Page 129 of The Secret of Drulea Cottage
Briony pulled the pelt over her body, feeling the two skins meld together as one. Her sight and hearing adjusted as her senses shifted. The ceiling stretched away from her as though it was growing, yet she knew she was the one doing the changing. She groaned at the sudden aches in her stomach and back as the wounds settled into her, but they were tolerable. More tolerable than she’d expected.
And with the transition from human to animal, Briony’s thoughts simplified. For when she lifted her black eyes back to the rowboat out on the sea, she no longer saw Lucia and Captain Costa. Instead, she saw merely friend and foe: a friend to be saved at all costs and a foe she wouldnotlet stand in her way.
She dove into the water with hardly a sound, her body gliding through its natural element. She ducked below the surface and zoomed toward her goal, making sure she was deep enough not to be spotted from above. In order for her plan to succeed, stealth was required. If Costa even suspected she was near, he might dispose of Lucia as he had Adriano.
When she glimpsed the boat’s telltale shadow, she slowly ascended until her head just barely crested the water’s surface. Costa was facing away from her, moving his arms in a steady, rhythmic motion as he rowed farther and farther from the chaos he’d caused. Lucia, on the other hand, was facing Briony, and if the girl happened to lift her eyes—
Lucia gasped as her gaze met Briony’s. Briony immediately ducked below the water and then slipped under the boat to rise on the other side.
“What is it now?” the captain growled.
Lucia, unaware that Briony was now on the port side of the rowboat, pointed to where the seal had been before. “Th-There’s something in the water!”
Costa instantly stopped rowing, but before he had the chance to catch sight of her, Briony was already making her move. She dove directly below the boat and then swam upward as fast as she could. The rowboat heaved to the side, dumping both its passengers into the water before rebalancing.
The two humans flailed their arms as they rose to the surface. Briony wasted no time and flew forward to her target. She gripped Lucia’s arm with her mouth and started to pull.
But the poor girl had no idea she was actually being rescued and began to panic even more. She jerked away from Briony and inhaled water as she tried to scream. The seal, not to be deterred, simply grabbed her again and turned to swim back toward the ships.
Lucia squirmed and clawed at Briony with all her might, and when her nails caught on one of Briony’s injuries, Briony released her with a yelp. Lucia turned and started moving back to the rowboat as Briony fought through the pain and tried not to pass out.
If I lose consciousness, that’s it. And after all the trials I’ve been through, there’s no way I’m going to accept defeat now.
Shaking her head to reorient herself, Briony then joined the two humans at the surface just as they took hold of the side of the boat. When her head broke through the water, Briony took in a great gulp of air, her focus on rejuvenating herself rather than on the two people around her.
“Aaah!” Lucia shrieked.
Briony whirled toward the sound, her eyes widening when she caught sight of the gun Costa was pulling out of the boat. She only just managed to slide out of the way as the man fired a shot. She went under him and bit his foot. He aimed to shoot at her again, but she was already pulling him downward, knowing his gun would be useless below the surface.
But just before he was fully under, Costa tossed the pistol back into the boat and drew out a knife. He swung the weapon toward Briony’s neck, but she twisted sideways to throw off his aim and then continued to drag him deeper. The man swiped at her again, this time forcing Briony to release her hold on him.
Then, without warning, Costa turned away and started swimming back up. Briony’s first thought was that he was trying to get back to the safety of the boat. Lucia had managed to pull herself into it in the meantime, and no doubt she also thought herself safer for it.
But Briony was a selkie, and in a moment of pride, she believed herself unstoppable.Nowhere is safe fer Costa anymore, be it on land or in the sea. Fer I am the hunter now, and he is the prize.
She gave him a few seconds to think he was escaping, time to believe he had a chance before she would strike again.
But then she remembered the loathing in the captain’s eyes before he’d turned away. It had been much more than just that of a man looking at an animal. It was almost as if he knew who she was and what she was trying to do.But if that’s true—
Briony sped after him desperately, hoping she was wrong—
But she’d hesitated too long. By the time she reached the captain, he’d already made his move. And when Briony’s head broke the surface of the water and she saw what he’d done, he smiled.
“I do believe this win goes to me, Senhorita Fairborn. An impressive effort, but you should know better by now.”
His words fell on deaf ears, and as he heaved himself into the now empty rowboat, Briony couldn’t be bothered to care. For he was exactly right. He’d won.
And more than the blood pooling in the water, more than the knife still lodged in Lucia’s chest, it was Lucia’s eyes that revealed the truth. She was not long for this world.
“Ah, how I hate loose ends,” the captain laughed.
Briony turned only to see that Costa had retrieved his gun.
“Adeus,[39]senhorita.”
BANG!
Parting
