“What a fool. Yes, we have a deal,” Cliodhna finally agreed, and Theo's stomach flipped with adrenaline. He released therope and gracefully jumped off the side of the boat, landing effortlessly in the dinghy below.
“Release them,” he called out towards Cliodhna, “and I'm yours.” He picked up an oar, willing to start paddling towards his doom the moment he saw Lyra and her sister freed.
Theo studied Cliodhna's face, meeting her glare and refusing to look away. He forced himself to stay strong, knowing he couldn't be the one to break eye contact first. Then suddenly, with a quick movement and without a word, Cliodhna released Lyra and her sister.
They fell several feet into the water, their bodies barely making a splash when they broke the surface. Theo sucked in a sharp gasp, and he heard Wyn mutter a series of curses under his breath on deck. It only took a matter of seconds, but the sirens appeared above the waves, their tails flipping behind them as they started swimming for theBarufakr.
There was a desperation to their movements that made it clear they didn't trust Cliodhna not to snatch them again. Theo took a deep, steadying breath, grabbed the oar, and started to paddle towards Cliodhna.
His heart was racing inside his chest, and sweat was forming on his brow, already soaking the shirt on his back. This was where everything was either going to go to plan, or they were all going to drown.
Theo slowed the dinghy to a stop halfway between theBarufakrand where Cliodhna stood waiting. Her expression was hungry, her mouth agape, nearly panting like a dog with a bone. This was a piece of revenge that she had been waiting for over thirty years, and Theo knew it. She represented everything in his life that had been ripped away from him—his family, his safety, his very home.
“Theo,” Lyra's whisper broke through his raging thoughts.
He dropped the oar in surprise and looked down to where she was holding onto the edge of the rowboat.
“Go, go,” Lyra urged her sister forward, “get to the boat! Don't stop!” She spoke with a calm urgency, pushing her sister to keep swimming towards Wyn.
“You need to go too,” Theo insisted, dropping to his knees. He grabbed Lyra's hands and kissed her knuckles, unable to keep his emotions in check. He could practically feel the angst and tension radiating off Lyra.
“What are you doing?” Lyra hissed angrily. Despite her fury and her nearly deadly glare, she didn't attempt to remove her hands from his. “She's going to kill you, Theo.” Lyra's voice cracked, fear cutting through her rage.
“She's going to try,” Theo admitted, removing his hands from hers.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Theo lived most of his life in a box. Everything he did, everywhere he went, who he spoke to, sometimes even what he ate, was defined by fear. He didn't know if he could be the man needed to execute this plan. All it took was one more look into Lyra's blue eyes, as deep as the sea that surrounded them, and the courage Theo had been looking for his entire life surged through his veins with a vengeance.
“Now!” Theo shouted, tossing the oar with one hand over the side. It signaled Wyn and Niamh as Theo released Lyra's hands, only to grab her forearms. With an ease and a strength only possessed by fae, Wyn hauled her out of the water and into the boat.
“Theo!” Lyra screeched, shocked, immediately looking for Cliodhna's reaction.
Several feet away, Wyn was helping Lyra’s sister up onto his deck as she struggled to get used to her own feet after going so long without trading forms.
Cliodhna screeched, the cry more frustrated than angry, and slammed her hands down against the surface of the water.
“Do you have a death wish?” she cackled, her size growing again, soon towering over theBarufakrand the dingy.
Where her hands met the water, ripples began to radiate from her fingertips. Instead of sea foam, the waves were crowned with shards of bone as a hundred sodden ghouls surged up from the depths. They circled the boats like krill and schools of fish, waiting for someone to fall into the sea.
“What are you thinking?” Lyra shouted, foregoing her fins to stand up on two shaky legs, wrapping her hand around Theo's arm. He stood on the dinghy's small bench, shoving Lyra behind him, his other arm outstretched towards the sky. He wasn't even looking at Cliodhna, who was eyeing him down like a predator. Theo shouted over the din, the wind starting to whip furiously around their bodies.
“Don't worry. I have a plan!”
“I am most definitely worried!” Lyra shouted back, although another sharp cry drowned out her fears. Lyra turned to Cliodhna, preparing for any number of wicked sights the goddess had prepared, but instead, Cliodhna was staring up at the clouds. She was just as confused as Lyra was.
The noise broke through the din again, a piercing noise that sounded almost like a hawk, but… bigger.
Much, much bigger.
Somewhere in the chaos, the rain and wind had picked up with a vengeance, pelting Theo and Lyra and drenching them to the bone. Lyra pushed some of her wet hair out of her face, gripping onto Theo's soaking shirt as she turned back towards theBarufakr. Her fear compounded as she caught a glimpse of Wyn climbing up to the crow's nest, her sister clutching onto his back for dear life.
“Theo, what the—fuck!” Lyra turned around to yell at Theo for his absolute lack of a plan, but when she did, the skies split open. A colossal dragon emerged from the thunderclouds, weaving in and out of lightning and aiming straight for them.
“Theo!” Lyra shrieked, throwing her arms around his waist. “This better be part of your fucking plan!”
Theo only laughed in response, which Lyra assumed was an affirmative. She had never seen a creature as fearsome as the serpentine monster that was bearing down towards them, fire burning in its belly as smoke whipped around its wings. They weren't the only ones to see it. Cliodhna's mouth dropped open, unnaturally wide, until her rotten jaw nearly hung from her skull.
