Page 147 of Hijack the Seas: Seismic

Most people weren’t John Pritkin.

He took my hand, and the eyes were still fierce, but the grip was strong.

And then Feltin was back, only . . . not entirely.

It was starting to look like the symbiosis between him and his allies went both ways, as their agitation was leaking through to him. They didn’t want to talk; they wanted to tear, to rend, to taste blood in their mouths, and to visit dire retribution on the people who had hurt them and failed to die as proper prey should. They wanted to win, and we were right there—

It affected their master, who had his own grievances with more than one of us.

“Didn’t have a choice,” Feltin said, staring at me again. “She did. She could have stayed away, let things run their course, let us be. I had it all planned out. You were never going to win; wouldn’t have had a single point. All kinds of ways to make sure of that, and I’d used them all. But then she showed up, and I immediately knew it was over.

“Know the type. Nimue was the same. Never stop; no, no, they never stop. The gods keep going and going until they win or die, but she wouldn’t die. And neither would you.”

His eyes shifted to Pritkin. “Zeus said I can’t kill you. Said he wants you for himself. Threatened my life if I don’t bring you back.”

He laughed again, and it was insane and furious and somehow strangely tragic, all at the same time. “My life,” he sneered, followed by a word I didn’t know and that my translator wouldn’t help with. “Well, he can have it or what’s left of it! Which was nothing after you came. And her. And him. But I can’t kill him, can I, no matter how much he deserves it—”

“Shit,” Pritkin said.

“—but two out of three will have to—” Feltin cut off abruptly, but not because he was finished, but because—

“Shit!” I said, staring at the bloody trident suddenly sticking through Feltin’s chest. And I do mean all the way through, as the entire three-pronged head was visible, along with a cloud of what must have been most of the blood in his body.

He died with his mouth open, ready to pronounce our doom, and I didn’t understand anything. I thought at first that one of the Horrors must have done it in retaliation for him being ready to betray their god. But they didn’t use weapons like that.

And then I remembered who did.

“Oh,” I said as three things happened at once. The Horrors were released from Feltin’s control and immediately came at us; a very pissed-off group of Margygr descended on them, coming out of nowhere with weapons flashing; and another rumble, harder than the last, tore through the water, throwing everyone into everyone else.

I’d never experienced anything like an earthquake at sea. And I wasn’t sure I was experiencing one now. But something was happening, something that felt like being in a snow globe that was being violently shaken, only without the snow.

And with a lot of terrifying monsters, one of which had kept his eyes on the prize and came churning through the water at us despite everything. And was blasted out of existence before I even got a good look at it by something that looked a lot like wand fire. Maybe because it was, I realized, as Enid, with the tail she claimed not to have, came shooting up and grabbed me.

And began babbling something I couldn’t make out because all hell had just broken loose.

“What?” I yelled and was jerked within an inch of her suddenly much flatter nose.

“They’re going to kill us all!”

“I know! The Horrors aren’t under Feltin’s control anymore—”

“No, not the Horrors! The Margygr! I went to them for help, but . . .”

“What?” I stared around. “They’re not rescuing us?”

“They’re not rescuing us,” Alphonse said, grabbing a trident all of an inch from my nose. And then seizing the guy who held it and introducing them to each other repeatedly before glaring back at Enid and I. “Don’t just float there. Run!”

Chapter Forty-Two

Great idea, but where? I wondered, staring at a scene unlike anything I’d seen even in Faerie, where impossible sights were an everyday occurrence. But not like this.

We found ourselves in the middle of a squirming, thrashing, flailing ball of blood, flying spells, flashing weapons, and severed body parts. And we hadn’t joined the dozens already floating lifelessly in the sea only because the merfolk were too busy slaughtering the Horrors to bother with us. And getting slaughtered back, I thought, as a powerful-looking warrior nonetheless ended up impaled on something’s three-foot claws.

I stared as he twitched like a speared fish for a moment before being ripped apart when the creature tore its talons back out. And didn’t even know who to root for since whoever won was going to eviscerate us for an encore. And yet, there was no path out of here that wouldn’t mean immediate death, something Bodil seemed to agree with as she didn’t even try to swim off with me.

There was nowhere to go.

“Human!” Æsubrand said shrilly, appearing at my side. I guessed the current hell had jolted him out of the remains of his disorientation because he looked sane if overwhelmed. And then he cursed as something huge and black darted at us and was blasted back by a wave from Bodil, sending it tumbling head over heels into some of its fellow Horrors, who savaged it in their panic.

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