Page 63 of Take No Prisoners
"How do you know?"
"Klaus is blaming himself for the failure." Vadim snorted. "Your grandmother did something foolhardy, is more like. Age didn't repress her tendency to run toward danger. She retired from the navy before Hesse's death. I think she's been craving the high seas since then, though she's been careful since Coryn began setting these traps."
"She tripped one on Equis Island," Niall surmised.
"That would be my guess. To extricate her, we'll need to get you up to speed."
"Me?" Niall squeaked.
"You'd be the best candidate," Vadim said. "It's difficult to get eight separate mages to work together, and I'd bet anything Martiz will refuse to work with me." He sighed. "Four balanced mages would be easier, but we don't have anyone with fire and ice on the island."
Niall had never considered the implications of being a spectral weaver before. He had all eight powers, like his grandmother. That made him the ideal candidate to free her.
Niall hoped he and Vadim had guessed wrong, though. He needed his grandmother to be all right.
Chapter 15
Efren
Efren had barely moored the ship and lowered the gangplank before the elders boarded. They found Beatrice tied to the main mast, her head held high, the cords in her neck straining as she fought the magic warring within her.
"How did this happen?" Martiz looked far too smug. Efren wanted to punch him in the throat.
"We got too close to the island," Klaus said. He still looked miserable, even after Efren had Klaus repeat back to him, "This isn't my fault."
"Captain?" Martiz turned to him.
"Not his fault," Klaus said.
"That makes two of us," Efren muttered to remind him.
"The trap had spread since we were last there," Klaus continued. "Captain Efren had no way of knowing. Elder Beatrice was already overboard when I recognized my mistake."
"I can hear her," Niall said as he and Vadim came aboard.
Vadim nodded. "Death magic."
"She's dying?" Efren took a step toward her with the intent to untie her, but Vadim stopped him.
"She's not," he said. "She's fighting it."
Niall walked around his grandmother, studying the ropes tying her to the mast. "That won't hold her for long. She says there's a room where she can be safe from Coryn on Horseshoe Island."
"There is a holding cell in the tree," Jermain confirmed. He and the others had held back while Martiz checked Beatrice's vitals. "We can keep guards on her at all hours."
"She'll be comfortable." Efren patted Niall's shoulder. "As comfortable as she can be, anyway. We'll tie her to the bed."
"She says the trap is still spreading." Niall pushed his hair back from his face and massaged his forehead. "It's using her power to find us. The longer it takes to break it, the closer Coryn will come, even after Grandmother is safe on Horseshoe Island."
"She's stable, for now," Martiz said.
Vadim had been staring at Klaus since he'd boarded the ship, but his attention snapped to Martiz. "We've trained for this. I'm willing to work with the elders to—"
"No," Martiz said. "Niall will do it alone."
"He can't get a feel for your weaves, and he hasn't practiced fire and ice yet." Vadim's knowledge of Niall's progress made Efren bristle, though he was grateful someone was sticking up for Niall in his grandmother's relative absence. "How do you expect him to break a spectral trap?"
"How can we trust you?" Martiz turned on Vadim, crowding into his space, his fist an inch from Vadim's chin.
