Page 82 of Outcast Fae

“Tally!” Daniella exclaimed, hovering over me. “I thought you were a goner.”

“Me… too.” Weakly, I offered her a smile so she’d know I was okay.

I turned to help Vaughn, but he had stayed in the water and was trying to push us to shore by kicking madly with his feet.

“Row. We need to row,” I croaked.

There were two oars remaining. Sinasre and Elon grabbed them and started rowing, but it was clear Sinasre was hurt. He kept clutching his ribcage. The beast must have damaged something when it smacked him into the water.

This was not good. The shore was still too far away.

As I glanced toward the beach, I noticed the other boat swiftly paddling in that direction. Gina, Henry, and Patricia had the flag and were rowing as fast as they could. That group was going to win while we were struggling to stay alive.

Those selfish, awful—

The water parted in front of us as the serpent rose up and went in for the kill.

Its spiked head hit the side of the canoe like a bomb.

The boat lurched under our feet, bucking us like a wild animal. I flew up, smashing into Sinasre, and then we both were in the water.

Once again, the sea tried to claim me. This time I had even less fight than before.

Sinasre yanked me up and dragged me to a piece of boat debris. Vaughn was helping Daniella, trying to pull her toward me.

“I can’t swim,” she cried, holding onto him.

“It’s okay,” he said, though his eyes were filled with panic. “I’ll get us to shore.”

But the serpent was back, not waiting for us to drown this time. It cut in our direction and slammed into us, sending us back into the water. I went under but managed to keep my hold on the wooden board that brought me back up.

“Vaughn! Sinasre!” I called.

Vaughn held Daniella and was swimming on his back toward me.

Oh, gods! Where was Sinasre? I couldn’t see him anywhere.

Vaughn reached me and grabbed me with his right arm while he held on to Daniella with his left. He kicked his legs, gritting his teeth, attempting to swim all three of us to shore.

Yet, even he wasn’t that strong. We began to sink as he tired. He fought with all his strength, but our heads kept plunging under before he could drag us back out again. His breathing became labored and his kicks less frequent. I tried to help as best I could but my weak efforts did little.

“It’s not working,” Daniella said.

“Hang… on.” Vaughn gave a burst of kicks, but soon, tired out again.

“We’re all going to drown,” Daniella replied. There was something in her voice, something resigned.

“We’ll make it,” I sputtered, trying to kick harder to help us stay afloat.

She shook her head. “He can’t take us both.”

“I… can,” Vaughn said, continuing the fight. But Daniella was right. He was giving all he had and we were no closer to shore.

“Tally,” Daniella sputtered, spitting water, her dark hair matted to her head, her glasses gone, and her face pale and etched with pain, “give them hell. Make them pay for this.”

“Daniella, what are you talking about?” I tried to reach for her, but her hands slipped away.

Then, she pushed off of Vaughn and disappeared into the waves.