To Ocean's End (39 page)

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It took two days and two marathon runs from me to make Newport appear on the horizon. Rammus had piloted the ship while I passed out in my bunk between marathons. Mido fed me calorie-packed meals after each swim, and the crew left me alone. They looked lost and worried but I didn’t care. All that mattered was reaching Newport, which we did two mornings later.

Once I reached the eastern tip of Long Island during my second marathon, I helped weigh anchor, then climbed aboard and reverted back to human, Rammus taking over in the wheel-house for the rest of the trip. I rinsed off in the showers, got dressed, and wolfed down probably two days’ worth of calories in one sitting. Eggs, cheese, bacon, buttermilk biscuits with lots of butter, some cantaloupe, electrolyte water, and enough coffee to get my hands shaking. Jessie, Mido, and the others gave me worried looks but otherwise kept their mouths shut as I envisioned Newport getting pulverized over and over. O’Toole hid away in the cargo hold the whole trip, even at night. Sam tried to coax him out but ended up bringing him food, which O’Toole pecked at, and Sam just left him be. We had enough reasons to be stressed out. Still the Irishman’s behavior worried me. When he was fine, all of us were fine. When he fretted, we fretted, going on alert like he was a pet dog growling at an unseen threat in the dark.

Tin of coffee in hand, I headed to the bow. Fog hung low overhead. Below it visibility ranged far, Connecticut and Rhode Island lining the horizon. Sam was on the bow, his gaze fixed on land. I walked up beside him and took a noisy sip of coffee. “You have my permission to run to your family and protect them.” He looked at me, his face drawn with fatigue. He probably hadn’t slept much in two days, if at all. “Fight hard. Fight fiercely. Don’t give what rises out of the ocean the satisfaction of making a meal out of you and your family.”

“Thank you, Captain.” He turned back to land, to home.

“Thanking me is the last thing you should be doing. This is all my fault.”

“I beg to differ. If you knew your choices would lead to this, you would’ve done different.”

I appreciated his loyalty and liked his logic but I wasn’t going to argue right now. I left him be and took over for Rammus in the wheelhouse, but I couldn’t keep still in my chair. I checked a drawer for my nautical charts, which were all present and accounted for, then stood at the tiller, drumming my fingers and tapping a foot. I didn’t see any smoke rising in the distance, which I hoped was a good thing. And once we were less than a mile from Newport’s southern tip, it was clear that nothing was on fire, much less harmed. I sailed into the harbor, around Goat Island, and docked at Wyndham Wharf, which had changed so much over the decades. The harbor had been teeming with private boats before the Purge. Now just a lucky few were proud owners of steam or bio-fueled vessels no more powerful than my kernels. The rest were bigger deep sea fishing boats for either commercial or recreational use. And now the port was a minor trade checkpoint since the Big Apple was now the Big Core.

I flipped on the sound system. “Everyone get on deck and throw the lines. We’re here. Everything looks intact so far.” Newport splayed out behind my stern in all its patched-up lack of glory. People meandered up and down the dirt streets, going stall-to-stall shopping, or whatever they were doing. “We need to evacuate the town. I need a few of you to head to the naval base north of here and convince them to help us evacuate Newport. Tell them whatever you think’ll convince them to believe you. I want as little collat--” I had a sudden urge to stop talking look out over my bow. There was only calm water but I felt like I was being watched by unfriendly eyes. “Hurry up and arm yourselves with everything you can and get ashore. Stay together. Protect yourselves and the landies, but don’t throw your lives away. If at any point running seems like the best idea, do it. Don’t hesitate; just run. The bottom line is to stay alive.” As much as I wanted to save innocent lives, my crew was the most important to me. They weren’t replaceable or reconstructable, like a house or a town. I switched off the sound system, unbuttoned my trench coat, and downed the rest of my coffee. Once I had the
Pertinacious
lined up with the pier and we were tied down, I cut the engine and headed to the stern. I didn’t bother arming myself with anything. I already had my demon form, which I had a feeling I was going to need real soon.

My crew joined me at the stern, armed with belts of grenades, sharpened swords, and a few crossbows and stuffed quivers. Jessie wore her studded gloves. Eleven people to protect one town from a supernatural invasion... it wasn’t enough. Too bad O’Toole wasn’t secretly able to scare off sea monsters like he could quasi-children. He was still hiding in the cargo hold. I took a quick head count, just to double check, then waved for everyone to follow me down the ladder.

Part of me didn’t want to leave my ship. It was like a security blanket. However, my feet touched the wooden dock and carried me down the pier. I kept glancing at the water as the rest of my crew followed, one by one. They formed a loose semi-circle on the dock and I faced them with my back to the water. The landies eyed us curiously, and with some trepidation. A couple loudly complained about my return before going on about their business. I mentally winced. These people hated me because trouble followed me every time I visited. After today, they were going to despise me for the rest of my unnaturally long life.

“Everyone work in at least pairs to get the landies to evacuate.” Mido’s and Jessie’s hands found each other, as did Ed’s and Ted’s. Scully and Sam nodded to each other. “When the attack starts, expect to see things bigger than my demon form to make their way ashore. Don’t pick a fight you can’t win. Just--” There was that haunting feeling of being watched again, watched by something that intended harm. Cold fear gripped my chest. I turned around. Again, there was nothing there, but I kept my eyes on the water. “Just tell people I’m back. Trouble’s followed me again. They all better run inland if they want to see another day.”

“Sounds a bit dramatic, don’t you think?” Ed said.

“Word it however you--” Something made a “v” in the water, something big enough to be spotted from over one hundred feet away, beyond the end of the pier running parallel to my ship. The water swelled and something burst through the surface and landed on the deck. On two feet. It... looked like a man, a tall, burly man. He purposefully strode over, heading right for me.

It was Tethys.

“No way,” Mido said. A ripple of shock ran through my crew as my stomach dropped to my feet.

Tethys halted before me, his massive frame towering over me. He wore a big grin and dripped water everywhere. “Well look who’s returned from the grave as well,” he said nonchalantly.

“How?” I breathed. I could barely speak. He’d fired my gun. The quasis had killed him, no doubt about it. And now I’d just watched him use a power similar to my own to leap onto the pier.

“I’m a certain sea goddess’s latest plaything. I’ve been sent to break you.” His skin turned a dark grey. He seized my my shirt and coat with both hands.

I reflexively grabbed his wrists and tried to break free, but he had me in an iron grip. His wrists swelled in my hands and my feet lost contact with the ground. Oh, shit. “Run!” Human me soared into the air as claws punctured my shirt and coat, grazing my chest. Tethys’s clothes ripped away, and his body swelled into a demon form with a broad, flat head, a bulging throat like a bullfrog’s, and fangs that stuck out like a croc’s. Wind whooshed in my ears as he soared to full height. He held me level with his beady eyes crowned by horned brows. His entire form looked like a mix of toad and bearded dragon on two massive legs, complete with an armored tail. Good god, I was very high off the ground. My crew stared up at us, swords drawn and mouths ajar. “Run, you morons!”

Tethys took me in one clawed hand as big as my body and cocked his fist back. I was held upside down over my ship’s deck. “Time to break,” he said in a booming voice. He threw me like a baseball out over Newport. My neck and limbs jerked from whiplash from the force of the throw, snapping me out of concentrating on going ketos. I caught snippets of land and fog as I somersaulted through the air, and by the time I started my downward arc, I collected enough mental faculties to concentrate. I triggered the transformation and willed myself to grow to full size as fast as possible. I squinted my eyes shut as my body tingled and burst out of my clothes. I braced for impact and hoped I’d survive the landing.

My armored back hit the ground first. I bounced and skidded and grew until I rolled into a two-story house. Glass shattered and the house let out a wooden moan. I lay still a moment, then gingerly rolled away, crushing a bike in the process, and pushed to my demon feet. I hadn’t finished transforming until after the first bounce, but at least my scales had formed. That was an adrenaline rush I wouldn’t recommend to anyone. I arched my back and rolled my shoulders, then looked at the house I’d almost steamrolled. It was this box-shaped thing with a squat roof, and still standing. Just needed new windows now.

Tethys had thrown me a good few blocks. He loomed above the trees and neighborhood, waiting. He was barrel-chested and had arms half as big as his torso. I was lean and sleek. There was no way I was equal to his brute strength. How was I going to beat him?

He gave me a taunting wave, then started stomping on the stalls lining the wharf, one at a time. My sensitive hearing picked up screams, and several cries cut short. I launched into a sprint and charged into him like a football player sacking a quarterback. Our armored bodies connected with a crack and the dock shattered beneath our combined weight. I began punching and raking him with my claws. He head-butted me so hard it sounded like the crack from a lightning strike, and I saw stars. Dazed, I splashed into the water next to my ship.

The sudden need to switch from lungs to gills snapped me to. I lurched to my feet in water that went up to my knees. Tethys reached over and tore the Harpy off my ship’s bow, making the vessel rock and bounce off the buoys cushioning it from the dock, and pissing me off. That was my ship he just vandalized. He pelted the machine at me and I took it in the head before I could lift my arms. I staggered backwards, tripping over the next pier and crushing it as I fell.

“And since you were so kind to put holes in my ship, let’s make yours smile.”

I sat up as the giant bastard tore a gaping hole in the
Pertinacious’s
hull. He bore his weight down on the bow, sending water gushing into the cargo hold. I got up and blasted him with a wave of water. He went flying and splashed a few piers down. I willed the water out of the hold and pushed the hull back up with water so the ship floated again. I glanced at the shore. People were running to and fro as they gathered loved ones and started heading inland. My crew was somewhere among them. Hopefully all the landies would have the sense to flee deep inland.

Tethys surged to his feet and sloshed over, bursting through two piers without slowing. I blasted him with another waver of water but he answered it with a thought and swing of his arm. A second wave met mine with a slap and the two reached into the air before falling back into the harbor.

“Looks like I finally get my duel for the port.” Tethys reached towards the ocean and threw a wave ashore, washing away the stalls he’d pulverized a minute ago.

Using water to propel myself, I rocketed into Tethys and tackled him into the water, then shifted into aquatic form and wrapped my tail around him as I clawed at his face. He thrashed and flailed, then I felt him shift forms as well, slipping out of my grip. I joined him above the surface and shifted back into having legs.

“So the bastard can fight after all. Too bad you fight alone.” He gestured to the harbor.

All over the surface sea monsters and nymphs rose out of the water like a pod of dolphins breaking the surface to grab some air. They were visible for as far as I could see. My crew couldn’t fight every last one of them, much less a quarter of them. I flung my arms out, washing away as many as I could. There had to be thousands teeming the harbor. My nightmare was becoming a reality.

“Oh, no you don’t. Your fight’s with me.” He sent a wave of water at me.

If that was the case, then I needed to draw him away from the densely-populated parts of town. I rode the wave and tackled him into the water. We somersaulted several times, churning up the water and crushing a pier. I ended under him, then tossed him off and leapt after him. He whipped me with his tail with a crack, making my side sting, but I raked his throat and landed next to him.

We continued our fight as I slowly drew him south, matching him blow for blow and occasionally swiping the milieu of invaders with water. But they were reaching land faster than I could handle. They began tearing down houses and buildings, and killing anyone who couldn’t run fast enough. I was going to have no crew and no home by the end of the day. There was no way Amphitrite would spare my crew because she felt like it.

I began fighting harder. We exchanged blows like boxers, bit and clawed like beasts, tackled each other at any opening, and threw waves of water in attempts to knock each other off balance. The only thread linking me to my sanity was that we were working our way south. The houses thinned out, giving way to sparse trees, low brush, and castle-like homes older than me. More monsters took those ancient houses down and I watched history begin its eternal dirt nap. The watching opened me up for several blows to the head. I staggered onto the dirt road. Tethys pounced and pinned me to the ground by my shoulders.