Veils of Storm

14. Magic's Hold

"I saw a mermaid last night."

Cage nearly dropped the apple he'd been biting into. "Really?" He'd been at sea for years and he'd never seen one, and here was Kat, merely two days in, announcing that she'd seen a mythical sea creature. "What was she like?"

She narrowed her eyes, and it got him laughing.

"That beautiful, huh?"

Kat pouted for a few more moments, then heaved a sigh. "I wouldn't call her necessarily beautiful, but yes, she did have this surreal thing going for her. And she's taken either way."

"As if I'd want anything to do with a-- Taken?"

She nodded, looking satisfied with her little diversion. It was strange how being catty made her cute. "She and Trix apparently have something going on."

"Huh." He'd found it odd too that Trix spent most of the day napping and apparently was up at night. Jazz had claimed he was keeping watch, but it was apparently a but more. "I have to admit I didn't see that one coming."

Kat bit her lower lip, deep in thought. The gesture set his chest on fire, because it always made him want to kiss her. And it wad fairly hard doing so little of that.

"Have you found out what Trix's curse does?" she asked.

"Magic," he corrected her automatically.

She frowned at him and he got a knot in his chest. For him, it had been easy to understand where their new companions were coming from. Positive reinforcement worked, and it was better to see it as chance or a gift than a constant pain in the ass. After being the beast for so long, it was refreshing to be able to be around people. For Kat, however, there was no reason for that feeling of relief since she was just being shoved into more magic without her having any herself that manifested.

Kat scoffed, but it was fortunately discreet enough. "Fine. His magic."

"Kat..."

"What? Are you going to lecture me on being rude, too?" she mumbled.

"Who else lectured you?"

"Jinx. I can get this from them, but you? You know exactly how devious and cruel magic is. You nearly killed yourself over it."

Correction, he'd fully killed himself, and if Cecile hadn't felt guilty, he'd be dead right now. "I know, but that was my horrid experience. Not all magic is evil. I mean I know that I could heal people if I figured out how that works. Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

She hesitated for a moment. "I guess." Her eyes focused on the waves hitting the hull of the ship as she twisted the heel of her boot on the deck. "And what Jinx said... She can make her skin burn just to punish anyone who touches her without her consent. That actually... I mean I can definitely see the use there."

Huh, interesting. "You're thinking how you could've burned Donnie, aren't you?"

The corners of her lips finally lifted in a smile. "You know me well."

"That's what I mean, Kit-Kat. We can make it work."

"Well, maybe you can make it work. I don't have any magic whatsoever."

Which was slightly problematic because she obviously did, but why didn't it manifest? "What if you do, but it's just the kind that you can use at will without it being an outright blessing or a curse?"

She pondered on this, some of the tension in her shoulders disappearing. He liked to see her like this, full of hope and optimism. Of course, it wasn't easy, but everything could've been much worse. He'd noticed that she wasn't seasick and that her posture and movement had improved. He hadn't mentioned it yet because he didn't want her to become self-conscious. Then there was the fact that seeing her so adaptable and strong was insanely attractive.