That wasn’t true. The sea wore down stone over time. Sister Madeleine should look to the ocean to serve as a foundation for…whatever a “soul” was. It sounded interesting. She spoke with such conviction, such assuredness—two qualities Hæra prized in herself.

What a pity you couldn’t actually talk to a human before you ate her. Hæra hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone this much since her father had died. Or…perhaps she could? Perhaps if she took a human shape after all—found some clothes, somehow, tracked down Sister Madeleine, she could have a meaningful conversation and then drag her into the ocean…

She looked at Sister Madeleine’s face with desperate hunger. The more she saw, listened, and smelled, the more certain she was. This was the one whose flesh she desired, whose blood she longed to mingle with her own. The one she’d consume and carry all the way into the sky every time she took flight.

Without replying to what Sister Madeleine had said about rock, Ava walked away, her head bent low as she trudged over the sand up toward the grassy hill. At first, Sister Madeleine kept pace with her. Then, a few steps in, she stopped and turned around, looking at the ocean once more. Ava didn’t stop.

Hæra’s heart, however, did. Just for a second. Then, her common sense kicked in like a hoof to the head. She had a chance, might never get another—she must take it, must risk it.

This woman was worth the risk.

“Sister Madeleine!” she called from the water. “Help me!”

Her voice didn’t sound like a proper human voice. It was too deep, rumbling with the rhythms of the sea. However, it certainly got Sister Madeleine’s attention. Her head whipped round, the black fabric flapping in the breeze, as she sought out the source of the voice. She took a step forward.

Hæra stayed hidden behind her rock, her head nearly submerged. Closer…come closer, into the waves…

Nearly at the end of the sand, Ava turned around to see Sister Madeleine frozen on the beach. She called, “Sister?”

Sister Madeleine called back, “Did you hear that?”

Ava shook her head.

Sister Madeleine looked around again. “Hello?”

Hæra opened her mouth to repeat her cry, but at that moment, a wave crashed brutally, pushing her against the rock even against the strength of her tail. She went under. When she resurfaced, Ava was trotting back to Sister Madeleine’s side. It would be too risky to call out again.

Together, the females looked over the water, paying much more attention to their surroundings than they had before. Hæra had to duck below the surface. By the time she raised her head above the water again, they’d turned their backs and were walking away from the ocean.