It was stalking them. Moving left and right, it glanced between its downed kin and them. Its face was twisted and contorted, its body squat and wasted. Time had only made it uglier.

“And we don’t know how long they’ll stay down,” Angela said. She scooped Sammi up, surprised at how easily she lifted the girl in both arms. Her skin was still hot, but no longer too hot to touch. Angela had heard urban myths about parents lifting crashed cars from their trapped children. Maybe her strength now came from love.

Her eyes watered at the heat. Sammi’s eyes flickered, sightless.

“I’ve got you,” she said.

“You sure that’s a gargoyle?” Lilou asked.

“Yes,” Bone said. “And he’s strong.”

“He’s been under water for forty years,” Lilou said. “He’ll be weak and confused. When he comes, take him from two directions.”

The gargoyle saw his chance and came at them. He stumbled, wings rising up for the first time as a form of balance, and Angela saw how tattered and ripped they were. Even if he wanted to fly, she doubted he ever could.

She readied herself to drop Sammi and protect her however she could—fists, feet, nails and teeth, she’d fight to the last so that her niece might have a chance at survival.

Bone feinted left and then jumped right, swinging the chair leg in his left hand. It connected with the gargoyle’s right arm. The gargoyle cried out and fell, and Bone landed beside it and rolled quickly away, eager not to make contact. Lilou came in from the other direction and jumped on the fallen Kin, bringing the branch down across the back of the creature’s head. Its face was driven into the ground, muffling its cries. Careful to avoid the teeth, Lilou raised the branch to strike again.

The gargoyle rolled and kicked out, both clawed feet just missing Lilou’s thighs as she staggered back.

Lilou revealed herself, arms held out, smiling.

Angela had never experienced the full effect of Lilou’s alluring nymph power. Lilou spent most of her time keeping it close and tight, concealed from the world even though her true instincts urged her to be herself. Fighting against instinct was the way most Kin had survived this long, Lilou had once told her, and Angela had often been aware of the nymph’s struggle.

Now, Lilou allowed herself to flow, to be herself in the face of this danger, and the rapture in her expression was wonderful to behold. Angela felt her knees weaken. Warmth bloomed at her core, and at that moment she loved Lilou and desired her, more than she’d ever believed she would desire a woman.

She took a step forward, and Sammi groaned in her arms.

“Ang...”

“I’m here!” Angela said, tearing her eyes from the nymph. “I’ve got you.”

“I feel sick.”