Chapter 1 #2
Thick, bright red blood spurts down the front of my shirt. I throw the knife across the room; it skitters to a stop in front of the desk. With a gasp, Captain Farol slumps into me, his eyes wild. I let the man thump to the floor.
“You little shit.” His breathing is ragged. Blood and stink pour from between his fingers.
“That’s not my name.” I walk away, trailing blood with my footprints. I still need something valuable to sell.
Rummaging through the desk drawers, I find a few trinkets and fill the pockets that line the hem of my shirt. I take a handful of gems I suspect are fake and a gold-sheathed letter opener. But there isn’t anything else of note, much to my disappointment.
Captain Farol pushes to a seated position and leans against the wall, clutching his wound. When he coughs, blood sprays the air. “Get the healer. I don’t want to die.”
“No.”
“I just meant to scare you.”
“And look where that got you.”
“Please. I have a little girl. She’s the sweetest little thing—”
“What would you do if someone threatened her life or freedom?” I riffle through the wardrobe as the man continues to bleed. So far, I find nothing valuable.
“Kill him.”
“By that logic, you deserve to die. I just have to wait.” I sit on top of the desk and watch. “It could take hours.”
Captain Farol coughs, spurting more blood over the floor.
“Or minutes.” I kick my legs as if I’m a child waiting for a treat.
Captain Farol’s breathing speeds up. “Skies, it hurts.” A sheen of sweat glistens on his paling skin.
I can’t bring myself to let him die, though. I’m not a killer. And if the man is telling the truth about having a daughter, I don’t want to be the reason she grows up without her father. I swing to the back of the desk and dig around in a drawer, finding the small bowl I saw in my earlier search.
“I’m going to leave you some immortal jellyfish essence.
It’ll heal you.” I untangle a glass pendant from the hiding spot in my hair and pour just enough essence Captain Farol will need to heal the worst of the gut wound.
The shimmering jelly-like glob looks more like snot than anything I ever want to ingest, but the substance does the job.
Slurp it down and even grave injuries heal.
Twisting the top back on the pendant, I do one final search through the desk. Nothing. Though the gems and letter opener weigh down my shirt, I know none will fetch enough to finish my pile of coins for my freedom. Captain Vex refuses anything other than coin for the bargain.
Needing more to sell off, the jeweled curtains over the bed catch my eye. I’m halfway there when the door slams open and another man bursts through.
Thick horns curve towards the ceiling of the new dragon shifter. He wears the same type of uniform as the captain, but his color is red. I don’t know the meaning of the colors, just the meaning of uniforms. And uniforms bring pain.
Abandoning the curtains, I point to the bowl of healing essence. “If you want your captain to live, he needs that.”
Captain Farol grunts, waving toward me. “Forget about me, get the mer.”
“I’m not mer.” As if denying my truth makes the lie real. I race to the window at the back of the cabin. But the new dragon shifter after me catches my wrist before I can make it.
I spin, decking the dragon shifter in the face. All that happens is a sore fist and gives an opening for the shifter to take me by the throat. I cling to the thick fingers around my neck and kick out as my feet rise from the floor.
Nothing is going as planned.
“Don’t fucking kill him.” Captain Farol tries to stand but cries out, sinking again.
The distraction from the captain buys me time. I free the letter opener from my shirt pocket. With all my waning strength, I stab the shifter in the chest.
Wide-eyed, the shifter drops me. I stagger back and fall onto the desk. The bowl of immortal jellyfish essence clatters to the floor.
“You might share that if you both want to live.” I nod to the glowing goo sliding around as the ship groans and rolls on the waves.
I hold onto anything tacked down and make my way to the window, ignoring the shouts of the dying men behind me.
It takes a bit of coaxing to get the window open, but in the end, I win. Breaking away the thick glass enough that I can jump to the frothing foam below.
Diving, I realize too late I left my pendant of immortal jellyfish essence in the desk. I curse myself. It took three days to make a single batch, and I lost my year’s worth.
Freezing water rushes by as I sink deeper and deeper into the churning storm-struck sea. I hate storms. A storm is what got me in Captain Vex’s possession.
My lungs burn as my gills surface slowly at my throat.
My eyes sting like a thousand jellyfish stingers have latched onto my face until my second eyelid slides into place.
My blond hair fans out in every direction around my head.
My legs fuse and elongate, my sapphire blue tail fanning out behind me.
Thin skin webs between my fingers. My fingernails become thicker, longer—weapons for the deep sea if needed.
My cry releases all my saved air. Gills finally flare out to drink in the salty sea, giving me a deep breath.
I had wanted to stay human for much longer.
But I also needed to get away. Undulating my bottom half, I flee from the ship.
Hand over hand, I pull water, moving quickly.
Doubt for my freedom washes over me. Summer is almost over, and I still need too much coin. Plus, the patch of scales keeps growing, which concerns me.