The selkies became bait for the fuath, drawing as many of them into the whirlpools, knowing they were running out of time before Caoránach arrived. Riordan remembered the terror of an Oilliphéist from his childhood spent past the veil centuries ago, the way the beast seemed to encompass the threat of the ocean itself, and he had no doubt that wouldn’t be the same today.
It wasn’t long until the movement of the underwater tide shifted, heralding the approach of something large. The fuath cried out a welcome that vibrated through the water, making Riordan’s heart beat fast as he swam upward in an arc that put him closer to the range of whirlpools his clan had mustered. Amidst the darkness beyond them, a large shadow swam through the depths, bringing with it a sense of terror that Riordan had to shake off. Power crackled through the water, reminding him of an eel’s defensive ability, and the hint of magic that bloomed along the back spines of a sinewy monster of thedepths revealed a horror that made Riordan freeze in the water for a heart-stopping moment.
Instinct got him moving—away from Caoránach in her Oilliphéist form and into the twisting pull of his clan’s magic behind the whirlpools. The dark water churned viciously around the warring sides as fuath and selkies attacked each other. Riordan opened himself up to the water magic he’d been born with, gripping the tightly spinning whirlpool nearest him at the anchoring point and sending it careening through the water. Caoránach dodged it with an underwater roar that echoed through the sea. Riordan swam faster, maneuvering around a fuath and forcing it into the drag of a whirlpool. He aimed for the surface, sensing the threat of Caoránach behind him through the tangle of whirlpools she cut through. How she knew to target him, Riordan couldn’t say, but he’d lay the blame at Niall’s feet.
Riordan broke the surface, flinging himself as far forward as he could, barking a warning he wasn’t sure anyone could hear. He sucked air into his lungs as gravity drew him back toward the waves, rain lashing his body, the wind a roar in his ears. He went under, sliding through the water and directly into a whirlpool manipulated by a clan member that yanked him out of the way of Caoránach’s gaping jaw full of ragged teeth.
He kicked his flippers, tumbling down the length of the whirlpool before pitching himself out of it, orienting himself in the water with long practice. Even with the storm raging above and the water darker than it typically was during the day, he could see Caoránach’s sinewy form ripping through the water, heading his way. Riordan reached for the nearest whirlpool and dragged its churning core between them, bubbles frothing in the water.
Riordan swam for the surface again, followed by the terrifying bulk of an Oilliphéist that let out a vibrating roar he felt in the bones of his skull. It wrecked his balance for a handfulof seconds, disrupting his ability to figure out which way the surface was in the vastness of the sea. The only thing that saved him from being bitten in half was the quick thinking of his siblings.
Donal and Saoirse barreled into him, their teeth sinking into his fur, breaking skin, but he didn’t care as they dragged him out of reach of Caoránach’s maw. The rush of water that exploded from her jaw snapping shut propelled them away even faster. Donal and Saoirse angled toward the surface, finally letting go of him when he gave a little wriggle.
The whirlpools ripped fuath away from them as they swam through the tangle of water magic. Caoránach tore through each one in her pursuit, the magic fraying and spinning away into the depths of the sea. Riordan and his siblings couldn’t possibly hope to outswim the sea serpent, but they didn’t need to. They just needed a chance to get her to the surface.
The three of them swam together in a pattern that saw them crossing paths in the water, diving through whirlpools that did their best to slow Caoránach down. Riordan grabbed the frayed edges of magic, trying to spin them back together into something bigger, something stronger.
Something to get an Oilliphéist out of the water.
As clan chief, Riordan’s magic was primed to act as an anchor for all the selkies he led. He opened himself up to the sea and the magic found there, spread thin through riptides and whirlpools but still very much present. He somersaulted out of the way of Caoránach’s teeth, desperately clawing for magic that could keep her at bay. Donal and Saoirse joined their strength to his, but for all their power, they couldn’t go up against a god whose territory was the vast ocean itself.
Caoránach was a master of the sea the way selkies never could be with their smaller stature. No matter how fast theyswam, no matter the number of whirlpools they spun, she would outstrip and outlast them.
And she did.
A pulse of magic ripped through the water, shredding the whirlpools spinning beneath the waves. The backlash slammed through Riordan as if he’d been rammed by a ship in the harbor. He faltered, agony lashing through his body as the water undulated all around them, fighting to form a current. When Caoránach wrenched it into a direction he couldn’t control, Riordan and the other selkies were drawn with it. He swam against it, trying to flee its clutches. The twisting power of it was something he recognized, and even the strength lent by kin still on their way to fight wasn’t enough to free them from the magic tangled around them like a net.
Caoránach roared in triumph, magic erupting in a surge of bubbles and frothy water that spun in an ever-widening circle while rising. The pull of the tide was viciously strong as it punched upward to the surface and the storm raging there. Strong enough to drag Riordan and those selkies nearby within its clutches up with it as someone spun the whirlpool into a waterspout they couldn’t escape.
Heart pounding, head aching, magic whittled thin, Riordan fought the current dragging them up toward Caoránach’s waiting mouth, the spin giving him vertigo. She roared as sheet lightning illuminated the stormy sky above—a sound that abruptly changed pitch into something agonizing as Wade dived out of the low-hanging clouds and sank his claws into her spiny back, fire exploding from his mouth with a furious roar.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Wade jumpedout of the lifeboat into shallow waters that wouldn’t be so bad if the storm hadn’t whipped up the waves into a frenzy. He turned to hold the lifeboat steady with the help of the two selkies who’d guided them to shore. The werecreatures and fae who’d weighed down the inflatable boat flung themselves overboard and waded to shore, buffeted by the waves. The werecreatures managed to brace themselves against the sea better than the fae, but everyone made it to shore in one piece.
Wade picked his way around the large rocks filling the shore, heading for the eroding cliff overlooking the sea. He squinted through the driving rain as, around him, the Boston god pack began shifting with bone-cracking ease. Werecreatures—mostly wolves, but Wade saw a grizzly farther down the shore and someone who he thought might be a leopard—raced through the rain and up the sloping ground, scrambling to the top of the cliff.
“There are ruins from the mortals’ military on the island. I told Harper that is where I sensed a net of Niall’s magic,” Lady Caith called out from the base of the cliff, the tide crashing against her feet and ankles as Wade approached.
“Could you tell if Casey was alive?”
Lady Caith shook her head. Her magenta hair had been braided into a crown around her head, but some pieces were escaping the style from the wind. Then she pointed at the sea they’d just escaped from. “Look. Caoránach does not come alone.”
Wade spun around, wiping rainwater out of his eyes. He shifted a tiny bit of mass to sharpen his vision, bringing into clarity the distant speedboats cutting through the waves. There were a lot of them.
“Should’ve paid Lucien to go after more of Niall’s property,” Wade grumbled.
“It is a bit disconcerting that you are so friendly with that master vampire.”
“Oh, we’re not friendly. He’s just a useful bastard sometimes.”
“Clearly.” Lady Caith tipped her head back to look up at the cliff they stood beneath. “We need higher ground.”
“I can give you a lift.” Wade mimed putting his hands together and launching her in the air.
She snorted delicately. “I can make my own way up. Where will you be?”
“Fighting the sea serpent.”
