Chapter 23

Natasha

From the depths of the dark, I watch the monsters with glowing eyes and dinosaur-like bodies chase away Scylla, whose haunting voice carries through the sea.

Suits her right.

I'm smiling until breathing underwater turns challenging—Hayden's magic must be running out.

My hands reach for my throat, and I kick with my legs, desperate to break through the surface. But the waves are wild, and lightning strikes from the skies above. I gasp for air, and then I'm slung into a rock.

Pain wrecks my body from within, and I swallow water before attempting to crawl over the mossy rock. My hair hangs in clumps, and salt burns my eyes and makes it challenging to see.

A tsunami, much more giant than any I've ever seen before, is building up in the distance, but the water isn't calm. The waves are already wild, and thunder crashes down, again and again.

It seems storms arise whenever Scylla makes an entrance.

I get up on the roc