Page 61 of Nyall

Caroline nodded, unable to stop herself from cringing as the chieftain turned back into the black thing and disappeared into the grass. She wanted to go after him and help, but there was no way she could fight dozens of Cait Sith in their beastly forms; they’d turn on her and tear her to pieces. Turning away and rushing down to the shore, she waded her way over to the boat and climbed in before she stood at the bow and tried to see what was happening.

Something grabbed her ankle, and as she screamed a webbed hand jerked her leg and dragged her over the side into the water.

Chapter Nineteen

Nyall kept pace with Jamaran as they ran a cross pattern through the marsh, both of them heading in opposite directions. He didn’t dare slow down, for the muddy ground would snare him in an instant. When time returned he knew they would never reach the caves before the shifters caught up, so he looked for a defendable position. Behind them the Cait Sith’s screeching yowls grew louder as they gave chase, sometimes pouncing on each other in their lust to attack. From the size of their bodies, fangs and claws, he and his friend might be able to hold off a few, but Caroline had been right—there were simply too many. Somewhere back near the shore she would be in the ghost boat now. Knowing she would sail back to Caladh and safety made him ready to face his end.

Dinnae come back for us, my lady. Permit us save you this last time.

The air suddenly turned as cold as if winter had returned. Jamaran came to his side and knocked him to the ground as something huge and dark shot over their heads. The Cait Sith screamed as the darkness slammed into them, knocking them into the air like so many poppets. Through his frost-covered lashes Nyall saw Shaw for an instant, his body shedding the darkness like oily black smoke.

Shaw.

The chieftain only resembled the man he had been. His eyes gleamed like polished shadows, and the skinwork from his arm now moved all over his body. It seemed to stretch and grow darker, as if it meant to cover every inch of his flesh. When it ran up over his face Shaw dropped his head back and released a roar that seemed to shake the entire island from one end to the other.

Never once you’ve seen me as the thing that served the Pritani, Shaw had told them when they had struck their pact. When I become that, and someday soon I shall, Captain, I shall kill without hesitation, remorse or relenting.

Tears froze on Nyall’s face, but he could not look away. He had lived with the slow horror of the madness that had devoured his màthair. He’d watched sharks fight over the torso of a drowned mortal, one finally killing the other before devouring both. He had even fought against raiders so crazed by blood lust they slaughtered warriors from their own side who mistakenly stepped in their path. None of that compared to what the Pritani had done to the chieftain.

Forgive me, Brother. I didnae understand.

He wanted to go to him, to stop him before the beast completely overwhelmed him. At the same time he knew if he tried, in his state Shaw might attack him. It was the same as being back at the watch tower and seeing Tiree standing on the edge.

Stay down, Jamaran thought to him. The chieftain shallnae ken you now.

The shape shifters ran toward the hills, pursued and attacked again and again by the stream of blackness that cut through them like a giant demon’s scythe. Their shrieks turned into pitiful cries as they limped and dragged each other into the caves. For a moment it looked as if the thing Shaw had become would finish them off, but then it changed direction and raced up the side of the hill and over it, vanishing from sight.

Nyall got to his feet, pacing in a small circle to keep his boots from sinking into the mud. As he helped his friend up he watched for Shaw’s return, and then scanned the area around them. Several badly-wounded beasts lay moaning on the ground, their fur matted with blood and gaping with wounds. He wanted nothing more than to dispatch them to oblivion. Yet when he turned to look down at the shore, he could see the ghost boat but no sign of Caroline. For a terrible moment he froze, wondering if the chieftain had slain her. The water beside the boat churned and a slim hand appeared, grabbing at the side before it was yanked beneath the surface.

Nyall didn’t sink into the mud, but the full moon disappeared as black clouds covered the island, the billowing black laced with hundreds of lightning arcs. As bolts began striking all over the island, he grabbed Jamaran, pulling him away from one of the wounded Cait Sith.

Our lady never made it onto the boat. Something seized her and holds her under the water.

Thunder boomed as they ran for the shore and dove into the shallows. The lightning briefly illuminated the dark water around them, but Nyall saw no sign of Caroline. Jamaran disappeared as he swam for the depths, and then a violet-gold flash caught his eye. He swam for that, only to collide with what looked like a man and a shark. The creature spun around toward him, his wedge-shaped head tilting back as he revealed rows of jagged teeth.

Overhead white lights spread over the surface of the sea, forming a deadly net.

As the creature attacked, Nyall drove his dagger into the man-shark’s eye, and it screamed silently as it rolled away from him. Blood darkened the water, but it also glowed violet and gold, as if it had come from a Selseus. He caught the bizarre beast by its tail, dragging it back and flinging it up as a powerful bolt of white light shot down, impaling it. The creature jerked and convulsed until the lightning disappeared, and then it sank down toward the bottom. Just before its burned body touched the silt it went motionless, as did the water.

Jamaran swam up to him. I cannae find her.

She stopped time again, so she yet lives. Nyall pointed at the body of the man-shark. That thing bleeds like a Selseus.

His friend looked disgusted. ’Twas transformed by Duxor. The bastart likely followed us here. He drew in a long breath of water, and then glanced over at the ghost boat. She’s close. I can still taste her scent.

We’ll circle the island. If Duxor wishes use her as leverage, he must keep her alive.

Caroline surfaced, gulping in air as she turned to see the north tip of the island several hundred yards away. Frozen lighting pierced the night sky, but from here she couldn’t see Nyall, Jamaran, Shaw or the shifters. She didn’t know if she could swim back to land and hide herself in eight minutes, but she had to try. As she glanced down at the motionless body of the aquatic she had escaped, she wondered if she should cut the big vein behind his knee so he’d bleed out in the water. The memory of Shaw’s eyes turning black came back to her.

I would never have killed Rich, she thought, oddly relieved. I don’t have it in me.

She swam to the shallows as fast as she could, stumbling as she climbed onto a rocky reef top and immediately went down. Reaching for her left ankle, which the Selseus had grabbed to pull her underwater, she yelped with pain. A sharp piece of bone protruded from the side of her foot, and her hand came away bloody.

“I’m supposed to be lucky in the water,” she muttered as she ripped the sleeve from her leine. “So, come on, Poseidon, give me a little break here.”

Binding the wound made tears of pain roll down her cheeks, but the time stop was quickly running out, and she had to hide from the Selseus. She then looked at the rocks around her until she spotted a long piece of driftwood, and tested it to see how sturdy it was before she used it to get back on her feet. Putting even the lightest pressure on her broken foot made a hard jolt of agony shaft up through her leg, but Caroline endured it as she made her way to the mounds of seaweed beyond the rocks. Where she had come ashore the island looked featureless and flat, with no boulders or grass. From the look of the muddy ground the tide probably completely covered the area when it came in. She pushed herself to go as far inland as she could, but after a few dozen yards the pain became too much to bear.

Caroline glanced back at the water. If he comes after me, I’ll stop time again.