“How do you plan to draw it out?” Rainn quirked a brow. “Raw sexual magnetism?”
Shay rolled his shoulders, stretching his arms, as if readying himself for battle. “If I have to.”
Arden eyed the Nymph as if he were mad.
“Maeve defeated Charybis. The living whirlpool. A beast of legend.” Shay declared. “I saw her jump into its mouth. If Charybis belonged to Balor, perhaps Scylla, her sister beast, has been brought up from the depths as well.”
“Scylla?” Arden’s brow furrowed.
“A six-headed beast.” Shay looked down at the smoke. “With a great many teeth.”
“I only saw one head,” Arden argued.
“Then she might be hiding the others.” Shay shrugged. “All I know is, Scylla was nicknamed the ‘immortal devastation’ by the God of the Sea, himself.”
“Manannán mac Lir?” Rainn cocked his head to the side.
Shay did not answer; instead, he stepped closer to the edge. “Prepare to run.”
Rainn nudged the siren. “Shay’s about to release his magic. I’d give him a wide berth.”
“You aren’t moving.” The siren pointed out.
Rainn waggled his brows. “Selkies are immune to most magics.” He told him. “Unless you want to drop your trousers, I’d make myself scarce.”
Arden nodded once, resolute. “Try to lead the beast away from the caves.”
Shay waved a hand dismissively as Arden took to the sky.
Shay’s braids shifted, uncoiling to form a halo. He extended his arms, his magic shooting out of him like the ripples on a quiet lake's surface.
Rainn felt Shay’s magic brush over him, the gentle caress of a lover's hand. He shook it off, but even with his immunity, Rainn struggled.
The chasm shook. Each footstep rocked the very foundations of the Aos Sí. The smoke grew thinner, but did not dispel completely. A head emerged from the soupy smog, female, but more reptilian than fae. Larger than anything he had ever seen, bar the Kraken. Scylla emerged, her claws dipping into the sides of the canyon as she crawled toward them. The skin of her belly was so thin that Rainn could see the vivid green liquid sloshing in her stomach. Her legs were bent backward at the joint, scaled with webbed feet. A beast that belonged in the water, her skin cracking, peeling, in the arid chasm.
Shay took off, sprinting back towards the forest. It took a moment for Rainn to gather his wits, cursing as he followed the Nymph.
He didn’t need to look back to see that Scylla was following. Her thundering footsteps drowned out all other noise, growing closer by the moment.
They ran until Rainn tasted blood on the back of his teeth. Darting through the thick forest, like rabbits being hunted. There was no straight path through the trees, and Rainn cursed the absurd plan, hoping he would live another day.
Just as he caught up to Shay, the Nymph dived down, covering his head with his arms. The wind whipped past them, and Rainn copied the Nymph without explanation. The trees surrounding them fell, coated in the same goo Rainn had seen in Scylla’s belly.
A wash of heat rolled over them, skin tight, as the trees burst into flame in less than a second.
They couldn’t afford to stop, even as the trees around them burned. Shay leaped over the fallen trees and the flames that consumed them.
Rainn didn’t dare look back, even when he felt the beast’s rancid breath on the back of his neck.
Blinded by smoke and the smell of the burning forest, they reached the cliff overlooking the Dark Sea.
Scylla followed Shay and his magic. Rainn didn’t want to think about what would happen if the monster caught him.
Nymph magic often projected a being’s greatest desire, blinding the subject with the promise of fulfilling that desire.
Shay could turn off his magic, but he couldn’t summon the Kraken, and he couldn’t disappear from view.
“We have to jump in the water.” Rainn wheezed, still running.
