Laurel began to shake. “I don’t think I can do it.”
“Open your mouth.” Bridget fussed with an old lock to bind the chains together to keep Laurel from moving. Once she had the lock threaded through the links, she clicked it shut.
“Does it hurt?” Laurel asked, her voice shaky.
“It feels like what you’d expect of drowning. Scary. Wet. Deafening. Except for your heart beating in your ears. When I turned, it was by force. Olympians drowned me in a pond by restraining me under and kicking me. But then it was peaceful.” Bridget checked the chains again to make sure they’d hold. “Open your mouth.”
“I meant transforming. I already know drowning is going to suck.”
“Transforming?” Bridget stood. “Not really. It tingles. Now open your mouth.”
“Will I go all werewolf howl at the moon insane and try to eat people?” She wasn’t ready to jump. Not yet.
“We’re not cannibals. Open your mouth.”
“Will I feel my bones snap and my skin rip?”
“We’re not in a horror movie. Open.”
“Will I have any special powers?”
“You’ll be able to breathe water.”
“Will I be able to transform back?”
“That’s a silly question.”
“I meant, easily. Is it hard to figure out how to be human again?”
“You get out of the water and dry off. Laurel, stop stalling and open your mouth.” Bridget lifted her hand.
“Will it take a long time to hap—” As Laurel spoke, Bridget squirted bitter liquid through her lips. “—pen?” Laurel coughed. Her mouth numbed and her heart began to pound. The chains felt heavier than before, and she swayed.
“That should speed the dying process along. Best I can do to make this easier.” Bridget placed her hand on Laurel’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll jump in and unchain you when it is over.”
Laurel tried to protest as she was pushed into the saltwater pool. On instinct, she inhaled a full breath of air and held it seconds before she went under. She’d been so focused on convincing herself this needed to be done to communicate with Brutus that she’d not thought of one fundamental question—what if it didn’t work? What if she didn’t become one of them? That fear came over her in full force as the cool water encased her. She struggled to be free of the chains.
The surface was close, yet so far. The wavy pattern of Bridget stood over her. Her lungs burned as if her racing heart used up all the oxygen in a matter of seconds. Though she tried to hold on, she involuntarily gasped for air that was not there. The salty taste of the water passed her lips. Her body convulsed violently moments before her vision dimmed.
Chapter 16
‘Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.’
Brutus slowly opened his eyes at the sound. The dead squid pinned his body against the rocky base of the dome. Though he’d endeavored to escape several times, the position made digging himself out impossible, and he’d struggled to wiggle himself loose. A jagged outcropping trapped his tail. If he pulled too hard, he’d rip himself open. When he tried cutting himself free, his sharp forearm fin kept catching on the animal’s cartilage.
‘Shit. Shit. Ahh! No. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.’
‘What?’ Brutus attempted to direct his thoughts, confused.
‘Oh, this is stupid. Where did all the dead animals come from? Don’t eat me whatever did this. I don’t taste good. Shit. Shit. Shit.’
‘Laurel?” Brutus came more fully aware as her voice invaded his mind. ‘What’s going on? How did you get out? The dome? Did the dome…?’ He looked upward trying to detect if there were others in the water. From his position, it was difficult to see, but the glow indicated the dome should be intact.
‘Brutus?’ Laurel practically shouted his name. ‘Where are you? Talk to me. I can’t believe I found you. Where are you? I can’t see that well.’
‘It’s the blood. It clouds the water. Don’t worry, nothing is out here right now besides us and a few scavengers.’
‘Keep talking. I think I can locate you.’
‘Who is out here with you?’ Brutus tried to push up at the squid, but it still didn’t move.
‘Don’t be mad. I snuck out of the palace to find you. The guards were with you in the water, so the surfacing area wasn’t being watched as closely.’ Laurel appeared over him. The light dusting of golden brown scales next to her eyes were deep in color, showing her high state of emotional distress. The length of her hair was tied at the nape of her neck to keep it from drifting into her face. She wore a shirt to cover her breasts, but the unmistakable swish of her mermaid’s tail fluttered behind her. It was clear by her jerking movements she was still learning to control her new body.
She grabbed his face and kissed him. The suddenness of the gesture took him by surprise. When she pulled back, she searched his expression.
‘Your scales are so dark, like your eyes,’ she whispered, touching his temple. Then as if realizing what she was doing, she blinked rapidly and then looked over to where his body lay wedged. She instantly rammed her shoulder into the animal and pushed as hard as she could. The pressure on his tail lessened but not enough for him to squirm free. ‘Did you fight all these animals?’
‘No. Most of them were like this when we arrived. They propelled themselves into the dome to cause the earthquakes we were feeling inside. I don’t know why they’d behave in such a way.’
‘King Lucius said Olympians were acting out somehow. He thinks they are responsible for the trouble we’ve been experiencing. Something about how they were not in their territory but on Merr land, and Caderyn as well as others are looking for more or interrogating them or…that’s about all I know.’ She grunted as she pushed harder. The squid didn’t move. ‘How did they make these animals commit suicide?’
‘We’re able to beckon animals to the dome from inside if we concentrate hard enough and know the frequencies the creatures respond to. It’s mostly trial and error and luck. The Olympians must have discovered a way to call the animals in. Though, why would they want to destroy their home? With no Atlantes, they will be as lost as we.’
‘We have cults like that. Those who commit mass suicide in the name of a cause. Led by some charismatic nut job.’ She began bouncing her shoulder against the squid.
‘Queen Maia is their leader. I do not know what a nut job is, but we do question her sanity.’
‘Ah! Dammit. It doesn’t appear to be moving.’ She stopped pushing. ‘This thing feels like slimy gelatin. How did you become trapped?’
‘Vitus and I were struck by this one as it charged the dome.’ Brutus closed his eyes. ‘You shouldn’t be out here.’
‘Where are the others? Where is your brother?’
At her inquiry, Brutus directed his attention along the squid’s side. She followed his gaze to where Vitus’s hand stuck out from under the carcass. ‘Demon and Brennus are searching the other side of the dome. I’m waiting for them to come this way.’
‘Vitus?’ Laurel went to where Vitus lay suffocated beneath the squid. The hand did not move.
‘I couldn’t get to him in time. He was like that when I regained consciousness.’ Brutus had to look away. He’d been staring at the hand for hours, possibly days. The pain of losing an old friend caused an ache to settle inside him. ‘I don’t think he survived being crushed against the dome. It doesn’t look as if he tried to get out from under the squid. We should never have allowed a palace guard into the water without more training.’
‘It’s not your fault. I know in my heart that’s true.’ Laurel caressed his face. ‘We’ll handle one problem at a time. So, first things first, how do I get you out of here?’
Chapter 17
Brutus’s idea was to have her swim home to safety and let him wait for Demon to find him. However, since he wasn’t in a position to force her back to the palace, Laurel refused to leave him. She didn’t drown, wake up as a fish and jump into the ocean for a cra
sh course in underwater maneuvering, only to give up now. Instead, she swam full tilt at the squid body, twisting around so her side slammed into the creature in an attempt to dislodge it.
As her back struck the animal, she gasped in pain but felt the carcass move by small degrees. ‘Did that—?’ A floating object in the corner of her vision cut off her words. The hit had dislodged Vitus’s arm. The lone limb floated along the bottom of the ocean floor before settling several feet away. Seeing Brutus struggling to be free, she reached to assist him.
‘Try that again. I think it’s working,’ he said. His dark hair drifted around his face, covering his mouth and nose from view.
Laurel nodded and again moved back to gain momentum. She made a beeline for the squid and again turned at the last possible second to slam into it.
‘Oof, you did it. Help me,’ Brutus said, reaching out his arm.
Laurel braced her tail and pulled his wrist. Brutus’s body slipped free, and they both tumbled back, somersaulting in the water. Almost immediately, Brutus righted himself and caught her against his chest. He held her tight.
‘You shouldn’t be down here,’ he said through the mind link. The whole talking with your brainwaves was something she was still getting used to. ‘But thank you for saving me.’
‘You saved me first.’
The ocean water was freezing, but it didn’t bother her skin like she’d thought it would. It was also dark, but her vision cut through the darkness like a flashlight in the night. Light from inside the dome helped illuminated the immediate area. Albino lobsters with misshapen arms scavenged the corpse of an ugly fish with a massive under bite and sharp teeth.
Brutus kissed her briefly before letting her go. He swam to where Vitus’s arm had been. ‘I should take him home.’
Laurel’s gaze swept over the seafloor. She found the dismembered forearm and pinched at the fin to hold it as she swam to where Brutus was reaching beneath the squid.
‘He’s not here.’ Brutus reached deeper, rooting around. Sand kicked up around him as he tried to dig. She detected a nasty cut along his small caudal fin, but it didn’t seem to affect his movements.
Laurel dropped the arm and swam upward to look around the immediate area. Seeing an unmoving body, she opened her mouth to shout. Briny water flooded in, keeping her from making a noise. She tried again. ‘Brutus, I think I found him.’
Laurel led the way to the fallen merman. Brutus ran his hands over Vitus’s neck and chest before lifting him into his arms. ‘We need to get him to Althea.’
‘Go. I’ll follow.’ Laurel darted down and grabbed the arm. The texture of the solid mass appeared strange, but she didn’t feel right leaving the limb behind to be snacked on by creepy lobsters.
‘If you get lost, go to the top of the rock base and follow the curve of the dome,’ he said. ‘I’ll come back and find you.’
Brutus carried Vitus by hooking his arm around him. The silk of his caudal fin and the diamond shaped scales of his tail caught hints of the dome light, but the dark color was hard to track in the water and several times she had to call out to him.
The fourth time it happened, she said, ‘You swim so much faster than I do. Take Vitus. He needs help. I’ll swim up by the dome. I made it into the water, I can figure out my way back inside.’
‘No, I can’t leave you alone out here.’ He pulled her toward him with his free arm.
Laurel caressed his face. ‘I told the king we were mated.’
Brutus gave a small smile, but the expression didn’t last long.
‘If Vitus dies because I swim too slowly I could never forgive myself. Please, you have to. Just hurry. Take this,’ she handed him the arm, ‘and him, and come right back for me.’ In truth, her body was sore from both slamming against the squid to free him and from the length of time she’d already been swimming around it the water. She needed to rest.
‘Keep moving. Be alert. Stay close to the base, but up by the edge of the light. Keep your thoughts open so you may hear my call.’
‘I’ll be fine. Get Vitus help.’ She had no way of knowing if that were true, but she knew Brutus wouldn’t take longer than he needed to. As she watched him swim away, there was so much she wanted to say to him. This was not the time.
Now that she’d found him, swimming in deep ocean was scarier. She didn’t have the narrow-minded focus of helping Brutus to keep her thoughts occupied. She touched the smooth dome. It really was like a snow globe in the middle of the ocean. The glass-like barrier let her glimpse inside. An old stone wall jutted from the landscape, but there were no people. Behind her, the blackness of the ocean stretched on, deep and dark and frightening as hell. She stared into the dome like it was a blanket to hide under to keep her safe. She began the slow swim back.
‘Freedom! I told you it would work.’
Laurel stopped swimming at the sound of a woman’s sultry voice and peered into the dome. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed or how close she was to the surfacing area. She didn’t see anyone on the other side.
‘Stupid Merr,’ another female voice answered as if agreeing. Cackling laughter followed the comment.
Realizing the telepathic sound probably came from the water, Laurel pulled herself down into the shadow of the rocky ledge of the base and held very still as she peered over the distance. She caught movement. The mermaids swam above her, further away from the dome.
A mermaid with red hair and scales led two others—one with long black hair and a green tail, and one a blonde with purplish-grey. Like Laurel, the fins along the women’s forearms were smaller than Brutus’s. They appeared dainty and delicate. Unlike Laurel, they were completely naked.
‘Lucius is a fool,’ one of them said. Without their lips moving, Laurel couldn’t see who spoke. ‘He thinks he can keep me out of the water. It was that hubris that put us down here.’
‘You were standing right beside him when it happened, your majesty.’
‘Shut your mouth.’ The dark-haired one slapped the redhead.
Laurel tried not to think or move as she watched them from below.
The redhead smiled and hovered in the water. ‘That wasn’t a complaint. I like immortality. Thank you, my queen, for making it so.’
The dark-haired mermaid looked somewhat pacified at the comment. ‘Lucius’s tyranny is coming to an end. This is my world. My rules. No one locks me inside the dome. He’s a fool to think he could keep me contained for long.’
‘It feels good to be in the ocean again. How I have missed it.’ The voice was new. She could only assume the blonde spoke.
‘Almost as much as I missed the hunt.’ The redhead looked as if she would swim upward.
The dark-haired mermaid stopped her. ‘Not yet, but soon.’
‘We need new stock. Our slaves grow tiresome. None of the men even try to resist my will. I want new toys.’
Something tickled Laurel’s hip, and she glanced down to see a thin, long, translucent worm coming out of the base of the dome. She bit her lip, trying not to scream as it continued to touch her.
‘Quiet. Do you hear that?’
All three mermaids turned their attention downward in her direction. Laurel tried to think of ocean sounds. She held very still.
‘Someone’s coming.’
The three women darted off into the distance.
Laurel’s heart raced as she pulled her body along the rocky base, away from the worm’s hole and from the angry Olympians.
Chapter 18
‘Laurel?’ Brutus’s voice caused her to move faster.
She used her entire body to swim toward it. ‘I’m here. I’m here. Please, get me out of the water.’ She crashed into his arms and hugged him tight. ‘I don’t like being out here without you. Mer—’
‘You told the king we were mated? You are my wife?’ He gently held her face. The words tumbled out of him as if they’d been burning inside his brain since he’d left her, just waiting to be spoken. Now that Vitus was delivered home
, he appeared eager to resume their conversation. ‘You are sure I am who you want? You have thought this through? You do not feel forced because of what we did?’
When he touched her, she felt safe. ‘Yes. I want to be with you. How can you even ask that after what happened between us? I felt you when you were gone. I sensed you were in trouble. I knew that you needed help. I drowned myself so I could come out here and find you.’ She glanced away and then back again. ‘And you? Am I who you want? Are you mad that I told the king? It just came out, but I don’t want to take it back.’
‘I wanted you from the moment you kept me from breathing surface air, when your red box blocked my assent and our bodies brushed for the first time.’ The light dusting of scales next to his eyes darkened slightly. ‘I wanted you when you drifted beneath the water, and I was able to hold you and breathe against your lips. I wanted you when you opened your eyes and looked at me, when you lay unconscious in the healer’s home, when you first spoke my name. I want you all the time. I can think of very little else. Through everything, I have felt you in me, and it makes me more alive. You make this curse I am under bearable. I love you, Laurel. I want you for the rest of this eternity.’
The honesty in his tone and the earnest expression in his eyes filled her with such hope and love that she had to kiss him. Her lips pressed against his. Their tongues touched, slipping beyond the borders to their lips. Not needing to pull away to speak, she said, ‘I love you, too, Brutus.’
The connection she felt to him was unlike anything she’d ever known. He swam backward as he kept her in his arms. His hair drifted around her.
‘Vitus?’ she asked.
‘With the healer. I do not think the arm can be saved,’ he said. ‘Your coming saved him. You saved us both.’
Laurel liked the approval she heard in his tone. ‘I’m very happy to hear he’s safe.’
Their tails skimmed against each other, sending a shiver over her. It was a strange sensation of pure emotion. Her love for him was there, but she had no burning sexual desire. It was probably just as well. She wasn’t sure how sex with a tail and no noticeable sexual organs would work anyway.
Surrender to the Sea (Lords of the Abyss Book 4) Page 7
