They all gathered down on the beach. Maggie was meant to stay inside in case there was another fight, but she squeezed through the gaps in the world until she was down on the sand, too. Mathis shot her a look and sighed.
“Should have guessed keeping you away was a losing battle,” he muttered. “Lance—what the hell is that?”
Maggie scampered up his leg and perched on top of his head. He huffed at her, distracted. “That’s a ship, right?”
Lance still had the binoculars. “Going backwards. Fast. Like something’s pulling it.”
Silence fell across the beach. For a moment there was only the sound of waves crashing on the sand and seagulls crying to each other on the wind.
It wasn’t just a ship coming towards them at top speed. Waves rippled over a huge creature, so big she could feel the others’ minds struggling with believing what they were seeing.
“That’s impossible,” Mathis muttered. “What is it—some sort of dragon?”
Not a dragon. Definitely not a dragon. Maggie whipped her tail in agitation. When were people going to start listening to her properly? She could tell them who it was.
The waves became higher as the ship and the creature hauling it got closer. It stopped where it was still deep enough that most of it was hidden—and exactly how much of it there was to hide became clear.
“What thefuck,” Chloe stated, then covered her mouth with a guilty look at Maggie. Maggie trilled at her. “Sorry, Mags. But—is that what I think it is?”
“I don’t know what the hell you think it is. I know whatIthink it is.” Lance tipped his head to one side, sniffing the air. His eyes narrowed. “He said his form was too big to risk shifting on the coast, but this…”
It’s Moss, Maggie tried to tell them.Moss and Carol!“Pree ree ree! Pree ree ree!”
“There he is. Our little cousin. Not so little now.”
Maggie’s head whipped around. The eely ladies were standing back from the crowd, staring out to sea with pride in their eyes. She bristled with jealousy. Imagine having someone look at you like that!
“Is it still him, though?” Lance asked grimly. “The three of you keep saying the kraken’s this murderous monstrosity. So which is it we’re looking at? Who’s in control? The man, or—”
“Pree!”
“Maggie—” Lance tsked with frustration as she leapt onto his head, which, fine, he really didn’t have enough hair for her to hold on to, and she had to dig in with her claws a tiiiiiny bit. He bundled her into his arms, and she blew a raspberry at him. “Maggie, it’s time for you to go away with Keeley. We don’t know if what’s coming is Moss or—”
“Pree!Eee!” she insisted.
“—or—you trying to tell me something, Maggie?” Lance frowned down at her, his snow leopard peeping out from behind his eyes.Ooh.It had been DAYS since she tried to catch the snow leopard’s tail! When was he going to shift again and let her play?
Why did all the others spendso much timein their boring human shapes?
“Maggie?”
Huh?
“We’d better go now,” Keeley was saying. She glanced up at Lance with an expression that made Maggie furious and happy at the same time. “I hate this, you know? Running away and leaving you to take all the risks.”
Lance’s mouth twisted. “Taking off with a baby dragon is its own risk.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” She touched his face briefly, then turned to Maggie. “Okay, you sweet little terror. Time to pack out.”
What? No! Maggie hissed—unhappily, this time. Keeley’s eyes softened. “I know you liked hanging out with Moss, but we don’t know if—”
“Sssss!”
Keeley’s eyes narrowed. She looked almost as cunning as a dragon. “Wedon’t know. But doyouknow?”
“Ssss!” Ugh! Why wasn’t Pointy Teeth Lady here? She would understand!
Ugh.
