We ate early and then set out on the long hike through the mountainous forest.

Our path took a lengthy, arcing detour, making sure that we never came even close to being in sight of the Mung estate. On we went, till we were a fair distance north of the castle, where the river still ran along the ground rather than under it.

"It looks cold," I observed, eyeing the roiling waters.

"It is," confirmed Patch. "No one said this would be easy."

Initially, the long swim would be in the daylight and we'd be able to take regular breaths - we were starting this far away from our target simply to avoid being spotted - but then the river would enter a tunnel, the roof would close in above us and we would be sealed underwater as we passed under the wall, under the security perimeter, under the guards and checkpoints and under the castle itself, till we reached the pumping station in the basement that took the fresh, clear river water, treated it with chemicals and fed it into the castle's pipes.

How long, exactly, that would take, we did not know. How quickly we would be able to make the journey, we did not know. How long I could hold my breath, I had surreptitiously tested that afternoon when the guys weren't watching. The results had not filled me with confidence. I just had to hope that I could stay calm enough to signal for breath when I needed to and that the importance of the mission would bring out the best in me.

"Ready?" Connor looked at me and I knew he was giving me one last chance to back out.

There was a half heartbeat where I wavered. I wouldn't be human if I wasn't a little scared, and I was more than a little. But just the thought of Saorise in that place, ill and afraid and alone, strengthened my resolve.

"Let's do it."

The evening sun had set as we made final preparations, which included a trip to a department store in the next town over and fashioning together a reasonable facsimile of the uniform we’d seen worn by a woman on the Happy Maids’ website.

I packed it, along with a towel in a watertight bag, which Declan would carry. Patch was in charge of supplies for the raid itself. Then the three males stripped. Patch and Declan hung their bags about their necks, which contained workmen’s style overalls to give them, at least, limited cover, and the three of them transformed into seals.

They slid into the water and I got in after them, gasping at the biting cold and fighting against the speed of the current, a speed I would be grateful for once we got going, as it would increase my chances of coming out the other end alive.

Connor swam up to me, moving with easy strength through the water, his every movement giving me confidence in his ability to do this. I looped my arms about his neck, lying along his back. He turned his head to me and made a few snuffling noises, which I took to mean, “hold on tight.”

The three Selkie moved off together, navigating the thundering water with sinuous ease. Even with my weight on him, Connor threaded a sure path through the rocks and boulders that littered the area. He dived off miniature weirs and skidded over rapids, keeping me safe and untouched. My initial fear had given way to a thin, wild rush of adrenaline.

Connor swam with muscular speed, his whole body twisting to power his passage, and that speed was doubled by the pace of the current, pulling us along. It was like we were powered by two engines, and the landscape around us was a blur as I blinked back the spray from my eyes. I laid my head against the velvet softness of Connor's sinewy neck, feeling his muscles move beneath me, absorbing his warmth and even his strength.

A sharp bark from Connor alerted me and the others to the sight ahead of us. The spires of the castle were now visible, but between them and us loomed the grey mass of the wall. It was still some distance away, partly obscured by the rocky landscape, but its size meant that it dominated. It had been built to intimidate, to stop thieves before they had even arrived.

The river now twisted, and there before us, rushing up fast, was a vast mound of rock, dappled with lichen and moss, embellished by the occasional stunted tree, somehow hanging on in the complete absence of soil. At the base of the rock, where the river met it, I could see a black hole into which the water poured.

We were going under.

Terror cascaded through me like a waterfall, and I was temporarily unable to breathe - at just the worst time possible. But, as always, a thought of Saorise gave me the will to calm myself.

As we approached the hole, I focused my mind, trying to time my breathing right. Every moment would count, I wanted to take my deep breath at the last possible second before we went in. The tunnel was almost on us when I emptied my lungs and refilled them, sucking in as much air as I could, then grabbing hold of Connor more tightly than before and laying my head flat against him to make him as aerodynamic as possible.

Blackness engulfed us, water swallowing me whole. My lungs strained instinctively and I knew right then that I was going to die.

One thing for which I had not allowed was the natural reaction of the human body to the sensation of drowning. Surrounded by water and unable to breathe and unable to see, I felt the desperate urge to lash out, to flail and gulp for air. It was only the feel of the sleek pelt beneath my fingers that kept me from losing it.

I tried to quiet the screams in my mind, allowing myself to focus on that one pinprick of safety. The beacon in this dark world of terror.

Connor.

I believed in him above all else, I believed that he would not let me die, and my faith in him sent an eerie wave of calm over me.

Outside, I had thought we moved fast. In here, although it was hard to get a sense of our speed without anything to see, we seemed to be going even faster. Connor's muscles bunched and flexed as he pushed himself as hard as he could, knowing that every moment took me closer to death. His strength, and the concentrated rushing speed of the water, bore us on at a phenomenal rate through the inky blackness.

But would it be fast enough?

My lungs burned now with the need to breathe, close to bursting. I could hear Patch’s voice in my mind now, explaining how best to conserve oxygen and work through this in preparation for a breath.

Let air seep out in a slow stream until I was empty, and then tap Connor’s neck twice to let him know we needed to pause if we hadn’t reached the end.

Very slowly, I began to release the breath I had taken, bit by bit relieving the pressure on my lungs, knowing that this would buy me a little more time, but also knowing that once they were empty, that knives of panic would set in again.

Still, we swam on, no light up ahead to give me hope. I could sense the tension in Connor now as he pushed his body harder still. Just a little longer, I told myself, without knowing if that was true.

The last eked bubble of air burst from my lips and I felt my chest was bowed to concavity by the emptiness within. I was on borrowed time, but as I fought the searing pain in my chest, my mind went blank. I knew I was supposed to be doing something important…I just couldn’t remember what it was. Just one little breath and I could think straight.

Smog closed over my oxygen-deprived brain and my head lolled back as I opened my mouth and inhaled.

Water rushed into my lungs and I writhed with renewed panic.

And then, suddenly it was over.

Bright light penetrated the darkness, making me squint with its intensity as Connor broke the surface.

I rolled off him onto my side, a move which sent a rush of still-cold water up from my chest and out onto the concrete platform beside me. Then, I sucked in a breath, the pain and sublime pleasure of it rendering me paralyzed for a moment.

I was alive. We’d done it.

I blinked the water from my eyes and caught sight of frantic movement beside me. A second later, I heard the muffled sound of voices.

"What the fuck?"

A pair of men stood on a concrete platform by the side of the water ten yards from me and they were both staring at me in surprise.

Connor moved like lightning, spinning from his skin as he went, and then launching himself at the pair of men, who frantically fumbled for their firearms.

I swallowed a scream as Connor landed a crushing blow to the side of the larger man’s temple and then spun without pause to deliver a roundhouse kick to the neck of the other, sending them both dropping to the ground like twin sacks of potatoes.

I gasped, rolling to my knees as pops of light flickered in my vision as my brain processed the oxygen flowing through me. A moment later, Patch leapt from the water to join Connor, discarding his skin as he went.

While Patch and Connor secured the unconscious guards, Declan knelt beside me, murmuring words of comfort. I had stopped noticing how cold it was in the panic of not being able to breathe, but now the sensation had returned with a vengeance and I shivered uncontrollably.

"There's a radiator over here,” Declan said as he half-carried me in his strong arms, helping me over to the welcoming heat. Then, extracting the towel from his bag, he vigorously rubbed me down, drying and warming my body at the same time, massaging sensation back into my numb limbs.

"How are you feeling?" he asked solicitously.

"Okay," I croaked. My lungs still ached but the euphoria of being alive and having made it this far without having our plan shut down made it a whole lot more bearable. And now that feeling was returning to my body, with it came renewed strength and resolve.

There was no time for coddling. We had to move and we had to move fast.

"Pass me my clothes."

I dressed with still shaking hands, relieved that the chill in my bones was subsiding.

"The room's clear," said Connor as he strode toward us, fully dressed now, as well, his concerned gaze roving over me anxiously. "These two just seem to be the guys who operate the pumping station. More engineers than guards. Are you all right?" he asked, reaching for me and running his fingertip over my jawline.

I nodded and managed a smile. “Peachy. You swam like a champ. Thank you.”

His relief was palpable as he smiled back and turned to his brothers.

"We've found the door,” Patch said as he finished tugging his clothes on. “If you're all right to go on?"

I was, and the sooner we started, the better.

The one flaw with this plan was that the best chance of success was at night, when our escape could be after dark and, hopefully, fewer people were around. But that raised the question; would a maid be around at that time? At what point did the maids knock off for the evening? A man like William K. Mung would surely have staff available round the clock - and anyone who's watched Downton Abbey knows that's how it works - but there would likely be fewer maids about at this time and that made it harder for me to blend in.

The guys were all dressed in their work overalls as I made my way up to the door. Connor peered out first, to make sure that the coast was clear, while Declan reviewed what we knew about the property.

"We're two stories underground, Saorise is on the ground floor, so you'll need to go up two flights of stairs to reach her. She's at the rear of the castle, the northern end. We don't know where you might come out so maybe try to find a window to get your bearings. Her door is likely to be locked and guarded."

"Get the lay of the land and the placement of any guards and people, and come and tell us when you find her," said Patch. "We'll take it from there."

“If you’re questioned, remember, just pretend you don’t speak English. If you’re not back in fifteen minutes, we’re coming up after you. This bastard is twisted, but he doesn’t want human blood on his hands and attention called to him. It will take at least that long to untangle that you aren’t meant to be here.”

I nodded, then kissed each of them before passing through the door, closing it behind me.

My mission was essentially recon. I could move about the house more easily than them, so I could locate Saorise and then they could go straight to her rather than wasting time searching and running the risk of being spotted.

All that said, if an opportunity presented itself? I had every intention of getting her out myself. We might only get that shot at this and I wasn't about to throw it away to cover my own ass.

The first flight of stairs was easy to find, taking me into the regular basement, which seemed to be mostly for storage. I didn't hang around to look at what was behind the sealed doors - with a man like William K. Mung it could have been anything from fine china to the bones of his enemies.

I tried to walk with confidence, as if I knew where I was going even when I did not, but, fortunately, there was no one about for me to fool. The place was empty, and eerie, and I was at liberty to hunt about for the way out. Thus far, our sense of the man had seemed correct. I hadn’t seen any sign of security cameras, which made sense for a man like him. He would have to weigh up and find a balance between the twin desires of security and privacy for his salacious appetites.

And, by all appearances, his appetites won out.

I found the next staircase and ascended to a twin set of doors, forming a sort of airlock between the basements and the main house. Taking a deep breath, I passed through. What I had expected to find was opulence, and I was not disappointed. William K. Mung's reputation for extravagance was well-deserved, and there was something distasteful about a man who purchased all this sumptuous comfort just for himself.

The paintings that hung on the walls of the hall into which I had emerged were clearly originals. To paraphrase the great Indiana Jones; they belonged in a museum. Treasures of this magnitude belonged to the world, a shared heritage, it was sad to see them in the property of one man. Especially a man such as this one.

The second thing that struck me was the emptiness of the hall in terms of people. On the bright side, I was less likely to be spotted, but if I was then I would stick out like a sore thumb - clearly, no one was meant to be about at this time.

As I headed for the nearest door, heart hammering, my shoes seemed suddenly and appallingly loud on the floor as I tried to get my bearings.

So which way was north from here?

I had just closed my eyes, retracing my steps, when a wave of nausea passed through me, strong enough that I almost lost my balance and had to reach out to one of the columns flanking the hallway to steady myself.

The sensation that followed was unlike anything I had ever felt before. As if a cold wave had washed over my mind and withdrawn again like a tide. With that sensation had come a flood of images and emotions, more than I could consciously comprehend, but leaving me on the verge of tears and gasping for breath with the intensity and scale of it.

Though I could not identify any specific part of it, the pictures, feelings and strands of thought had come together to leave an overall impression on my mind, like one of those pictures made up of thousands of smaller images. It all came together to speak one word to me.

Saorise.

I could have wept with gratitude, and as the feeling claimed me again, I surrendered to it.

I did not try to read the message that was being sent to me - perhaps another Selkie could have done so, but I simply didn't have the power - I just let the impression settle upon me.

I was going the wrong way.

I let my eyes flutter open and gazed around me until something caught my eye and held it. That door on the far wall.

I walked as if in a trance, Saorise washing through my mind again, rolling back and forth like the breakers on a beach, immediately transporting me back to where we first met.

I passed cautiously through the door and instantly turned left, questioning nothing, simply moving. Passing on through the eerily silent house, relief and melancholy coursed through me, blending with my own ragged emotions.

I bit my lip to control myself. So close. I could sense it, I was so very close. I could not let her down now.

At the back of the castle, an extension had been built to house an indoor swimming pool of Olympic proportions. I peered in through the glass-encased area and, seeing no one, stepped in. Gingerly, I walked along the edge and peered into the gleaming water, searching in vain for my friend.

She was here somewhere, I could feel it, but--

“Hey.”

I jerked my head up and peered into the darkness in the distance, noting with a start that there was a guard at the very back of the room standing beside a metal door.

The door behind which awaited Saorise.

“Hello,” I replied, walking on quaking knees toward the guard.

"Can I help you?" The inquiry was matter of fact but not suspicious.

Yet.

"I was looking for John,” I said cheerily, clenching my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering. “I just had a quick question for him.”

"Which John?" he asked, scratching at his jaw with his thumbnail. “You’re not really supposed to be in this area.”

"Sorry, um, brown-haired John," I hazarded with a forced smile. “I just started last week, so I don’t know anyone’s last name.”

He squinted at me and then shrugged. "He’s working main gate tonight, I think. If there’s anything I can help you with, though,” he said, letting his gaze slide over me suggestively as he hiked up his pants.

“Um, thanks, I’ve got work to do but I’ll take a rain check,” I said, swallowing back the bile rising in my throat.

I turned to go, fighting the desperation I could feel rolling off Saorise from behind that door. I could only hope she was picking up on the message I was sending her. That she knew I was only leaving temporarily and would be back soon with reinforcements.

I picked my way back toward the door, only to skid to a stop as the guard’s voice called after me.

"What's your name?" I was glad that I was no longer facing him when the question came, because the look of dread on my face would certainly have given me away.

I sucked in a steadying breath and turned back with another tight grin.

"Helen."

He cocked his head and let his gaze rove over me one more time before he stepped toward me, closing the last of the distance between us.

"Let me see your ID."

"Okay." I shrugged as casually I was able to at that moment and reached into my pocket, my brain racing through options and finding few. The one thing on my side was the fact that, although the man was suspicious, he was also pretty sure of himself - I was a slip of a girl and he wasn't expecting me to give him much trouble.

Now, to make him regret that assumption.

My hand came out of my pocket as a fist, which I slammed into his face as hard as I could. It probably hurt me as much as him, but the shock left him with his guard down and I followed up the punch by delivering my knee into his groin in a way that definitely hurt him more than me. As he doubled-up in agony, I grabbed him by the collar and hurled him into the pool, snagging the keys that hung from his belt as he went.

It was safe to say that I had gone rogue and was now winging it.

There was no way I had time to go back for the guys.

I fumbled with the keys, finding one that fit into the lock behind me, and shoved my way in. The room beyond was lined with marble, floor to ceiling, and sunk into that floor was a marble tank about the size of two large bathtubs, but much deeper. The water rippled as I stumbled in and Saorise burst through the surface.

"Sienna!" She was instantly tugged back into the water. In her excitement, she had apparently forgotten the chain fastened around her neck.

I rushed to her. "Are you okay?"

"I’m all right.” It was a lie. She was pale and thin and haunted looking, but she’d never looked so beautiful to me. “My skin's over there."

On the far wall, on a hook, hung a pelt of smooth seal skin.

"He keeps it in here with you?"

"Just out of my reach. When he comes to visit, he makes me transform for him. It…" she trailed off and then pressed on, “gives him pleasure. And when he takes it away again. It’s like a death each time.”

I could hear the hatred in her voice. The pain. The fact that William K. Mung put her skin there, within sight, to taunt and torture her said a lot about him as a person. I didn’t want to think about what else Saorise might have been through.

"I don't think any of these is for the chain," I said, rifling through the options on the guard's key ring with shaking fingers, very aware of the splashing behind me that told me he was dragging himself out of the pool.

"Doesn't matter, just get the skin."

I did as she asked, tossing the skin into the water beside her, and Saorise spun into it. As she did so, her slim neck expanded and the silver chain around it strained, then broke.

Though I had never seen her as a seal before, the expression on Saorise's face was one that I instantly recognized. Joy. Hope at the lure of freedom.

Unfortunately, it seemed that our celebration would be short lived.

"Stay right where you are." The guard, dripping wet and walking a little bowlegged, blocked the door and pointed a dripping handgun at me. "Make a move and I will kill you." He turned to Saorise with a snarl. "And if you make a move, then I will still kill her. The boss likes you too much to kill."

Saorise barked angrily at him but did not move.

"I've called for backup, they'll be here soon. Now, transform back before I do something ugly."

Saorise bared her teeth.

"Change back or I will shoot your friend. Not in the head. In her leg. Then, maybe her arm. And I will keep shooting her until you behave yourself and change back."

Saorise rolled out of her skin.

"Put it back where it belongs," he snapped.

Saorise took the skin back to the wall, passing me as she went, and I heard her whisper, "Do you trust me?"

"With my life," I murmured back.

"In the pool. NOW!" Saorise shouted as she dove at the guard, barreling toward him with all her strength. He stumbled back in shock and she clawed for his eyes as I lurched past toward the massive pool. I hesitated at the edge as the sound of gunfire broke the silence, but a shove to my back sent me careening into the warm water.

I kicked frantically, trying to get some distance before bobbing to the surface, but the sound of gunfire rent the air again. Saorise swam up beside me and took my hand, holding me beneath the water until a familiar burning stole over my lungs.

And then, suddenly, the sound from above stopped. Saorise released my arm and urged me up until our heads broke the surface.

“Are you hit?” I gasped, staring at her to determine she appeared unharmed, before turning my gaze toward where I’d last seen the guard. He lay there now, his gaze lifeless with three muscular, furious males standing around him.

"Come on," said Connor, urgently. "His friends are on their way."

Saorise’s brothers had appeared just when I needed them.

"How did you...?" I asked as Patch helped me out of the pool and Declan pulled up his twin sister, squeezing her hard in brief but touching reunion.

"When you gave Saorise back her skin, we were close and she was able to contact us and tell us where to go," explained Patch. “Now, we’ve got to get out of here before his backup comes.”

We rushed out toward the exit and then skidded to a stop, lurching behind a massive marble table as gunfire rang out again.

This was bad. A band of guards had the exit blocked and were armed. The Selkie’s were strong, but how could they defeat a trained, if small, army with guns?

"Don’t fire. You’ll hurt the female!" a thin, reedy voice that I somehow knew could only be William K. Mung himself, called from behind his guards. "Descend on them and shoot the rest but protect her at all costs."

Connor looked at his brothers, his face a grim mask of fury. "Ready?"

Ready for what? I wondered.

But Patch and Declan both nodded, as did Connor. Then, as one, they darted out from behind the table, diving forward and spinning into their skins as they hit the pool water.

The guards rushed toward the edge of the water, firing continuously as the three males began circling the pool, faster and faster, in dizzying speed.

"Aim, you imbeciles!"

I held my breath as the half-dozen guards regrouped and tried to get a bead on their targets, but, suddenly, Connor burst from the water, knocking guards left and right with the force of his momentum. Patch followed.

Guards scrambled to retrieve lost guns in a panic as their eyes went wide with stunned shock. Wild shots went off, ricocheting from the walls, and howls of pain echoed through the room.

In the confusion, Declan, now swimming at what seemed like an impossible speed, burst from the water like a torpedo.

I heard William K. Mung's shriek, "Nooo! Get away fr-” before his voice was choked off, his scream cut short.

The remaining guards fell back and I soon saw why.

Declan held him about the neck. One squeeze of the young Selkie's muscular arm and William K. Mung would be no more. And from the look on Declan's face, nothing would have given him greater pleasure than to snuff out the man who had caused his sister such distress. I had never met a kinder, more peaceful individual than Declan, but now his eyes burned with a fiery rage I could barely believe.

“Don’t do it, brother. He’s not worth it,” Saorise called to him softly. “If we kill him, we’ve got to kill the rest of them, too. Look at them. Most didn’t even know about me. About our kind.”

I glanced around the room and knew she was right. Only a couple of the guards seemed to understand at all what was happening. The others that weren’t bent over in pain, seemed in shock.

Connor stepped closer to Declan and flexed his fingers. “I hate to say it, but she’s right. Let’s let the authorities do their job.”

Patch dug a cell phone from the bag lying at his feet and held it high.

“I took pictures of everything. Even that Picasso in the hall that was apparently stolen from the Louvre in 2010. I already sent them, along with a signal for Leanne to contact the police about all the stolen art and antiquities here, and a tip that there was a female imprisoned here who managed to escape. We have just enough time to secure these guys and get out before they get here. Don’t stoop to his level, brother. We got what we came for.”

We held our breath until Declan nodded slowly, watching as Patch bent to retrieve sets of handcuffs from his bag.

With Mung still in Declan's clutches, Saorise, Patch, Connor and I made short work of the guards, locking them in Saorise’s prison before cuffing a hollering Mung in front of the door with a note pinned to his sleeve like a child detailing his crimes.

Just as we finished, we heard sirens in the distance.

As we moved to leave, Declan slowed as he passed Mung, bending close to the other man and holding his gaze.

“I will be watching you for all eternity. If and when you get out of prison, if I hear even a peep about you hurting anyone again, I’ll come and finish the job I started.”

The man paled and struggled against his chains as we turned to go, Patch leading the way back through the house to the basement stairs. At the door that led down to the pumping station, Declan followed the rest of us through.

We ran downstairs as fast as we could, and as we reached the second flight, we heard the door burst open above and a muffled voice hollering, “Police, stand down!”

We reached the pumping station and, again, Declan jammed the door behind us.

"Come on, Sienna," said Connor.

"Wait," Saorise looked puzzled. "What are you doing? We can't get out that way."

Connor scoffed. "That's how we got in."

"No, that way."

The plan to get out had been to continue down the river, letting the current take us on under the Mung estate and out the south side, but that was the way Saorise was now pointing.

"There's a grill at that end to catch waste coming out of the castle. We can't get past it."

A look of horror crossed Connor's face. He did his best to mask it before his sister saw.

"We'll have to go back the way we came. Sienna?" Connor said softly.

I nodded. "I understand. I’ll tell you if I need your breath."

What was unsaid between us was that if he was swimming against the current, he would not be able to make the return journey as quickly as he had the inward one. And I had barely survived that. I tried not to show Saorise my fear.

"We'll go ahead, create clean water for you," said Patch.

It might only make a split second of difference, but anything to help Connor go faster.

We had no time to think, no time to come up with alternatives, we had to move now. I joined the guys in shedding my clothes - the cold water would be almost unbearable but the weight and drag of my clothes made them a luxury we could no longer afford.

We dived into the water, the guys and Saorise changing as they went. I wrapped my arms around Connor's strong neck, filled my lungs, and we were gone.

Strangely, I was less panicked this time. The knowledge that these might be the last moments of my life were tempered by the knowledge that Saorise was safe. I had done what I had set out to do and while I would definitely rather go on living, if I were to die now, then I would do so knowing that I had done the most important thing I was ever likely to do in my life. And I would die with people who loved me.

I think that sanguine attitude helped me, maybe gave me a little extra time as my thumping heart was not wasting oxygen as it had on the way in. But as my lungs tightened in the encompassing blackness of the tunnel, then, inevitably, the physical panic set in.

I clutched Connor tightly. I could feel his muscles straining as never before as he fought against the roaring current. I stroked him with my hand, trying to let him know that it was alright. Whatever happened, it was alright.

As I had before, I tried to release my breath in slow, eked out bubbles. But as I emptied my lungs, there was no sign of the outside.

I tugged on Connor’s neck, felt him slow and then stop, but it was no good. I couldn't hold on any more, I simply couldn't.

Water flooded my lungs. Darkness closed in. The panic gave way to a receding of consciousness and I allowed myself to tumble into the opening void, my last thoughts were of the joy on Saorise's face when she had first seen me.

At least she was safe. That would have to be enough…