The Grim roars. Leaping towards the ocean, snarling a war song in his dog gibberish. I duck out of the way as the Siren’s surge past me to meet it.
“What is it?” Becky shouts.
“It’s the ocean’s teeth!” Diablos hisses.
Curious. Will it eat the Sirens and save me the trouble of killing them later?
“No fish!” Puppy roars. “That’s the rule, no fish!”
“Oh, shit. We really needed to have that conversation about the toys,” Becky snaps, and I have no idea what that means, but I don’t care.
Wilder snorts a laugh. “Too late now.”
“Puppy, I’m not going to fuck it!” Becky shouts.
No, but I might.A hungry thrum of awareness is waking inside me. Whatever that is, I want to roll on it and with it.
“Send it back!” Ronit shouts.
Oh, no, the cage is broken. They have no chance, and good.
I snort a laugh, which sends me into a fit of hysterical giggles as I lean over, clutching the walls. Rain pours down; everyone I know is readying for war. I summoned the Grim, and I summoned something else. I love mysteries.
What is it? What is it?
A dark, slumberous part of me wakes up, rising to dance with this beastie of the deep.
“Don’t worry, he’s a pet!” Ronit says from just outside the house. The wall has disappeared. How did it do that?
He no sooner finishes speaking than a tentacle that I can see in my mind, glowing with teal power, sends him flying out into the depths of the ocean.
I hear the powerful Siren hit the water with a fleshy slap. My mouth drops open.
“That was awesome! Do it again!” I cheer.
“RONIT!” Canto shouts.
“What do we do? What do we do?” Hartley screams in human gibberish.
I laugh so hard I collapse against the wall.
“What is so funny, Healer?” Stix hisses, yanking me up by the upper arm. “Did you have something to do with this?”
I lick my blood-stained lips, tasting the demon’s blood I spilled, and I grin wildly up at the Nightmare King, whom I really should learn to obey.
The roar of the ocean gets louder and is suddenly drowned out by something massive and furious.
“WHAT DID YOU DO, STREGA?” Reed roars.
“Oops. My bad?”
He growls at me and shoves me away from him and away from the Nightmare King, who is still panicking. I land on the floor, still laughing.
This is the most fun I’ve had in months.
Chapter 5
Reed
