down the riverbed. The ground shook with a rumble like thunder.
Maybe Wild Magic would only make things worse. But it was all I had to protect the city, to protect us.
Turning toward the oncoming wave, I sought to turn its destructive power back on itself. When the water ignored me, I turned in desperation to the wind, calling on it to blow the wave out to sea. A terrible gamble this, because I might sing up a gale by mistake. But I had to try.
As my song spun out, strong winds swooped down from all directions, singing in my ears, whipping my hair from its hood. They scattered everything before them. Debris from the flood flew through the air. I had to grab at a broken beam to stay upright, and so did Nat.
Still I sang, and in response the whole sky twisted. The winds bore down on the enormous wave, funneling around it, penning it in. The wave sang out in sudden uncertainty. Towering over London Bridge, it hovered in midair, spitting out spume.
My song was working! Now to send the water back out to the sea.
When I drew breath, I heard a strange keening sound—and in that moment, I lost control. A furious music blasted through the water, giving it new force and energy. I kept on singing, but the winds weren’t strong enough to match the wave now. All I could do was beg them to protect the city as best they could from the blow that was coming.
Immense and malevolent, the wave soared still higher. The frothing gray-green wall made even the seven-story houses on London Bridge look tiny. As the wave rose, I saw terrible shapes writhing inside it—the coils of serpents, the gray tentacles of kraken . . .
Roaring with fury, the wave came crashing down. It slammed into the bridge, smashing its arches, blowing the houses to bits. Like a vast and hungry sea monster, the wave swallowed the city—and swallowed us.
As it hit, I grabbed Nat. He wasn’t the swimmer that I was, and he wasn’t going to drown if I could help it. Kicking hard, I fought to keep both our heads above the surface. But brackish water rushed into my open mouth, gagging me.
Breathe. Sing.
Thrusting my head back to the surface, I gasped and spat, then sang the only song that came to me—a song I hadn’t known I knew, a song that must have been buried somewhere deep inside me, a song whose meaning was plain to me.
Save us.
One phrase, and then the waters closed in again. I struck one arm out blindly, reaching for air. Beside me, Nat fought too. But it was no use. The water sucked us under, hurling us like stones into the deep.
Chest burning, I braced myself. Any second now we would hit the bottom of the river.
Instead we only sank faster, rushing down into water so black, it was like falling into a well. The otherworldly music pounded in my ears. My chest stopped burning. A second later, I realized I’d stopped breathing. Had I already drowned without knowing it?
Maybe. But then something twisted below me. I saw a faint green light even farther down and heard the song of fury coming from it.
If I’d been frantic before, it was nothing compared to this. I kicked and lunged, but moments later, I saw the flash of scales in the currents around me. Nat’s hand gripped mine hard, then slackened. In the dim light, I saw a serpent coiling round him. Was it trying to kill him? I couldn’t tell. I could only lash out and refuse to let go of Nat as the creature pulled him down. Moments later, something scaly snaked around my legs, binding them.
It was like the scrying, but now I wasn’t the only one who was caught—and I couldn’t wake up, couldn’t get us away. The coiling creature dragged us down toward a circle of green light that grew larger and larger. Soon its rays illuminated everything—the shining serpent scales, the slickness of slippery tongues, Nat’s slack head rolling back as if in death.
I screamed, but made no sound. All I could hear was the otherworldly singing, wild and furious and booming in my ears.
We were at the very mouth of the circle now. The light flashed in my eyes, so bright it was blinding. Then we were through, touching bottom at last.
The coils released me. I kicked out again, but my feet hit only sand. A minute later,