Elegy

THIRTY-FIVE Hostile

Gemma lunged at Penn, who didn’t move or even try to block her. As she wrapped her fingers around Penn’s throat, she felt them lengthening, the bones crackling as they grew. As Gemma tightened her grip around Penn’s neck, they both plummeted underwater, falling toward the bottom of the ocean.

Penn’s lips pulled back, stretching around her fangs, and her face began to change shape. Her cheekbones grew more pronounced, her eyes receded farther back, and her charcoal hair thinned. Her face had shifted into the full monster, reflecting the same changes that were happening to Gemma’s.

Within a few seconds of their going underwater, Penn decided she’d had enough of Gemma’s talons around her throat. She bared her teeth, letting out a low, guttural laugh, and gripped Gemma’s arms.

Gemma’s arms had lengthened, stretching the skin tight around the bone, so when Penn grabbed her, digging her sharp talons through her flesh, they actually pierced the bone. Gemma cried out in pain, and Penn pushed back, sending her crashing into the stone wall of the bottom of the rock Gemma had been clinging to.

Penn’s mermaid tail had been pumping with such ferocity that when she slammed Gemma into the rock behind her, Gemma was surprised that the massive stone didn’t give way behind her. Reflexively, she let go of Penn’s neck, then, quickly, Penn pulled her back and slammed her into the rock again, cracking Gemma’s skull against the stone.

Pain shot through Gemma’s head, and for a second, she saw white. But when that cleared, Penn’s cackling face hovered in the water in front of her, her wispy black hair floating around her like a dark halo.

That evil Cheshire grin was all the motivation Gemma needed. She’d always wanted to smack that hideous smile right off Penn’s face, so she finally did.

Before Penn could slam her into the rock again, Gemma slapped her hard, letting her claws rake across her face as she did. When one of her talons pierced Penn’s eye, she cried out in pain as blood reddened the saltwater around her.

Penn let go of Gemma so she could cradle her own face in her hands, and Gemma dove at her again. Balling her long fingers into oversized fists, Gemma began pummeling her. Since her bones were like marble, it was like punching with brass knuckles.

Penn’s arms were shielding her face, so Gemma focused her attention on the soft, exposed flesh of her stomach, and she slammed her fists into it over and over, hitting her abdomen and her sides. Penn swam backward as Gemma hit her, and it wasn’t until Gemma punched her chest, hitting her in the ribs directly over her heart, that Penn reacted.

She lunged to the side and tried to swim around Gemma. Gemma turned with her, thinking Penn was trying to get away, but then she felt a long arm around her neck, coming from behind her, as Penn put her in a headlock.

“Don’t even think about going after my heart,” Penn growled, her demonic voice right in Gemma’s ear, and she tightened her arm on her throat, suffocating Gemma.

Gemma craned her neck and gnashed her teeth, biting at anything she could. Her jagged fangs tore into Penn’s shoulder, ripping off the flesh and scraping against the bone. Penn moved her arm to get it out of the bite zone, and Gemma wriggled free.

As she swam away, she used the considerable strength of her fish’s tail to smack Penn in the face. Penn roared and began to swim upward, so Gemma gave chase. Penn wasn’t that far ahead of her, and Gemma reached out, trying to grab her.

Her talons dug into Penn’s hip, and Penn sprinted ahead. Gemma refused to let go, though, so her claws raked down Penn’s side, ripping scales off as they tore through her tail.

Penn reached the surface first, and Gemma heard her cursing through the water. When Gemma came up a few feet away, Penn was tilting her neck to the side, cracking it. She was surprised to see that Penn looked almost human now, other than the sharp teeth protruding from her mouth.

The scratches on her face had mostly healed, and other than a dark line across her eye, there wasn’t much left of the injury. That’s why Penn had shifted back to human—the transformation sped up the healing process.

Gemma had her own healing to contend with, and she allowed her face to slowly shift back. But, like Penn, she kept her fangs out.

“So you really wanna go for it, Gemma?” Penn asked, and her usual wicked smile returned. “I thought I’d let you get a few slaps out, burn off a little steam, but you really wanna do this?”

“I want this over with,” Gemma said, and she was surprised at the inhuman growl in her voice. The monster was out, but she was still in control.

“You really wanna die today?”

“I won’t be the one dying,” Gemma said, and she dove at Penn and punched her right in the mouth.

With blood dripping from her lip, Penn snarled and reached out, grabbing a clump of Gemma’s hair. She knotted her fist right at the base, with her claws scraping the skin, so if Gemma were to pull free, Penn would rip her scalp off her head.

She whipped Gemma around, so her back was pressed to Penn’s chest, and as Gemma trod water, she felt her tail brushing up against Penn’s. Penn yanked her head backward, and she pressed a talon into Gemma’s jugular.

Gemma grabbed Penn’s arm and tried to pull free, but it was like trying to move concrete. When they had been fighting earlier, Penn had to have been holding back, but right now, it had never been more clear how much stronger Penn was than her.

“You stupid, weak girl,” Penn sneered, as Gemma took shallow breaths, trying not to press the talon any deeper into her skin. “You never eat. You never change form. You’re starving and useless. Did you really think you stood a chance against a powerful, well-fed siren like me?”

“I thought it’d be worth a shot,” Gemma admitted.

“Did you know that this is exactly how I tore off Ligea’s head?” Penn asked. “I gripped her hair just like this”—she tugged on Gemma’s hair to show her—“and her head just popped right off. And I can do the same to you right now. So I’ll ask you again—do you really want to die today?”

Even though, a few minutes before, Gemma had thought she didn’t care if she lived or died, with her death feeling increasingly imminent and her heart pounding desperately to live, she knew she had to do something.

Instead of pulling against Penn, she decided to give in to her. She stopped moving her tail, going limp in Penn’s arms, and leaned back against her. Confused, Penn started to go under before pushing herself upward.

With her hand still buried in Gemma’s hair, she tried to pull Gemma up with her. But Gemma slipped beneath, so Penn’s talon sliced sharply across her neck and chest as she jerked away.

Gemma twisted around, yanking Penn’s arm into an unnatural position. Clumps of her hair and scalp were tearing way, but she’d finally put enough distance between Penn and herself that she could turn and bite Penn’s forearm, sinking her razor teeth in the sensitive part just above the wrist, tearing through the tendons and cracking into bone.

Penn howled and finally released her, and Gemma took off, swimming as fast as she could toward the shore. She didn’t really have a plan for when she got there. She just knew she had to get away from Penn if she wanted to live to see another day.

She could feel Penn chasing after, but she didn’t look back. She pushed herself onward, letting her arms change back into their human form. The smaller hands worked better to paddle, to help her swim faster, than the long, sticklike fingers.

The water was getting shallower. She could see the first rays of light breaking the surface and shining bright blue to the bottom. The beach wasn’t far off.

And then she felt Penn’s teeth tearing through the flipper of her tail. She glanced back long enough to see that Penn had torn it right off, and a thick stream of blood poured out from the gaping wound where her flippers should be.

Gemma pushed, though much more slowly without the tail; and then she was so close, it was barely deep enough to swim anyway. The rocks at the bottom scraped against her belly, and she pulled herself forward.

As she came out of the water, she was actually crawling up, pulling herself onto land with hands and elbows digging into the sand. Realizing how slowly she was going, she knew she couldn’t outrun Penn, and she was wasting her strength.

Gemma rolled over onto her back, the cold sand sticking to her, and tried to catch her breath. Then Penn’s head appeared over her, the sunrise backlighting her face so it was impossible to read her expression, even when Gemma squinted at her.

Then Penn laughed and rolled away. Gemma pushed herself up, so she could see what was going on. Penn just lay on the beach next to her, with her face fully healed and an odd smile on her face.

The waves were lapping up to their belly buttons, so both of their tails were still in place, submerged in the shallows. Gemma could feel hers tingling and fluttering, but she wasn’t sure if that was because her tail was trying to shift back into a leg or because it was hurrying to regrow its fin.

“Too easy,” Penn said, as Gemma stared down at her in confusion.

“Too easy?”

“You fought harder than I thought you would, I’ll admit that,” Penn said with a sigh. “But that’s not saying much.”

“Why didn’t you kill me?” Gemma asked.

Penn looked up at her. “Did you want me to?”

“I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t.” Gemma shook her head in disbelief. “You hate me, and you killed your sisters Aglaope and Ligea, not to mention Lexi. You even killed your own father.”

Penn narrowed her eyes. “How did you know about Achelous?”

“Lexi told me,” Gemma lied.

There would be no way for Penn to fact-check that, and Lexi had told her that Achelous was dead. She couldn’t tell Penn about Diana, not so much because she didn’t want Penn to kill the goddess, but because in a rage, Penn might take out Lydia and Marcy, too. Her vengeance didn’t always make sense.

“My father was a selfish, narcissistic man whore.” Penn closed her eyes, apparently satisfied with Gemma’s answer, and she folded her arms behind her head. Her tail flapped languidly through the water. “He deserved what he got.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you didn’t kill me,” Gemma said.

Penn waited a minute before quietly saying, “I promised Daniel I wouldn’t.”

Gemma knew that was true, but she was surprised that Penn was actually holding up her end of the bargain. Especially after Gemma had antagonized her.

“Are you in love with him?” Gemma asked.

“Love is a bullshit human emotion.”

“He doesn’t love you,” Gemma said, and she wasn’t even sure why she did. Maybe in defense of her sister Harper, whom Daniel really did love, or maybe just so Penn would know that she hadn’t won.

“He can’t love me,” Penn corrected her. “But there might be a way around it. If that stupid Alex kid loves you, there has to be a way for me.”

“You can command someone to do anything except love you, Penn. Alex’s love is real, just like Daniel’s love for Harper. How could he ever love something as awful as you?”

Penn went on, undeterred. “I have my ideas.”

“Has anyone ever loved you in your whole entire life?”

“You’ve got me all figured out now, don’t you, Gemma? Mommy didn’t love me. Daddy didn’t hug me enough. If only you could just understand me, then I’d give up my life of evil and save the world.” Penn glared at her and scooted back onto the beach, pulling her tail out of the water.

“It’s all a load of crap, Gemma. Do you know why I’m going after Daniel, why I’m going to have sex with him, and why I’ll eventually tear out his heart?”

“Because you can?” Gemma asked, as Penn’s tail shifted back into her long legs.

She’d been wearing what appeared to be a tight tank top, but when Penn stood up, pulling the wet fabric down past her hips, Gemma realized it was a minidress.

“That’s right.” Penn flashed a dazzling smile and bent over, so her face was level with the still-sitting Gemma. “And I love it. The one thing in life I still enjoy is the hunt. Chasing down what I want at any cost and getting it. And then just throwing it away once I’ve had my fill.”

“That’s an empty way to live, Penn.”

“Oh, fuck off, Gemma.” Penn rolled her eyes and stood up. “Like I care what you think. You think Alex is a catch. And I don’t care where you went today. It was probably a quilting bee, knowing you and your stupid friends.”

“You know me, and how much I love quilting,” Gemma muttered.

“Right now, I want Daniel, and he wants me to keep you safe. So I will. But how much longer do you really think I’ll be interested him? Hmm?” Penn waggled her eyebrows. “And then your human shield will be all gone, all chewed up. And I’ll really show you how to behave.”

Penn turned and walked up the beach, away from the rising sun, and left Gemma alone in the sand to nurse her wounds.