Page 111 of Oceansong
Around her, people lay hurt and groaning on the ground, others were dead, clothes and hair doused with water and clinging to the ground. Debris littered the docks. Wood planks with their sawtooth edges, crumbled buildings, and in the distance, boats and yachts floated upside down, some in pieces trailing out to sea.
Angie stopped walking when she came across Ian and Marc’s dead bodies, Marc lying on his back, and Ian lying on his side. Both appeared to have drowned, their eyes wide open and glassy, and foam trailed from Ian’s mouth. As if the sea had swallowed them, and then spit them out in disgust.
Workers around her were screaming, scattering to help the injured, searching for their colleagues and friends. Angie struggled to make out the other terrified, frantic raised voices around her.
She couldn’t. It was a blur.
Bàba and Mia left her behind when a group of men toward the dock’s entrance grew rowdier. Angie stepped on the small wooden bridge overarching a narrow body of rushing water as she moved closer to the crowd.
A violent splashing and a scream beside her caught her attention, and she stopped to look. If someone had fallen into the water, or the mer hadcrept closer to shore, in the middle of the docks—
A piece of thick rope lassoed around her ankle and tightened. She lost her balance and shrieked as the floor rose up to meet her. Several workers heard and ran back to grab her.
One man’s fingers grazed Angie’s as a large net landed on her head, enclosing her and sweeping her off her feet. Her chest smacked the bridge’s edge, and she cried out, limbs flailing as she crashed into the water below. Voices above yelled her name, and she clawed at the net to no avail.
Her screams faded into incoherent muffling once her head went underwater. Saltwater rushed into her open cut, and her lips parted in a soundless scream.
The net slipped off and a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind, pinching her shoulders into her chest. “You almost escaped. Stupid landwalker.” A disembodied voice came from next to her, thin lips pressed against her jaw. The marks on his arm stood out to her. No matter how she struggled, the sentinel’s ironclad hold prevented her from budging.
Her lungs protested, and her chest ached. The merman dragged her further to the depths. When she accidentally swallowed a mouthful of water with a frantic breath, the merman pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger and turned her face upward, his mouth descending on hers. With no other choice but to drown, she accepted his kiss, and he breathed down her throat.
When he pulled away, her lips were sore. His kiss was rough and forceful, laced with hatred. A sharp contrast to Kaden’s sweet and passionate kisses, laced with love.
The palace came into view, and abject fear struck.
Her captor took her around back, through the palace. Two sentinels swam up to join them, grabbing each of her legs, fully restraining her.
A carved out, large rock face entered her gaze, covered with sea glass circles, like a rocky honeycomb.
They stopped along a row of prison cells, and he threw the sea glass door open, shoving her inside face-first and slamming it shut again. Angie threw her hands out before her face smashed into the opposite wall.
“The landwalker leader’s spawn.” The merman’s lips curled in contempt. “By order of Mer-Queen Serapha, you will answer for your attempted murder of Prince Kaden. And dishonoring your end of the agreement you made with her.” His brows drew together, obsidian eyes drilling holes into her, and Angie cowered. “We will return when we have word from her.”
Attempted murder? Dishonoring their agreement? No, no, no!
Then he was gone, leaving her alone and pressed against the glass door,pounding in useless desperation.
Forty-Four
Angie pressed her back againstthe ceiling, extending her arms. The cell was shaped like a cylinder, twice as long as she was tall, the ceiling low, designed to hold the lithe, agile mer in a horizontal position. She could only log roll to face the ceiling or the floor, no way to stand upright.
She’d been here overnight, and her back ached from the constant arching. What she once thought was a vibrant, glittering palace was now a menacing and oppressive prison.
Angie faced the small, circular window on the opposite end of the cell, the view leading to the vast, unending sea.
Looking for help that never came.
Two glistening emerald eyes appeared in the dark open sea, moving forward to form the shape of a great white’s silver nose, followed by colossal jaws.
A beautiful sight, but in her predicament, she couldn’t properly admire the animal.
Futile as it might be, she searched for an escape. Angie had looked all over the cell, even pushed against the door with all her might when a sentinel wasn’t present, but it was sealed tight.
Yet she’d seen the sentinels opening and closing other prison doors with ease. It must only open from the outside, and the notion made her sick with anxiety.
Her vision blurred, salt stinging her eyes. Her lungs strained to expand as she inhaled, creating tightness in her chest. The mer’s magic was fading, and she would drown. None of the patrolling jailers came to check on her, and she suspected they’d forgotten about her. She swallowed a mouthful of saltwater with her next breath, and she clutched her throat, feeling like thewalls were closing in, about to crush her like she was nothing more than a boneless jellyfish.
The magic dissipated, and she held her breath. She was going to die here. Bàba and Mia would never find her. Even if they knew where the palace was, they wouldn’t make it before the mer swarmed and killed them. She wouldn’t see Rosie again or meet her unborn niece or nephew. Never realize her dreams as a marine biologist.
