Page 5 of Midnightsong
Beside her, a sapphire wolf eel poked its head out of its cavern to investigate the commotion, likely thinking fish were near. Kaden’s eyes met with the eel, and appearing bored, the eel slunk back into its hiding place.
She was the luckiest woman to see rare sea life so close. To be able to call Kaden hers. And to finally be where she wanted, after the summer she spent fighting for her life, and her love for him.
The ocean now spanned inky black around them, shrouding the world in mystery. And the glow of the queendom came into view. Smaller than the Northern Pacific Queendom in Alaska, but no less majestic. Open-sea with enclosed emerald rooms on top of each tiny spire—it looked to her like a thousand fingers resting atop a circular pavilion. The entire palace rested on a gargantuan, flat rock bed; its entrance was a hallway that seemly stretched for a mile. Colorful coral gardens surrounded the palace on all sides.
She knew from Kaden that there was one more queendom in the Pacific Ocean, in the vicinity of Southern California and Hawaii. What would that queendom be like compared to the two she’d already witnessed?
Mer darted in and out, a dazzling array of lavender and emerald and golden tails. Most paused briefly to give a bow or a nod to Kaden and Angie when they passed. “Where are we going?” she piped up after the palace was far behind them. “I think you’ll like this. I discovered something another hundred feet lower. You’ll see.” Kaden spoke in a hushed, excitable tone, and she gave him her rapt attention.
The dark weighed heavy on her and she squeezed Kaden’s hand tighter. Dull green kelp and eelgrass blades tickled her thighs and stomach, and she flinched. Kaden must have felt her slight lurch and he tugged her an inch upward.
“They can be a bit much if you’re not used to the sensation,” he remarked as soon as they were safely above the grass beds. “Now look down.”
Angie did.
Any tension her body harbored left and her gaze fixed on the lights below. She could hardly breathe or blink, wanting to take all of it in, commit everything to memory—the beauty of this moment. Bioluminescent corals, sea sponges, and unidentifiable sea life—if Angie had to guess, they must be some combination of worms, crustaceans, sea stars, and algae—glittered below. She stayed beside Kaden as they darted toward the lights, zigzagging over and through the coral formations. The creatures appeared as tiny lights, making her feel as if she were overseeing a vibrant city skyline from high in the sky. It reminded her of the flight when she moved here, watching the city out of the small window. She felt so small and missed home so much. Her father, sister, and even Ken and Stefan.
Speaking of Ken and Stefan. The phone call. How could she have forgotten?
“I talked to Stefan...”
“Is he well? I look forward to seeing him and Ken again.”
“Yeah.” Her face fell, recalling what else he had said. Foreboding prickled as if tapping onto each of her nerve endings. “But he cut off our call because unauthorized divers were going out. I couldn’t call him back and he hasn’t answered my texts. We should—should we make sure everything’s okay in your queendom?” She wrapped her arms around herself, despite the waters feeling temperate over her skin from the mer magic. “I can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong.”
Kaden nodded. “Yes, we should bring this to the queen and king’s attention.”
Kaden tugged her hand, and they took their leave, back to the palace.
On their way, a strong current came through, threatening to whisk them away from their safe little nook. It swept between them and around all sides, breaking apart their handhold. For the briefest of moments, it carried her away from him until he secured her next to him once more. Angie welcomed his touch.
“Land nor sea will keep me from you,” he whispered into her ear.
The current blast meant they were approaching the palace’s largest entryway at the structure’s apex, the colder and denser waters driving stronger currents.
“Ready?” Kaden asked.
Angie nodded, eager for Cassia and Varin’s audience.
Two
Kaden
Kaden glided through the viscous seasas they made their way back to the palace, his tail, hands, and torso moving in harmony to streamline his movements through the water’s natural resistance.
He put his free hand on his chest where a dull ache had emerged since he had taken Angie undersea.
No, not again.
When Kaden left Angie after her first tidesweek at school, his chest ached as he cut his way through the sea.
Not in the way that he missed her.
This was a blooming pain, as if an invisible hand punched his sternum from the inside, unlike the usual brief pang of discomfort he got after giving her breath—which would fade in the flick of a tailfin. No, this felt deeper and gnawing. And it persisted.
Odd. He could talk to Angie about it.
Perish the thought.
