“We don’t do well out of water,” he said finally. “People my age, older, we can survive maybe two or three weeks without any contact with the ocean. But much longer than that, and we grow weak. Our heart, lungs, all of it, they have trouble working anymore. It kind of looks like poisoning to humans. And for children, it… it happens faster. But the Driecarans wanted to pressure Dad, so they hid Miri on land and told him to concede to their demands or they’d let her die.”
I stared at him. His voice was so distant.
“Dad refused. He told us that if he gave in to a small nation like Driecara, a nation that used spies more than soldiers to protect themselves, then more powerful territories would try what the Driecarans had done. Things were really tense in those days. None of the territories worked together; nothing was really safe. And Jirral’s brother had just died, leaving Dad the throne since Jirral didn’t want it, which meant all the other nations were angling to take advantage of the new king. So if he backed down…”
Zeke sighed. “Jirral, though… he kept urging Dad to negotiate. He insisted that we give the Driecarans what they wanted. Appeasement and all that. And when Dad wouldn’t…” He shook his head. “Dad did everything he could, though. His soldiers found the ones who’d taken her, found out where she was, everything. The Driecarans had hidden her in a warehouse in Mexico, maybe fifteen miles from the shore. But for someone her age, someone so small…”
He shook his head. “She died before they got there.”
My arms tightened around my tail.
“Dad went crazy. At least, that’s what people say. The Driecarans had taken Miri because they had been sure he’d cave. They’d counted on it. And when he didn’t, and Miri died… he made sure nothing like that would ever happen again.”
“What did he do?” I whispered into the silence.
Zeke looked to me, his expression haunted by pain and old ghosts. “He wiped Driecara from the face of the Earth.”
I swallowed as he turned back toward the ocean.
“The Driecarans should have been ready for it. Maybe they were and it didn’t matter. But he called up all the soldiers we had and within the space of a year, everyone from the royal family to the lowest politician had been hunted down. The entire country was destroyed. And their people… their people fled. If they survived.”
Zeke ran a hand through his black hair. “Jirral called him a genocidal maniac, and that was about the nicest thing. And my mom… she couldn’t take what he did, couldn’t take what happened to Miri or any of it, so she left. Went back to her family in Lycera. Everything kind of fell apart. And I know what Dad did was wrong. He was trying to keep us safe, but the way he accomplished that…”
I shivered.
“Jirral should have stopped them from taking Miri in the first place, though. Or… or at least just let them…”
I paused, almost certain I could hear the words he wasn’t saying.
“Take you?” I asked carefully.
His head turned, though he didn’t meet my gaze.
And I didn’t know what to do. He had to know they would have killed him. Or that he probably couldn’t have survived on land any better than his little sister. Not when he’d only been seven years old.
He had to know that.
It just didn’t seem like he cared.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have brought it–”
“You have a right to know. Everyone else already does.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond.
Silence stretched between us.
“We just need to stay here a few days,” he said quietly. “Let the sieranchine work. And then we’ll leave. Okay?”
My brow furrowed. “And you’re going to be here the whole time? What about Ina and Niall? Won’t they worry?”
Zeke shifted uncomfortably, not meeting my gaze. “I can’t go back. Not till this is over, anyway. Ren confined me to my apartment to keep me from looking for you, and if I head there now… it won’t go well.” He paused. “Just a few days, alright?”
I swallowed. “Okay.”
He nodded, his eyes still on the ocean.
I looked down. I had to do what he wanted. After all that… I couldn’t hope to argue without feeling like a monster.
Even if I’d wanted to.
They seemed totally carefree. Him, Ina and Niall. They seemed like they had everything anyone could want.
And they’d been through so much, I didn’t even know where to begin.
My gaze slid to him. His black hair stirring in the current, he didn’t take his eyes from the dark water outside.
I wanted to reach out to him. Maybe take his hand. Maybe just tell him it’d be alright. But I knew that was stupid. I’d practically just met him, despite all that we’d been through in the past day. And whatever everyone’s opinion, at best he really was just a new friend. I couldn’t invade his space like that.
And I couldn’t promise anything would be alright.
My gaze fell to my lap and my fingers clasping each other there.
I’d wait a few days like he asked. But only that. And then we’d get back to Santa Lucina as fast as possible. Because everything else aside, he needed to be here. Even if Ren was angry at him, what was left of Zeke’s family needed to be together right now.
And in the meantime I just had to hope that, before Zeke risked his life trying to kill any Sylphaen, the soldiers would reach them first.
Chapter Thirteen
Zeke
In the end, Chloe gave it four days.
Barely.
Her bruises disappeared by the second morning, and she seemed to move more easily by the next evening. I caught her watching the cave entrance more often than not, though when she’d notice me studying her, she’d just blink and look away.
But she hardly slept.
Jirral tried encouraging her to rest. Told her it would help her body repair itself even if, as a dehaian, she’d normally only need to sleep every two or three days. But she wouldn’t. Simply closing her eyes seemed to frighten her, and every time she did drift off, she’d jerk back awake again with her face as white as a sheet.
And she never let anyone touch her.
I’d noticed it a few days before, when she’d tried to bolt out of the cave while Jirral was gone. Fear had flashed across her face as I’d come near, the expression so strong, it was like she thought I was a Sylphaen. She’d stayed away from both me and Jirral since he’d returned that first day, mostly remaining curled in the cave’s corner while she waited for her body to heal.
It bothered me more and more as time went on. I didn’t know why I let it, except that it was just another example of the damage the Sylphaen had done. Another way they’d hurt her.
One more thing they had to pay for.
“Stick to the southern line of Myriarch,” Jirral said.
I blinked, pulling my attention back to him. By the cave entrance, Chloe hovered, waiting for Jirral to finish his instructions.
No matter how pointless they were.
“And don’t try getting too close to the Riovarian hills. I spotted a few sharks that way last month and you don’t want Chloe having to contend with them.”
“We’ll be fine,” I told him tiredly, not bothering to add that I’d been to Santa Lucina a hundred times. Or that our spikes would tear through the hide of any shark stupid enough to attack, and that was if they were fast enough to catch us in the first place.
He knew all that.
“Huh,” he commented. He swung his bag up from the floor and tossed it to me roughly. “Food, medicine and clothes, though the latter won’t fit her, obviously. Try not to be such an idiot that she ends up needing to use all this stuff, eh?”
I took the bag and headed for the entrance.
“Thank you for your help, Jirral,” I heard Chloe say as I passed.
She followed me out of the cave.
“How long will it take to get there?” she asked as the dark water swallowed the glow of the torchlight behind us.
“Most of a day.”
“That’s the fastest we could make it?”
I hesitated. There wasn’t any way I was going to let us travel at top speed. “Safely, yes.”
Her mouth tightened, but she didn’t press it.
The hills and valleys surrounding Nyciena gradually fell behind us. I couldn’t think what to say to her as the hours passed, and from her silence, she didn’t seem to want to talk either. There wasn’t much to discuss in any case. She’d leave the ocean, and anywhere near the coast, and stay away from both for as long as she could tolerate.
Which, given her history, might be years.
But that was what she needed to do to stay safe, and as a plan it obviously made the most sense, so there wasn’t anything to talk about.
No matter how uncomfortable the idea made me.
We passed the flat terrain bordering the valleys of Myriarch and then turned to trace a long curve around the Riovarian hills, just in case. Everything Jirral said aside, Chloe didn’t need the stress of learning how to take on a shark right now.
Though I honestly wouldn’t have minded a good fight. I still felt like breaking something.
The water grew shallower as we rounded the outer perimeter of the hills. I could feel the temperature rising incrementally the farther we swam, though it was still sometime past midnight above the rolling waves.
Something moved to our right.
I glanced over sharply, and saw Chloe do the same.
“What–” she started.
I motioned her to silence, my attention on the hills.
A shape flicked between the slopes, too fast to be a shark.
I gestured to the seafloor, and then followed her when she dove toward the rocks below.
We dropped down behind a large boulder. Chloe’s brow rose questioningly. Reaching into the bag, I didn’t respond, instead drawing out the veil control stone and circling us with it quickly.
The veil swelled up, coming to a close over our heads.
A moment passed.
Three dehaians left the hills, swimming toward the place where we’d been. At my side, Chloe’s breath caught.
They were Vetorians. Knife straps crossed their chests over top of so many scars, the old wounds and tribal markings looked like strange maps. The trio fanned out in the water, their heads turning while they scanned the area. Scales of sickly white and faded bronze covered their tails, and metal glinted from their fins, revealing the razor-sharp blades clipped there.
I glanced to Chloe. Her eyes were locked on them, and I could see her trembling.
My grip on the veil stone tightening, I stopped myself from reaching out to calm her. The veils deadened most noise, but I still didn’t want to startle her into making a sound.
The mercenaries passed overhead without seeing us and continued on. My gaze returned to the hills.
Nothing moved.
I remained where I was. If the Vetorians had come out here because they’d spotted us earlier, the lack of motion now could just be a trap.
Chloe looked to me, her pale skin bloodless. I put a finger to my lips. She nodded.
Seconds turned to minutes.
The Vetorians emerged from the murky twilight to our left, swimming back toward the hills. A string of fish trailed behind them.
I drew a slow breath when they disappeared behind the hillsides. I let another minute pass for good measure, watching both the hills and the ocean around us alike, but nothing changed. With a glance to Chloe, I motioned for her to stay low, and at her nod, I switched off the veil surrounding us.
We emerged from the shelter of the boulder and took off.
Water rushed around us as we raced along the seafloor. I kept an eye to Chloe, watching for any sign that the speed hurt her, and when miles separated us and the hills, I finally motioned for us to stop again.
“You okay?” I asked.
She nodded, though she was breathing hard and still looked pale. “More mercenaries?”
I didn’t know what to say. They shouldn’t have been here, just like they shouldn’t have come near us on the way home a few days ago. I knew Ren said they’d been breaking past the borders, but for them to be
this
far inside Yvaria…
“Zeke?”
“We’re fine,” I answered, hoping I was right.
Worry tightened her face. “So this is normal?”
I hesitated, searching for an explanation to make us both feel better. “No,” I admitted. “But they’re probably just stragglers hiding out after getting past the border patrol. The soldiers will catch them soon.”
Chloe didn’t respond. Not knowing what else to do – and not really wanting to talk about it anyway – I started swimming again.
She followed.
It wasn’t like Vetorians hadn’t gotten past the borders before. It was rare, but it’d happened over the years. But for them to be here in
these
numbers, and swimming around so damn-near brazenly…
It almost felt like someone was letting them in.
I swallowed, pushing the thought away. Liana and her three cohorts aside, the whole world wasn’t in a conspiracy. Especially not one of that scale.
So this was an anomaly. A disturbing one, but one that – like everything else – I’d deal with when I got home.
When Chloe was gone.
A grimace twisted my face and it took effort to drive it away. She had to go back. It was the safest option left.
Trying to make myself believe the words, I continued toward Santa Lucina.
Chapter Fourteen
Chloe
My sides ached from the hours of swimming, but I wasn’t about to tell Zeke. Anyone’s muscles would be tired after how long we’d been traveling, which meant it probably had nothing to do with old injuries or the sieranchine. So I wasn’t going to mention it.
Because according to what he’d told me a few miles before, Santa Lucina was only minutes away.
I didn’t know what I’d say to Noah when I saw him again. Or Baylie, either – assuming she hadn’t headed back to Reidsburg already. Noah, at least, knew what I was. For Baylie, the fact I’d disappeared for days on end would require some hefty explanation, even if I did tell her the truth.
And I wasn’t sure about that. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I still couldn’t figure out how to tell someone I’d known my whole life that, oh, by the way, I happen to be a mermaid.