Page 77 of Bride of the Sea King

I slammed a third wave into her before she had time to cover more ground. Though I could’ve taken her down completely with enough focused energy, I was worried about the amount of magic I’d have to burn through to do it.

If I wiped myself out to remove her from the beach once, we would be overtaken quickly.

I sent a fourth wave, struggling to come up with an alternative. Though I was getting much stronger, I had a long way to go before I had mastered the sea the way Triton had. It would take everything I had just to keep the beach clear of everyone else, minus Eila.

I sent a fifth wave too, when the fourth didn’t take her down.

My chest rose and fell rapidly, my heart beating wildly in my chest as I panted, trying to recover from the strain of the magic.

The queen wasn’t budging.

We were?—

“Eila’s going to reach the castle.” Rayna’s voice was sharp, and in my ear instead of my head. She’d finished closing the doors and met me on the roof, as we’d planned. “Can you keep going?”

“I can keep the beach clear, but I can’t move her. She’s too strong,” I admitted. “I don’t have the energy to both take her out and force everyone else back until Triton’s done with the squids.”

I was still training, after all.

I’d eventually be stronger than Triton, but I wasn’t there yet.

“I’ll deal with her. Don’t let the water carry me off.” Rayna’s hand brushed my shoulder. “Be careful.”

“You too.”

She released me.

And with one smooth motion, she vaulted over the edge of the building.

I wanted to watch her roll or flip or whatever she was doing to get down to the sand safely.

But the selkies were already moving up the beach.

Which meant I had to focus.

I used another wave to clear the sand and stop Eila one more time before Rayna reached her.

A weapon had appeared in Rayna’s hand—a large spear that looked like it was made of water. But the end wasn’t just a single sharp metal point.

It had three.

She was using a fucking trident.

I really had enteredThe Little Mermaid.

Rayna collided with Eila, and the women rolled across the sand as they grappled. Their movements were strong and practiced, and fast enough that I didn’t have the time or energy to keep up with what exactly was happening.

A man I recognized waded out of the water with the now-larger group of selkies.

It was Owin, from the beach.

The kelpie who had tried to use his magic to seduce me.

Jackass.

Owin was headed straight toward me and moving faster than the others around him. He didn’t so much as look behind him when my next wave grew larger than the one before it—but in one powerful crash, he and the others were torn off the beach and thrown back into the ocean.

Minus Rayna and the selkie leader, who were still fighting.

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