The cheers still rolled across the beach like waves that never wanted to stop.

I took one slow step forward, boots sinking into the wet sand, and glanced at the broken sword piece sticking out of the ground thirty feet away. The red glow had finally died, leaving just dull metal under the moonlight.

"Seems like that swing did the trick," I said to myself, chuckling low. "Hehe."

Behind me, the crowd was a living thing jumping, screaming, hugging, crying, laughing. Phones flashed non-stop. Someone had started a drum beat on an empty cooler, and half the beach was singing my name like it was the best song they'd ever heard.

Alaric lay half in the shallow water, waves lapping at his chest and hips. His green-black skin looked dull now, no red aura flickering, no movement at all.

Then a familiar voice cut through everything.

"OIII, ZERO!!"

I turned and spotted Lyra near the dunes, barefoot, red one-piece glowing under the fairy lights, both arms waving like crazy over her head.

I lifted my sword in a lazy salute. "Oh, you finally crawled out. Took you long enough."

She laughed, loud and bright, hands on her hips. "That tunnel was a damn maze! I swear it was built by drunk people. Took forever to find the exit."

I smirked, shaking my head. "Yeah, well, stay back there with everyone else, okay? We don't know if he's got one last surprise in him."

Lyra glanced past me at Alaric's motionless body, raised an eyebrow, and shrugged. "Babe, that alien looks deader than my phone battery right now. He hasn't twitched once."

She waved again, softer this time. "But fine, fine, I'll behave. Gonna enjoy the victory vibes for a minute."

She spun on her heel and jogged toward the crowd, high-fiving strangers as she went.

Afa had been half-hidden behind Lyra the whole time, arms wrapped tight around herself, dark eyes huge and glassy.

"Master…" The word slipped out of her like a prayer.

Then her face crumpled.

"Master!"

She bolted past Lyra, bare feet slapping the sand, almost tripping twice in her rush. People parted for her without thinking, the cheers quieting for a second as they watched the girl sprint straight to the water's edge.

She dropped to her knees beside Alaric, waves soaking her shorts instantly.

"Master, please!" Her voice cracked. She reached out with shaking hands, touching his wet, green-black shoulder, then his back, then his neck, searching for any sign of life. "Master, answer me! Are you okay?"

Nothing.

No growl. No red glow. Not even a twitch.

Just the soft sound of waves and the far-off cheers of a whole island celebrating the fact that the monster in the water wasn't getting up again.

Afa's hands stayed on his back, trembling, as the moon kept shining down cold and quiet on both of them.

Then everything changed.

Afa was on her knees in the shallow surf, waves soaking the hem of her shorts, both hands pressed against Alaric's unmoving back. Her dark curls stuck to her wet cheeks. She kept whispering "Master, please…" like a broken record, voice cracking on every word.

Behind her, the mood flipped fast.

A guy in a backwards cap was the first to point. "Wait… that's the chick from the club last night. She was glued to the VIP booth the whole time."

A woman nearby squinted, then gasped. "Oh my God, she was with the alien. I remember her laughing and fucking around with some guy in open."

The whispers turned into shouts.

"Traitor!"

"She brought him here!"

"Get her the hell out!"

Someone hurled an empty beer bottle. It spun through the air and shattered on the sand a few feet from Afa's knee, green glass scattering like confetti. Then came a plastic cup, a flip-flop, a half-eaten hot dog. None of them hit her, but each one landed closer.

"You bitch! You almost got us all killed!"

"Take your monster and swim back to whatever hell you came from!"

The boos rolled forward like a storm wave. People who'd been hugging seconds ago now shook fists. A circle of angry faces closed in, phones still recording, flashes popping like strobes.

Afa didn't turn around. She didn't even flinch. Tears ran silently down her face, dripping off her chin into the water. Her whole world was the still body in front of her.

I stood farther up the beach, boots half-buried in wet sand, black sword resting easy on my shoulder. The smirk I'd worn all night was still there, but softer now, tired.

"Relax, guys," I called out, voice carrying over the noise. "I'm not picking up any energy from him anymore. Dude's out cold. Party's safe."

Afa's head snapped toward me. Her eyes were red, swollen, full of pure hate.

"Shut up, Zero!" she screamed, voice raw and cracking. "I hate you! I hate all of you humans of this planet..just see your end is sooner than you think. FUCK YOU ALLL!!!"

I opened my mouth to tell her to back off, just in case, when the water moved. It was tiny at first. A ripple. A twitch in Alaric's fingers.

Then his arm shot upward, fast as a snake.

My stomach dropped.

"AFA—MOVE AWAY!"

My shout came out desperate, cracking across the beach like a gunshot.

She never heard me.

*GUSH* Alaric's huge hand punched straight through her back and out her stomach in one brutal, wet motion. His fingers burst out the front of her shirt in a spray of bright red blood that caught the moonlight and turned it into liquid rubies.

Time stopped.

Every cheer died mid-throat. Every phone froze halfway up.

Afa's eyes dropped slowly, like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her own blood poured over Alaric's wrist, running down into the water in thick, dark streams. A thin line of it trickled from the corner of her mouth, dripping off her chin.

Her hands rose, trembling, and hovered over the green-black arm that had just torn her open. She tried to speak; only a soft, wet gurgle came out.

Tears filled her eyes, spilled over, mixed with the blood on her cheeks.

Behind her, Alaric's red eyes snapped open, glowing bright and cold. A low, guttural growl rumbled from his chest as he slowly pushed himself up, water cascading off him, Afa's body still impaled on his arm like a broken doll.

The beach was dead silent except for the gentle splash of blood hitting the waves.