One Salt Sea: An October Daye Novel by Seanan McGuire Page B

It’s going to be a massacre, because while the land’s been getting soft, the sea’s stayed hard. The sea can’t afford to be soft, can it, Selkie?”
    “No,” mumbled Connor.
    “No,” repeated the Luidaeg. “Do you get that, Toby? The sea has more fighters than the land. They’re better trained, they’re better disciplined, and they’re not as politically divided. They’re going to slaughter you.”
    “Us,” I said. The Luidaeg was silent. “Luidaeg? You mean they’re going to slaughter us .”
    “No.” She looked at me gravely. “I mean they’re going to slaughter you .”
    “Luidaeg—”
    “The Undersea knows my limits.” She dropped her pigtail, standing. “There’s no one there that’s willing to come here and take me on, but they know I won’t take the fight to them. I can’t attack the children of Titania. I won’t attack the children of Maeve. This one’s up to your Queen’s army, and guess what, October? Your Queen’s army ain’t up to the task.”
    Connor wasn’t saying anything. That just made the Luidaeg’s tone—a mixture of anger, fear, and resignation—all the more terrifying. I squared my shoulders, trying to ignore the fact that I was standing in the apartment of the sea witch, wearing a fairy-tale prom gown, waiting for the attack of the mermaids.
    “What do you want me to do?”
    “Find the boys. I assume the Queen tasked you with the same thing?”
    I snorted. “More like I bullied her into allowing it, but yes.”
    “Good. Now listen to me: if you find them, you must not take them to her. Bring them to me, or find a way to get them to their parents, but don’t let her near them. I don’t trust her to remember that the land can’t win this war if she thinks she has the upper hand.”
    “All right.” I shifted the arrow to my other hand. “Anything else?”
    “One more thing—I’ve been scrying for the boys, and I can’t find them. That’s not a good sign. You don’t have much time.”
    “I figured that out on my own.”
    She pointed to the door. “Then what are you still doing here?”
    “We’re on our way out.” I turned to go. Connor was right beside me, looking painfully relieved to be getting out of there.
    We were almost to the door when the Luidaeg called, “Oh, and Toby?”
    I looked back. “Yeah?”
    “You’re going to need to bring me a shapeshifter soon. Not him. Never bring a Selkie here again. They’re not welcome.” Something in her voice told me not to ask. If she said I was going to need a shapeshifter, she meant it . . . and if Selkies weren’t welcome, she wasn’t going to tell me why with Connor in the room.
    “All right,” I said, and grabbed Connor’s hand, yanking him out into the night.
    I didn’t have to drag him for long. He pulled his hand out of mine as soon as the door slammed behind us, starting to walk steadily faster. He was almost running by the time we reached the car. I grabbed his elbow. He whipped around to face me, eyes wide, breath coming short and panicky.
    “Whoa!” I let go and took a step back, raising my hands. That probably wasn’t as reassuring as it could have been, given the poisoned arrow I was holding. “What’s wrong? What was all that about ?”
    “The sea witch doesn’t parley with Selkies,” he said. There was some ancient, wounded longing in his voice, like the sound of the tide rushing out. “Don’t ask me why. I can’t tell you.”
    “All right,” I said. “I just . . . all right. Are you coming back to the apartment?”
    “For a little while.” He sighed. “This doesn’t have anything to do with you. Okay?”
    “Okay,” I said. “Now get in the car.”
    It took almost half an hour to fight through the traffic and get back to my place. May and Jazz were snuggled together on the couch when we came in, watching a television show featuring a lot of twenty-something actors pretending to be teens. They looked up when the door opened, initial smiles dying as they saw