Another head burst from the waves beside the first, its scales gleaming like black glass under the sky. Twin jaws yawned wide, two mouths on the same beast.
My knees buckled as the serpent whipped sideways, its second head snapping, and suddenly its eyes found me again. “Do something,” I screamed at Theron.
He moved toward the railing, his hair wild and his clothes now soaked. A glowing sigil bloomed in the air before him. “Honestly,” he said. “The fact that I have to do everything for you—”
His words cut off as the serpent’s twin heads lunged for me, mouths parting in a split of glistening fangs, wide enough to swallow me whole.
Something small shot across the deck. A blur, barely bigger than my hand, launched itself into the air with a shrill, haunting cry. For an instant I thought it was nothing more than a rat flushed from the hold … but then its silver-gray fur caught the light, a crimson tail streaming behind.
Roz?
Before I could grasp what I was seeing, it changed.
In the space of a heartbeat, its tiny body swelled, limbs unfurling in grotesque bursts, joints bending the wrong way. Bark and stone plated its body as if the earth itself had sealed it in nightmare. Spines jutted along its back, each one twitching. Its eyes burned open, an icy, frostbite blue, unblinking as it soared forward.
My stomach dropped. Gods. Roz had just turned into the creature, the abomination that had found me in the Twisted Forest and had driven away the monsters circling me there.
I hadn’t been dreaming.
The beast slammed into the serpent mid-lunge, its claws gouging deep as the two tangled together, roar and shriek braided into one violent sound before they pitched over the ship’s side.
Chapter55
The sea erupted in a crimson storm, boiling and thrashing. The ship listed hard and the deck tilted beneath our feet as broken rigging lashed in the wind. Spray battered the hull and set the timbers rattling under the strain. And then, just as suddenly, everything fell silent. No coils rose. No fangs split the surface. Only blood-streaked foam hissed as it lapped at the ship’s side.
Around me, soldiers stood stunned, their chests heaving and blades limp at their sides. Achilles had fought his way back to me, planting himself in front of me once more, broad shoulders squared against the empty sea and ready for the serpent to strike again at any moment. My breath sawed through my chest as I tried to understand what I’d seen.
“Gods above,” someone whispered hoarsely.
Theron was the first to move. He rushed to the rail, faster than I’d ever seen him, his usual languid ease stripped away. His face was taut, violet eyes blazing as they cut to me.
“What was that?” he growled.
Achilles’s shoulders tensed, his hackles rising as he lifted his sword that was still slick with blood. “Do not speak to her like that.”
Theron’s jaw flexed, and for a moment I thought he might actually strike. Instead, he forced a smile, though it carried none of his usual carelessness. “Mind yourself, Captain,” he said softly, menace threading every syllable. “They might start asking questions.”
A familiar squeak cut through the stunned silence.
I glanced down as Roz’s tiny, drenched head poked over the side of the deck, pale blue eyes glowing faintly as little claws scrabbled against the wood. With another squeak the creature hauled itself up, collapsing onto the planks in a sodden heap.
My chiton tangled around my legs as I lunged forward. Dropping to my knees, I scooped the trembling creature into my arms. It shook violently against me, spraying a mist of seawater, its red ribbon-tail whipping behind it. Roz’s claws dug into my chest, and I stroked its damp fur, murmuring soothingly. Glancing around, no one seemed to have noticed Roz. The crew was still staring at the sea, waiting for the serpent to return.
Only two gazes marked me, Theron’s violet stare, intent, and burning with something calculating, and Achilles’s dark blue, fierce with questions.
I didn’t have any answers for him though. My mind couldn’t quite grasp that my tiny little friend was a monster.
“Let me see it,” Theron said at last, his voice smooth, but the flicker in his eyes betrayed how much effort it cost him to keep it patient.
I curled my fingers tighter around the tiny creature, tucking it against my chest. “No.”
Achilles stepped closer, holding out his hand. “Helena, you don’t know what that thing is. It’s dangerous.”
“It’s mine and it just saved me,” I snapped before I could think, my voice fierce and loud. Roz gave a soft, warbling squeak as if in agreement, then burrowed against me, its wet fur pressing into my skin. It cuddled closer, shivering, and I ached to protect it in return.
Theron’s gaze lingered on me. Not on the creature. On me. His eyes searched and weighed, as though he were measuring something far beyond what I held in my palm. I didn’t like that look. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
Achilles’s hand flexed on his sword hilt. But he turned away, breathing hard, his body still between me and the place where the sea had boiled.
