51. Moss

51

Moss

It was all over, and it was all only just beginning.

Pania and Ataahua grabbed him in bear hugs the moment his feet hit the sand. Then they grabbed Carol. Then someone handed them towels, and someone else was asking what the hell happened out there, and someone's phone started buzzing until it almost jumped out of her hand, and and and—

* I'm beginning to think we should have stayed underwater,* he grouched to Carol, who laughed.

Fairchild and his people were in custody. The asshole seemed too smug for someone who was about to enjoy a prison cell from the inside, but for now, no one was fighting. Moss was happy about that.

Deep inside him, the kraken was guiltily happy, too. It'd had enough of destroying things. Saving people? That was new.

And not new, at the same time. Because saving people was why it had made the bargain with Moss's ancestors, all those years ago.

The moment the captured Stymphalian shifters emerged from the ship, the sound of breaking wood and glass rang out from the house. The razor-winged woman from the basement flew down to the water, falling into an embrace a thousand times more careful than the one Moss's cousins had slammed him with. He caught the edges of a flurried conversation, and Carol frowned, silently translating for him.

* They all know Fairchild was lying now. Apparently, he didn't lock them up until they came back without me. Before that, he was playing the good guy. Same as he tried to do with me.* She grimaced. *They're glad she's safe, but they still haven't solved their problem.*

Shifters from another time—another world —whose only hope was a goddess who hadn't been seen in centuries, or a monster trapped beneath the ice.

"Whatever we do next, they'll be a part of it," Moss said in an undertone. Lance was several meters away but shot him a sharp look as he overheard. "They still think the Soul-Eater's their only chance to lose those razor feathers."

* If what you say about this person is true, we can't let him gather any more power than he already has.* Lance frowned.

* If they can't get rid of their metal bird bits through the Soul-Eater, then their only hope is to reincarnate his opposite. Which means killing him anyway, * Carol reminded him.

Lance stilled. * We're not letting them murder a man in prison,* he growled.

* Any idea how you're going to stop them?*

*We'll find a way.*

Moss took in the gathering: The Stymphalian birds, with their wings glinting in the sunlight. Fairchild's captured crew, unsure what the future held for them. Pania and Ataahua, pretending not to stick to Moss's side like they were worried he would disappear on them again.

Carol's team. Chloe, deep in her tablet as she tracked exactly how many people were now losing their minds over pixelated footage of what looked like a sea monster attacking a ship off the south coast of Te Waipounamu. Mathis, arms crossed, his lion close to the surface as he watched for any hint that their prisoners would try to escape. Keeley chasing after Maggie, and Maggie trying to be sneaky as she hauled her shoebox of treasures closer to where Moss and Carol were standing. And that was only the people who were physically here. The last few hours had been a flurry of calls as Lance's network across the world learned of what they were facing.

Carol squeezed Moss's hand. * Everything's going to change.*

*Good.* Things had already changed. Later, he would call his parents. The kraken wasn't a death sentence anymore, and that was a fucking good thing.

He could introduce Carol to his parents. The whole whanau. He hoped she was prepared for that.

And speaking of reuniting families…

"Maggie's uncle is still out there, right?"

Lance nodded. "So far as we know. We're a few days off schedule," he said dryly, as though the delay hadn't been literally life or death, "but now we have even more reason to believe he's headed south. To the… fortress."

"You make it sound like the fact that there's a secret invisible dragon fortress hidden in Antarctica is a weird thing," Carol joked.

Lance blinked, and Moss wondered if he'd ever heard Carol joke before. "Well," he began. "…Invisible?"

"I assume? The dragons can turn themselves invisible. Why not their secret base, as well?" She looked up at Moss.

"And the Soul-Eater's prison," Moss confirmed.

"Oh, and from something the Stymphalians said while we were on the ship, I think they might have magically created the storm that came down on us," Carol said, blinking.

Lance's gaze turned distant. "Great," he said bluntly. "Can't see any issues with that. Invisible dragons in an invisible house. Metal bird shifters that can call down the lightning. It's not like anything else about this has been simple."

Maggie perked her head up. "Chree!" she announced.