Page 86 of Midnightsong
Saeryn, surrounded by his sentinels and Shangjiangs, made his way back to the palace, passing Kaden on the way. They released the hujings from service and swam off together.
“Uncle, what have you done?” Kaden whispered, trembling fingertips covering his mouth when his uncle crossed his path. “You know it’s only a matter of time before they come for us. This was a grave mistake.”
Saeryn stopped, his expression was flat. “They can try. And don’t try to stop me again.” His glare was a freshly forged lance: lethal, pointed, and glimmering, before he continued on his way.
Kaden cocked his head, fixing a stare on Saeryn’s retreating tailfins—wrestling with the realization of his uncle’s true two-faced nature.
Kaden had fallen right for his honeyed words and false promises.
Thirty-Six
Angie
Angie ended her call with Mia,Jack, and Rosie, and slipped her phone into her backpack. Her still-sore muscles gave a slight whine of protest when she climbed out of the car.
Raindrops spattered against her insulated rain jacket, and her rain boots squished against the muddy ground.
She had a half hour before her first class, and she walked on the outer edges of the university, listening to the Salish Sea’s gentle ebb and flow, and occasional crashing wave two miles away.
A National Guard helicopter trailed through the skies, thechuff-chuffof its rotors growing softer as it moved over the seas. A helicopter with the lettersMDRTwas close behind.
She circled around to the front of the school and walked up the hill it sat on, entering through its gates. Around her, groups of students gathered, loudly objecting to the captured mer in aquariums, research labs, and universities, asking for their release, one holding a sign with a website on the bottom and in bold text:
Join the movement to free the mer!
We can make a difference together!
A flicker of warmth licked at Angie’s heart; glad she could set a positive example. Her phone pinged with an incoming text and she took it out of her backpack.
It was from Stefan; the first time she heard from him in several weeks. He sent a link to an article fromThe Creston Gazettewith no other context.
She clicked on the link, and with a shaking thumb, Angie scrolled down to the bottom of the article.
The search is still ongoing for a group of five divers who went missing over the weekend.
She texted Stefan.
What’s going on? Are you guys alright over there?
While she waited for his response, she kept walking to her first class. The usually balmy, moist air had become stifling.
The MDRT helicopter hovered in her mind, and she pulled her phone back out, typing in the acronym into her search bar.
M–D–
The ground shuddered under her feet, and she took a step back, catching her balance.
“What was that?” Reesa asked, approaching her from her left side, hot coffee in hand.
Sharp shakes rattled underfoot. “Earthquake!” Angie grabbed Reesa’s jacket sleeves. “Get away from the buildings!”
She ran for her life as the earth shook and jolted underneath them.
When they made it halfway down the hill, a shadow fell over her head. Puzzled, she lifted her gaze.
Above her, the open skies seemed to have turned into night in a blink. Darkness emanated from thick, storm clouds gathering above, hanging inches over the sea line below them, appearing to be shadowed mountains in the distance.
“Really?” Reesa muttered next to her. “We’re going to have a storm, on top of this. Happy Monday, right?”
