Page 21 of Avalon Tower
“Get inside the cabin,” he commands.
Screams ring out as the boat dips sharply to the left. I slip, slamming into the rail. As the boat pitches, I frantically grip the wet rail. The sea is directly beneath me now, and I find myself staring at the churning waves. The water is darker, much darker than it should be.
Suddenly, it erupts, knocking the boat back in the other direction. I’m clinging to the rail for dear life, but I lose my grip and slide back across the deck. Seawater washes over me, and I’m sure that I’m about to topple over into the waves. A powerful arm wraps around my waist, holding me tightly.
Raphael secures me against his enormous body, one hand on the rail, the other curled around my drenched white dress. I can feel the steel of his muscles through his clothes as I hold on.
“Hang on,” he shouts over the roar of waves, then releases me. I grab the rail, and he charges up to the main deck.
My stomach flips as I follow Raphael with my eyes. An enormous serpentine coil rises above our boat. Thick as a ship, it’s covered in metallic scales that gleam silver in the moonlight. Rising high above us, it blocks out the sky. I can’t figure out where it starts and where it ends—or maybe it’s everywhere.
A sea serpent.
I’ve only seen one in a blurry photo before, from the battle of Mont-Saint-Michel, when the Fey and their serpents destroyed most of the French navy. But terrifying as that photo was, it didn’t do this creature justice. My heart plummets as it opens its jaws, exposing rows of jagged teeth. It screams like a banshee, then snaps down toward the deck so quickly that I feel the rush of its speed whooshing past, and the smell of rot fills the air. When it rears up again, I see someone’s legs sticking out of its mouth, frantically kicking. People hurl spears, but they bounce off the monster’s scales.
“Aim for the throat!” shouts Raphael.
The scales there are thinner, its flesh exposed, but the angle and the creature’s horrifying speed make it almost impossible to hit.
Screaming erupts around me. The boat tips to the right, and I’m tossed against the ship’s wheel. Pain explodes at the side of my head. I scramble to my feet and turn to follow some of the fugitives, who are trying to get to the relative safety of the cabin. And then I notice something from the corner of my eye.
Malo, huddled by the railing, up on the main deck.
The boat keeps rocking, but I grab the rail and force myself toward the wooden stairs. The beast shrieks, and the sound rumbles through my marrow. I make a run for the stairs. As I struggle to climb them, sea spray washes over me, robbing me of breath.
It’s chaos. Wires snap free and wood splinters around us. Blood streaks across the deck, mingling with the seawater. Raphael is barking orders. A few uniformed crew members are thrusting spears at the beast, trying to hit its throat. Aleina and some of the others are clinging to whatever they can. Malo’s grasping the railing, petrified, screaming into the wind. The serpent looms above him, ignoring the spears bouncing off its scales as its malevolent red gaze finds the boy.
“Malo!” I shout, but there’s no way he can hear me in the chaos.
The serpent rears back, unlocking its jaws. Those sharp teeth will be carving through the little boy any second now. I need to distract the beast, but there’s no way it’ll notice me, even if I lunge at it and strike it with my fists.
A desperate idea sparks to life in my mind, and I rush over to Aleina. I grip one of the thick wires for steadiness, and with a sharp tug, rip the crystal pendant off her neck, the shimmering jewel she told me makes noise and light when shattered. I slide across the deck and smash it on the boat’s iron rail.
A sharp, keening cry rips across the horizon, so loud that it drowns out the other noise. Blinding, colorful lights burst from the pendant. The sound slides through my bones, overwhelming me.
As the lights fade, the world dims to a haze, and there is a ringing in my ears. I hang on tightly, and a wave crashes overboard, drenching me again.
When I look up, I see that it worked. I distracted the serpent from Malo. Unfortunately, it’s now staring in my direction, its eyes searing through me. It hisses, and it sounds like it’s speaking Fey. As it lunges for me, Raphael knocks me to the deck. We roll out of the way as the serpent strikes, the snapping jaws inches from us. Raphael scrambles to grab a discarded spear, and just as the beast starts to raise its head, he thrusts the spear into its thinly protected throat. Shrieking, it rears back, the spear jutting from its neck. The monster looms like a tidal wave, and I wonder if it’s going to crash down on the boat. Then it disappears beneath the water, leaving a dark stain of blood shimmering under the starlight.
I stare at the rippling waves. “Did you kill it?”
Raphael grips the rail. Seawater slides down his golden skin and drips from his dark hair. “Not quite.” His tone is perfectly even, like he’s talking about flowers blooming in his garden.
As soon as the words are out of his mouth, a furious shriek rends the air. The serpent shoots from the water, mouth gaping.
From behind, a hollow thunk sounds, and a harpoon soars through the air. It sinks into the creature’s eye, turning it into a red crater. The serpent keens in torment, then slides into the waves. I whirl to see Viviane bracing an enormous harpoon gun against her shoulder. Raphael pulls out another harpoon and hands it to her. She loads it, and it clicks into place. As she scans the water, tension coils around us.
All of us wait, half expecting the beast to surface again. But now, the waves have calmed. Viviane lowers the harpoon gun, then returns it to its mount. She wipes her hands on her dress and crosses back to the quarterdeck.
I stare after her. Godsdamn it. I didn’t want to have to admire her, but I do.
Aleina scoops up Malo and turns to follow Viviane. She pauses, leveling her violet gaze on my face. “That’s twice you’ve saved his life. He’s been through a lot. Auberon has been hunting us in Brocéliende, then in the new territories in Fey France. And now this.”
I tremulously smile at him, and a glow spreads through my chest.
Malo reaches out for me and touches my arm, just a soft brush of his fingers. Then he lowers his head against Aleina.
I wipe the streams of seawater off my face and look down. My white dress, I discover, is now virtually transparent. On most days, I’d be red-faced with mortification, but given what just happened, I don’t think anyone is really paying attention to my nipples.