The water bobbed around Hæra as a sudden burst of weight displaced it. Something had fallen in. She turned.

And she watched in disbelief as Sister Madeleine’s black-clad form fell beneath the surface.

Sister Madeleine’s body was still, not striking out to save herself as most humans would. Couldn’t she swim? Or had she actually jumped in to find Hæra after calling to her?

It only took a moment to realize neither possibility was true. Sister Madeleine was sinking, not moving. Soon, she would drown.

She saved me.

Hæra tore toward Sister Madeleine, her tail propelling her in two powerful strokes. She took hold of Sister Madeleine’s coat with her teeth. The material pressed against her, along with something harder—a band of beads around Sister Madeleine’s waist.

She had to act quickly. It didn’t take humans long to drown. Sister Madeleine’s body drifted and rolled as Hæra pulled her to shore, to leave her there and try to forget this had ever happened. A brood mare she would be after all. The Great Mare willed it so.

Then, a scent filled her nostrils. Rich. Potent. Even more intoxicating than what she’d smelled earlier on the wind.

Sister Madeleine’s forehead was bleeding.

Hæra had a mouthful of cloth, but her lips pulled back to expose her teeth as she began to salivate. Her hide prickled as if a thousand air bubbles had just popped in its hairs. The scent of Sister Madeleine’s blood called to her more seductively than any siren, and Hæra would know, since she’d heard the sirens.

Sister Madeleine’s head lolled gently in the water. Her body twitched. Her blood smelled incredible. She was the most delectable, edible creature in all the seas.

And she had saved Hæra’s life.

With a growl, Hæra swam for the shore, just a few more lengths away. She’d have to drag her woman onto it, and for that, she’d need to grow a pair of hind legs. She’d done it before, but only underwater and out of curiosity. Time to test the legs on land.

By the Great Mare, she wasn’t just breaking the surface. She was actually going on land.

For a moment, she hesitated. This seemed a literal step too far. But then Sister Madeleine’s body bumped against hers again, reminding Hæra what a life debt was.

On land she would go.

Her front hooves brushed against the rocks, and she began to transform her tail. It split painlessly in two, its muscles assuming new shapes, its fins becoming sharp rear hooves. Together, her four hooves touched the seafloor and then propelled her onto the shadowed beach as she dragged Sister Madeleine’s body ashore.