Southern Secrets: Book 2 in Southern Charms Series

Chapter Sixteen: Two Against One

Ash

"So this is how the fish feel," Willow said, walking to the glass wall in front of her and placing her hand against it.

Ash said nothing, still in awe over the cavernous glass bubble he and Willow found themselves in after emerging from the cave the portal dumped them in. The fact Rose wasn't in the cave when they arrived meant she'd been able to find a way out, though he almost would have preferred to have found her sitting in a corner, fuming at being stuck. She had a lot of explaining to do, but now she could be anywhere in this... He paused. City? Country? Place?

Willow screamed and leaped back. Her feet tangled together, sending her to the ground in a heap. Ash rushed forward, a spell on his lips, but he forgot the words when he saw what frightened his cousin. Swimming in front of them was something from a fairytale- if fairytales were written as horror stories instead. A siren.

The merperson glared at them through the glass, her luminous eyes murky behind a protective film. Spikes the same silver as her serpentine tail protruded from muscular forearms, and scales spread down her necks, across her breasts, and stomach forming a solid plate over all her soft vulnerable places. When she caught Ash staring, she bared a set of wickedly pointed teeth at him, her hiss vibrating the glass separating her from them. Then, in a single fluid twist, she turned and darted away.

"What the actual-" Willow shouted, refusing Ash's offer of assistance as she stood.

"You can cast a spell to look like anyone you want, and I have it on good authority that a gnome lives in your root cellar," Ash said, trying to sound more confident than he felt, "And you're shocked to find out mermaids exist? Not to mention, we're in the mythical city of Atlantis."

"I just thought they'd be prettier," Willow said sheepishly.

"Who are you?"

With adrenaline pumping through them, they were both a little more prepared this time. Magic sparking at their command, they faced the young, black girl standing in the doorway with raised hands. Like the siren, this girl was covered in scales, but she wore a flowing see-through robe and lacked the tail.

"We just want answers," Ash said, not wanting to start a fight if these people were peaceful. "We're looking for-"

The Atlantean snarled and rushed forward, her violet magic coiling around fists before lashing out like a whip, striking Ash in the arm. The strike burned, her magic spreading over his skin like acid.

"Oh, hell no," Willow said as Ash dropped to one knee, cradling the injury.

All visible traces of Willow's magic disappeared, her Gift of glamour coming in handy. Using glamour that way during a fight wasn't considered good sportsmanship, but right now, Ash didn't give a damn about fairness. If this girl met Rose with the same force, Rose could be seriously injured- or worse.

It was the last thought that drove him back into a fighting stance, despite the agony growing in his arm and inching into the left side of his body. Taking a note from his cousin, he glamoured his own magic and was rewarded with the scaled girl's expression morphing from confusion to concern as she grasped what they were doing.

Hand above her head, the girl rolled and struck out again, this time her magic splitting from a single strand to multiple, but both Ash and Willow shielded in time. Ash added a little extra twist to his spell, something he learned at school that returned the attacker's spell. The girl wasn't prepared, but only one strand struck a small portion of her exposed skin. The rest bounced off the scaled armor around her body.

"You cannot hide behind shields forever," the girl said, the only sign of her pain, the tightness around her eyes.

It was true. Few witches could shield and attack at the same time, and Willow and Ash hadn't trained to work in tandem together- one shielding while the other cast. He opened his mouth to encourage her to work with them when he sensed Willow dropping her shield. Hoping his face didn't give away her move, he drew attention to himself by letting his magic become visible again, the golden sparks growing to a blinding brilliance in the dim room.