Page 62 of Nyall

Fearing if she sat down she wouldn’t be able to rise again, she leaned on the driftwood stick and waited the last few minutes before time started again. The sound of the storm boomed around her, and the sea wind tore at her wet hair and clothes, nearly knocking her down. The moonlight came out for a moment, showing dozens of pale boats sailing toward the island. From the blonde heads and the fluttering tartans, it looked as if the Selseus and the MacMar had come to their rescue—but how could they have known what was happening? The sky lit up again, so bright now it looked as if someone were detonating bombs overhead.

Maybe they saw Nyall’s lightning from Caladh.

The wind grew even stronger, whipping the water beyond the rocks into a rocking boil, but Caroline saw no sign of her attacker. She wanted to find Nyall and Jamaran, so badly it made her whole body ache. That was when something hit her from behind, knocking her to the ground, and then a man’s hand seized her wrist and tore the ring from her finger.

The odd-eyed scullery smiled down at her.

“You’re a wonder, Caroline, but ever you should watch your back.” His long hair streamed in the wind as he held up the ring to admire it. “When I end you, shall I take your power along with your memories?”

She tried to stop time again, but nothing happened. She rolled away to push herself up on all fours, but her arms and legs shook so much she couldn’t do more than that. The scullery kicked her onto her side, grabbed her by the hair and started dragging her toward the rocks.

“Let go of me,” she shouted, clawing at his hands.

“I cannae, for my master wishes transform you as he did me.” The scullery’s body suddenly changed into that of a tall, dark-haired woman. “You seem happiest in the sea, only I dinnae reckon you shall obey him faithfully. Mayhap death, ’tis better for you.”

Caroline’s hair tore away from her scalp as the shape-shifter yanked her upright. “I want to live. I’ll serve whoever you want.”

“You’ll live again, lass, in a fashion. All those I slay do.” It changed into the Selseus she had seen at the reef when she’d been trapped. “I’ll become you for a time so I may learn everything my master wishes ken. Shall your lovers welcome me into their arms? Never I’ve facked two at once as you’ve done.”

“Let me live, and I can spy for your master,” she lied. “Give me a chance.”

The woman sighed. “Och, when you see what you’ll become, you’ll change your mind.”

Her eyes widened as the woman’s body changed again, this time into something that looked like a humanoid shark. Its tail thrashed, knocking rocks into the water as its mouth opened and it showed her its hideous teeth. This was the killer shark that the clan and the Selseus had been hunting, Caroline thought, aghast.

“No’ so pretty, eh?” the creature said, its altered voice growling the words as it clamped an arm around her, and climbed down into the water. “I’ll end you quickly, I vow.”

Lightning blazed over them, and when the shifter dragged her underwater Caroline saw two shapes moving quickly in the distance. Her men didn’t know what had captured her, or how it could shift. The creature had already been living on the island as it pretended to be a mortal. Now it would kill and become her; that was why it had been hunting her.

It’s still part shark now. She had to protect her lovers and their people from this thing, and there was only one way she could do that.

Caroline turned toward the shark creature, and punched it in the mouth, pushing her fist against its teeth so that they shredded her flesh. Blood bloomed in the water between them as she jerked her hand back and then swam across the shallows.

Come on. She knew nothing sent sharks into a frenzy like fresh blood in the water. Come and take a nice big bite of me, you bitch.

She got her wish a minute later, when the shifter rammed into her from behind, seizing her shoulder and clamping down on it as it flipped her. It shook her like an oversize dog with a bone, and for a moment the pain almost made her black out.

Not going that easy.

Caroline hammered at it with her fists, letting all of the rage she had locked away inside her pour into this last, desperate fight. She wouldn’t survive it, but the ones she loved would. It was high time that happened. Using her fingers she clawed at its eyes, and rammed her knee into its underbelly. When the shifter tried to retreat she wrapped her arms around its lower body, digging her hand into its hide and tearing it from the muscle.

The water turned white as a thousand needle-fine bolts shot down through the water, striking them both.

The shifter released her as it sank, and Caroline closed her eyes as she did the same. Somehow being struck by lightning underwater should have been painful, or killed her instantly, but instead it had numbed her wounds and filled her with a strange warmth. The last breath escaped her lips in small bubbles when she finally landed on the silty bottom. This close to shore she might wash up where her guys could find her. She hoped they would bury her near the garden outside her little cottage.

No regrets, Mama.

Vaguely she became aware of gentle hands that lifted her from the bottom, and guided her up through the water into strong arms that raised her above the surface. She choked out some water, but breathing didn’t seem as good this time; funny sounds seemed to be coming out of her chest. As her rescuer placed her on the sand she opened her eyes to see the man she loved.

“Nyall.” She wanted to touch him, but her arms were so tired, moving with the surf that drifted over them. “Saved me again.”

“Dinnae speak, my lady.” He sounded gentle but looked terrified. “Jamaran gives chase to your attacker.” He cradled the side of her face. “He shall come soon. He shall transform you. ’Twill save your life.”

She managed to shake her head.

“Not what I want.” It hurt to think she’d run out of time, and she’d have to leave them both, but there were more important things to say. “That shark thing is a shifter. It posed as Kai on the island. Be careful.”

Jamaran dropped down at her side. “Caroline.”