"Good to know," Eren said grimly.
He now wished that he had brought his brother along. Better yet, his brother and Inga and Dad. Guns did add a wrinkle to the situation, but he'd still like to see how three men coped with having several enraged polar bears jump onto their boat.
"Eren, there's something else," Lucy said. Her voice was anxious. "Guns aren't the only thing you have to worry about."
"What else?"
"It's going to sound crazy. You have to promise you'll at least think about it, even if it sounds totally nuts when I say it."
"Believe me," Eren said. "I've seen some pretty crazy things. What is it?"
"They can turn into animals," Lucy blurted out. "I don't know which ones are on the boat, but the ones I know about are two tigers, a bear, and a wolf. And there might be more. I don't even know if that's all they can turn into, but that's all I've seen."
Eren's breath huffed out in a sharp laugh. They were shifters. Well, now he knew his earlier suspicions had been correct. They had been snooping around Westerly Cove in shifted form. They must have picked up some of Lucy's scent, but couldn't actually enter the town because of the protection magic.
Oh, were they ever in for an unpleasant surprise.
"I know it's hard to believe," Lucy was saying anxiously. "I wouldn't even believe me if I hadn't seen it. So I understand if you don't—"
"I believe you."
Her words cut off on a sharp breath, and she said, "Oh."
Eren turned around to give her a fierce smile. "Don't worry about it. I turn into something, too."
LUCY
He couldn't possibly mean—that,could he? He must be speaking figuratively, right?
Lucy clung to the bench seat and stretched to risk a peek out the window. She couldn't see the speedboat from where she was, but assumed it was close.
Her heart pattered a rapid tattoo against her ribs, but she was surprised to find that she was more excited than afraid. It made a huge difference having someone here with her, someone capable and strong who could put those bullies in their place.
"Hold on tight," Eren said. "This could get a bit rough, but I think it's time to give them a lesson they won't forget."
"What are you going to do?" Lucy asked, taking a better grip.
"We can't outrun them, but what we have going for us is that we're larger and heavier. They seem to think they can force us away from shore into the deeper water and then, very likely, try to board us. I'm going to do the opposite: push them up to the shore and then scuttle their boat."
"Can you do that?"
"Depends on what they do. They might try to run, and they can easily get away. But if it's a fight they want," Eren added grimly, "they're about to learn what happens when you pick fights on a Newfoundland fisherman's home turf. Will you be all right if things get bumpy?"
Lucy adjusted her grip and gave him a quick thumbs up. "Give 'em hell."
Eren gave her a fierce grin that did something wonderful to her insides. "That's my girl."
He spun the boat's wheel and made another sharp, expert turn. Now that Lucy had felt for herself how the boat handled, she had a new appreciation for his deftness and skill. The boat glided in a smooth turn, and Lucy glimpsed their frothing white wake and the speedboat coming up on them rapidly.
The speedboat had to veer off to avoid hitting them. Lucy gasped, but Eren seemed unconcerned.
"Won't it damage both boats if they collide?" she asked. "What if we sink?"
"We won't. This boat is meant to deal with winter ice and loaded fishing nets. That little toy boat is the one that has to worry."
Lucy stood up cautiously so that she could look out and see what the speedboat was doing. For the moment, it was keeping pace with them, close enough that she could easily recognize the men in the boat. One of the tiger-men whose name she didn't know was piloting it, with Hendricks and Andy behind him.
"Are those the men who were chasing you before?" Eren asked. There was an audible growl in his voice.