It should have been perfect. In human form, her head on fire, Hæra had gone into the village and sought out the hotel. From a distance, on the street, she’d seen Madeleine—clearly drunk—heading toward the sea. Toward their beach.

The Great Mare had arranged it, Hæra had been sure. It was a sign that it was time for this to come to an end and for Hæra to embrace her destiny at last. What else could it be, when Hæra had finally found her resolve, only to see Madeleine heading for the beach of her own accord?

Hæra had transformed for the first time in years. For a moment, as she’d stretched and grown and shifted her shape, she’d thought: I forgot. She’d forgotten what it was like to wear the body she’d had for nearly a century. Well—that would change, she’d decided, once she did what she’d come to do.

And she hadn’t been able to do it.

Madeleine had stood before her under the moon and stars, the wind making a mess of her hair. Her mouth, the same mouth Hæra had kissed, hung open. Her sea-green eyes bugged out. She’d been shocked, and then terrified.

And beautiful.

And edible.

Hæra hadn’t been around Madeleine in her true form since the night they’d met. She’d forgotten what that was like too. Madeleine’s scent was delicious when Hæra wore a human shape. It made her want strange, complicated things.

When Hæra was in Each-uisge form, it made her want something simpler: to devour. To feast.

I couldn’t do it.

How was it possible? To stand in front of what she wanted most in the world and be unable to take it?

Unclear. In the moment, all Hæra had known was that she couldn’t rend the same face she’d kissed only hours ago with more desire than the sea could hold.

She could have spoken. Explained herself. But faced with Madeleine’s horror, the words wouldn’t come. Hæra hadn’t been able to identify herself as the woman who’d vowed to protect Madeleine, kissed her, and was now about to eat her.

“I only wanted to set you free,” Madeleine had cried, her voice raw with fear Hæra had never wanted her to feel. Set Hæra free? It was funny how human intentions often led to the opposite effect. Madeleine had slammed a prison door in Hæra’s face and turned the key.

Hæra hadn’t been able to hurt a hair on Madeleine’s head, and she never would be.