The tentacle came down like a falling sky.
Elias threw himself flat as the massive limb smashed into the freighter's deck, splintering steel and sending containers tumbling into the sea. The ship lurched, and men screamed. The creature attached to that tentacle was still below, but its shadow darkened the water, vast and patient.
"Get the children to the stern!" Elias shouted over the roar.
Jesus was already moving, grabbing two of the smaller kids. Valdez and Reyes herded the others, their faces set. The children were screaming, their psychic light flickering like candles in a gale. Lyra stood firm, her hands raised, but the force of the deep was too strong, too old.
Admiral Kade had collapsed against a railing, her white hair plastered to her face. Her soldiers—what remained of them—
