The wave crashed into the castle. I stopped the water at the closed doors—though a little had probably already slipped through the cracks—and shoved the wave back into the ocean hard and fast. Triton had taught me how to do it without allowing anyone or anything to cling to the castle’s walls or the sand, so I did it exactly the way he’d shown me.

The drain on my energy was significant, but it was manageable.

The wave wiped the selkies off the beach—but when the water cleared, I saw one remaining.

Eila. Their leader.

She held a massive spear that was buried deep in the sand, her chiseled muscles tense. She ripped it free and started to sprint forward again.

Shit.

As fast as I’d removed them, the other selkies were surging up the sand again, too.

I gathered another wave, focusing on the queen. She was nearly to the castle. And while the doors were locked, I was pretty sure she could climb it with muscles like those.

If she climbed it, she could reach me. Unlike her, I didn’t have a big-ass spear to keep myself safe.

My second wave crashed harder than the first.

When it rolled back, the queen’s spear was buried in the sand again, her shoulders hunched as she held on with everything she had.

The woman was an absolute badass.

It was really unfortunate that she wanted to kill me and Triton, because I respected the hell out of her strength.

I slammed a third wave into her before she had time to cover more ground. Though I could’ve taken her down completely with enough focused energy, I was worried about the amount of magic I’d have to burn through to do it.

If I wiped myself out to remove her from the beach once, we would be overtaken quickly.

I sent a fourth wave, struggling to come up with an alternative. Though I was getting much stronger, I had a long way to go before I had mastered the sea the way Triton had. It would take everything I had just to keep the beach clear of everyone else, minus Eila.

I sent a fifth wave too, when the fourth didn’t take her down.

My chest rose and fell rapidly, my heart beating wildly in my chest as I panted, trying to recover from the strain of the magic.

The queen wasn’t budging.

We were⁠—

“Eila’s going to reach the castle.” Rayna’s voice was sharp, and in my ear instead of my head. She’d finished closing the doors and met me on the roof, as we’d planned. “Can you keep going?”

“I can keep the beach clear, but I can’t move her. She’s too strong,” I admitted. “I don’t have the energy to both take her out and force everyone else back until Triton’s done with the squids.”