“Anyone else see that?” Phelix asks.
“It’s there.” Percy points.
“That looks like a big one!” Zaphyra exclaims.
In the middle of the water a dark shape is rising. All the panic I had momentarily forgotten is back. Something smooth and shiny breaks the surface. It takes .02 seconds for my brain to register that it’s a giant tentacle. It’s official, I don’t like tentacles. I didn’t know I could have a distaste for something so arbitrary until this moment.
The tentacle waits in the air.
“Now!” Percy tells the gargoyles. They shift at once and form a defensive wall. Another tentacle joins the first.
“Violet, find a containment spell. Towards the back!” Zemira instructs walking into the rushing water.
“And for heaven’s sake, don’t lose the bottle!” Phelix yells before running, jumping, and flying at the tentacles.
I focus on the book. I can’t let them down; even with six of them, there’s no way they can take whatever giant river squid this thing is. I flip through the pages in the back as quick as I can.
“Containment, containment,” I say to myself. The fighting next to me gets louder. I look up in time to see a lot more tentacles. Too many tentacles are fighting the gargoyles. Two of them have a hold on Zaphyra pulling on her. They’re trying to rip her in half! Phelix is hacking through one with an axe. Another one rises behind him. “No!” I shout.
Alex tackles the tentacle behind Phelix. An inhuman roar comes out of the water as Phelix hacks off the one tentacle.
The book shakes in my hands grabbing my attention. It lights up with a blue light and the pages flip on their own. It opens to a spell. The words are in another language, but as I stare at them, they shake and come into focus in English.
To contain a water demon:
Repeat these words thrice while holding a waterproof pyxis.
I look at the bottle. I have no idea what a pyxis is, but let’s hope this is one. Facing the water, I read the spell aloud.
“Liquid mantra
Holdfast course
Take in this beast
With no remorse.”
Blue light swirls from the bottle towards the demon.
“Liquid mantra, holdfast course, take this beast, with no remorse,” I repeat.
The tentacles all halt their assault. The blue lights surround the water and fall into it. Before I can remember what I’m supposed to be doing, something whips at me fast and hard. A tentacle grabs me around the waist lifting me into the air.
I scream.
The book is left behind on the sand. One of my arms is wrapped in the tentacle holding the bottle. With my free arm, I try to claw and push the thing off of me. Its skin is too hard to move. The beast roars giving me a glimpse of its face. Horror strikes my heart. Somewhere a siren blares. It’s not a squid at all. A reptilian mouth full of crocodile teeth pulls me towards it. The tentacle squeezes tighter cutting off that loud noise; it wasn’t a siren at all, it had been coming from me. I hadn’t even realized I was screaming. I try to suck in a breath.
“Violet!” Alex shouts. “The spell!”
All of the gargoyles are swarmed with tentacles, battling to get to me. My brain rolls. Alex is hacking away at a tentacle holding his leg. His eyes stay on me.
“Liquid mantra!” The words come out as gasp. “Holdfast course—”
A hot blast of air covers me, the beast roars again as the lights get brighter. Turning my attention downward I can see details on all of the teeth. Brown grooves in the white bone. My heart races, I close my eyes. This is it.
“Take this beast with no remorse!” I cry. “Take it please!”
The world quakes and I feel my body being thrown. Surrounded in blue light, I fall. With a loud pop, the world turns black and cold.
I must be dead.
There’s an uncontrollable spin of icy cold blackness all around me. I can’t take a breath; I can’t fight or move. I died during my first demon fight.
A noise in the dark captures my attention and something hard wraps around me. Fear hits me once again, but before I can react, I’m lifted up and out of the water. Suddenly trees and the moon are above me. Alex is here too. No, Alex is carrying me. It’s even colder up here, so much colder than the cold water. Finally, my body remembers how to breathe. I must have had the wind knocked out of me when I fell in the river. He lands down on the opposite shore from where we had been.
“You’re okay, you’re okay,” he says quickly. He sets me down on a log.
“The m-m-onster?” I ask between chattering teeth.
“It’s gone, you did it. You did amazing.” He lifts my chin with a finger. A wave of genuine concern is etched in his monstrous features. He doesn’t utter a word, but I swear I can feel him; I feel what he feels. This concern has nothing to do with being magically cursed to be by my side. This is the concern of someone who truly cares about me. A million feelings flood through me for him. A dam has broken somewhere and I don’t know how to explain what it is that’s happening between us. This connection.
“You saved me,” I say still breathless.
“I would do anything for you,” he tells me, his deep voice husky.
“Alex, I—” I lunge into his arms. He catches me wrapping me in a warm embrace. My lips smash into his gargoyle ones. He is rough, almost burning with warmth against my cold lips. His giant hands hold me so tenderly, they run rivers of desire up my spine.
He pulls us slightly apart, his hand moving to hold my face. “I dreamed of this exact moment,” he says. He kisses me hard. I don’t stop him. Our mouths explore each other. It feels like lightning strikes inside me and spreads. Whatever this is, this is the only place I want to be. I stand on my tiptoes on the log and pull him closer, tighter. I can’t let go of him.
My body starts to shiver uncontrollably. I feel a laugh in his chest.
“We should stop and get you warmed up,” he whispers in between kisses.
“You are warming me up,” I whisper back. My body shivers violently betraying my lie. I’m freezing, but I don’t want to stop. If we stop, we might not ever start up again. I know my brain will start to try to convince me that making out with a giant immortal demon boy is a bad idea, because my brain is unreasonable like that.
He laughs again and holds me back. “Violet,” he shakes his head when I try to lip attack him again, “You are going to be a handful, aren’t you?”
“I’ll be a mouthful too if you let me.”
A bark makes me jump. Achilles is running down the beach. My heart rejoices at the sight of him. There’s something about his presence that just screams I’m your best beasty. I can’t resist that pull.
“Achilles!” I cry running.
He jumps, morphing from his beast form into his dog form before reaching my arms. I fall backwards into the sand with his weight.
“Oof! Buddy, we may have to put you on a diet,” I laugh as his tongue covers me in kisses. “I was worried about you too,” I say. My eyes meet Alex’s over Achilles’ head. I can hear the silent agreement between us not to tell anyone about the kiss.
Achilles tries to lay on top of me sideways.
“What is he doing?” I ask.
“He’s trying to warm you up,” Alex says. “Seriously, we need to get you by a fire.”