Vincent’s human meat puppets were quick, but not to Shade. The whipping tendrils were bewilderingly fast to a normal human, but not to Shade.

  She unwound the thick rope that had been used to tie the Okeanos off to the dock. The end of the rope was burning. She whipped the rope around over her head, not at her maximum speed—the rope would have come apart—but far faster than a human could. Then she smacked the rope end into the nearest meat puppet. The impact slammed the creature so hard, it careened off the edge of the dock and fell into fire.

  She went after the second of the puppets and this time whipped the rope around its human legs, dropping the creature to the ground. She ran up on it, twisted the rest of the rope around its waist, cinched a knot, held on tight, and gave it a burst of speed. The meat puppet split apart, two pieces falling with wet sandbag sounds.

  Two more of the meat puppets closed on her, recognizing that she was the immediate danger. One Shade dispatched by hurling a section of steel mast like a javelin.

Monster, Chapter 25