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Shay hurried out onto the dock and got into one of the boats. She only had minutes left before those three bitches would tattle to Athene—minutes before her life would end.

She started the boat and steered it out into the choppy waves.

The ocean was trying to drown her.

The wind was icy and relentless. It cut through the water in slicing gusts, causing white-capped waves to rock against the boat.

Shay had nearly forgotten just how dangerous the ocean really was. Being a Selkie had spoiled her. The undersea held plenty of dangers of its own, but during a storm it was far safer under the waves than it was above them.

With the winds and waves hindering her, it took far longer than usual to spot the shores of Yveswich. When she finally glimpsed the twinkle of city lights, it was nearly suppertime.

Night was descending. She had to get to shore and call a cab to take her to her apartment—and she had to do it quickly.

The docks were growing closer when something slammed into the boat, the force of the blow nearly pitching her into the waves.

She planted her feet and gripped the rain-damp wheel with numb, slippery fingers. Peered through the rain sluicing the darkness.

The ridged back of a water serpent arched up out of the ocean.

“Oh shit,” Shay hissed. She stepped on it, slamming her foot down on the pedal. “Shit, shit, shit.”

The serpent followed her, its scarred, scaled body diving up and down, up and down. Every few feet, it veered to the right and slammed into the boat. And every few feet, Shay was nearly launched overboard.

She gripped the wheel as tightly as she could and pushed the boat at maximum speed. “Come on, baby. Come on, baby.”

The docks drew closer. She was almost there.

The water serpent suddenly dove under the surface, its long tail lashing and spraying water through the air. That tail soon disappeared, too.

Shay didn’t slow, but her gaze flicked about the murky water surrounding the boat, searching for dark shapes or the telling gleam of scales.

She was about to use her Sight when the serpent rose up again, winding its body around the front of the boat this time. The engine groaned in defiance, the propellers sputtering and splashing as the serpent stunted her speed with its long, powerful body.

“Gods.” Shay looked up, squinting through the rain slicing from the heavens. Willed her magic to wake up again and incinerate this foul thing.

It did not answer.

The vessel groaned and shuddered under her feet. The serpent tightened its grasp, squeezing the boat in a crushing death grip—

The boat took a nosedive.

Shay steadied herself with a gasp, gripping the steering wheel for dear life. Her upper half banged into the wheel, and her feet slipped.

She couldn’t kill it. Only something like a frost-tipped harpoon could take down a serpent this size.

With dizzying speed, the boat spun around—pointing south now.

The serpent slammed into her again. And again.

Fucked. She was fucked.

66

Roman’s House

YVESWICH, STATE OF KER

Loren had spent the rest of the afternoon flitting between the different amenities in Roman’s house, constantly under the protective eye of Darien, Ivy, or Joyce.