, he was protecting the King.
“Mr. Bow, I need arrows,” Marina ordered, lifting the bow in her hand and drawing the bowstring.
“Isha!” the Queen cried, fighting to keep the black mist from enveloping her.
“He is lost to you, my Queen, just as everyone who resists me will be,” the Sea Witch informed her, slowly descending the steps.
“What magic is this?” Magicka demanded, her voice shaken as the circle around her grew smaller and smaller.
“It isn’t magic. It is something far more powerful, more deadly, more horrifying than anything magic could create,” Magna replied in a voice that barely carried on the wind.
Marina’s fingers trembled and she lowered the bow in her hand. Her eyes widened as pain and grief swept through her. Behind Magna, Marina saw a man appear. He walked with stiff, jerky movements. His face, shimmering with a film of ice in the light, was devoid of all emotion, as if his body was there but that was all. Behind the King, the perfectly carved stone statue of her brother Isha, his magical sword still firmly held in his hand, floated past the King on a wave of the black mist. Marina released a broken cry of denial.
The Queen’s anguished cry mixed with Marina’s. Rage pierced the bubble of horror that surrounded her and her jaw tightened in determination. Lifting her bow, she didn’t hesitate this time. She released the magical arrow. The fire burning through her veins increased when she saw the black bands swirling around Magna rise up to devour her arrow.
Marina’s eyes narrowed, and she hissed out in fury. Reaching over her shoulder, she pulled an arrow from her quiver. If the creature fed on magic, she would see how it liked non-magical elements. Nocking the arrow, she pulled the bowstring back and whispered to her bow.
“Let my aim be true, Mr. Bow,” she murmured.
Her fingers parted, releasing the string. The arrow flew through the air. The black bands reached greedily for the wooden shaft, but the arrow curved, dodging the tentacles that were trying to stop it. Magna turned at the last second, the tip of the arrow cutting
a thin, deep cut along the bicep of her left arm.
Queen Magika turned and saw her. “Marina, you have to warn the kingdom…,” Magika cried out seconds before the dark mist covered her and her body grew stiff.
“Stop her!” Magna snarled, grasping her injured arm with her other hand.
Marina lurched back several steps when the dark mass began to take shape. Massive creatures grew and solidified out of the bands. Their eyes glowed an eerie red while long, shiny, black fangs lengthened from their upper jaws. The black beasts had long snouts with a series of ridges that stopped between their eyes. Stiff spines rose from the top of their skulls and ran the length of their back down to their long, whip-like tails. Their four legs, each with massive paws and sharp claws dug into the soft grassy areas of the garden, which was littered with the petrified bodies of the palace’s soldiers, servants, and the Queen.
Marina stumbled back toward the entrance to the maze, drawing another arrow from her quiver. Her hands remained steady, even as she drew in an uneven breath. These were not creatures of any magic she had ever seen before. Her mind flashed back to what the Queen had said to Magna. ‘…it is not from this world. Think of the damage…' Lifting her chin, she pulled the bowstring back and breathed deeply when the beast closest to her snarled and took a step forward.
“Let’s see if you are real,” she said.
She whispered a spell. A dark blue film coated the tip of her arrow. Opening her fingers, she released the string as the beast leaped forward. Marina didn’t wait to see if the arrow did its work or not. She turned and fled back into the maze.
Chapter One
Yachats, Oregon
“Mike! You have company,” Patty called from the reception area.
Mike grimaced and wiped at the damp stain on his shirt where he’d spilled his coffee. It was going to be one of those days; he could feel it. It started out with his sister, Ruth, calling at an ungodly hour to inform him that she would be coming by for a visit. He could thank his birthday for that wonderful occasion.
“Just a minute,” Mike answered, dropping the file folder on his desk.
He placed the cup of coffee he had picked up at the café down the street on a folded paper towel that showed the evidence of his spillage from the days before. Hell, who was he kidding, the whole week had been one mishap after another. With a shake of his head, he grabbed a crumpled napkin from the bag of bagels he had added to his order at the last minute.
“I got you an Everything bagel,” Mike grunted, not looking up when he heard the footsteps stop outside the door.
“Thank you, but I’ve already eaten,” an unfamiliar voice replied.
“Oh, hey Mike, did you remember the cream cheese this time?” Patty asked, peering around the slender Asian man watching him with a slightly amused expression.
“Yeah, I got extra,” Mike replied, absently wiping at the wet spot on his dark blue dress shirt. “Can I help you?”
Mike ran his gaze over the man, quickly picking out and storing details: early 30s, approximately five feet ten inches, brown eyes, thin scar near his left eye. The creases pressed into his dress slacks, the polished black shoes, and the precision cut of his hair indicated he was military or former military. The man’s gaze was taking in everything about Mike and his office, and Mike figured that made him Military Intelligence.
“Yes,” came the short reply.
“I forgot your cappuccino, Patty. Why don’t you go get it. I’ll cover the phones,” Mike suggested, holding out the bag with the bagels in it.
“Are you sure?” Patty asked, briefly glancing at the man who had stepped aside to allow her to enter.
Mike’s lips twitched when Patty jerked her eyes as if trying to convey a secret message to him. “I’m sure,” he replied in a dry tone.
“Oh, okay. Well, I won’t be but a few minutes. If you need me, just call,” Patty said, clutching the bag to her chest and turning to look up at their guest. “The café is like, right next door. The walls are thin—really thin, as in tissue paper thin if you know what I mean.”
“Patty, go,” Mike ordered in exasperation.
“Geez, I’m going,” Patty muttered.
Mike remained standing until he heard the bell on the front door chime before he waved a hand to the seat across from him. He waited for the man to sit down before he took his seat. Gathering up the photographs that had spilled out of the file folder he dropped earlier, he tucked them back in and set it aside before sitting back in his chair.
“Now, what can I do for you Mr…,” Mike began.
“Tanaka—Agent Asahi Tanaka, CIA,” Asahi replied, reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulling out his identification.
Mike leaned forward and took the slim leather wallet. Opening it, he scanned the credentials inside before closing the wallet and handing it back. Asahi returned the wallet to his pocket.
“So, what brings the CIA to Yachats, Oregon?” Mike asked.
“The file you have on your desk, Detective Hallbrook,” Asahi replied.
Mike’s gaze immediately went to the creased, coffee-stained folder. He needed to replace it. He’d been carrying this one around so much that it was almost worn out. He pressed his lips together and looked up at the man sitting across from him.
“What does the disappearance of two women have to do with the CIA?” Mike asked, clasping his hands together and forming a steeple with his two index fingers. “I could understand the FBI, but the CIA? That is pushing it, unless you think that Carly Tate and Jenny Ackerly were spies working for a foreign government.”
Asahi’s gaze moved from Mike to the file and back again. His lips pursed together for a moment before he relaxed, and his expression became unreadable. Mike had no doubt that this man spent more time out in the field than pushing papers.
“I’m not at liberty to explain, but yes, there is an interest in their disappearance,” Asahi said with a slight bow of his head.
Mike leaned forward, resting his arms on his desk. A frown creased his brow as he thought about what the two women could have done to bring them to the attention of the CIA. Everything and everyone he talked to made him think that Carly and Jenny were just two ordinary U.S. citizens who happened to know each other and be in the same place when they disappeared.
“If you aren’t at liberty to tell me, then why are you here?” Mike sarcastically asked.
“You’ve been studying this case for a while,” Asahi said.
“Since I took over here,” Mike replied with a nod.
“Have you discovered anything… unusual about their disappearance?” Asahi inquired.
Mike didn’t miss the way Asahi’s eyes flickered to the file and back again. The man wanted to look at it. Mike could feel it in his bones. Curious, he placed his left hand on the file and pushed it toward the agent.
“Why don’t you tell me?” Mike suggested.
They locked gazes for a brief moment before Asahi reached out to the take the file. Mike held the file long enough for Asahi to know that the information wouldn’t come without a price. There was a brief flash of annoyance in Asahi’s eyes.
“The information is need-to-know only,” Asahi explained in a quiet voice.
Mike raised an eyebrow. “I need to know,” he responded with a wry smile.
“How long have you lived in Yachats, Detective Hallbrook?” Asahi asked, pulling the folder toward him and opening it when Mike released it and sat back in his chair again.
“A couple of years,” Mike replied. “Why?”
“Have you noticed anything unusual during the time you’ve lived here?” Asahi asked, slowly thumbing the notes and documents that Mike had collected.
“Define strange,” Mike said dryly. “We have our share of unusual individuals who live in the area, but no one I would classify as dangerous.”
“Dangerous is not necessarily what I am searching for,” Asahi replied, pausing on a handwritten document comparing Carly and Jenny’s disappearanc
e. “May I have a copy of this file?”
“What in the hell is going on, Agent Tanaka?” Mike demanded.
Asahi looked up at Mike. His gaze was deadly serious. Mike’s stomach clenched when the man hesitated and closed the file.
“Aliens,” Asahi said at the same time as the front door chimed.
“Mike, I’m back! Did we get any phone calls? Is that weir… Oh, he’s still here,” Patty said, stopping in the doorway.
Mike rose at the same time as Asahi. They gazed at each other for a moment. Mike wondered if he’d heard the man correctly while Asahi waited for Mike’s response to his request for copies.
“I was just leaving,” Asahi stated, holding out the file.
“Patty can make you a copy of the files and send them to you,” Mike said, lost in thought even as he reached for the file.
“Thank you. I will leave my information with her,” Asahi replied, stepping around the chair
Mike looked down at the file in his hand. He could feel his head starting to shake in disbelief. He looked up as Asahi started to step through the door.
“Tanaka…,” Mike called.
Asahi turned and looked back at Mike. He studied the other man’s closed expression.
“Yes.”
“Are you serious?” Mike asked.
“Completely. Have a good day, Detective Hallbrook. I’m sure we will meet again,” Asahi said before turning and leaving.
Mike stood by his desk, his gaze blindly fixed on the empty doorway. It wasn’t until he noticed Patty’s return that he shook his head and sank down in his chair again. He looked up when she stopped in front of the desk.
“Are you shitting me? CIA? What the hell is going on?” Patty breathed.