Page 108 of Oceansong
The workers behind Nick looked shell shocked, their gazes constantly darting to each other.
“Uh, maybe we should let you two figure this out. I don’t wanna get in the middle of no domestic dispute.” Marc took a step back and looked as if he was about to bolt.
“No, you’re staying.” Nick’s order was sharp and final.
Angie couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t stand there and listen to her sister publicly berated by the man who supposedly loved her. “She made her choice. You brought this on yourself.” She jabbed a finger in his direction. “Come on, jiejie, let’s get out of here.” She reached a hand for Mia’s forearm, but Nick’s hand came down hard on her shoulder, stopping her.
“I don’t give two shits what you think, Angela. After today, you’re gone. Never to step foot back here again.” He waved his fingers in her face and scoffed under his breath. “I, for one, won’t miss you. Neither will most of the people here. You’re not wanted.”
“You hurt my sister. You let your men tear the mer-prince up. And all you do is kiss my dad’s ass.” Angie was yelling now, but she didn’t care.
Mia put a hand on her forearm, her grip tightening.
“You really want to pick a fight?” Nick yelled back in equal measure. “Because this time, I won’t hold back!”
“Nick, stop it! Just, we’ll talk about this at home, okay?” Mia cried out. Nick lunged for Angie in tandem with Mia throwing herself at him, andwith frantic shouts, Nick’s three men rushed for them.
“Nick! Nick!” Marc stopped short, grabbing Nick’s arm.
“What?” Nick’s spittle flew in the man’s face, and with a shaking hand, Marc pointed toward the water.
“We gotta get out of here. The water. The mer are here.”
Nick yanked his arm out of the man’s grasp. “This is between me and my family. Go get some guns, if you’re so worried. I have more important things to deal with here.”
From her peripheral vision, Angie watched the three men dart into the storage house. They returned a moment later and readied themselves at the shore.
“It’s some kind of vortex!” a different man called out, pointing to it.
“What the hell are you talking about, a vortex?” Nick threw his hands up in exasperation, and moved to join them.
Angie stood on her tiptoes to look at the seas. The tides and waves were swirling, slow and calm. The mer must be rotating the waters. Had Serapha’s sentinels come to retrieve her? Had she run out of time to get Bàba agree to the peace agreement?
The men held their weapons, trying to get a good aim. If the mer took down Nick, Ian, and Marc, she certainly wouldn’t cry over them. The fourth man was a stranger to her, however, and she wished no harm on him.
The four men hadn’t moved from their spot at the beach, still talking amongst themselves.
An idea flickered into Angie’s mind. They were far enough so Angie and Mia could slip away and buy some time while the men looked for them. If they did.
Angie took advantage of Nick and his men being distracted, and curled her fingers around one of Mia’s wrists. She clicked the outhouse door open and shut it behind them. Once they were inside, one of Mia’s eyebrows raised and the other lowered in confusion. “Angie, what—?” She jumped back and gasped. “Is that Cyrus?”
“I promised I’d get him out tonight. I’m so sorry, I forgot when I emailed you. Do you think you could give me a hand? Get him back to the sea? He doesn’t look like he can hang on much longer.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Mia held up her hands, taking a step back.
“Ihaveto. You don’t have to help if you don’t want to. I owe Kaden this much.”
Mia paced around brow puckered in thought. Angie scanned the outhouse for something large enough to hide Cyrus in. No nets to be found.
An industrial-sized, empty mobile garbage bin was clear in sight, and Angie scrambled to take the large black bag out. If they could fit Cyrus into it, and she and Mia combined their strength to carry him, it could work.
“Oh, it hurts my heart to see him like that.” Mia’s loud declaration jolted her. Mia walked up to Cyrus’ tank, never taking her eyes off his limp form, and put her hands on the tank. Then she looked at the bag. “You’re putting him in a garbage can?”
“Better than nothing. And we could roll it. He’s heavy.”
Aurora, and the three, recently caught mer looked equally as lifeless, but their gills still opened and closed with a lethargic rhythm.
Glistening tears streamed down one side of Mia’s face. “No one deserves this. Bàba and Nick let this happen?”
