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“Oi! Don’t even try te use yer beasty business on me, lass!” the guy shouted, snatching up the knife and waving it awkwardly in front of him. “I’ve put them Cosmic Cuffs on ye. Ye can’t use yer witchy powers while ye’ve got them on, so you can pack it in tryin’ te trick me!”

My mouth curved into a sneer. “They’re Atomic Cuffs, you moron. This monster is coming, and nothing is going to stop it. Not you, and not these Cuffs.” I didn’t sound like me at all. I sounded like Leviathan. I swallowed this realization, along with the imminent Purge, with all the ease and comfort of dislodging a fishbone. But it would come creeping up again in a minute or two. It always did.

“Aye, sure. And ye’ll be wantin’ me te just let you walk off next, happy as ye like.” His eyes turned wary, and his eyebrows knitted together as though he almost believed me. “I were warned about yer sneaky ways, so don’t think ye’ll get one over on me. Ye won’t.”

“It’s your funeral,” I hissed back, my head throbbing.

He lowered the knife, taking a step back. “I just want the truth, Persephone.” His tone softened, taking me by surprise. That, and his use of my full name. “It’s hurtin’ so many folks, and I don’t know what te do. I’m a walking virus and I don’t have the antidote. Ye’ve got no idea what this thing can make me do, and… I don’t want te inflict pain or fear or misery on anyone.” He gave a gruff laugh. “I realize that’s goin’ te be hard for ye te believe, after what I’ve done te ye, but it’s true. I’m just… desperate. Do ye have any idea what it’s like te see the people ye care about suffer, all because of somethin’ ye’ve got no control over?”

My shoulders shook with bitter hysterics. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’ve got no control over these… Purges.” I dry heaved as the symptoms returned with a fury, my throat instinctively fighting to swallow the mist. “And this one is going to take you out if you don’t… let me go right now! So, yes, I know what it’s like to have… something inside you that you can’t… control. That hurts people.”

I focused on breathing techniques, determined not to Purge while I had these Cuffs on my wrists. What if I Purged something dangerous and I was still tied up, helpless? And if it got into the nearby village…

“Well… this is all yer fault anyway, so don’t try and get me te sympathize with ye.” He turned his face away and returned to playing with his lighter. “Ye were here all of a few days before things started gettin’ all sorts of mad. I were watchin’ from yer third day or so. Anyway, the timin’ ain’t important. I saw what ye got up te in that church, diggin’ up bones and the like. I saw them glowies an’ all.” I lurched forward, feeling as if my entire chest was about to explode. “Ye caused a whole storm, and I’ll bet that’s what set off this monster thing in me. Me da thinks I must’ve had the curse for years, without any of us knowin’, but what ye did got its knickers in a twist and puffed me into that misty beast. Ye’ve turned me into the thing I hate most—somethin’ magical.” Frantic, I sucked in breath after breath, praying it would make a difference. All the while, he monologued obliviously. “And now it’s infectin’ others, doin’ the same te them.” He paused, his eyes flaring a fiery red. “I’m pourin’ me bloody heart out here, and yer not even listenin’!”

I scowled up at him. “I’m sure you’ve been rehearsing that sob story for ages, but I’m trying to… stop whatever’s coming from ripping your throat out. Not that you deserve… my intervention.” Truthfully, I had been trying to listen, but the tug of the Purge was impossible to ignore and I knew I didn’t have long to suppress it.

“Nah, ye’ll not fob me off like that. I know them… ‘Atomic’ Cuffs work.” He continued with his speech as though both our lives weren’t in imminent danger. “This curse has te be the Institute’s work, and that’s where ye’ve come from. There have always been rumors of witches hurtin’ and experimentin’ on humans.”

I snorted. “Oh, please, that’s a load of bull. You’re just trying to validate… your own narrative, that we’re the… bad guys and you’re the good guys. If you’d try to think on your own instead of following some shallow doctrine, you wouldn’t… be minutes away from getting devoured. All you’d have had to do is ask for… my help, and I might’ve… considered it.” I wheezed through every sentence, still battling my internal conflict. I still had no idea what it was he thought he knew. There was no way the Institute was conducting human experiments. Nathan would’ve found out, and he definitely wouldn’t have let something like that fly. Whoever these Veritas people were, they’d brainwashed their followers good and well.

“Shallow doctrine? That’s rich, comin’ from a witch. The whole lot of ye keep yerselves secret from the rest of the world, and ye mess with us when we get too close te the truth. Ye think we’re lesser—that we don’t deserve te know what’s right under our noses.” His eyes flared bright as a smoky red mist began to ooze off him like a visible stench, rolling over his body like scarlet dry ice. As the crimson tendrils crept toward me, I felt that unusual heat again. And, with it, a bad vibe that hit me like a punch to the gut.

Then the fuse of my Purge caught. My spine creaked and hunched as though it was going to break through the skin, my ribs straining under the pressure, my entire torso convulsing forward as black mist cascaded out of my mouth. Something huge was on its way.

My abductor staggered back in alarm as the dark smoke began to solidify into hulking scaly legs of golden-green, up to a long, reptilian body with a lashing tail. Dagger-like spikes protruded from the end like a mace, giving way to sharp spinal blades that ran the length of the monster. Bulging muscles tensed under shining scales, and mountainous shoulders provided the base for a thick neck that led to a snub, wolfish face. There, instead of scales, it had leafy green fur cut with tufts of pure black hair, which stuck up between its pointed ears and carried on down to its shoulder blades. Dripping fangs, a lipless mouth, and talons that put raptors to shame completed the picture.

A Grendel.

I had read about them, but I’d never seen one in my dreams. It was the beast that had tried to take down the fabled warrior, Beowulf. Could it be that this was the first Grendel since then? I didn’t know.

With a deafening bellow, my Grendel rose up onto his back legs, towering at twice the height of my abductor. If this beast got out into the open… Chaos, I didn’t even want to think about it.

As I saw it, I had three options: run, capture the creature, or try and get him to listen to me. I might not have known much about this particular beast, but I knew enough about my Purges to believe I had some sway over it. The first minute of his existence was crucial if I wanted to influence it. Plus, capturing was out, as I had no idea where my abductor had put the puzzle box that I always carried. And running… well, I’d have to get through my kidnapper, and possibly my purged monster, first.

“Grendel?” I wheezed, working hard for every breath. “Can you… help me? I need you to take me back… home. Can you… do that?”

It lumbered around to face me, vivid green eyes giving me a confused look. Slowly, he dipped his upper half in an ungainly bow. A gesture of respect for his creator. These were the valuable seconds, where I could turn a potential catastrophe into a near miss.

“Please, Grendel. Take me… home.”

He lifted his head and growled softly. He hadn’t understood. He sensed I wanted something from him, but he didn’t know what. Suddenly, he lunged for me. I yelped, thinking I was a goner. Those jaws would crunch me in one gulp. But he stopped just short of my face and gave me a gentle nudge with his flat nose, puffing air onto my hot cheeks. I didn’t know what that meant, but it felt as though he was trying to communicate something. That I was safe, maybe? I wasn’t sure, and my mind was too rattled to think about it more deeply.

After one more gentle nudge, the Grendel turned and gunned straight for my abductor, perhaps misinterpreting my cry for help. Instinctively, I reached out to try and grab his tail, realizing as I did so that my hands were free. The Atomic Cuffs lay in cracked pieces on the slimy ground.

My Purge had snapped them like twigs.I stared in disbelief, only for the sound of a fight to snap me out of my trance. My abductor had transformed into a seething mass of red and black mist, with two burning eyes that lit up the bleak fishery. He launched himself at the Grendel, sending sparks of red light flying as they collided. But my Grendel had no intention of going easy on him. The beast swiped a sharp claw at the Fear Dearg, prompting the Dearg to leap back, creating space in the room and an opening for me to make an exit.

This was my shot. And, since I had no phone, I needed to get out of here and back to the Institute, ASAP. I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle the Grendel alone. This called for lots of hunters—the more, the better. I just had to hope the Grendel and the Fear Dearg fought long enough for the cavalry to arrive before the monster got loose on the island. Dragging myself to my feet, I staggered for the exit and broke into the cool night.

I’m sorry, Grendel… Apologizing to my Purges was a habit I’d developed in the last six months. They would bow to me, show me respect for creating them, but I owed them an apology because I knew what their fate would be. What I’d created them for: existence in a box. It hurt like a perpetual ache in my chest, but I couldn’t change the way things were. Nights like this reminded me of why. If that Grendel was left to roam free, there would be nobody left on this island by the time he was finished. That was the nature of the monster, and he couldn’t change that any more than I could change what would happen to him. All I could do was say sorry and hope that, one day, he might forgive me.