Page 92 of Suffer No Fools
Tovey hated not knowing what would happen next, but they were running out of options and energy. If they failed, it was only a matter of time before their healers were overwhelmed with bites. Little Jasmine's injury had sapped both Vadim andYvette. Tovey didn't want to know what would happen if the creatures stormed the beach, biting everyone they could grab.
Chapter 14
Hugo
They needed to end their fight with the undead before someone got hurt. They'd been battling for hours. While many of the island's inhabitants were weavers, few could last longer than Jasmine with a single element. Hugo recognized the greatest benefit to his bond with Stan and Tovey. They had more stamina than the others. Efren and Niall, Nola and Yvette, and Vadim and Klaus had all put in valiant efforts no other weavers on the island could match, thanks to their bonds.
Through Stan, Hugo sensed the group of weavers gathered around the tree, the island's backup plan if they failed to secure the beach. Their homes were closer. Failure wasn't an option. They couldn't let these creatures walk through their homes, defiling the sanctity of their dwellings as surely as the kidnappers had. Hugo wouldn't let them.
He waited for the undead to darken the beach a dozen deep before he froze the shoreline and stretched the ice outward the way he'd learned from Frost. The only difference was, he froze the water from sea level to the bottom, one inch at a time. He sensed when he'd trapped each undead creature. Unlike with earth, ice stopped their progress. They didn't die, but they stayed frozen.
Smaller sharks had gotten through the barrier. Hugo shoved them back, building his wall of ice around the undeadbut letting the living creatures go. He didn't want to get too close to the coral shoal, even though Stan reassured him through their bond that Renald could build it back stronger. Hugo hesitated until all the undead creatures Stan could sense had passed through the barrier. Then, he froze the water up to the shoal, capturing all the remaining undead.
Still, he wondered where Frost was. Their reinforcements hadn't arrived.
"What a mess," Hannah said. They stepped up beside Tovey and gazed out over the frozen landscape.
"Not for long." Hugo reared back with a ripple of earth, ready to smash both ice and the undead bodies with it.
Hannah stopped him with a shake of their head. "Earth would only break the ice and set them free," they said. "I combine water with lightning as a stormcaller, but lightning is most effective with ice. It's why I asked for Frost and Elsie, but they're still not here."
The air crackled around them as Hannah raised their arms toward the frozen lake Hugo had made of their beach. Forks of lightning shot from the sky, piercing the ice and frying the undead creatures one by one. In a matter of moments, it was finished, and the alarm ceased behind them. They had destroyed all the undead.
Hugo released his hold over the remaining ice and brought the ocean back to its usual seasonal warmth with a fire weave. Vadim and Yvette did their best to heal the damage to the coral shoal before Stan and Tovey moved it back where it belonged. Then, Efren and Nola released their hold on the tide, allowing it to come in and lap against the sides of the ships once more.
Hugo kissed Stan's cheek, and then Tovey's, as he dropped their hands. He left them in charge of cleaning up the beach and either burning or burying the now lifeless bodies.
He was glad he'd stayed where he was, staring out at the calm ocean when Hannah collapsed to the ground. He used air to cushion them in an upright position as he sat beside them.
Petri ran across the beach with more water and the wafers they crumbled into the children's afternoon snack drinks. Petri helped Hannah take small sips of water until some color returned to their cheeks.
"Thank you." They sighed. "I'm sorry. I thought they would come."
"You'll be all right," Petri said, but glanced worriedly over their shoulder at Vadim. "Won't you?"
Hugo motioned for Vadim, but not for healing. "Can you use Klaus's seeking power?" he asked.
"Aye."
"Does Hannah's aura seem ... off ... to you?" That's how Klaus had described Hugo's aura when he couldn't access his power.
Vadim grinned. "Depleted, aye, but not burned out." To them, he said, "You truly are the most talented weaver I know. That's the third time I've seen you almost kill yourself."
"You forget." They grinned up at him. "I watched you knock yourself into a coma. At least I'm still standing. Well. Sitting."
Vadim nodded. "I probably couldn't do it again."
"You're balanced now." Hannah shrugged. "Better control."
"Aye." He grimaced. "I wish they would have sent live enemies along with these. We discovered that draining people can fuel my healing weaves."
"That's not even fair!" Hannah grabbed the glass from Petri and finished it in one go.
"Speaking of healing, how is Jasmine?" Hugo asked.
Vadim glanced over his shoulder, toward the foliage hiding the sentinel oak from their sight. "I should go to her, unless you expect more undead?"
Through their bond, Hugo asked Stan for confirmation, and Stan walked over to them.
