Page 39 of Bride of the Sea King

I moved much faster, and felt a little less awkward—but after a few minutes, I had to stop and catch my breath.

He waited with me silently.

“If it’s going to be this difficult, you might as well tell me if I’m going in the wrong direction,”I panted.

“The cliffs are much further east.”He gestured to our left.

“Can you just lead the way?”

Triton nodded.

When my breathing was slightly more even, he gestured for me to follow him, and I did.

The man moved so slowly that it looked like it was physically painful for him, but that was all I could manage. Thankfully, he didn’t complain as he went my pace.

I didn’t see any cliffs as we continued, but the massive fish swimming around us were creepy as hell. I even saw a small shark. That made me want to grab Triton and hide behind his gigantic muscles.

I didn’t, though. Of course.

We had to stop every five or ten minutes, but the king never complained.

On my fifth stop, I finally said,“You really don’t have to stay with me. I’m sure I can find it on my own now.”

“It’s difficult to find a place you’ve never been before underwater, regardless of how skilled you are at navigation.”He was trying to spare my feelings, which was pointless. I was a shitty navigator on my best day.

“Still, I can figure it out. I’m sure you have things to do.”

“You are mine. I’m not leaving you alone beneath the water.”His voice was solid, but there was an edge to it.

Frustration?

Anger?

I didn’t know what to label it, or what emotion was behind it.

We resumed swimming, and I gave it a few minutes before I spoke again. I’d started to see the cliffs up ahead, which was good.

It was a short while later when we finally reached them. They looked like a towering maze of rocks that jutted up from the seafloor for what had to have been much more than a mile, and they were all wrapped with coral in vibrant colors. Puffy, colorful plants grew thickly over nearly every inch of the cliffs, consuming the rocks and only leaving space for the coral.

A massive shark swam by, and a scream tore through my lips.

I jerked sideways, slamming into the side of one of the puff-and-coral-covered cliffs. Coral cut my upper arm, and my eyes burned.

Triton’s arms were around me a moment later. He had my back pinned to a soft clump of puffballs just as quickly. The cliff we were against towered over us, but neither of us gave a shit.

Our eyes locked, the worry in his gaze so hot it made me warm. My hair floated around us, but neither of us noticed it.

A shiver rolled down my spine, carrying emotions with it.

Strong emotions. Emotions I couldn’t even dream about controlling.

Those emotions seemed to ignite the buzzing place within me where my magic was located.

A feeling filled the water around us—one that echoed Triton’s power, but felt slightly different. Instinctively, I knew it was mine.

Triton gave a low, dark rumble. “Do you feel your magic around us?”

“Yeah. I don’t know how to stop it.”

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