Tears sting my eyes as the saltwater spray rising along the edges of the boat collects on my lashes and the wind tears at my hair. For once in my life, I'd rather be on dry land as I think back to nearly drowning no more than an hour or two earlier.

Just breathe, this time if you fall in you won't have a ball and chain around your ankle.

The realization comforts me, but only just barely as Astrid sits silently on the other side of Diana, her wand held tightly in her hand. My grip tightens around Diana's hand and she squeezes back as I breathe in the cold, salty air. Her eyelids hang low and heavy over her eyes, which are fever-bright and glassy as they struggle to focus on me.

"It's okay," she murmurs and I can't help but hold back a nervous laugh.

"I'm not the one who should be afraid," I choke out.

She shrugs weakly at this, "I've met plenty...plenty of werewolves before, I'll be...okay."

A lump forms in my throat and I'm unable to look at her as I watch the black water race past us. A faint light flickers in the distance, like a single light bulb is lit in the darkness as we draw closer to it and I realize it's a small yard-light modeled after a garden gnome. I can make out the boards of a dock that the gnome is sitting on, along with a looming hill rising behind it as Astrid gets to her feet.

"We need to be ready," she murmurs to me and I nod as I start to help Diana up.

She shivers as I get her to her feet while Astrid supports her other side. Diana is cold to the touch as I hold her up, her hands more along the lines of freezing now instead of just clammy. Beside us, Garret throws a line out to loop it over one of the support beams as we draw closer to the dock and he successfully snags one on the first try.

"Shut off the engine," he calls to Shawn and silence follows as the motor sputters out.

We drift for a moment, the boat bobbing under my feet as I take a couple of wary steps forward before Garret starts to pull the boat toward the dock.

"I'm going to need you to stay with the boat," Garret tells Shawn as he turns to Astrid and I.

His brown eyes are eerie in the darkness, the beam from a single flashlight propped up on one of the seats of the boat being the only other source of light as he looks to us.

"Where do you need me?" Astrid asks.

"I need you to bring her to the edge of the boat, I'll get up on the dock and take her from you," he says as he looks to Diana, "if I tell either of you to run, you run, she isn't going to remember anything once she shifts for the first time and pissed off witch werewolves are very dangerous."

"I'm not pissed off," Diana murmurs weakly.

"Not right now but once you shift I've heard it hurts like hell," he replies as he climbs out of the boat and up onto the dock.

"Whatever," she scoffs and I can't help but smile.

At least she's being brave.

Astrid and I follow his instructions and limp her over to the side of the boat before he carefully picks her up into his arms. I follow him closely with Astrid a step behind me as he starts down the dock, Astrid's wand at the ready to defend ourselves in case she shifts.

Rocks crunch under our feet once we step off the dock before it becomes a thin strip of sand followed by patchy grass. It's silent out here except for the faint sound of a foghorn in the far distance as a few lights from boats dot the water.

I nervously wet my lips with my tongue as I eye the darkness, living in my neighborhood I never had to worry about complete darkness unless there was a power outage and even then we still had flashlights. But Garret isn't turning on any lights as he walks and I feel like maybe we shouldn't.

The ground starts to steepen underfoot as we start up the hill, our footsteps crunching on the gravel and stiff sea-grass. Next to me, Astrid's breathing catches as she walks and I reach out a hand.

"Are you okay?"

I remember then how Tessa had told me the killing curse could still hurt Astrid and I worry then if it could be the reason.

"Just out of shape," her voice assures me from inside of my head. "I don't do sports like you."

A laugh escapes me then, a small one but it's enough to make Astrid grin back at me from the darkness.

"Hey, it's not like I have time anymore-," she starts to say, but is cut off when Garret suddenly comes to a stop ahead of us.

"She's shifting, get out of here! Go!" he yells as he starts to lower Diana to the ground.

I can barely catch a glimpse of her as my eyes have scarcely adjusted to the dark, but her eyes have rolled back in her head as she shakes uncontrollably. A froth spills from her mouth as she gnashes her teeth and clamps her eyes shut in pain. Both Astrid and I back away from him before we turn and run.

We sprint back down the slope, our shoes scattering rocks in their wake as we run, my heart in my throat as it threatens to burst. Garret brings up the back of our group as he yells at us not to look back even though I want to. There's a sudden, bloodcurdling scream that makes my stomach twist as I pour on the speed and shove Astrid in front of me as I propel her down the hill.

Garret darts past me, his shoes clattering on the rocky shore as he runs across the dock, the wood hollowly thumping beneath his footsteps as he stops to crouch by the post where he had tied the boat. We clamber over the side of the boat, the fiberglass siding slippery under my hands as I lower myself onto the floor. Garret vaults over the side, the boat rocking as he jumps in and starts to untie the other side of the line.

Astrid shoves against the dock, the boat drifting backwards as Shawn starts the motor and we slowly back away from the dock.

"Wait," I call out as I see a flash of movement on the hill.

I squint into the darkness as everyone stops moving and almost seems to hold their breath, the garden-gnome light cheekily grinning at me as it glows in the darkness. For a second, there's nothing to be seen until at last, I pick up the flashlight and shine it up the hill.

Standing just a few feet down from the top of the hill is a wolf, its coat looking nearly black in this lighting and for a moment, I can't help but notice how big the wolf is as it towers from its place on the hill. It lifts its head, its golden eyes locking onto mine as I shiver. They are Diana's eyes but also not, they are blank and feral, no recognition glimmering in them as Shawn resumes with backing the boat away.

"We can head back to my house, she should only be like this for a couple of hours," Garret assures me over the rumbling of the motor.

I bite my lip as I nod, grimly accepting the fact that she's on her own for tonight.

"She'll be okay," he adds, almost like he can sense my thoughts as I let his words comfort me.

"I know."