The stench of rotting flowers burst into the tunnel, as sickly sweet and choking as it had been the night on the ocean liner. He heard Zhang retch and Jade choke as his own stomach promptly revolted with so much force his hand slipped on the rocks.

He still might have caught himself, except a slash of unfamiliar pain suddenly cut across his chest.

He gasped. His arm seized up and he was tumbling forward, toward the opening and the waterfall, as the much more familiar sensation, the sizzle of Rory’s magic, erupted against his skin.

A hand closed on Arthur’s arm. “The box!” Zhang called, as he yanked Arthur back, away from the edge.

There was a hiss of pain from Jade as she slammed the lid of the pomander’s box shut. A moment later, the smell was gone, disappeared into the mist of the unending water.

Arthur was breathing hard. He rubbed his chest, but the strange pain had vanished, almost as if it had been driven away by the static electricity of Rory’s magic.

What the hell had that been?

Jade had scrambled forward, taking Arthur’s hand in her own and helping to pull him deeper into the tunnel. “Thank you,” Arthur managed to say to them both.

Zhang squeezed his arm and let go. “Any time.”

They moved back from the tunnel’s mouth, close enough to the guardrail to get out of the worst of the splashing. “How did that compare to the last time you were around the pomander?” Zhang asked, settling next to Jade. “Did the scent seem any less?”

“It nearly sent you tumbling to your death,” Jade said, looking like she’d had a scare. “So my guess is no.”

“Unfortunately not.” Arthur sat back against the wall of the tunnel, breathing in the welcome clean scent of the water misting his face. His heart was still racing and his skin was prickling, but the sensation was muted, like a lightning storm under a blanket. “I can feel Rory’s magic.”

Zhang’s eyebrows flew up. “Is that normal?”

“I wouldn’t say normal, exactly, but I do feel it sometimes,” Arthur said. “Except the times I have, it’s always been far stronger than this.” He ran his hands over his own arms, the lightning bolts more of an echo than their usual miniature storm. “The waterfall is working.”

“But it’s not strong enough to fully suppress Rory’s relic-enhanced, insubordinate magic.” Jade sighed. “And not enough to suppress the pomander.” She gave Arthur a look of concern. “It hit you hard.”

“I suppose vomit behind Niagara Falls has never been on my to-do list,” Arthur admitted.

“It’s hardly your fault,” said Jade.

Zhang looked deep in thought. “You’re very far away from Rory right now,” he said, and really, Arthur was quite aware of that already. “I’m just guessing here, but the waterfall could have initially buried Rory’s magic.”