As the boat slowly righted, she moved her hand up to the latch and flicked the lock on the glass door. She gave a tug, and nearly whooped when it opened.
Now that the door was open, she could see why the room had been so dim—not only was rain coming down in sheets, there was also snow, hail, and crashing waves. But the odd thing was that it looked clear and calm a few miles away.
She heard a voice and glanced over her shoulder to see the man who’d carried her earlier standing in the doorway, gesturing with his hands to come inside. No way in hell. The odd weather, combined with the calm waters in the distance, all pointed to one thing—Marco was using his Elemental Master skills.
She could be wrong, but as the ship rocked far enough that she could jump from the balcony and possibly hit the sea, she made the split-second decision to slide the life ring down around her middle, wrap the strap of the emergency kit around her wrist, and with one last deep breath, jumped over the railing.
Marco watched as the small cruise ship continued to rock and pitch. He was careful to keep the boat from tipping over, but the more extreme he made the situation, the more the crew on board the other ship would start to panic. And he was counting on their panic for his rescue mission to work.
Santos stood next to him, peering through the high-powered binoculars. He heard her whistle, so he asked, “What is it?”
“Your lady friend just jumped off one of the mid-level balconies.”
It took everything he had not to drop his hands and grab the binoculars. “Did she hit the deck or the sea?”
“She jumped when you had the boat tilted.”
“And?”
“She hit the sea.”
A sense of relief washed over him, although, Cam wasn’t safe yet. “Did you see her surface?”
“These binoculars are good, but not that good. You’re going to have to ease back on your magic, Alvarez, or you might kill her.”
Damn it, Santos was right. But the trick was how to confuse and contain the threat on board the Collector’s ship long enough to find Cam.
The trick he’d shown her back in the park gave him an idea. He never would’ve attempted it if he’d been in plain view of humans. But he had a feeling that even if there were humans on board the Collector’s ship, no doubt she’d take care of them rather than expose the Feiru world.
Marco stopped the rain and snow falling from the sky at the same time he stopped moving the water around the boat. He now had enough concentration to start moving elemental water particles around the top section of the boat.
As he started to create a shield, he willed the water to freeze. There was a slight delay, but within a few seconds, the water turned solid and an ice dome started to take shape. Even if the crew were brave enough to jump ship, it was now too late. No one, save a Talent or another Elemental Master, would be able to break through his ice barrier.
Keeping the ice in place was much easier than creating it, so once the ice finally met at the top of the oval shaped-dome, he turned his head toward Santos. “That should keep them occupied. Tell Jimenez to start searching the water for Cam.”
Santos looked to the small cruise ship, now covered by a two hundred foot high ice containment dome, and then to Marco. “Where the hell did you learn to do that?”
He’d deal with the repercussions of showing his Elemental Master training later. “Contact Jimenez. Now.”
His steely tone worked, and Santos picked up her long-range walkie-talkie and said, “Cam’s in the water. She jumped off one of the balconies on the east side. Find her and bring her in.”
“Roger.”
Now, all Marco could do was wait.
After what seemed like an eternity, he finally saw Jimenez’s small boat heading toward them. It took everything he had not to lower his hands, dive into the water, and swim over to find out what had happened to Cam. Apart from Jimenez, he couldn’t see anyone standing or sitting upright.
That worried him.
No, he wouldn’t think like that. Instead, he checked the ship in the distance. But his dome was still in place. It was going to be tricky to remove the dome and cover their getaway, but he would do whatever it took to get Cam to safety.
Jimenez finally pulled alongside their boat and cut the motor. Santos rushed to the side and said, “Fuck, is she okay?”
Marco’s heart clenched. “What’s wrong with her?”
Jimenez answered. “She’s cold to the touch and unconscious, but her heartbeat is strong. If we can just warm her up, she should be fine.”
He clenched the hand at his side. “Jimenez, get her on the boat and wrap her in the emergency blanket. Santos, once they’re aboard, start our getaway. When we’re in the safety zone, I’ll finish warming up Camilla.”