Page 11 of The Dark Will Fall (Twilight Lake #5)
Shay Mac Eoin
Scylla roared as she dove into the sea, blocking the moon's light with her monstrous body.
The world slowed as Shay watched the translucent skin on her belly warp and grow—another face forming under the skin, and rolling up her body like a parasite bursting free.
Scylla gathered her acidic saliva at the back of her throat, the glutinous liquid glittering and smoking before it had even left the beast's mouth.
The water rose up to greet him. Shay contorted his body against gravity to form a spear, slicing effortlessly into the water. A flurry of bubbles stole his vision, and the crash of Rainn’s fall followed his.
The Kraken’s lair lay beyond the siren’s cove. Shay kicked out, swimming as fast as he could.
Scylla hit the water.
The force of her large body sent a shock wave through the dark sea, pushing Shay and Rainn further from the shore.
“Where the feck is the Kraken when you need it!?” Rainn’s silver eyes turned dark as his face began to shift.
Shay couldn’t blame him; Rainn was much faster in his seal form.
Scylla’s heavy body began to sink, but her neck was long enough to extend towards them—rows and rows of teeth, all chomping, gnashing in desperate hunger.
Shay held out his hand to the seal. “Bite me!”
The seal blinked, rolling in the water until its belly faced the surface, still swimming.
Shay didn’t have time to explain.
He knew Maeve had put it together. That the Nymphs were the children of Darragh Eoin and the demon queen.
If Darragh was Nuada’s blood son, surely his blood would be enough to draw the Kraken’s attention.
Shay could feel Scylla’s hunger as the beast churned the water, making it impossible to see. The multiple mouths and bulbous belly had no concept of sexual attraction; to the beast, desire was simply hunger and the urge to satiate it with a single target—him.
If Shay had thought it through, he probably wouldn’t have extended his lure so thoroughly. He was exhausted. His bones creaked as they swam, like frightened prey, toward the open ocean.
Running out of time, Shay lifted his hand to his mouth and bit down hard enough to draw blood. It leaked from the wound and dispersed without coloring the water.
The beast behind them roared and gained speed. Its limbs snapped into its body as it wriggled and writhed forward.
Dread.
Pain.
Desperation.
Scylla’s roar was answered with another, deep in the ocean, vibrating the sea floor.
Rainn was a silver flash, darting down for the seabed. Shay felt the water move as Scylla reached for him with a taloned claw.
“ Who brought that abomination into my waters? ” Shay winced as the Kraken’s words punched into his skull.
He said nothing, kicking as hard as he could as he followed Rainn to the bottom of the sea. The water was churned with sediment, and it was hard enough to see even with Scylla’s thrashing.
Rainn found a tunnel, formed in the broken coral. Hidden away, with his belly in the sand. A seal was much smaller than a Nymph, and Shay did not want to lead the monster to them both, as his blood continued to leak into the water.
“ God-child ?” The Kraken’s voice echoed through the water, skittering rocks across the seabed. “ Back so soon ?”
Shay pressed his hand to his chest, winded from the pursuit. “Balor’s beast.” He said, gasping for water and air. “Had to lure it away from the sirens.” Each word was heavy labor.
“ Hmm .” The Kraken replied thoughtfully. “ I could always use a boon from Nuada .”
Shay had so many questions, but he didn’t dare ask them, as the water turned black with ink.
How close had the Kraken been, without showing himself?
Shay had seen octopuses that could camouflage themselves to blend in with their surroundings. He knew the Kraken’s lair expanded deep under the sea, and the beast itself was massive enough to traverse great distances in a matter of minutes.
Shay had assumed it was magic that allowed the beast to project his voice, but as Scylla gave out a pained scream, unseen amongst the ink, he realized that the Kraken had been closer than he thought.