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We’re in the engine roo at once

Look later, I told her as I swaet lost beneath the machinery I had made it halfway across the rooh the hole Though we had crammed ourselves into a crevice so small it was impossible to turn my head to watch thelow of their phosphorescence as they made their way down the narrow aisles and partly because the terees

I’d felt the drop in temperature outside as well, but had chalked it up to the difference between the tunnel and the open sea Noever, I wondered if it was Scylla who had that effect on the water, as I’d never felt a difference like that around Sabyn before Was she doing it on purpose? Trying to freeze us into compliance? Or was she just so evil that the cold was a natural by-product of her existence?

Either way, Mahina squirot closer, and to keep her fro a hand down on her shoulder Don’tto find us She sounded as close to hysteria as I had ever heard her

Not if you don’t give us away Just be still for a h-pitched whine deep insideto kill us if we stay here

As Mahina pushed against et out, I knew that there would be no reasoning with her Any second now, she would give away our hiding spot and whether I liked it or not, ere going to have to take on two of Tiamat’s most powerful allies

Do you have any ? I asked her

Only two The distraction worked, had her focusing on what she could do to help instead of her utter certainty that ere about to die

Shit Tasn’t going to do us ood, especially not if we still had to face Tiamat, a hoard of bunyip, and God only knehat else Still, it would be stupid to save the now …

Get one of them out, I finally told Mahina, and Scylla must have felt the vibrations from her movements because the sea witch stopped in her tracks Then turned and faced our hiding spot dead on before beginning to swim toward us

Are you ready? I asked Mahina, hirenade, as well as the knife I had given her

Scylla must have alerted Sabyn to our presence, because the next thing I knew, he too stopped hishis way back toward us

Mahina stiffened, tried to scoot out of our hiding place with the knife extended in front of her Not yet, I cautioned

But they’re getting closer

Not close enough to use that, I told her Trust ive it just a fewnot to spook Mahina--or ging out as well Still, that was exactly what they wanted, and I wasn’t going to give the to just roll over and let them kill us

I waited, breath held, for one of them to , thinking, channeling energy and using it the sa" sessions

Layer after layer, I quickly built a spear that was as sharp as a scalpel and probably three ti behind it

It’s almost time, Mahina Scylla was close, very close, because I could see the pink tinge to the water splashing over to us She was obviously still bleeding, which, disgusting as it was to be this close to so e for us We just had to find a way to exploit her injury