Malachi kicked, gasping, hands scrabbling uselesslyagainst her wrist. Panic flared in his eyes as his feet searched for ground that wasn’t there.
Archie tried to rise. Agony crushed him back down. His leg refused to answer him, pain flooding so hard it stole his breath. He clawed at an anchor, dragging himself an inch closer. Sweat burned his eyes. His injured leg trailed behind him, dead weight.
Thalassa turned her head slowly to look at him. A smile curved her mouth—small and cruel. “For my family.”
Archie’s blood iced. Not even he could overpower a full-grown Selkie without a weapon. And now they all knew it.
This was his fault. His mercy had spared her. And now he was going to watch as it cost him his son.
“Please…” Archie begged. He hooked the anchor with trembling fingers and hauled himself onto one knee.
Thalassa’s smile widened. “For Caspian.”
Something inside Archie tore completely loose. His scream ripped through the boathouse as the knife plunged towards Malachi.
Thalassa jerked forward with a grunt. The blade stalled mid-air, its tip hovering inches from Malachi’s chest. Confusion flickered across her face as she looked down. An iron bolt was buried deep between her shoulder blades.
Archie’s heart hammered so hard it stole his breath. For a split second he couldn’t move, couldn’t even think. He just stared at the bolt. Then realisation hit, sharp and staggering.
Ina.
She’d been there all along. While he was being hunted, Ina was still hunting. Watching and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Thalassa fell forward, her weight slamming intoMalachi and knocking them both to the floor. The knife slipped from her fingers and clattered across the concrete.
She rolled off him and onto her back. Air dragged in and out in short, broken pulls. Each breath rattled, wet and uneven—scraping through her throat as blood bubbled at her lips. There was no panic in her eyes. Just a steady resigned awareness as she stared up at the rotting beams above, breath tearing out of her in short bursts.
Archie sagged. Relief hit him first—sharp and dizzying, his knees threatening to give way as the certainty landed that Malachi was still alive. That he hadn’t lost another son.
The Selkie he spared back then died anyway. The future, now lost to her. Heather would’ve done the same. She’d have burned the world down to protect her own if she had to. The thought cut deeper than the wound in his leg.
Malachi scrambled to his feet and rushed to him. “Dad, are you okay?” He hooked an arm around Archie’s shoulders and hauled him upright. The bruised imprint of Thalassa’s fingers was already fading on his neck.
Archie groaned and leaned into him, relief making him weak. He clutched his bleeding thigh, the pain pulsing hot and insistent now that the adrenaline was draining away.
“I’ve got you.” Malachi held him steady.
“Are you both okay?” Ina splashed through a puddle of seawater and crouched beside them. Her gaze flicked once to Thalassa—assessing, already knowing the outcome—then dropped to Archie’s leg.
“Superficial.” She said briskly. “I’ll put a couple of paper-stiches on it when we get back to Riverside.”
Archie tested his weight and hissed as fire lanced up his thigh. It didn’t feel superficial.
They moved back towards Thalassa together. She was still breathing. Barely.
Each rasp sounded like it might be her last, blood slipping from the corners of her mouth and darkening the stone beneath her head. Her eyes tracked Archie as he approached.
Ina reached for a bolt on Archie’s belt.
“Wait.” Archie’s voice was rough but steady. Seven years ago, he’d chosen mercy. Tonight, he wasn’t sure what it even looked like anymore.
“Save your bolt.” Thalassa’s words fell out of her in broken pieces. Each breath rattled. Blood bubbled on her lips, spilling down her chin. “There’s n—no need. I—I’m done.”
Ina ignored her. She slid another bolt into the crossbow with a sharp, practiced click—but didn’t raise it.
Thalassa coughed hard. Her body jolted as a thick pool of dark red blood spilled from her mouth and soaked into the stone beneath her cheek. She lay still for a moment, chest shuddering, as though gathering what little strength she had left.
“It’s over.” Her eyes found Archie again. “Things should’ve been so d—different.”
