Chapter 44
Forty-Four
Angie pressed her back against the 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 the walls 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.
Angie was fading, flashes of black burst into her vision.
She pressed both hands under her breasts, pushing down the pain. She sucked in another gulp of water, retching at the briny taste and gritty texture.
Tiān, she could use one, or three or four of those damned air bubbles right now.
The cell door swung open and a pair of hands grabbed her, pressing strong fingers on both sides of her jaw and forcing her mouth open. The touch of lips came next, and then a rush of soothing breath from their throat to hers.
The world cleared and her breathing resumed. Angie’s head still pounded, but she lived. Her eyes met Kaden’s, his hands still clutching her shoulders as he floated above her. She gasped in relief, putting both hands on his chest.
“Kaden. Oh, I’m so glad it’s you.” Her head tilted back to rest on the floor.
He touched her cheek. “I feared I was too late.” His words came out rushed and panicked. “I couldn’t escape the infirmary any sooner.”
“No, I’m sorry too. I didn’t expect my dad and brother-in-law to be there, waiting.” Her eyelids burned with hot tears, and she released them, letting the sea wash them. “I didn’t know.”
“I know you didn’t.” Kaden’s easy chuckle was a sweet harmony to her ears. He pressed his forehead to hers, and Angie curled her fingers around the back of his hand.
“Then why am I being kept here?”
He moved his head back, his features grim.
“My mother still had her reservations about you. So she sent two sentinels shortly after us to keep an eye on me. They saw me return to the sea with a bleeding tail, and after sending me to the infirmary, reported to her that you had led me into an ambush.”
“You have to tell her it was a mistake. Have you talked to her?”
“I will. Now that I know you’re okay. I heard rumors about a landwalker in our prisons. Somehow, I knew it was you.”
She raised a hand and brushed a lock of hair from his face. “There was a maelstrom. I thought you said your mother was bedbound?”
He fiddled with her fingers, still entwined with his. “She recovered much faster than I expected. A blessing from the Sea Goddess, perhaps. And, I visited Cyrus. He lives, though I suspect his consciousness is elsewhere.”
“Thanks for the update. Will he recover?” Angie watched him carefully, waiting for his answer.
“Yes, but it will take some time. Three tidesyears. One for every tidesday that your people trapped him and drained him of his magic.” He rolled his lips between his teeth. “Our energies are not meant to be drained so quickly.”
“Three years. I’m so sorry.” Angie shook her head.
“The healers will take good care of him. Thank you for keeping your word.” His gaze locked on something behind her head, and he let go of her. “The sentinels are here. Stay alive, and I’ll come back for you as soon as I can.”
“Stay alive, huh? I’ll do my best.”
His fingers peeled away from hers as he swam out of the cell. She rolled so she faced the door, both hands flying to cover her mouth when the mer-queen approached, flanked by two armed sentinels, cutting Kaden off.
Serapha faced her first, then sent a glare set on fire to Kaden, her fists and torso held tight, as if stopping herself from strangling him with her bare hands.
“Kaden.” Her voice trailed out in a low growl, like her son’s name was a word she had to force out.
“What are you doing here? This landwalker tried to have you killed.”
“Mother.” Kaden held up a hand. “She is innocent and brought your message to her father, but they were awaiting us at the shore. The bottle was lost while she tried to save me. I bled too much to try to retrieve it.”
“I knew I didn’t have a good feeling about her, but I took yours and Adrielle’s word for it because Cyrus was in danger. How do you think those landwalkers knew exactly where to await the two of you?”
The thunder in Serapha’s tone struck fear into Angie’s core.
“Aurora told them! The mermaid that was trapped with Cyrus,” Angie burst out.
“You expect me to believe that one of ours would turn on us, while under capture from your revolting species?” Serapha snarled at her. “You must think me a brainless barnacle.”
Kaden said nothing, gaze unflinching as he floated eye-to-eye with her. Serapha swam upward so she towered over him. He didn’t move to meet her level.
“I want you to stay away from her. She cannot be trusted, and neither can you, for putting your naive trust in a landwalker in the first place.” Her lips morphed into a scornful twist, the venom in her eyes pierced Angie through the chest. “I will use her to make the landwalkers back down. And you.” She jabbed a finger into his chest. “If I catch you around here again, or going near the surface, you will be exiled. Understood?”
Kaden’s arms slackened at his sides. “Wh-what?” He looked with wide, frantic eyes in Angie’s direction. “You cannot simply exile me–”
“I can, and I will. I am the ruler of this queendom, and you are still my subordinate.” Serapha’s expression hardened.
Angie pounded on the cell door to protest, but the mer ignored her.
“Get out.” Serapha pumped her tail and swam in a circle around him.
Kaden didn’t move, and something in his face snapped, shock giving way to defiance as he stared her down. Serapha met his gaze, inching closer. In turn, Kaden moved toward Angie’s direction, his back to her.
Angie pressed her palms to the cell door. Kaden kept his eyes on Serapha and the sentinels.
As soon as he made for Angie’s cell, hand outstretched, the sentinels grabbed him by his arms. Kaden escaped their grasp. She didn’t know what he had been planning. Get her out, and then leave her to her own devices while he dealt the Queen and her sentinels? Attempt to escape with her?
One sentinel with a sapphire tail clutched Kaden’s, violently pulling Kaden toward him. The other sentinel, with a golden tail, approached him from the front. Serapha’s steely gaze tracked them, never making a move to help either the sentinels or Kaden, or stop them.
Kaden twisted his upper body and contracted his tail, wrestling his way out of the grasp of the sapphire-tailed sentinel.
Their scuffle and resulting chase were a dizzying dance to Angie’s eyes while her stomach fluttered and arm muscles twitched.
He slithered away each time the sentinels attempted to grab him.
Then he fought back, striking at the sapphire-tailed sentinel like a venomous snake, causing the sentinel to flex and wiggle backward, clutching his abdomen in pain, and Kaden took his lance, holding it to his chest with a clenched jaw and wildfire in his eyes.
Angie shouted Kaden’s name, but only Serapha acknowledged her with a glare like winter’s ice.
Finally, another sentinel, this one with a prismatic tail, arrived from outside Angie’s immediate vision. Together, the three restrained Kaden, one holding fast on his tail, another clutching his upper body, and they swam him back to Serapha.
Serapha gave her order once they were close enough. “See him out. I don’t care where he goes, as long as it’s not anywhere in this vicinity.”
She left, and the sentinels, one keeping her trident pointed at his head, led Kaden away and out of Angie’s sight, taking with them any hope of escape or seeing him again.
“And as for you.” Her words pierced Angie’s very being, as cold as the deep sea. “One of my messengers is drafting a missive to your landwalkers. If they do not give me an answer when the next low noontide comes, I will have you executed and thrown ashore.”
Angie wanted to shrink into a ball at Serapha’s commanding presence.
The Queen turned to leave, stopping short when a group of sentinels sprinted into her and Angie’s presence.
“My Queen.” One sentinel paused, pointing toward the prisons’ exits. “Landwalkers have been spotted!”