Page 62 of Between Salt and Serenades
“I advise you to let us board this ship in peace. I think there’s been enough inter-pod violence for one week, yes?”I peered over my shoulder at the five warriors, a scowl written across each of their faces. Once Tetwin backed off, the other hunters began to do the same. It wasn’t until then that I turned my backs on them and broke the surface of the water.
“Hello there!” Rory shouted from the sunny skies above, as if he’d been the Sun Goddess herself. “Need a hand?”
“I never thought I’d ask this, but will you please scoop us up with your net, fisherman?” I asked with a crooked smile, trying not to look down at who lurked beneath the ship.
“Will do! Everything alright down there?” he called out.
“Could be better! A rush would be appreciated.” My eyes darted below us. I didn’t fully trust the hunters not to change their mind at any moment.
“I’ll grab you ladies in just a moment.”
“Just be careful, okay? Breena is injured,” I shouted when I lost sight of his jovial face.
A net plopped in the water the next second, and I swam into it with Breena in my arms before it closed. I’d been so focused on Breena’s injury, I’d forgotten what would happen when this net lifted out of the sea. My teeth gritted against each other, and my heartrate quickened as the net began closing in around us.
“It’s going to be okay,” Breena croaked out. “You are the strongest person I’ve ever met.”
She grabbed my hand as we began rising out of the water.
The pain found me swiftly, and Breena dropped my hand as I began to thrash and scream.Depths, I need to get out of this net.
I needed to be freed before I hurt Breena with my talons or boney spinal fins.
“Hurry it up, Rory!” Breena called out in a weak shout, her beautiful eyes widening.
“I’m being gentle!” he called back.
“Be less gentle. Hurry it up, man!” she said, more frantic this time.
“Close your eyes,” I begged. “I don’t want you to—” A scream ripped out of me as we landed on the deck, cutting me off from my pleas to Breena. “I don’t want you to se?—”
Breena nodded frantically, tears spilling out of her eyes as she squeezed them shut. She stuck her fingers in her ears and blocked out the sounds of my shrieks as my skin began shredding and pulling.
Rory rushed over and began pulling the top of the net apart, freeing both Breena and me. He scooped her up as my blood splashed upon her seal tail, and he wiped her clean before she could open her eyes once more.
The fisherman gave me my space but watched me intently as he laid Breena down on a pile of rags. He offered words of encouragement, reminding me of my family, but all I could thinkof was the two beings I shared this ship deck with. It wasn’t until a second set of screams rang through the air that my mind quieted.
Zellia.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
LAND HO!
“Zellia!” I shouted out. “Zellia, is that you?”
“Sid!” she screeched, pain ripping through her fragmented calls. “It’s me. I’m-I’m sorry!”
“Rory, please find her,” I groaned as I rolled face first onto the net-covered deck. I focused on my breathing, not letting the pain consume me. My sister needed me too much. “And bring some clothes!”
Rory frantically ripped the shirt off his back and grabbed a handful of rags, then scrambled in the direction of my sister’s screams.
“What were you thinking?” I yelled moments later through the throbbing in my temple as Rory and Zellia came into view. My sister was in his arms, his shirt working as a dress, rags wrapping her lower half. She was a scaly fucking mess, and if I wasn’t so weak, I would have flung a host of creative curses at the girl to let her know just how I felt about her grand plan of sneaking aboard the ship.
“I couldn’t let you leave without me. I couldn’t let you do this on your own. You and Breena both need me, but you’re too stubborn to see that,” she said through horse vocal cords. Her words grew more faint as she spoke, and her limp legs smearedin blood dangled from Rory’s arms. As much as he tried, the look of sheer panic couldn’t be hidden from his face as he set her down near Breena.
“Sorry to interrupt this reunion, but I-I’m bleeding,” Breena said. The seaweed that once wrapped her skin was dangling uselessly off her hip. The wound on her stomach had reopened, and her shaking hand hovered above it, as if she was unsure if she should put pressure on it or not. Rory rushed over to the selkie with a rag in his hand, ready to stop the slow crimson flow.
“Don’t you dare put that dirty thing on her!” Zellia’s voice was firm for the first time since she boarded the ship. She grunted as she sat up and began crawling a few feet across the wet deck. Her new toes scraped across the wood, and she stuck her tongue out in concentration.
