Page 53 of Riding A Cock-Horse
I can star in my ownJawsmovie—all I'm missing is the theme music to my own death.
The aquatic carnivores start circling us in calculated ways that tell me they're not normal sharks.They’re shifters.
Huh… I wonder if they're like Maui fromMoanaand become half-man, half-shark—only the top half is the shark.
Then I remember Arthur saying that splicing is painful and shifters rarely survive it.
Please turn Maui.
Please turn Maui.
“Is she chanting to the Hawaiian God of Trickery?” Elise demands to Jude, but I don’t bother responding.
I'm so sick of being scared of being eaten or violated by another human—I mean, shifter—either way, it’s fucked up!
Suddenly, something eight times the size of the boat and easily fifteen times bigger than the sharks comes bursting out of the water, knocking three sharks at least fifty feet into the air!
“Ah! Take cover!” I cry, throwing my hands over my head—because that’s definitely going to protect me from shark missiles.
Watching the now flying aquatic carnivores, I'm terrified that they're going to land inside the boat and capsize us, but a long neck comes out and catches all three sharks at once, biting them in half, and swallowing them whole. I realize it's Nestor. With sudden clarity, I realize exactly why Arthur’s uncle didn't fight Nestor when he said he wanted me as his mate—this is one badass Tertiary!
“Go, Nessie! Eat all them shark bitches!” I cheer.
The others yell with me—even the pregnant women, and I’m glad to see their smiles.
All of a sudden, Nestor turns quickly, smacking the boat with his big ass flipper. I go sailing to the side where the bar slams into my solar plexus, effectively knocking the air right out of me. I lose my balance and topple head first into the Irish Sea.
Dear, sweet Jesus, please let Nestor have eaten all the sharks first is my last thought as I go under.
“Drive the boat, get to the mainland, find the others.”
With this command, Jude just jumps into the water where Belle went under. The barmy man—doesn't he know that Nestor will protect her? Of course, there's no guarantee Nestor will get to her in time, and with everything at stake—Elise and her broken arm and five pregnant women—I need to get to the mainland immediately. I’ve never wanted a hospital so desperately. Whipping the boat around, I punch the acceleration and do as I have been bid. Elise comes up to me, her arm still dangling helplessly at her side, and I can only imagine the amount of pain she's in.
“Theo, we've got to hurry,” she whispers.
“What's wrong?”
“It's the woman who gave birth to Gryffon. She's losing blood rapidly. If we don't get her to the hospital for a transfusion soon, she's going to die.”
My heart accelerates at these words. I want to wait for Belle, Jude, and Nestor, but time is of the essence. I’ve got to trust them to take care of themselves—just as Jude has entrusted me with the care of Elise, these women, and the baby. I know that Arthur and the others are waiting for us, but we still don't know where Sian is.
It feels as if aren't my entire life has been pulled apart, and all I can do now is salvage the broken pieces left behind.
I wish Jude hadn't jumped into the water. And I guess if I'm being honest with myself, I wish it had been me—I wanted to be the hero for once.
The one to save my mate.
But getting this boat to the mainland is just as heroic; there are other lives to save here.
Hopefully, I can maneuver the thing and not crash it. I drive straight east. Eventually, I'll have to hit the shore. Gryffon whines in Elise’s arms and nips at the air.
“Do you think he's hungry?” she wonders.
The little marvel still hasn't shifted into his human form.
“How are we going to feed him when he’s like this?” I counter. “Especially when his mum is sick.”
“She wouldn’t feed him anyway,” Elise sniffles. “She hates the poor mite. She considers him an abomination—considersusabominations!”
