Battle With Fire (Demon Days & Vampire Nights)

One

“Penny, Penny, Penny, Penny!”

“Saying my name over and over is not going to help me steer this boat!” Penny shouted at me. She squinted through the glass of the captain’s area…or cockpit or whatever it was called. Penny’s boat jargon fell on deaf ears. One of her hands clutched the steering wheel and the other gripped the red knob marking the throttle.

My butt slammed against the fiberglass surface at the front—bow?—of the convertible fishing boat. The rough sandpaper stuff, intended for grip when standing to fish in still waters, rubbed against my leather-clad butt before I went airborne again. Jaw tight, I gripped the calf-high metal railing, not nearly high enough to keep me from whipping overboard and into the turgid waters of the gulf. Then again, I was pretty sure no one was supposed to sit up at the front while the boat was jamming through the waves.

“It’s over there—right, Penny, right!”

“Starboard side,” she yelled as a spray of water splashed the glass windshield.

I blinked salt water out of my eyes before throwing up an air shield. Only it turned out water marred visibility on air just like it did with glass. I mean…I should’ve known, but who stopped to think about things like that when chasing a grotesque water sprite through rough waters?

“Starboard!” I watched as the jengu’s wooly-haired head disappeared beneath the sparkling surface, the afternoon sun reflecting rays bright enough to blind me. “Go starboard!”

The engine roared and the boat swung right. My butt slammed into the fiberglass again as we took another wave. A slap of spray hit my air shield.

Water sprites were known for curing diseases and helping sick kids reach adulthood. Or so I’d heard. I didn’t know if there was any truth to it—I only knew that the one we were after was a bit of a dick. He was supposedly haunting these waters with the intent to kill the merpeople during their mating ritual.

Yes, I did offer my services to the Magical Law Enforcement office so that I could spy on merpeople and figure out how they mated. Absolutely I did. I’d been wondering all this time, and this was my chance to hopefully answer that burning question. Bringing in the water sprite and finally claiming the crown of best agent over Garret, my dickface former colleague, would be pure bonus.

“You’re going to lose him!” I yelled at Penny, the words ripped from my mouth by the lashing wind.

The being crested the waters straight ahead, thirty yards out.

I see it, Penny thought, adjusting our direction.

Who would’ve thought she could handle a fishing boat like this? I would’ve asked how she’d learned, but I was afraid she’d answer, and I’d be treated to a boring story of family bliss.

I chanced a look to the side and then behind. Garret and the captain trailed us by some distance, a lot more cautious than Penny on these rolling waters. Then again, they hadn’t stolen money from their rich boyfriend and rented the fastest fishing boat they could find. Neither had Penny, of course, but she was always easy to lure into trouble. Two more boats came along behind them. We were safely in the lead and closing in fast on the water sprite.

“Okay, Penny, nice and easy.” I peered out through the transparent spell Penny had devised, muffling our sound and rendering us mostly invisible. We could sneak up on this SOB even in the water. It was good to be friends with a natural mage.

The boat plowed through the waves, full steam ahead. Clearly she hadn’t heard me.

“Penny!” I turned back so that she could see I was talking to her. “Nice and—”

The boat’s engine cut dramatically, and with it our forward trajectory.

“Holy—!” My ass slid across the rough sandpaper stuff. Leather on slick fiberglass squeaked as I sailed across the wet surface and to the point at the front. More sandpaper stuff tried to grab me, but I was going too fast. “Shit birds!”

My body hit the railing, rolled over, and I was falling.

The boat swung right, away from me, Penny seeing what was happening. My body crashed down into the water before I could think to hover. Dripping wet but in the air a moment later, I watched as Penny goosed the power until the prop at the back was a safe enough distance away.

Thank God for those family fishing trips or whatever had made her a fishing boat master.

The boat slowed once more, and she was hurrying out of the captain’s area and edging closer to our quarry. I could feel the spell she was devising even from here. She was in go mode and obviously didn’t plan to come back for me.

I’d saved her ass from the elves and a prison in the Underworld, and she was leaving me behind on a jengu fishing trip? The nerve of that woman.