10. Blood in the Water
Marina
I groaned as I came to, my head throbbing.
A fucking swordfish had body-slammed me right as that harpoon pierced my tail, and it’d knocked me clean out.
I winced as I looked down at my tail, sitting up.
I was perched on a rocky ledge with scrapes along my back, but I was fine.
A harpoon of this size was annoying, but not powerful enough to cause me long-term harm.
I ripped the sharp barb out of my tail and swatted the piece away, baring my teeth as blood billowed from the wound. It was already healing quickly, at least.
But Demi . . .
“Fuck,” I rasped.
She’d seen me get hit.
My head snapped back and I looked up to the surface, and then everything in my world shattered.
No.
It wasn’t possible.
I had to be trapped in my own nightmare.
Please, no. Please.
My scream split the sea as I darted toward her lifeless body floating there. Above, the sky rattled as a storm raged on, but the love of my life was still.
Please no, please no.
I grabbed her face and pressed my lips to hers, but there was no response. I kissed her again, trying to create an air bubble, to give her breath—but her eyes were open and unblinking.
And her heart . . .
Her heart was silent.
I couldn’t feel anything. I was screaming and crying her name and holding her, but everything was numb.
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. She was my mate. Demi was my mate, my human—the one I’d been waiting on for centuries. She was meant to be mine forever. Forever.
I drew her close, sobbing even as my body felt the ocean shake around me. Goosebumps rose over my flesh as I felt the ripples, all of my senses going haywire.
An earthquake? Was that what was happening? I tightened my hold on Demi, refusing to let her go as I looked down.
At the bottom of the ocean floor, in the depths, bubbles burst as a fissure started to open.
“Oh fuck,” I whispered.
A brilliant shade of orange flashed below as fish swam past me, panicked as they moved far away from whatever was awakening. A clawed hand gripped the edge of the fissure, and I gasped.
Suddenly a shadow shot up from the depths, and it was behind me in a blink. I cried out as something warm touched the back of my head. All of my despair quieted and I realized—it was the clawed hand that touched me.
You won’t remember this, but you will when the time comes.
I wasn’t scared, but the feeling around me—it was unlike anything I’d felt before. It was strange, but all of my emotions calmed.
“I don’t know what you are,” I whispered. “But please. If you can, please save her. I will give anything. I love her. I need her. Please.”
You know what I am. One day, you and your mate will understand. But not today, it is not your time yet.
Breathe.