Her eyes changed, shifting from their usual bright blue to an eerie green, and they grew larger, almost too large for her face. Her teeth became more pointed. Several rows sprang out from behind the others and protruded jaggedly from her still-human lips. The last thing to change was her arms, growing longer and sprouting taloned fingers.

Lexi had begun shifting into the bird form, but she stopped changing mid-shift. The whole beast was probably a bit cumbersome for being in public, but even this smaller shift would make her stronger. Gemma had felt it when she’d been fighting with Sawyer. Just the little change had enabled her to break away from him.

Alex charged at Lexi while Gemma ran over and grabbed a heavy rope that had been left on the dock. When Alex ran at Lexi, she knocked him back, but that was what Gemma had wanted. He lay on the dock, and while Lexi hunched over him, Gemma ran and jumped on her back. She wrapped the rope around Lexi’s neck, choking her, and wrapped her legs around the siren’s waist to get a better grip.

Lexi squawked and tried to buck Gemma off, but that only made her hang on tighter. Alex kicked Lexi in the stomach, and she fell to her knees. She reached back behind her head and grabbed Gemma’s hair.

She yanked on it hard enough to make Gemma scream, but Gemma refused to let go of the rope. Alex kicked Lexi in the face, probably afraid that if he punched her, he might accidentally rip his hand off on her incisors.

“Will you stop screwing around?” Penn snapped, and all three of them turned to see her standing on the dock with her hands on her hips. Thea was right beside her.

Lexi squawked again, trying to speak but unable to, since Gemma had the rope so tight around her neck.

“Gemma, let go of her,” Penn said wearily. “If you don’t, I’ll come over there and rip your boyfriend’s head off. It’s as simple as that. I’m sick of fighting, so do as I say, or I’ll kill you all.”

Reluctantly, Gemma let go of the rope and got off Lexi. As soon as she did, Lexi turned to her like she meant to attack in some way, but Penn hissed at her.

“Lexi,” Penn commanded. “I said I was sick of all this fighting, and I meant it. Clean yourself up and get off the ground.”

“Sorry,” Lexi said awkwardly through her mouthful of teeth.

The fireworks were finishing up, and they ended on a noisy, rapid-fire note, with lights exploding every second in the sky. Lexi shifted back to her normal self and stood up. Gemma and Alex had gotten to their feet, and they stood together, holding on to each other.