Page 62 of Whispers of the Starlit Sea
His chest ached, and his stomach roiled from the spinning. Was this his end? Had he been saved by one mermaid just so he could die rescuing her friends?
No.
He had to get back to Sorcha. He wouldn’t leave her to turn to sea-foam without him.
He kicked as hard as he could at right angles to the pull of the water. After several agonizing moments, the water loosened its hold on him, and he broke the surface.
Blessed air filled his lungs, even as rain did its best to fill the space. A wave washed over him, and he was carried along before managing to surface again. This time, he was able to see the lighthouse.
He had been pushed away from the shore, but instead of being carried out to the Maighdeann Sea, he was nearing the harbor entrance.
The storm wasn’t finished with him yet, and the next wave pushed him back under. A mer appeared out of the blackness — a face Arick recognized from the cavern.
He swam toward Arick, who reached out a desperate hand. The mer froze, unsure. His mouth parted as if to speak, then he clamped his hands over his ears and twisted away into the depths.
Another wave slammed into him, flipping him sideways and plunging him back into darkness. His ribs cracked against a submerged stone. His vision swam.
He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see. Couldn’t think.
His legs kicked weakly, but the current spun him in circles, dragging him deeper with every heartbeat.
A mer with black hair and dark tail swam alongside him for several heartbeats, her expression undecided. Blackness edged his vision as he fought to reach the surface. His sluggish fingers shaped the words “Help me,” but it was too late. She was gone.
Bubbles burst from his mouth, and he clamped his lips shut again. Another swirling wave tossed him to the side, and he slammed into an unforgiving wall. He was pinned, water pouring past him, driving him against the stone.
Something shifted against his ribs, a shape firm and slick. He twisted, disoriented. And the creature nudged him again. A sleek gray body, longer than his.
The dolphin nudged him around the side of the pillar of rock, enabling him to kick free of the current. His shoulder throbbed, his limbs screamed, but he rose toward the surface.
Air met him like a blow. He sucked it in between coughs, blinking against the stinging rain.
Then he saw it.
The rowboat.
It floated just beyond the harbor’s mouth, bobbing in the swell.
The dolphin held it steady, its powerful body pressed against the hull.
And floating just beyond it was the mermaid with the purple fin and black hair.
Chapter eighteen
Withbloodiedhands,Sorchashoved at the rubble blocking the tunnel. The passageway echoed with the howl of wind behind her and the gurgling rush of water at her feet. Every crash of thunder shook the stone around her, vibrating through her bones like a warning. Rain drove in sideways through the narrow opening, and the frequent flashes of lightning lit the passageway in jagged bursts. Her hand slipped on a stubborn rock, wrenching her finger as she pawed faster at the barrier. She had to get out.
Had to get to Aunt Maeve.
To Arick.
To Father.
Despite her continued calls, she hadn’t heard anyone since Aunt Maeve’s anguished cry. Was she okay? Was everyone else?
More debris tumbled from the pile, bouncing off her legs and feet, adding to the shards that pierced her every time she adjusted her position. She shouted again, no longer knowing whether she was calling for Arick in his tongue or for help from the merfolk in hers.
The tightness in her chest caught her off-guard amid the other aches that consumed her body. “Arick!” she cried again, his name cut off when she couldn’t get her breath to finish it.
Where was he? Why would he have left?
