Another boat was closing in on us, but they held their fire. They wouldn’t risk hitting one of their own. I opened up the engines and steered toward land. Lena untangled our imprisoned guardsman. Once she’d checked to make sure he was uninjured, she grabbed him by the waist and collar and lifted him over her head. I twisted around and squirted him just before Lena hurled him into the waves, directly in the path of the other boat.

They slowed down, more concerned with rescuing their colleague than with catching us.

I grabbed Deb and pointed to the wheel. She took over, allowing me to examine the siren. Lena crouched beside me. Smudge darted from Lena’s head onto my shoulder.

Lena formed another branch into a thin, short-bladed knife, and used it to cut away the collar. The siren was awake now, her eyes round as she watched. Her face tightened in pain as Lena pulled the collar free.

I started to swear in five different languages. The inside of the collar was barbed. Each metal spike was a quarter of an inch long, and left bloody, pencil-sized holes in the siren’s throat. Six were concentrated in the front, with four more spaced around the sides and back of the neck.

My own healing cordial had shattered during the fighting. Lena offered a drop from hers, but the siren refused, squirming away. Without a word, she pulled herself over the edge and vanished into the ocean.

Lena’s mouth was a tight-pressed line. She moved over to relieve Deb. A moment later, the boat’s lights switched off.

It didn’t look like anyone was pursuing us. Between the sirens, the ice, and their own amnesiac crewmen, they had more than enough to worry about.

Which made this an ideal time for me to pass the hell out.

The next several hours were about as much fun as pulling out your own spleen. Through your urethra. Magic could heal physical injuries. It did nothing to help my mind and body recover from the amount of power I’d channeled tonight.

I remembered coming to on the boat, and Deb holding my collar while I leaned over the inflated rim and heaved everything I’d eaten in the past twenty-four hours into the ocean. When my consciousness finally managed a hard reboot, I found myself on my back in the sand, staring up at the cloudy night sky. I was wrapped in a damp blanket and shivering hard. Sweat covered my skin, and my muscles felt like melted rubber.

Smudge sat atop my chest, glowing like a tiny space heater. I brought my numb hands over his back.

“Oh, look. Mount St. Helens is awake,” said Deb. “Please tell me you’re done erupting.”

I didn’t have the strength to flip her off. “You look like you’re feeling better,” I croaked.

“I’ve been munching on minnows. And you look like hastily resurrected shit.”