“Fury, we’re willing to let bygones be bygones if you leave now,” a voice said from under the dock.
“Aren’t you forgiving,” Megan said sarcastically. “Don’t forget that I’ve never done anything to your kind unprovoked.”
“Neither have we. You started this by stealing our meal, which we caught fairly.”
“What meal?” Zotera asked.
“Me,” I said.
“Speaking of meals…I hear the taste of mermaids is addictive,” Megan said. “That’s why the Oracle can’t stop—”
Water erupted in front of us as a mermaid jumped from the lake. Green hair plastered her face but didn’t hide how her black gaze locked on Megan as she continued upward.
“Maybe you all forgave, but I haven’t. Time for a fish boil,” Megan said a second before flames flickered over her skin.
CHAPTERFOUR
I scrambled backout of my chair, well aware of the heat she could throw when angry. My feet slipped on the icy, wet wood, and I pinwheeled my arms. Zotera caught me and watched Megan reach out over the water and grab the mermaid by the hair.
It hissed and swiped its claws at her.
Megan laughed and hit the mermaid right in the face with her free hand.
“Um, Megan?” I said as Zotera widened her stance to brace against the moving dock. I couldn’t tell if the motion was all due to the churning mass of bodies below or something more.
“Please let her go,” I said when Megan hit her again. “Oanen wouldn’t like you taking out your frustration this way.”
Megan paused, huffed out a breath, and threw the mermaid back into the lake like she was trying to skip a rock. A flurry of mermaids darted out from under the dock toward the one Megan had chucked.
“I really am sorry about what happened to Oanen,” I said, watching Megan stare after them.
“I seriously don’t know why anyone would want to kill you,” she said. “You’renice. Just like Zotera. Well, according to my fury, she’s a little nicer than you, but you get the picture.”
Shock couldn’t begin to describe how that little nugget of knowledge made me feel. Especially when I knew some of what Zotera had done. No, not Zotera. The things she’d done had never really been her idea or done out of malice. Everything had been for the love of her mother, a crazy, evil goddess who didn’t deserve her daughter’s devotion.
“Sorry for losing control,” Megan continued. “You’re right. I’m frustrated about what happened to Oanen, and he wouldn’t be happy about what I just did.” She flashed me a crooked grin. “But it sure felt nice.”
“You land whale!” a mermaid shrieked. “Time to swim.”
I watched a wave of churning water rush toward the dock. It heaved underneath us. Zotera’s grip on me tightened, and she started pulling me along the dock toward the shore.
“I don’t think so,” a mermaid hissed.
The mermaid erupted from the water, diving for Zotera with her arms spread. The momentum of their collision ripped Zotera away from me and into the lake.
I stared at the spot for a moment then glanced at Megan. However, Megan wasn’t on the dock either. Water boiled near the end where she’d stood.
Trusting what Zotera had said back at the house—that she and Megan would be fine—I bolted off the dock before one of the mermaids could knock me in. Panting, I reached land and whirled to watch more water explode upward from the end of the dock.
I opened my mouth to tell Megan to stop.
Something stung my back, just below my shoulder. Turning, I looked at the parking lot and saw nothing. Not even tracks in the snow. Rolling my shoulders, I tried to shake off the feeling, but that spot continued to sting.
I hurriedly tore off my jacket, and something long and thin fell to the ground. Like a troll-sized toothpick, the slim shaft of black metal was wickedly pointed on both ends. Reaching under my shirt, I swiped my hand over the spot that still hurt and looked at the smear of blood on my fingers.
A wave of dizziness washed over me, and I reeled back a step before I steadied myself.
Throbbing pain followed. It radiated from the spot through my ribs.
