No, that’s cowardly thinking. I’m done with cowardly. I’m a descendant of Medusa and a monster huntress. Cowardly isn’t in my blood.
Still, Gretchen is the one with all the knowledge and skills.
“Maybe I should call her,” I tell myself.
A guy shouts an obscenity as the serpent’s tail slithers around his ankles.
There’s no time to wait for Gretchen. It would take her at least fifteen minutes to get here from her loft. Who knows what kind of havoc the snake-lady could wreak in that time?
I glance up at the restaurant windows, where I know Greer is safely eating dinner with her date. Well, I wanted to protect her. This is my chance.
And I’ll save a few dozen ignorant tourists in the process.
Jumping down from my bench, I toss the remains of my chowder into the nearest trash can, tighten down the straps on my backpack so it doesn’t get in the way, and head off in the direction of the monster. She’s moving deeper into the crowd. The first thing I need to do is get her away from all these people. How on earth am I going to—
“Ugh,” I grunt as I crash into someone.
“Watch where you’re going,” my collision victim snaps. “This isn’t bumper walking.”
I jerk back at the familiar voice.
“Greer?” I ask.
Our silver-gray eyes meet.
“What are you doing down here?” I ask. “I thought you were having dinner upstairs.”
“I was,” she says, not bothering to disguise her annoyance. “Until I saw this . . . thing climb out of the bay. Wait, how did you know where I was? Are you following me?”
“You saw her?” I squeal, ignoring her questions.
She stiffens, like she didn’t realize the slip until I commented. But she can’t take it back. She saw the monster. She is a descendant of Medusa, destined to be a huntress, just like me and Gretchen.
“That’s wonderful!” I scream. I wrap my arms around her before she can push me away. She’s got a few inches on me in her heels. “I knew you could see them too.”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s a flippin’ family reunion.” She pats me awkwardly on the back and then leans away. Gesturing to the snake lady’s wake, she asks, “Shouldn’t you do something about that?”
“Yes!” I jump back, beaming. “Yes, we should.”
I stare at her, beyond thrilled that she has admitted to seeing the creature. And maybe that will mean she’s willing to accept her responsibility as a huntress. Then the three of us can be reunited as sisters, as the Key Generation, and we can roam the streets, tracking monsters together. We’ll figure out what the seal is all about and how we’re supposed to be making the world safer for—
“And that something would be . . . ?”
“Right,” I say, jerking myself back to the immediate situation. Tourists. Wharf. Sea-serpent lady. “First, we need to get her away from this crowd.”
“Um, we? And how do you suggest we do that?”
“Oh, I’ve got an idea,” I say, a plan forming in my mind. A dangerous plan, true, but it’s the only one I’ve got. “You go down to the end of the pier, out of sight behind the building, where there won’t be any people.”
“And where will you be?”
I give her a shaky grin. “I’ll bring the monster.”
Greer looks unconvinced but heads off to the end of the pier. I turn and follow the sounds of grunts and thuds to where the snake-lady has almost made it off the pier and onto the mainland. I need to be fast. For a lot of reasons.
Catching up to her serpent tail, I take a deep breath, tell myself to be brave, and stomp my foot down on the scaly flesh as hard as I can.
Snake-lady howls in pain, spinning her torso around to face her attacker.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I say, with mock sincerity and even more mock courage. “Did that hurt?”
“A huntress,” she coos, a look of evil delight creasing her craggy features.
“You guessed it,” I retort. My hands are shaking so hard, I have to grasp the straps of my backpack to hide obvious signs of my fear. “And people say snakes are dumb.”
As she emits an earsplitting howl, her torso dives forward, the rest of her serpenty body coiling around for the strike. That’s my cue.
I turn and run, slipping through whatever space I can find in the crush of people, shoving into bodies left and right if they’re in my way. It’s a dash for my life at this point. Possibly for a lot of people’s lives. Maybe I shouldn’t have taunted the evil monster—the lure of the bounty might have been enough to get her attention—but I had to get her to follow me. And making her angry was the only way I came up with.
Now I know why a rabbit’s heart beats so fast when you catch it, because mine is fluttering in my chest like a butterfly on a sugar rush.
Finally, after what seems like forever, the crowd thins and I can sprint straight for the end of the pier. I skid around the corner, where Greer is waiting with a bored expression.
“She’s coming,” I pant. “Get ready!”
“Ready for what?” Greer asks, a sudden look of sheer panic on her face.
“To pounce.” I brace myself into a defensive stance. “Grab on and don’t let go no matter what.”
I’ve barely finished my command when snake-lady comes slithering around the corner. Her beady eyes focus on me, so she doesn’t see Greer standing next to the wall.