Page 3 of Seduced By the Mermen
“No Blair, they’re all more than relieved that they don’t have to put up with all the pomp and circumstance and get to go right home to their families. Speaking of which, it’s time for us to go,” Nico growls. “Are you ready?” he says over my head, and I realize he’s talking to Annabelle.
Annabelle takes my hand. She’s already holding Marlee’s. “Are you ready to be amazed?”
I nod, but how much more amazed could I possibly be?
Chapter 2
Blair
“Here Aunt Blair, take the seat by the window. I’ll sit between the two of you.” Annabelle squeezes between Marlee and me in the middle row of the nice car-boat thing.
“An omada—you say that’s what this is called?” I’m not sure how I’m going to learn everything I need to know. The language and customs.
“Yes. It has a longer name, but everyone just shortens bigger vehicles to omada. Smaller ones are called solo.”
“Right, for one person,” I say.
“Oh, I never thought of it like that, but they can fit two people. More if you don’t mind squishing in an emergency.”
One of Annabelle’s mates groans in the front.
“Buckle up,” a different one growls.
But I’ve already buckled up, and I try not to sigh when he says it. Annabelle’s been focused on it her whole life. Her mother died in a car crash when she was just a baby. I also try not to think of how different life might have been for all of us if she hadn’t died. Russ—my ex, and I hate to even think his name—might never have gotten involved with the farm. And if he hadn’t been doing more than half the work on the farm, helping my brother, I’d like to think I would have had the strength toleave him long before I did. Long before he transformed into the monster he became.
The doors hiss and I jump.
“That’s the doors pressurizing,” Nico says from the front seat.
“Oh, that’s a good thing.” I nod at him.
“We’re going to go through an airlock, and then we’ll be out in the city,” Annabelle explains. “It’s really amazing—you’re going to love it.”
There’s a loud whoosh as water fills the airlock. It pushes against the glass of the window. I put my hand against the glass that separates us from the ocean water. It’s cold. I turn to Annabelle.
She’s grinning. “I’m so glad you’re here.” She takes my free hand and squeezes it.
Instinctively, I grip her hand, and the omada pops out of the airlock like a cow through a shoot. The omada wobbles left and right until Annabelle’s mate Holter hits a button on the panel on the dashboard. It looks more like one for a crop-dusting plane than a car or boat. There’s so much to take in.
“This section of the city has a lot of industry,” Annabelle explains. “Over in the distance there, do you see that gigantic dome? It’s where they house a lot of land animals—cattle, pigs, and chickens. Though most of the diet here is seafood, for obvious reasons.”
I’m still wondering how a cow handles living in a dome under the ocean. And I’m fighting to get the image of a cow wearing a scuba mask out of my head when a huge blue building—dome—blocks the far away farming buildings. “What is that?”
“That’s one of the Zaffiro domes. It’s where I grew up,” Eros, another one of Annabelle’s mates, says from the row behind me.
“And that’s Seolfor’s dome. It’s interesting but not as pretty as the Glyden dome. That’s where we live,” Castor says behind me.
I lean toward the window. Part of the dome shimmers with crystals. “It sparkles,” I say.
“Sapphires are how Zaffiro makes most of their money.”
My ears are giving me fits. Like I’ve gone for a long airplane ride followed by a day of swimming. I hold my nose and blow.
“You’ll get used to the pressure soon. And if you don’t, we can have one of the Glyden doctors take a look at you. How are your ears, Marlee?” Eros asks.
“I’m good.” Marlee’s taking things in. I can tell she’s as much in awe as I am. But she’s way too cool to gawk like I do.
The Zaffiro major dome and a lot of little domes disappear behind a huge, tall dome. The walls are gleaming stainless steel. And I don’t have to be told whose dome that is.
